Alex Cross's Trial Chapter 48 Summary

  • 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.