Who Killed Susan Rice?

The Latest Agatha Christie Thriller




As the Orient Express was rumbling its way through the woods of Austria on its journey from Budapest to Paris, dinner was about to be served in the wagon restaurant. It was the first evening of the trip and spirits were high. A group of American tourists were on board, and they had been notified only hours before by teletype that President Obama had been re-elected president  in the US. One of them was Susan Rice, a beautiful 40-something woman who had the odd habit of walking like a man on his way to a street fight. She was a mysterious woman, who talked little. Rumor had it, however, that she worked for the government, had connections, and was on her way up in the world.

As the guests finished off their first aperitif, one of them asked, "Where is Miss Rice?"

"She said she would be joining us at 7 o'clock", said another.

It was already seven thirty, and the waiter was about to take their orders.

"I'll go and fetch her", said Harriet Clanton, a divorced government official in her late 50s, who was Rice's friend and boss.

Mrs Clanton proceeded to the  compartment she was sharing with Ms Rice and entered.  A moment later, passengers heard a scream coming from Ms. Rice's compartment. Soon several people gathered at the door of the compartment. Mrs Clanton was standing at the door pointing inside. They looked inside.

There was Susan Rice, sprawled on the floor, a knife in her back, lying in a pool of her own blood.

Train security was called. Clearing out the room, they began a systematic search for clues. All they could find was a note lying next to the body. It read,

"It was the video......."

Arriving in Vienna, the train was boarded by Austrian police who sealed off the train and wouldn't let anyone leave. They were accompanied by an American Embassy legal attache who was an FBI agent.

Before leaving his office to head to the Central Train Station, Agent Borderoff had cabled his HQS in Washington, who alerted the Attorney General and the State Department. The Justice Department sent their top investigator, Dick Holder, on the next ship to Europe  to  take over the investigation. He was accompanied by a team of crack investigators from the State Department's super secret Accountability Review Board (ARB)




Arriving the very next day, they were taken to the train station where they boarded the train. Only then was the train allowed to proceed on its now-haunted journey.

When Dick Holder saw the note, he ordered that it be held for fingerprints and handwriting analysis. A fingerprint specialist who had been sent with the team determined that there were, indeed, latent prints on the note, which was handwritten. The handwriting expert compared the note with the signature on Rice's passport and declared they were separate and distinct. It was not Rice's handwriting on the note.

"Let's start interviewing the people on the train."

After interviewing several European passengers and the porters, they then focused on the Americans who were accompanying Ms Rice.

"Where is this Harriet Clanton?", Dick Holder asked.

"She is in another car farther up in the train. She is busy," answered Mr. Papandraeus, a Greek- American passenger.

"OK, said Dick Holder, "we'll start with Mr. Morelli". Arriving at Mr Morelli's cabin, they knocked.

The door was opened by a man in his 40s with dark eyes and a belligerent look.

"Who are you?", he demanded in a strong voice.

"Special Agent Dick Holder from the US Justice Department."

"F*** you, Fed.", responded Morelli, a look of defiance in his eyes.

Dick Holder stared calmly back at the man..

"OK, if you don't want to talk to me, you'll talk to my friend here."

Up stepped a tall man in a trench coat wearing sunglasses.

"Agent McLain, ARB."

Instantly, Morelli's expression changed from a look of defiance to one of utter fear.

"Please come in, gentlemen."

Holder proceeded to ask questions as McLain stood in the corner glaring silently at Morelli.

"When did you last see, Ms Rice?"

"About 5 o'clock. She was walking back to her compartment," Morelli answered nervously looking at the ARB man.

" One of the porters told us he saw her about that time too, and she was bouncing from one wall to the other. Had she been drinking?" asked  Dick Holder.

"Oh, no Sir. Ms Rice never drank. That was the way she always walked."

"Know anything about a video?"

"No Sir."

"If we told you Ms Rice  was found with a note that said, 'it was the video' does that mean anything to you?"

"No Sir. Nothing at all."

After a couple of more questions about Morelli's whereabouts, the investigators left, returning to the lounge area where the other Americans were gathered.

"Now, where is that Clanton woman," Dick Holder asked..

One of the Americans, a woman named Victoria, replied, "She is still up front in another wagon. She is very busy."

"Never mind," said Holder. Pointing at a bald headed man with a ruddy face in his late fifties, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Snapper. Jim Snapper. My friends call me Red."

"Where were you when Ms Rice died?"

"What? Rice is dead? I didn't know. Nobody told me."

"Do you know anybody that would want her dead?"

"Why no, but now that you mention it, I went to a fortune teller last month before coming to Europe. She told me that something bad would happen on this trip."

"Know anything about any video", persisted Holder.

Snapper appeared stunned.

"Video? Why yes, the fortune teller said that the bad thing on my trip would be on videotape."

Dick Holder then turned to a slender man in the corner.

"What's your name?"

"Barry O'Reilly."

"Any relation to Bill O'Reilly?"

The man looked back at Holder and replied, "Do I look like Bill O'Reilly?"

"No. Sorry I asked. Do you know anything about some video?"

O'Reilly thought for a moment then replied, "Whatever it is that must be the reason Rice is dead."

"Why's that?"

"Because there's a lotta videos out there, you know."

Holder looked over to Papandraeus and asked,"You know anything about a video?"

"Not at all", came the response.

"Sure you do," interrupted a young baby-faced man with light hair named Jay seated on a couch. "You remember when Snapper was telling us about that fortune teller just after we left Budapest."

"Yeah, but do you think I took him seriously? That damn fortune teller also told him the Cubs were gonna win the World Series this year."

At this point, the ARB man McClain walked to the middle of the room and said, "All right, folks. We're gonna have to take handwriting samples and fingerprints from each of you to compare with that note. So everybody stand up and step over here."

As the passengers rose and followed the ARB agent, Holder asked,

"Where's that Clanton woman?"

One of the agents said with a sheepish look, "She's still unavailable."

Unresolved leads

What will the fingerprint and handwriting tests reveal? Will they tell us who wrote the mysterious note? Will they tell us whose fingerprints were on the note? And why was Rice on that train to begin with? Will any of the Americans crack?

And what about Mrs Clanton? What will she say...

...when she is available?

Tune in next week for the next installment of, "Who Killed Susan Rice?"