Terror at the Fair

Chapter Twenty-Four

I probably felt every bit as relieved as the fair’s officials when Disney left Chicago for his visit to Henry Ford’s famous museum over in Michigan. At least he wouldn’t be the target of some madman. At dinner, I filled Catherine in on my meeting with the celebrity from Hollywood.

“So what was he like?”

“A decent guy, laughs a lot, seems to really enjoy life.”

“Is he young, old? I’ve never even seen a photograph of the man, as famous as he is.”

I gave her my assessment, including the part about him resembling what I thought of as a motion picture leading man slightly past his prime.

“I wonder if he was at all worried about coming here, given what’s happened at the fair lately,” she mused.

“If so, he certainly didn’t show it. He just seemed so happy to be there. Both he and Kimball are absolutely batty about anything to do with trains, like two little kids who got turned loose in a candy store.”

“Nice to have such a hobby,” Catherine said.

“I suppose. We did talk briefly about the murders. He thinks somebody with a longstanding grudge against railroads is behind them.”

“What does your Mr. Fahey think?”

“We really haven’t talked much about a motive. In fact, with me out at the fair, we don’t talk much at all.”

“I’ll bet he misses your daily meetings.”

“I think what he really misses more than anything else is the free Lucky Strikes I doled out to him for years. My replacement doesn’t smoke and wouldn’t deign to feed someone else’s habit. But you know, I really do believe Fergus sometimes uses me as a sounding board.”

“It also could be he trusts your judgment,” she said as she began to clear the table.

“Maybe. Or perhaps he just gets lonesome shut away most of the day with piles of paperwork and is glad for a little company, even if the company comes in the form of a wiseacre.”

“I think you should tell him what Walt Disney said.”

“You mean about a grudge against railroads in general possibly being a motive?”

“Why not?”

“You’re right, why not, although it may already have occurred to him. I’ll do it tomorrow. How ’bout you wash the dishes and I’ll dry?”

“I like the offer very much.”