he saw Einstein on Capitol Street. He thought maybe Einstein had come to Vallejo to see him, but he wasn’t able to make himself known to Einstein on that particular occasion.”
They all three sighed at the same time. Finally, she said, “I see what you mean, Officer Kelley. I’ll talk to him.”
But first she called on Mrs. Wareham at the hotel. The Warrington was a good business and a respected establishment. Over the years, with her multitude of boarders and guests, many or most of whom were men, Margaret suspected Mrs. Wareham had seen a great many things.
Andrew, it turned out, came in there every day and had a cup of coffee. Mrs. Wareham said, “Margaret, I thought you were sending him to me. He’s here promptly at nine-thirty. He gives me your best greetings, then drinks a cup of coffee with a lump of sugar and reads his paper. He stays about an hour, and then says goodbye and goes out. Rain or shine, really.”
“But haven’t you heard about his activities?”
“Not at all, dear.”
She told her friend what the police had told her, then said, “Does he talk all the time and make people discuss the war in China?”
“He never says a word about anything. He just nurses his cup of coffee and then pays and goes. He always leaves the girl a nice tip, too.”
“But what should I do?”
“Well, Margaret, first you must inform him in no uncertain terms that these girls aren’t sailors, and he can’t be commandeering their services as he once did those young men. They all did that. It was part of being a captain.”
“That’s true. I should have remembered that.”
“And you must say that it looks very strange to the police. That will catch his attention. You and I know Captain Early. He is the most reticent of men, but he’s very large also.”
This thought made her nervous.
Mrs. Wareham leaned toward her and said, “I see you are shaking your head, as you always do.”
Margaret hadn’t realized that she was shaking her head. She made herself sit still.
“For once in your life, Margaret, you must take charge of the situation. Take charge of him, I have to say. I—”
In spite of her best efforts, Margaret must have continued to look dismayed.
“I mean this kindly, dear. You are who you are….”
“Who is that? Who is that?” Margaret found herself saying.
There was a long pause; then Mrs. Wareham looked a little embarrassed. She said, “Everyone knows you’re a good woman, Margaret. Everyone knows that.”
It sounded like an insult, but it had the desired effect. That evening, she cooked Andrew’s favorite supper dish and also made a pie, since there was some nice rhubarb in the market. Not quite sure how to broach her subject, she hemmed and hawed about the weather, but finally she said, “Andrew, I understand you have met Officers Lugano and Moore of the Vallejo Police Department.”
“Indeed I have. They were most interested in my investigations.”
“I didn’t know you were pursuing any investigations, Andrew.”
“Well, of course I am. Into the Panay incident. Surely you haven’t forgotten that?” His tone was affable.
“You mean that boat that was sunk in China. The reparations were paid—”
He took a last bite of liver, set down his fork, and carefully wiped his mustache with his napkin. He shook his head. “Yes, they were. A clever gambit, and cheap in the long run.”
“Do you think so? Mrs. Kimura told me how generous the Japanese people have been.”
“Yes, yes. No denying that. But, my dear, I am now free to tell you that I have solved the mystery.”
“You have?”
“Yes, I have. And I have informed the Vallejo Police of my views, and I have sent letters to the Commandant of the Base, to the Secretary of State, and, of course, to the New York Times. I mailed them yesterday. I feel that I can talk more freely about this, even to you, having committed my ideas to paper. And I certainly hope, though I have no assurance, that the Times will publish my conclusions. I believe that we would all be safer in the end were they to do so.”
“What did you, did you … discover, Andrew?”
“Well, my dear, there has been a terrible massacre at Nanking, beginning the day after the Panay was attacked, and the Panay attack was cynically designed by authorities in the higher echelons of the Japanese military, and, I believe, the Foreign Service, to drive off the Americans and the British from the area,