Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth.

Did John Wilkes Booth really kill Lincoln?

It was an open/shut case. Much like Lee Harvey Oswold. Poor man. He never saw it coming. What about Booth?

There were witnesses. A lot of witnesses. Booth probably hadn't been framed. What about the "bold, daring men" spoken of by Jacob Thompson, who conspired to assassinate the five heads of the government? Perhaps Booth was less like Oswold, and more like himself. He did say, in his diary, that he had struck for his country, not for personal gain, not out of a personal wrong.

If Booth was more like him, his mistake was in thinking that his country would thank him for his forward thinking service.
The common man little understands his plight in the world, nor does he posses the analytical ability to pinpoint the problems in his life. As such, he will never understand the surgical removal of a cancerous growth. Such as a president incapable of making hard decisions under pressure.

Truly, even if Booth did aid the country, his choice of a public location for his deed made him a fool. So much better to fade into the background, unknown and unsuspected. No one to appreciate you. No one to sympathize with you. No one to blame you. Just the knowledge that you've done the right thing.

What about those bold, daring men? Was it a conspiracy much like the one he'd been drawn into? Could Booth have declined if he wanted to? Or was being asked and declining the same as a death sentence? Was there a Syndicate, even back then? Men who stood by in the shadows and made decisions for the world with no recognition, thanks, regret, or consequence - how old was this organization he now found himself a part of?

He wondered if any of them knew. If this organization, or a predecessor, had been responsible for the assassination of Lincoln, would it have been passed down by people who didn't even share secrets amongst themselves?

Booth died for his arrogance. Maybe through a series of events orchestrated by those bold, daring men, if they felt he was a security risk.

Regardless of Booth's situation, he knew he did not want to be viewed as a security risk. In this day's technology, one phone call to a news station could become a nightmare for the Syndicate. Better to be a go-to man than a self-made enemy of the state, hunted by the government and the shadow organization he'd wronged.

He was under no delusions as to what would have happened if the plan had gone wrong, and he'd been caught. He wouldn't have lasted through the first interrogation.

He looked around the room he waited in as he ground out his cigarette in an ashtray. For an unhealthy habit, smoking did have a funny way of calming the mind. Lush leather chairs assured that no man shared space - or, symbolically, fate - with another. Dark, rich wood furniture spoke of wealth, and subdued wallpaper indicated a level of permanence for these offices.

His new badge from the State Department rested in his pocket. No one here wore any sort of identification. Nor was anyone here introduced by name. He had been called "our new man at the State Department." He'd met "our man at the F.B.I." and "one of our men at the N.S.A."

General Francis, as it turned out, had previously been in contact with the men who came to visit him that day. He was also an agent of this organization, although he was rarely called upon to perform any duties. And now those men had brought him here to meet the masterminds and learn what his new duties at the State Department would entail.

Most importantly, when the door at the end of the room opened, he would meet the men in charge, and he would learn what his duties as their agent would be.