The Shut Mouth Society (2 page)

“
We hear that you will not abide the election of a Republican president! In that event, you say you will destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us!”

Laughter.

“
That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, ‘Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you and then you will be a murderer!” The sudden shift of laughter to prolonged applause told Cummings that Lincoln had command of this audience.

“
What the robber demands of me—my money—is my own; and I have a clear right to keep it; but my vote is also my own; and the threat of death to me to extort my money and the threat to destroy the Union to extort my vote can scarcely be distinguished.”

Lincoln smoothly slid into his concluding argument. “What will convince slaveholders that we do not threaten their property? This and this only: cease to call slavery wrong and join them in calling it right. Silence alone will not be tolerated—we must place ourselves avowedly with them. We must suppress all declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in politics, in presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and return their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected from all taint of opposition to slavery before they will cease to believe that all their troubles proceed from us.

“
If slavery is right, all words, acts, laws, and constitutions against it, are wrong and should be swept away. Holding, as they do, that slavery is morally right and socially elevating, they cannot cease to demand full recognition of it as a legal right and a social blessing.

“
All they ask, we can grant, if we think slavery right. All we ask, they can grant if they think it wrong.” He paused dramatically. “Right and wrong is the precise fact upon which depends the whole controversy.”

Lincoln held for a couple beats to punctuate his point.

“
Thinking it wrong, as we do, can we yield? Can we cast our votes with their view and against our own? In view of our moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do this?”

The hall burst with repeated shouts of “No! No!”

“
Let us not grope for some middle ground between right and wrong. Let us not search in vain for a policy of ‘don’t care’ on a question about which we ‘do care.’ Nor let us be frightened by threats of destruction to the government.”

Prolonged applause kept Lincoln silent for several minutes. Cummings looked down at his typeset copy of the speech and saw that Lincoln had only one more sentence. With perfect timing, he delivered it with all the energy he could muster.

“
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it!”

When Lincoln stepped back from the podium, the Cooper Union Great Hall exploded with noise and motion. Everybody stood. The staid New York audience cheered, clapped, and stomped their feet. Many waved handkerchiefs and hats. Cummings had tried to remain professional throughout the raucous speech, but he abandoned propriety and rose to his feet to clap and cheer with everyone else. The approbation continued so long that Lincoln began to look embarrassed. The bouncing noise seemed to grow on itself, until Cummings thought it had hit a crescendo, and then it grew even louder. The audience reaction told Cummings that he was witnessing the dawning of a new political force.

Cummings grabbed his papers from the floor where they had fallen and swiveled to exit the hall. A colleague from the Herald grabbed his elbow. “What do you think?” he yelled above the din.

“
I think no man has ever made such a good first impression on a New York audience.”

“
But what do you think?”

“
I think I shall vote for him come November.”

Chapter 1

Greg Evarts looked at the mahogany paneling and red tucked-leather booths and grew a bit anxious. The place looked more expensive than he had remembered. When the host led another couple to their table, Evarts pulled a menu from a wood rack and scanned the prices. High for a hamburger joint, but he probably could get away with two lunches on his policeman’s expense account. Hopefully, the professor didn’t have a taste for pricey wine with the noonday meal.

When the host returned, Evarts dropped the menu back in the rack and stepped away from his podium. The young man was so good looking, he must have been an actor slogging it out in an eatery until his big break.

The host gave him a patronizing look. “Table for one?”

“
Two, but my companion hasn’t arrived yet.”

“
Yes, I have.”

Evarts turned to the voice behind him. He suddenly hoped she liked wine for lunch. “Professor Baldwin?”

“
Yes.” She faced the host and turned on a smile that would probably get her whatever she wanted. “I have a class in just over an hour. Can we be seated immediately?”

The host grabbed two menus. “Of course.”

Of course. Evarts let her go in front and admired her athletic stride. He suddenly looked forward to lunch. As they slid into the booth, Evarts handed her his card. She looked at it and said with a touch of disdain, “
Commander
Gregory Evarts, Santa Barbara Police.”

“
Something amusing?”

“
Do you like being called
Commander
?”

“
Call me Greg.”

“
I shall. Commander sounds far too authoritarian for my taste.” With that she lifted two fingers and flashed her smile. A waiter unceremoniously plopped two drinks at the next table and scurried over. He was equally handsome, but Evarts almost laughed at his purposely disheveled hair. Without preamble, she asked, “Is your iced tea freshly brewed?”

“
Daily … regular and mango.”

“
Regular and a Cobb salad.” She threw Evarts an expectant look.

“
Hamburger, fries, Coke.” He saw disapproval on her face.

“
We serve over a dozen different burgers, sir.” The tone was snotty.

“
Just get me a basic burger.”

“
Yes, sir.”

Thankfully the waiter disappeared to place their order.

For some reason the professor looked amused. “First time here?”

“
No. When I was a kid, my parents brought me to Westwood to see the big movies—
Star Wars
,
Superman
,
Close Encounters
. We made a day of it and we always ate here.” He looked around. “But it’s been over twenty years.”

Westwood Village was probably as close to a village as Los Angeles could produce. A hodgepodge of exclusive stores, high-end restaurants, nightspots, old-fashioned stand-alone movie theaters, quaint shops, and 1930s Hollywood architecture made Westwood distinct from other parts of Los Angeles. The sprawling campus of the University of California protected Westwood’s northern flank, and milling students mixed easily with those rich enough to afford one of the neighborhood homes. The winding streets of the business district were hidden from the major thoroughfares, so the Village seemed isolated from the hullabaloo just outside its parameter.

The rich and the students belonged. Most of the hired help, however, only dreamed of a day when they would become famous and someone in their current job would recognize them on sight and part the riffraff from their path. Hollywood, after all, was just a stone’s throw down the road.

The waiter returned and carefully positioned their drinks, but he kept his eyes and his own edition of a dazzling smile on the professor. Evarts wanted to arrest him, but instead turned his attention to the task at hand. “Thank you for making the time to see me.” He slid a legal-size brown envelope across the table. “This is the document I mentioned on the phone.”

She made no attempt to reach for the sealed envelope. “Did you develop your taste for hamburgers on those little family outings?”

“
Is that a dig?”

Instead of answering, she pulled the envelope toward her but made no attempt to open it. “This is a fraud case?”

“
Preliminary investigation. A rich Santa Barbara collector thinks this may be a forgery. He said you’re the best Lincoln expert west of the Mississippi.”

She took a sip of the iced tea, and her expression confirmed that it had been brewed that very day. “Is the victim Abraham Douglass?”

“
I’m not sure he’s a victim yet, but yes, Mr. Douglass filed the complaint. Do you know him, Professor?”

“
It would be odd if the number-one Lincoln expert in the nation didn’t know the most prolific Lincoln collector west of the Mississippi.”

Evarts smiled. “Before coming, I googled Professor Patricia Baldwin. You have very impressive credentials.”

“
Associate professor, but my full professorship is just a formality due to the recognition my book has brought the school.”

“
I’ve picked it up, but I haven’t had time to read it yet.”

“
I suspect you’ll find it exceedingly dull.”

Evarts pulled a straw with a tiny white paper cap out of his drink and tossed it on the table. After a healthy swallow of Coke, he said, “I find arrogance dull.”

She didn’t flinch. Evarts decided they were both used to controlling conversations. This should be fun. “If you know Douglass, why didn’t he come directly to you, Professor? Why ask for police help before he’s sure it’s a forgery?”

“
What’s a commander, by the way?”

“
You didn’t answer my question.”

“
Am I being interrogated?” Evarts remained silent until Baldwin eventually said, “That was two questions. I’ll answer both, if you answer mine.”

“
I’m head of detectives. Commanders are right under the deputy chief.”

“
So why didn’t you send one of your detectives? Seems like a small case—excuse me, preliminary investigation—for a
commander
.” She said the last word of the sentence with distaste.

Evarts almost drummed his fingers, but he caught himself and laid his hand flat on the table. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she had annoyed him. When he finally spoke, he kept his voice even. “When I asked you to call me Greg, I was being polite. Now I think it’s a necessity to keep our conversation civil.”

“
You didn’t answer my question.”

“
You owe me two answers first.”

“
Okay. Abraham Douglass didn’t come to me directly because we dislike each other. Or at least, I dislike him … and he knows it. He sent you because he knew I wouldn’t give him the time of day.” She tapped the brown envelope with perfectly manicured nails. “And this is certainly a forgery.”

“
How do you know without looking at it?”

She started to say something but stopped. Instead, she slumped back against the booth and gave Evarts a self-satisfied smile. “Because no preinauguration address in Lincoln’s handwriting has ever surfaced. On the phone you said these were handwritten notes for his Cooper Union lecture.”

“
Yes. February 27,
1860. Before he was nominated.”

Baldwin made a little salute with her iced tea. “You did your homework.”

“
I’m a detective.”

“
Head of detectives. Now you owe me an answer.”

It was Evarts’s turn to feign a relaxed position against the red leather. “Mr. Douglass is an important citizen in our town. The mayor made it clear I was to handle this personally.”

“
The mayor?” she asked in mock surprise. “Not your deputy chief? Nor even the chief?”

“
The mayor and I are pals.”

“
Nothing to do with our dear friend Douglass’s political influence?”

Evarts shrugged. “The mayor runs for reelection soon and the police department needs him to support our budget.”

The waiter arrived with their food. Evarts thought the Cobb salad looked puny for nine dollars, but the burger startled him even more. “What’s this?”

“
A basic burger, as you requested.”

The plate held an open bun displaying a big piece of overcooked ground meat. A half-dozen huge-cut fries filled the rest of the plate. “You burnt the damn thing to a crisp.”

“
Unless specifically requested, we cook our beef well.”

Evarts laughed and shook his head. “I suppose if I had asked for it rare, you’d have made me sign a legal release.”

“
I’m sorry you’re not pleased, sir.”

“
It’s okay. Just bring me some lettuce and tomatoes … and mustard.”

“
That would be the John Wayne Burger, and I’d have to charge you an additional dollar. Perhaps next time you should examine the menu.”