Secrets in the Shallows (Book 1: The Monastery Murders) (28 page)

* * * *

The monastery’s front door was made of darkly stained, solid oak, and attached to with unusually large iron hinges. The large black cast iron door handle and latch were ornately embellished with small vine motifs. The matching doorknocker rested in place on the massive door, which seemed to stand ominously between Sheriff Johnson and any truth he might find inside.

Before Sheriff Johnson could knock, the door opened with an eerie squeak. A nun dressed in a dark blue habit stared at him politely with her large green eyes.

“May I help you?” she asked pleasantly as she smiled.

“Yes, Sister, I’m Sheriff Johnson, and this is Deputy Williams. We are scheduled to conduct a dive search in the pond today. I wanted to make sure you are aware of why we are here.”

“I’m Sister Mary Margaret. Please, wait right here.”

The door closed right in Sheriff Johnson’s face. Sheriff smirked, “Do they all act like that?”

Deputy Williams shrugged his shoulders. “Heavy door maybe?”

Moments later, Mother Superior Mary Ellen opened the door. “Hello Sheriff Johnson, what can I do for you?”

“Hello, Mother, this is Deputy Williams.”

“Hello, Deputy Williams. Nice to see you again. What do you need, my sons?”

“Mother, I know that pond over there is a memorial to the late Father … Father?” Sheriff Johnson scratched his head, trying to recall his name.

“Barnhill,” Mother Superior supplied.

“Thank you, Mother ... Of course, Father Barnhill. We are here to send divers into the pond.”

Mother Superior Mary Ellen grabbed a coat on a hook near the door, then walked outside and stood in the snow. As the wind blew her habit sideways, she crossed her arms. Obviously agitated
,
the elderly woman thought to herself,
I wish these men would just leave us alone. Why did they have to interrupt my morning prayers. Couldn’t it wait until later? We’ve already had to deal with a body being found there.

“Dive in the pond? Sheriff, I don’t understand. Why would you go to the trouble? Don’t you already have the body?”

Stopping to consider his words carefully, the sheriff replied, “Mother Superior, there’s reason to believe that this pond may hold some evidence as to the cause of Timothy Field’s death. After all, his body was found in it.”

“Pardon me, Sheriff, do you really believe a pond can give you that answer? Is it necessary? You know it is a special memorial. I don’t want your men damaging anything.”

“I assure you that it is completely necessary, Mother. We wouldn’t pay for the resources if we didn’t need to do it,” he replied.

Mother Superior Mary Ellen uncrossed her arms and let out a deep sigh. “Do what you need to, but don’t disturb anything. Excuse me, Sheriff, but I need to get back to my morning prayers.”

Mother Superior pushed the door closed after she headed back inside, but before it latched, Sheriff Johnson’s hand intercepted and held it open.

“Mother, we are about to begin the dive search in less than an hour. Everyone needs to stay inside. We can’t take any chances on contaminating the scene. I may need to ask you more questions later.”

“Very well, go ahead and dive in Father Barnhill’s pond, but I doubt you’ll find anything.”

In the distance, a sedan and a white van pulled up beside Sheriff Johnson’s cruiser. “Mother, they are here, so I need to get back down there. I will be back up here later to ask my questions.”

“Don’t let your people destroy Father’s memorial, the garden, or our cemetery, Sheriff!” She folded her arms and frowned at him as she pushed the door completely closed.

Sheriff Johnson shook his head and murmured under his breath. Looking at Williams, he said, “We better get started.”

The sheriff trudged down the hill towards a large cluster of investigators. He could see Peter pointing at the pond as he gave instructions to the divers.

* * * *

In his chambers, Judge Taylor was reclining in his comfortable leather chair while reviewing some files. Several dark cherry bookshelves lined the wall behind his desk. A myriad of professionally posed faces gazed out from ornately framed family photographs on every shelf. Soaking up the sunlight as it streamed in, a vibrant plant sat quietly in the office windowsill. On the opposite wall, several photographs displaying the judge’s many years of accomplishments, as well as diplomas and plaques.

As Judge Taylor worked, there was a soft rap on the door. He responded, “Come in. It’s open.”

The door opened, John walked in with Deputy Williams following closely behind. “Hello, Your Honor. Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice.”

The judge looked up and said, “It’s quite all right, Mr. District Attorney. I was just reviewing some case files, but it’s nothing that can’t wait.” Looking over at the deputy, he added, “Hello, Deputy Shamberg.” Judge Taylor reached out and shook each of their hands.

“I think you’ll be pleased to hear our news, Your Honor,” John smiled.

Gesturing toward some chairs in front of his desk, Judge Taylor said, “Please have a seat, gentlemen. Make yourselves comfortable. Can I have Audrey bring you some coffee or water?”

Everyone sat down, and the John said, “Thank you, Your Honor, but we’re in a bit of a rush. Perhaps next time.”

Judge Taylor replied, “Sure. Where is Sheriff Johnson?”

“The sheriff is out at the monastery pond right now overseeing the dive search. You may recall, that is where Timothy Fields’ body was found.”

“Yes, how could I not remember? It’s been all over the news. Now, can you tell me what you need from me?”

John answered, “We need a search warrant signed, please.”

Judge Taylor asked, placing some reading glasses on the bridge of his nose. While glancing over some papers on his desk, he furrowed his brow. “A search warrant for the monastery?” Squinting, he exclaimed, “You have got to be kidding me!”

“It is true, Your Honor. We have video footage linking a nun with some missing evidence from the morgue. Someone in a habit was caught on the surveillance videos at the hospital. The items that were taken were the effects from Timothy Fields’ body after it was recovered. The sheriff had Deputy Williams put a copy of the clip on a flash drive. It should be with the other paperwork that he dropped off. Did you see it, sir?”

Judge Taylor leaned forward and picked up the flash drive labeled
Timothy Fields Case
laying on his desk. “Not yet. I guess this is it.”

After inserting it in the computer slot, he clicked on the file. The night vision video footage automatically spread across the screen and began to play. All three men watched the video intently.

The unlit room suddenly brightened when the door opened. As the sheriff and Williams had seen previously, a person stood in the doorway, apparently wearing a habit. The person’s identity was obscured by their own shadow and the darkness of the room. Only the nun’s silhouette was visible as she walked over to the lockers.

Taking out a crowbar from the billowy sleeve, the nun pried the locker door open. Taking out a large bag from under her robes, she shoved everything into it and hid the bag under her robes again. Immediately, she stood up and headed out the door and down the hallway.

Judge Taylor sat dumbfounded and staring at the screen. “Wow! I would have never imagined seeing that! Of course, we can’t tell whom she might be. Do you have anything else to help narrow it down?”

John replied, “Your Honor, Mother Superior Mary Ellen admitted that she was probably one of the last people to see Timothy Fields alive, and they were at the monastery. In addition, the victim’s missing shoe was found behind the monastery building on the backside that faces the pond. Some snow-covered tracks leading from the building towards the pond were found the day that the body was discovered. Unfortunately, the storm covered up any shoe imprints that may have been left.”

The judge sat back in his chair and paused for a moment. “I take it that you need to look in the monastery to try to find the missing evidence?”

“Exactly, sir. We want to try to get to it before it may be destroyed. We hope to find the evidence so we can determine which nun may be responsible. The only way we know of is to search the monastery, since all of the nuns live there.”

“All right, Mr. District Attorney. I will sign the search warrant. However, if you want to link it to one specific person, you will need to have evidence that directly links to such. I hope that this doesn’t come back to bite us in the rear. It’s not often you have to search a monastery for a murder investigation. Please relate the importance of discretion to the sheriff and the team. We don’t want a public fiasco all over the news.”

John nodded and said, “I know, Your Honor. I hate having to do this, but it is necessary to hopefully find Timothy Fields’ killer.”

Judge Taylor nodded, as he signed the search warrant. “Here you go, Counselor. That’s all you needed for now, right?” He asked while handing the paperwork and flash drive back to John. “Let Audrey make a copy of that search warrant before you leave, please.”

John put everything in his briefcase, except for the warrant. He smiled and replied, “Yes, sir, for now. I hope this leads to an arrest soon. It would be nice to put this case behind us all as soon as possible.”

The judge looked up and held out his hand. Immediately, John stood up and shook the judge’s hand, making direct eye contact.

“Thank you, Your Honor.”

As Deputy Shamberg rose from his seat, the judge looked at him and smiled. “Keep up the good work, Deputy.”

Shamberg replied, “Thank you, Your Honor. Have a good day.”

“You do the same.”

John and Deputy Shamberg headed directly out the door, and down the hallway. As they reached the receptionist’s desk, they both nodded politely.

“Thank you, Miss Audrey. The judge wanted to make a copy of this warrant for your files,” John said, handing the warrant to Audey.

Audrey took the document and made a copy before handing it back to John. “Have a wonderful day.”

“Thank you, and you have a great one too.” John smiled warmly as he opened the office suite door to leave and get the monastery search underway.

John glanced at Shamberg and smiled. “Another big ‘to do’ item checked off the list, Deputy. Hopefully, it will pan out.”

Shamberg smiled back and replied, “I hope so too, sir. Do you want to ride in the cruiser? Or, are you going to drive?”

Pausing to think for a moment, John replied, “I think I’m going to pick up Katy and bring her out there with me. It would be a good opportunity for her. We don’t serve many search warrants around here.” He chuckled and waved. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Good-bye, Counselor,” Deputy Shamberg replied and waved. “I’ve got a couple of things to do before I head out. I won’t be long.”

John smiled and waved back as he headed out the door and then directly to his car. Picking up his cell phone, he dialed a familiar number. “Hello, sweetheart. Would you like to come with me as the sheriff serves a search warrant at the monastery? It would be a great experience for you.”

On the other end of the line, Katy gasped. “Really? At the monastery?”

“Yes, I can talk to you more about it on the way. It’s incredible. When can you meet me at the office?”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. You know that I wouldn’t miss this.”

John chuckled and replied, “Great! I’ll see you at the office then. Love you. Be careful.”

“I will, John,” Katy said as she hung up the phone.

C
HAPTER
26

Deputy Shamberg parked his cruiser at the edge of the monastery driveway. He started toward the pond carrying the search warrant in his pocket. As he got closer, he noticed Dr. Peter Balkan talking to his radio, giving instructions to other team members as they searched the area outside the back of the monastery for more evidence. Deputy Williams reached the sheriff as they stood and watched the divers don their thick nylon dive suits.

“Here you go, Sheriff. I have the search warrant. John and Katy should be here shortly.” Shamberg handed the legal paper to Sheriff Johnson.

The sheriff smiled and replied, “Awesome! I’ve been anxiously waiting for this.” He said, holding up the document. “Thank you for taking care of that, Deputy. Now, we may find some more clues inside the building, in addition to the pond.”