Research
I hope you enjoyed the story. This particular plot called for in-depth research into various aspects of 1880s life: railway travel, the city of Washington, DC, the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA), the history and layout of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (now the site of the Renwick Gallery), the architecture of the Senate Chamber, and the manner in which congressional proceedings were conducted, to name only some.
I also researched the life of Senator Shelby Moore Cullom, a real person I used fictitiously in this mystery. He was indeed instrumental in the framing and passage of the Interstate Commerce Act. This bill was the first piece of federal legislation to regulate railroad commerce and remedy the limitations of what states themselves could do. The following list
