Shadow of the Bomb

Chapter 22

The tricky part was the coverage. The last thing any newspaper reporter wants is to be a part of the story himself. How was the Tribune going to write a piece that involved me directly? And how would we tiptoe around the business about the secret weapon?

The next morning, I was ordered to report to the managing editor’s office in Tribune Tower. Pat Maloney greeted me cordially, but with reserve.

“Well, Mr. Malek,” he said, sitting behind his desk as I took a chair in front of it, “as you know, the police have released very little information on the capture of the Hyde Park murderer, which explains why our story this morning, and the Sun’s as well, are so brief. I know this man Waggoner, who by the way has confessed to both murders, was caught while trying to strangle you, but I want to know why.”

I had decided to make no mention of my trip inside Stagg Field, and since Chester didn’t know exactly where I had been or what I had seen, I felt that my visit would never come to light. “I don’t know myself, sir. Since I’m the only reporter who has been down in Hyde Park regularly throughout the period when these professors were killed, I can only assume that he felt I was suspicious of him.”

“And were you?”

“No, not in the least. But after two murders, he may have become paranoid.”

Maloney nodded. “All right,” he said, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. “There’s going to be a press conference this morning at 11th and State announcing the capture. I assume it will be the Commissioner, as well as Chief Fahey. MacAfee will be covering it for us, and as much as I don’t like it when reporters themselves become the news, I think he will have to quote you in his story. Do you agree?”

“I do, sir. I just hope that I’ll be mentioned only briefly.”

He frowned. “Unfortunately, I don’t see how we can do that. After all, you came very close to being Waggoner’s third victim, and that is how he was caught. You’ll have to give MacAfee some description as to what it felt like, unpleasant as I know that is. Please don’t misinterpret what I’m going to say, as I’m extremely happy that you survived a close call. But in one sense, this has been good for the Tribune. It shows that we are on the front line in big stories, that our reporters are aggressive.”

So that was how it played out. We ran a banner story the next morning, under the headline TRIB REPORTER SURVIVES ATTACK, KILLER NABBED AT U OF C. I was quoted at length by MacAfee, saying that I knew Chester Waggoner slightly from my visits to the University Tavern, but that I had no idea as to why he would want to kill me, other than that I was a reporter who he may have felt suspected him.

The other papers all played the story big as well, of course, and each of them was forced to run quotes from me, whether they liked it or not.

The most bizarre aspect was that I ended up giving quotes to the very men I had worked with in the Headquarters press room for years: Masters, Farmer, O’Farrell, and Metz, all of whom ragged me unmercifully, both at the time and later. But I got some measure of revenge on them by giving my most colorful comments to Joanie from City News.