Booth's visit to the Surratt Boarding House after the assassination

[jonathan]

That's an interesting question, I've never really thought about it. On the one hand, it makes sense that Booth, knowing the play so well, would fire the shot when the theater was the noisiest. But I think his ace in the hole was the surprise factor. I'm not sure that timing the shot during a laugh would add much benefit. He was planning on doing the deed and being out the door in 30 seconds, so what difference would it make if the audience heard the gun? I would imagine it would be more important for Booth to go about his business smoothly and efficiently, which for the most part he did. The audience would still have been largely confused, many people thinking the gun shot was part of the play, or some special tribute to Lincoln and the Union, or simply not knowing what was going on. Of course, timing the shot during a big laugh certainly couldn't hurt….So who knows, maybe all of these things or none of them crossed Booth's mind.