W E B Griffin – Men at War 1 – The Last Heroes

“Mr. Whittaker died of a stroke,” Douglass said, “in the bedroom of the garage apartment.”

“What was he doing in the garage apartment?” Donovan asked curiously.

“The police believe that when I went to pick him up to bring him to the White House, I rang the bell in the gate in the wall. There was no response. But Miss Chenowith, who was leaving to have dinner with friends, stopped and asked if she could help. I told her why I was there, and she let me into the house. We found Mr. Whittaker in his shower. He had apparently suffered a stroke an hour before, shortly after you called to tell him when I would pick him up.”

Donovan thought that over for a moment. The story was credible. It was unlikely that anyone would challenge it.

“What shape is she in?” Donovan asked. “The girl, I mean?”

“Miss Chenowith telephoned Mrs. Whittaker and broke the news to her,” Douglass said. “And then made the arrangements for the funeral director to pick up Mr. Whittaker’s body from the morgue. I took it upon myself to ask Dr. Grubb to go to the morgue, examine the body, and sign the death certificate.”

“And he did?”

“Ellis took him there, and then home. Dr. Grubb felt there was no need for an autopsy; the cause of death was obvious to him.”

“Does Dr. Grubb know where the body was found?” Donovan asked.

“He knows we found the body in Mr. Whittaker’s shower,” Douglass said.

“Then the one weak link in this is Cynthia Chenowith?” Donovan asked.

ISSIMORS ror JJTS Colonel,” Ellis volunteered. “That’s t ,She’s no weak link, tough little lady” house on 6Take us to the there.

,ye sir’i Doug lass said. “She thought se you might want her to do thing el V@hen they passed through the gate in the wall, Chesley Ha) wood Whittaker’s Packard was parked on the brick drive. Donova found Edward, the chauffeur, with Cynthia Chenowith in tht d ther kitchen of the main house. She had made something to eat, an g iven him several drinks. Edward had been close to Chesty Whit-taker, and there were signs that he had wept.

“Edward,” Donovan asked, ,bow is the Packard fixed for gas?”

“I’ll see if I can find a station open@” Edward said, obviously welcoming the chance to make himself useful.

1 think that would be a good idea ” Donovan said- “Thank YOU.”

I Edward found his chauffeur’s cap and went out tile kitchen door. aim, although Donovan saw that Cynthia Chenowith was still c her face remained pale and there was a strange look in her eyes.

“The thing to do, Cynthia, is to decide how we’re going to handle this,” Donovan said, “before I call Barbara.”

She looked at him and met his eyes and nodded.

“I think the thing to do is send Chesty home as soon as we can The way to do it is see if we can get a hearse somewhere tonight.”

“Or a panel truck from Hertz,” Ellis said. “Getting a hearse might be difficult this time of night. people would wonder Why We couldn’t wait until tomorrow, or send the body on the train.”

“Baker has a station wagon,” Douglass said. “Will a casket fit in a station wagon?”

“What kind of a station wagon, Captain?” Ellis asked.

“Ford I ” Douglass said. “Four-door. A ’41.”

“You’ll probably have to run the seat all the way forwards” Ellis said with certainty. “But it’ll take a casket.”

Street,” Donovan ordered. “Sh, there might be som : “I B. GRIFF Donovan believed him. It was extraordinary that Ellis had S obscure knowledge at his fingertips , but he was not surprised.

“The question is,” Donovan said, “whether we want to bring Baker in on this.”

“I think it might be a good idea,” Douglass said. “I’m not very experienced in such matters. Baker might be able to see if we’,ve made any mistakes.”

“The duty officer should know where he is.”

Douglass called the office. Baker was there.

“Are you driving your station wagon?” Douglass as I would like to borrow it,” Douglass said. “Could you drop wh4 you’re doing and come right away?”

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