Study Guide

Alex Cross's Trial Chapter 48

By James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Chapter 48

Inside the hotel room, Roosevelt welcomes his guests, W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett.
They've come to discuss the lynching problem that is only getting worse.
According to them, it's an epidemic and something needs to be done about it.
At this, one of Roosevelt's men, Jackson Hensen, interrupts, reporting that Black men raping white women is a growing epidemic in the south as well. Ugh.
It's clear Hensen is naïve, but his news is upsetting to the guests nonetheless.
They just want to make sure that Roosevelt knows about the problem and does something about it.
Roosevelt assures them that he has a man on the inside working on the case, and he will act on the report he's given as soon as he gets it.
Once W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett leave, Roosevelt instructs Hensen to get in touch with Abraham Cross. He needs a report from Ben—stat.