Margaret Truman's Experiment in Murder Read online

  She pushed open the door. What she saw horrified her. Her mouth opened but no sound came from it. She felt faint and braced herself against the doorframe. Nic was on the floor, half his body on the hassock, the other half sprawled in a grotesque, twisted position. Blood flowed freely from his chest and neck.

  Sheila Klaus was slumped on the couch, a revolver in her hand. Blood from a single shot to her temple ran down her cheek and onto her neck.

  EPILOGUE

  In the years that followed, the assassination of Senator George Mortinson was added to the annals of political assassinations in the United States. Dozens of books would be written, none of them putting to rest the question of whether Iskander Itani acted alone or was part of a larger plot. A few movies would be made based upon the most sensational of the books, and a cottage industry of blogs and websites claiming that there had been a larger conspiracy were launched, each taking issue with the commission convened by President Swayze. That august body concluded after more than a year of interviews and examining the evidence that Iskander Itani, a demented young man whose rage was fueled by a hatred of Israel and all things Jewish, had acted alone. He was found guilty at his trial and would spend the rest of his days behind bars, his memory of what had transpired unavailable. His family was urged to return to Beirut for their safety, and Itani’s mother and brothers heeded that advice.

  Sheila Klaus’s murder of Dr. Nicholas Tatum, and her suicide, would eventually be deemed exactly that, a murder-suicide. Cindy Simmons told the police why Tatum had gone to Sheila’s house and how he was convinced that she’d been programmed by a physician connected with the CIA to run down Dr. Mark Sedgwick and had also apparently been manipulated into killing Tatum. Her claims were, of course, dismissed by the investigating authorities as representing a fantasy-infused imagination. The final report concluded that Tatum had forged an unhealthy relationship with Sheila Klaus during the time that she was held by the police for the Sedgwick murder, and he had harassed her into a fragile emotional state leading to the death of both. In other words, Tatum had brought about his own demise because of his unprofessional actions involving Ms. Klaus.

  Mac and Annabel Smith were, of course, devastated by what had happened at the house in Rockville. Mac offered testimony to authorities that he hoped would bolster Cindy’s explanation of what had happened and what was behind it. But all he could do was reiterate what Nic Tatum had told him. As an attorney, he knew that all it represented was hearsay, hardly capable of making a case for anything. Because of his excellent reputation in the legal community, he was treated with great respect, but his recounting of everything leading up to the murder-suicide in Rockville was politely dismissed.

  The Smiths lost track of Cindy Simmons after a year. She’d quit her job at Walter Reed and left Washington for her hometown of Davenport, Iowa, where she went to work at a local hospital. She and the Smiths promised to stay in touch, but as often happens, action doesn’t always match well-meaning promises. For weeks after Nic Tatum’s funeral, Mac and Annabel lamented his passing and tried to make sense of it and everything surrounding it. They finally agreed not to torture themselves and to hope that someone, someday, would step forward and tell the truth about the Mortinson assassination and Tatum’s death. They would never enjoy that satisfaction.

  San Francisco Detective Duane Woodhouse retired from the SFPD without ever having brought Elena Marciano’s killer to justice. It would haunt him throughout his retirement years.

  Peter Puhlman would die of cancer eighteen months after leaving San Francisco.

  Jake Gibbons moved to Los Angeles, where he landed a few bit parts in B movies until his alcoholism turned him into a stumbling drunk, who died when he rammed his car into a bridge abutment.

  CIA psychiatrist Colin Landow enjoyed his retirement on his ranch in Oklahoma, where he raised quarter horses.

  David Considine attended the funeral of his friend Nic Tatum and told Mac Smith immediately following it that Nic had possibly gone off the deep end in trying to link the CIA to illegal psychological experiments. When questioned by Smith about what Tatum had told him of the conversations he’d had with Considine, Considine dismissed it as Tatum hearing only what he wanted to hear. Smith took an immediate dislike to Considine and decided that Tatum’s so-called friend was hardly that. But he also knew that his evaluation of him was irrelevant. Who knew what the truth was anymore except that it was a rare, precious commodity in Washington, D.C.

  George Mortinson’s running mate, Raymond Thomas, won what turned into a closer election than had Mortinson been the candidate. He was urged occasionally to reopen the investigation into the assassination, but he declined to do so until new, hard evidence was unearthed. It never was during his eight years in the White House.

  And Dr. Sheldon Borger sold his Nob Hill mansion and Washington condo and moved permanently to Bermuda, where he was quickly absorbed into the island’s upper stratum of society. That he’d been an assassin’s psychiatrist made him a popular guest at dinner parties, where he fascinated the other guests with his professional profile of and analysis into the mind of a killer.

  BY MARGARET TRUMAN

  First Ladies

  Bess W. Truman

  Souvenir

  Women of Courage

  Harry S Truman

  Letters from Father: The Truman Family’s Personal Correspondences

  Where the Buck Stops

  White House Pets

  The President’s House

  IN THE CAPITAL CRIMES SERIES

  Murder in Foggy Bottom

  Murder at the Library of Congress

  Murder at the Watergate

  Murder in the House

  Murder at the National Gallery

  Murder on the Potomac

  Murder at the Pentagon

  Murder in the Smithsonian

  Murder at the National Cathedral

  Murder at the Kennedy Center

  Murder in the CIA

  Murder in Georgetown

  Murder at the FBI

  Murder on Embassy Row

  Murder in the Supreme Court

  Murder on Capitol Hill

  Murder in the White House

  Murder in Havana

  Murder at Ford’s Theater

  Murder at Union Station

  Murder at The Washington Tribune

  Murder at the Opera

  Murder on K Street

  Monument to Murder

  Experiment in Murder

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  MARGARET TRUMAN won faithful readers with her works of biography and fiction, particularly her Capital Crimes mysteries. Her novels let readers into the corridors of power and privilege, and poverty and pageantry, in the nation’s capital. She was the author of many nonfiction books, including The President’s House, in which she shared some of the secrets and history of the White House, where she once resided. When she passed away, she left behind a rich legacy of great political fiction, as well as ideas for new novels.

  DONALD BAIN, the author of 115 books, including forty of the bestselling Murder, She Wrote mystery novels, was a longtime friend of Margaret Truman. He worked closely with her on her novels, and more than anyone understood the spirit and substance of her books.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  MARGARET TRUMAN’S EXPERIMENT IN MURDER: A CAPITAL CRIMES NOVEL

  Copyright © 2012 by Estate of Margaret Truman

  All rights reserved.

  Cover photography by Eye to Eye Video (background) and Jupiterimages (man)

  A Forge Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the pri
nt edition as follows:

  Bain, Donald, 1935–

  Margaret Truman’s Experiment in murder: a capital crimes novel / Donald Bain. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.—(Capital crimes)

  “A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

  ISBN 978-0-7653-2610-2 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4299-4630-8 (e-book)

  1. Governmental investigations—Fiction. 2. Murder for hire—Fiction. 3. Washington (D.C.)—Fiction. I. Truman, Margaret, 1924–2008. II. Title.

  PS3552.A376M37 2012

  813'.54—dc23

  2012019972

  e-ISBN 9781429946308

  First Edition: November 2012