The End of Innocence Read Free Page A

cause of his beating last week?” asked Copeland, sitting back in his desk chair.
    Wils moved to the edge of his seat. The prügel ? Last Wednesday’s fight flashed into his mind. There had been a heated argument between Max and a very drunk Arnold Archer after dinner at the Spee dining club. Max had called him a coward for supporting the British but not being willing to fight for them. It wasn’t the most sensible thing to do given Archer ran with brawny, patriotic friends. On Thursday at the boathouse Max had received the worst of a fight with Archer’s gang.
    â€œIt was a schoolboys’ fight. They were drunk. Max was beaten because Arnold Archer was mad about the Germans beating the British in Belgium. Archer couldn’t fight because America’s neutral, so he hit a German who wouldn’t renounce his country. These fights break out all the time over politics when too much brandy gets in the way. People get over their arguments.”
    â€œDidn’t Max make some nationalistic speech at the Spee Club?”
    Wils’s back stiffened in indignation. “If Max had been British it would have gone unnoticed. But because he was German, Archer beat him.” He paused. “Max was going to tell the truth as he knew it, and thugs like Archer weren’t going to stop him.”
    Copeland tapped a pencil against his knee. “How well do you think his strategy worked?”
    Wils’s eyes widened. “Being beaten wasn’t Max’s fault, Professor. It was the fault of the person who used his fists.”
    â€œWils, Arnold Archer’s father is coming to see me this evening to discuss the case. His son is under suspicion for Max’s death.”
    â€œI hope Arnold goes to jail.”
    â€œArnold may not have been involved.”
    Wils set the glass down on the wooden desk and stood up. “He’s a pig.”
    â€œWils, according to Arnold, Max tried to send sensitive information about the Charlestown Navy Yard to Germany.” A faint tinge of pink briefly colored the professor’s cheeks. “Arnold said he knew about this and was going to go to the police. Max may have thought that he would go to jail for endangering the lives of Americans and British citizens. And if what Arnold said was right, then Max may have faced some very serious consequences.”
    â€œAmerica’s not at war.”
    The professor didn’t respond.
    â€œWhy would Max do such a thing then?” asked Wils curtly.
    â€œArnold says he was blackmailed because of his gaming debts.”
    â€œWhat could Max possibly have found? He’s incapable of remembering to brush his hair on most days.”
    Copeland threw up his hands, nearly tipping over a stack of books on the desk. “I have no idea. Maybe America’s building ships for England. Maybe we’ve captured a German ship. Apparently he found something. Sometime later, Max was found by his maid, hung with a noose fashioned from his own necktie. His room was a wreck.” Copeland looked at him intently. “And now the police don’t know if it was suicide or murder. Arnold might have wanted to take matters into his own hands—as he did the other night after the Spee Club incident.”
    Wils ran his hands through his hair. “Arnold a murderer? It just doesn’t make sense. It was a schoolboys’ fight. And Arnold’s a fool, but much more of a village idiot than a schemer.”
    â€œDon’t underestimate him, Wils. He’s not an idiot. He’s the son of a very powerful local politician who wants to run for higher office. His father holds City Hall in his pocket.”
    â€œAre you speaking of Boston City Hall?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI could care less about some martinet from Boston. I’m related to half the monarchs in Europe.” Wils sneered.
    â€œCity Hall has more power over you right now than some king in a faraway land,” said Copeland.