“So, let me get this straight” said Deputy Commissioner Joseph Lombardi “You’re investigating a case from 1926”
Deputy Commissioner Lombardi stood facing Stillman’s desk. He was a tall, grey haired man. He was dressed in his full uniform, having just come from a press conference on road accident safety.
“That’s what we do” said Stillman “We work homicides, no matter how old”
“From 1926” said Lombardi.
“We only found the body today” said Stillman “Far as I’m concerned, it’s a fresh job”
“I’ve been reading up on your department” said Lombardi “You seem to spend an awful lot of time on very old cases. Surely the perpetrator is long dead?”
Stillman took off his glasses.
“We owe it to the family and the victim to find the truth” said Stillman “Far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter if the perp’s dead”
Lombardi sighed “That’s very nice John, but I have a budget to deal with. Noble notions like justice are all very well, but they don’t look good on papers. We need numbers arrested, cases solved quickly.”
Stillman narrowed his eyes “It’s rare that we get a case this old. Most cases we get, we catch the perp- alive- and throw them into jail”
“You know as well as I do, that it looks better to have a quick turnaround on solving a crime. Finding out who killed someone sixty years ago isn’t that impressive”
“It is for the person who was killed” said Stillman “My team has been doing this for over seven years, and I’m proud of our work. People have tried to shut us down, but I won’t bow down to pressure. Now if you don’t mind me, I have a case to work”
***
Lilly and Scotty were busy looking through records to find any mention of Clarence Travers. Scotty had found a death certificate for him in 1964, with the cause of death a heart attack.
“Nothing in the police records” said Scotty “No criminal record”
“Maybe he never got caught” said Lilly.
“The guy’s name was Clarence Travers, wasn’t it?” asked Kat
“Yeah” said Lilly, nodding.
“Got an employment record here” said Kat “He worked for the fair from March to October, working in construction”
“They must have hired him after all” said Scotty “That takes away motive”
“There was a huge construction boom in the months leading up to the fair” said Vera “They were really struggling to get the fair open by the thirty-first of May. There were calls for them to postpone it, but the executive disagreed and pushed on”
Everyone turned to look at Vera.
“Hey, I’ve been finding out a lot from Professor Norbury’s book” said Vera , showing them the cover “It’s really good”
“Well bookworm, better put it down” said Stillman, who had walked into the bullpen “I’ve found the address for Edward Summer’s grandson. You and Kat can head over there and interview him, see if he knows anything”
***
Vera looked around the plush office and at the middle aged Asian man in front of him.
“Mr Summers?” he asked, hesitantly.
“Yes, that’s right” said the man “Than Summers.”
“Detectives Vera and Miller, Philly Homicide. We’re here about your grandfather, Edward Summers. We think your grandfather may have had something to do with the death of a man who worked for him at the World Fair”
Than shook his head “That’s impossible. My grandfather was a good man”
“Even good men make mistakes” said Kat.
“I was raised by my grandparents, so I heard a lot of stories about the World Fair. It was my grandfather’s biggest achievement. He was always so disappointed that it didn’t meet its expectations, but he was still proud of what they had done.” said Than.
“Did he ever mention a Harry Finton?” asked Vera.
“Harry Finton- yes, he did. He worked for my grandfather. You say it was his body you found?” said Than.
Vera nodded.
“My grandfather was very upset over Harry’s disappearance. He always thought there was something suspicious, and wanted a bigger investigation”
“So why didn’t he do something about it?” asked Vera .
“Mary Finton stopped him” said Than.
“The wife” said Vera .
“That’s who you should be looking at. According to my grandfather, she and her husband had a lot of problems”
***
Gene Austin – Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue
Edward Summers picked up his coat and prepared to leave. It had been a very long day. Questions were being asked by the Mayor and Governor’s office about the success of the fair.
He heard raised voices coming from the alcove. He walked over.
“You told me you quit this organisation!” said Harry to Mary.
“I was planning on it, really darling. But I can’t. My parents were big members of the Temperance Union. They taught me how important it was. I agree with them, Harry”
“How can my wife be part of an organisation that’s protesting against the fair?” asked Harry.
“They’re not protesting against the fair” said Mary “Only against the fair opening on Sundays”
“Are you aware of how many visits we’ll lose if we close on Sundays?” asked Harry “The executive thought very deeply about this issue. They didn’t make this decision lightly”
“But Sundays!” said Mary “People should be going to church, not doing something frivolous”
“You think the fair’s frivolous? A flight of fancy? Is that what you think of all my hard work?” said Harry, annoyed.
“Darling, no!” said Mary “I thought you of all people would understand, but I was wrong. I thought you cared about more than numbers on the gate. I thought you cared about ensuring this city was safe for our daughters”
She walked off.
“Mary, wait!” said Harry, but she ignored him.
***
“According to my grandfather, that happened a lot. Mary was a strong supporter of the Temperance Union. Her parents had donated a lot of money to the union” said Than.
“And they were protesting against the fair. Bound to cause a lot of friction. Divorce wasn’t easy in those days. She had a lot of money” said Kat “Maybe she took things into her own hands”
“Well, all I know is that she didn’t want the police to investigate any further. She insisted he must have run away, and she didn’t want her daughters to go through all the pain of a police investigation” said Than.
“Suspicious” said Kat “Wouldn’t you want to know what happened?”
“Not if you killed him and buried the body” said Vera.
***
Lilly walked through the door of Chris’s apartment, carrying take-out. Ellie was crying and Chris was trying to calm her. She wasn’t surprised to see Finn there as well. Finn had quickly taken on gaining yet another sister in his stride. He had taken a shine to Ellie, and had taken numerous pictures of his new niece.
“She won’t settle” said Chris, exhausted.
“It’s okay” said Finn “She’s just cranky”
Ellie continued to cry.
“What’s wrong, baby?” said Chris “Why won’t you settle?”
“You look tired” said Lilly, wondering if the withdrawal side-effects were bad today.
“That’s what I’ve been telling her” said Finn.
“Ellie’s kept me up since two am” said Chris.
“You need to get some rest” said Finn “Here, I’ll take Ellie”
“He’s right” said Lilly.
Chris passed Ellie over.
“It’ll be okay” said Lilly “Get some sleep”
Finn began cooing to Ellie. Lilly gently put her arm around Chris and guided her to her bedroom. She saw that the bed had been freshly made, with clean pyjamas folded neatly on top.
“Looks good in here” said Lilly, impressed.
“Yeah, that was Finn” said Chris sleepily “He tidied up a bit. He’s been here all day. Bought leftovers from Celeste”
“Impressive” said Lilly. She was about to say more, but saw that Chris had fallen asleep.
She walked back out to where Finn was sitting on the couch, Ellie asleep in his arms.
She smiled.
***
“I thought you were through with interviewing me” said Joan, looking upset “I told you about that man, Clarence Travers”
“We’ve had some information that your mother prevented the police from investigating” said Lilly.
“My mother was convinced Daddy had abandoned us. She didn’t want Emily and I to suffer the shame” said Joan.
“But you and Emily thought differently” said Scotty.
Joan nodded “I guess we were right”
“We heard your parents fought a lot over his work” said Lilly.
“The Fair took a lot out of him” said Joan sadly.
***
Josephine Baker – After I Say I’m Sorry
Harry was sitting in their lounge room, staring at the fireplace. He looked dejected.
Mary walked up to him and put her arms around his shoulders.
“I’m sorry” she said “I love you”
“I love you too” said Harry, flatly “I hate this fair. Please don’t quit the Temperance Union on my behalf”
“No, I shouldn’t deny you your dreams. Don’t be ashamed of it” answered Mary
“The fair is a failure, and it’s all my fault” said Harry “We’ll be lucky if we get ten million visitors. They’re talking of shutting it down soon”
Mary crouched down beside him
“You’ve worked so hard. Sometimes things don’t work out”
“No” said Harry “”That’s not what they say. They’re all blaming me, especially Edward. He tells me I’m an imbecile. He’s right. I’ve been a fool. I’ve believed people when they have promised they would subscribe. I’ve believed mayors of far flung places when they said they would promote the Fair in their town”
“Sweetheart, you’ve put your heart and soul into this fair. Ten million people is still a huge achievement. Why, everyone I know thinks it is a huge success. All my friends are talking about it in glowing terms. I’m so proud of you”
Harry looked at her “Why?”
“Because you’re the kindest, most hard-working man I’ve ever met. And every day, I thank God that I’m your wife” she said, before leaning in to kiss him.
“Come on, let’s go upstairs” she said, taking her husband by the hand.
From the upstairs staircase, Joan watched.
***
Joan rooted around in one of her drawers “This is my mother’s diary. If you look in here, you can see how much my mother loved Daddy”
“Thank you for your time” said Lilly, taking the diary.
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