Four

Despite the chaos around us, I finally got the truth out of him. He hadn’t resigned, he’d been fired. I should have known. He missed a deadline, arriving late after a night of drinking. It was not the first time, and then he had a fight with his editor about the story he was working on. He claimed he was being forced into yellow journalism and he hated it. He refused to go along.

I took a huge breath. The problem was that it wasn’t really a surprise. It was just another example of Alden’s irresponsibility. How often had he done this? He’d started at Harvard and left. Then he had a job at a bank in Boston, but he left that to come to Chicago and became a reporter. During the Pullman strike, he grew disillusioned. He began reporting on the struggle of the striking workmen but, when the strike spread to the major rail lines, the proprietors of the newspapers all sided with the railroad managers. When Alden continued to write articles about the plight of the strikers, the papers refused to publish them. He quit and returned to our uncle’s bank in Boston but that didn’t last. When he married, he returned to Chicago and to reporting but jumped from one paper to another. How his wife could put up with it was beyond me. He’d nearly broken our mother’s heart with his antics. Now, once again, he’d disappointed us all.

“Oh, Alden, how could you?”

He pulled his sleeve from my grasp and stalked away, yelling something to Mr. Leeder. Soon, they were in a loud argument. From the bits I could hear, it was about the scene they were filming, though. They seemed to have forgotten all about the death of Mr. Hyde.

Meanwhile, Detective Whitbread tapped me on the shoulder. “Mrs. Chapman, a word, if you please.”

He led me downstairs to an empty office and shut the door. “It wasn’t suicide. We’ve learned through examination of the body that Mr. Hyde was left handed. Had he shot himself, it would have been through the left temple. The entry wound was on the right side. It would have been impossible for him to reach around to shoot himself that way. So, it appears that someone got close enough to him to shoot him before he could move, and then they placed the gun in his right hand to make it appear that he shot himself.”

“And Mr. Leeder claims that he saw Alden putting the gun in the dead man’s hand?”

“Yes. That’s what he says, although your brother denies it.” Whitbread paused, as if deciding how much to tell me. “In the course of my interrogations, I uncovered some information implicating your brother. It seems that last week when Mr. Hyde reviewed films from the Selig studios, he rejected two in which a Miss Kathlyn Williams was shown in tattered clothing. The rejection was fully in accord with his duty, although Col. Selig tells me this kind of rejection is not very common. They’re careful to arrange their scenes to pass the censor. When it does happen, they withdraw the film and redo it, then resubmit it the next week.

“Your brother was not happy with the criticism, and he sought out Mr. Hyde at the downtown office when he was there yesterday to view the new version of the film. They had words. Alden left in a rage. Afterward, when Hyde was reviewing the film, he suddenly ran from the office…before the ending. He was not seen again by anyone from the Selig studios until he was found this morning by Mr. Leeder, with your brother standing over him. You can see that Alden must be considered a suspect.”

Alden. What was he doing? “I see. He argued with the dead man, I can believe that. But, surely, that was only about some film work. It’s no reason to shoot a man.”

Whitbread cleared his throat, an unusual action for him. He never hesitated to speak, whether it was good or bad news he was delivering. “There is something else, of an unfortunate nature that I must convey to you. It is the opinion of a number of their co-workers that your brother and Miss Williams have developed an intimate relationship. It is also believed that Mr. Hyde had demonstrated some sort of bias against Miss Williams. Apparently, this was not the first time he censored her work. In fact, it was becoming so much of a problem that the producer, Mr. Leeder, and Col. Selig were considering using another actress in order to meet their schedules. It has been suggested that your brother might have acted to protect Miss Williams’s career, which was in jeopardy.”

I couldn’t speak. Alden and Kathlyn Williams? No, that couldn’t be. I was furious. I felt my heart skip a beat then jump, and blood pounded in my ears. Alden, how could you? What about Clara? And Oliver and Penelope? Alden had always been contrary. He’d always sought out dangers and thrills. I thought his job as a newspaper reporter satisfied that craving, but this? No, I couldn’t accept it. He would never purposefully do anything to hurt his wife and children. In any case, murdering the man seemed like an extreme measure to take.

“I don’t believe it. Alden wouldn’t do that to his family.”

“Unfortunately, it does happen. Apparently, for the past month their co-workers have been aware of numerous secret meetings between them. They would leave together in the evening and spend time in Miss Williams’s rooms.”

The past month? Alden said he left the paper, but he hadn’t said when. I assumed it just happened. A month? Had he really been fired from the Tribune a whole month ago and then spent all of that time at the Selig studios?

“I’m sorry to be the one to give you this news. I assume you may want to communicate these matters to Mrs. Cabot, or not, as you see fit. But you can see that Mr. Cabot will not be allowed to leave the city while the investigation continues.” I could see he regretted having to detain Alden, but he would never compromise. “You can see it looks rather bad for your brother at this point. It is somewhat irregular but, since I’ve known you and your brother for so many years, I believe the best, and fastest, way to get to the truth is for you to assist me in this investigation. Only the truth will dispel these very grave suspicions.”

“Oh, yes. It looks very bad for Alden, my fool of a brother. I will get to the bottom of this, Detective, I promise you. Even if I have to stay here, instead of going to Woods Hole. This is an impossible situation but I will get the truth out of Alden, even if I have to thrash him for it.” Not that I could have, but it would have given me some satisfaction. I thought of our poor gentle mother and was glad she was not here to see what Alden had gotten into this time.