“Clever, Richard! An essential occupation that keeps you out of uniform.”
“We’re from the Office of the Coordinator of Information,” Doug lass said. “What the hell is that?”
“Colonel Donovan runs it, Jimmy,” Canidy said. “And we work for Colonel Donovan,” Doug lass said, “and he wants to make sure you deliver that letter to the President.”
“Where are we going?” Whittaker asked. “To your house,” Doug lass said.
“We’re using it now as sort of a hotel. We’ll see that you get a good night’s sleep-you must be exhausted and in the morning we’ll see about you delivering your letter.”
“I was wondering about that,” Whittaker said.
“How would I do that? I can hardly walk up to the White House gate and announce I’ve got a letter for Uncle Franklin.”
“We’ll take care of it in the morning Doug lass said. “Who the hell are you guys?” Whittaker asked again.
“What do you mean, Dick, you’re working for Bill Donovan? What’s he got to do with this? “Can you hold your curiosity overnight, Captain?”
Doug lass asked. “We’ll explain it all in the morn in ” i;@
9. I immy,” Canidy said.
“For tonight: Colonel Donovan tells us what to do, and he told us to meet you. Asking questions around here is like farting in church.
Whittaker and Chief Ellis laughed. “Are you hungry, Captain?” Doug lass asked. “Starved,” Whittaker said. be.”
“We asked the cook to stay up,” Chief Ellis said, “in case you would “You’re in the house, Dick?” Whittaker asked.
“Living there, I mean?”
“Your house is now sort of a fraternity house for strange people,” Canidy said.
“Like you and me.”
“I’ll be damned,” Whittaker said. “And you’ll be surprised, no doubt, to hear that our house mother is Cynthia Chenowith,” Canidy said. “No kidding?” Whittaker said. He had been in love with Cynthia Chenowith, the daughter of a close family friend, since he was seven and she was ten.
At those ages, the age difference seemed to be an insurmountable problem. Now, he thought, it seemed like a minor inconvenience, even though Miss Chenowith showed no more romantic interest in him than she had at ten. “There’s something you ought to know about her, Jim,” Canidy said. “I really think that should wait until morning Doug lass said quickly. “I don’t,” Canidy said.
“I think he should know before he sees her, and she’s likely going to be there when we get there.”
“What should I know?” Whittaker said. There was a moment’s hesitation.
Whittaker realized Canidy was waiting for permission to continue.
Okay,” Doug lass said.” Tell him.
Maybe you’re right. “They did get word to you about Chesly?” Canidy asked. Chesley H. Whittaker was Whittaker’s uncle. “Yeah,” Whittaker said.
“Uncle Franklin took care of that. He ordered MacArthur to find me and tell me.”
“Uncle Franklin”-Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States-was not really Whittaker’s uncle, but the families were so close that Whittaker had grown up calling Roosevelt “Uncle Franklin” and thinking of him that way. “He was with Cynthia when he died,” Canidy said.
“At the house.”
“I didn’t know that,” Whittaker said. “I mean with her, Jimmy,” Canidy said. It took Whittaker a moment to digest that. “Jesus Christ!” he said softly.
“Does my aunt know?” The sly was at a hall game in New York, with Colonel Donovan, when they got the word about Pearl Harbor,” Canidy said.
“Then he came to Washington with Donovan. Donovan went to the White House. Chesly went to the house on Q Street. To Cynthia’s apartment.
He suffered a stroke. just dropped dead.”
“In the saddle?” Whittaker asked lightly.
Canidy, embarrassed, did not reply. “Jesus,” Whittaker said.
“That’s only supposed to happen in a dirty joke.”
“Cynthia called Donovan at the White House. He couldn’t leave, so he sent Captain Doug lass and the chief. They took care of things, so there was no scandal.
I don’t think your aunt knows.”
” How did they ‘take care of things’?” Whittaker asked. “We fixed it so the body was found in his shower,” Chief Ellis said. “You carried his body from her apartment to his room?” Whittaker asked. “Yes, Sir,” Ellis said. “Thank you,” Whittaker said, And then, a moment later, he asked, “How tight a secret is this?”