Secrets in the Shallows (Book 1: The Monastery Murders) (33 page)

C
HAPTER
30

After gathering his team in a corner of the monastery foyer, Dr. Peter Balkan broke everyone up into two-man teams. “We need to spread out in order to cover this entire building, but I still want everyone to stay in contact with everyone else. Keep your radios on. Let me know if you find anything significant.”

Peter continued, pointing down one of the hallways. “Joe and Tristan, go ahead and cover the east end hall with the nun’s quarters.” Changing the direction he pointed, he added, “Harry, I’d like you to search the kitchen and dining areas off of the northern hallway.”

Pointing up the stairs at the end of the hall, he said, “I am going to search of the offices upstairs in the west hall. I don’t know if we’ll get all of that done before we need to call it a night, but do the best you can. We will have to resume in the morning to search the balance of the building. We probably won’t even get to the sanctuary and choir room today. We have a lot to do, so let’s get started.”

Everyone nodded and began heading towards their designated areas. As Peter picked up his evidence kit, he heard quick, light footsteps moving towards him. Turning around, he immediately noticed Katy’s soft curves as she almost glided across the floor with angelic grace.

As she approached, he said, “Hello Miss Katy. Off for a stroll?”

Katy smiled and said, “Just washing my hands.”

“Too bad you can’t help me with the evidence search. I could use an extra pair of hands like yours.” Peter smiled back at her.

Blushing from the attention, Katy grasped her purse firmly and said, “I should get back to the interrogations. Good luck on your search.”

Peter replied, “Thank you, Katy. With your blessing, I will have to find some good evidence.”

Katy blushed again as she replied, “See you later, Peter.” She walked toward the groom’s parlor with a smile.

* * * *

Katy walked into the handsomely decorated groom’s parlor, where Sheriff Johnson and John were comfortably sitting around, discussing their plan of action. Several pieces of paper were scattered on a small coffee table in front of them. The sheriff held his notepad with the entire list of suspects on site. Katy perched on the couch near the men and quietly listened to the conversation.

Sheriff turned to John and said, “Williams and Shamberg are making arrangements for the nuns ready to stay at the inn overnight. It’s been a really long day, and they will need to get settled over there. I’ll just have Williams interrogate all of them at the inn, except for Mother Superior. I’ll talk to her myself. To make sure I don’t step on any toes, I will call Bishop O’Connell’s office in a bit and explain the situation.”

He continued, “I want us to talk to her soon. She was the last known person to see Timothy Fields alive. I need to make sure she didn’t have anything to do with the murder. Something we need to consider is how would that old woman drag that young man all the way to the pond and drown him?”

John replied, “Perhaps she hit him on the head first, knocking him out, and then somehow was able to drag him down to the pond. If she went ahead and drowned him, then she could put the noose on his neck weighed down with the heavy rock. Finally, she could sink any bodies in the pond and the rope would keep them from being discovered right away.”

“I don’t know. I still have a hard time believing that Mother Superior could do something like that. I’d have to have a lot more proof to convince me,” Sheriff Johnson commented.

“Well, hopefully the team will find what we need to get an answer,” John smiled.

* * * *

All alone upstairs in the west hallway, Peter took a deep breath as he stopped in front of Mother Superior’s office. After putting on a pair of latex gloves, he turned the knob and pushed the door gently open. An eerie silence was broken by the squeaking hinges as he walked in and turned on the light switch. Quietly closing the door behind him, he stood and looked around at the dull and depressing room. The only furnishings found were a simple wooden desk and two leather chairs. In the corner, a gray metal filing cabinet sat alone.

I wonder what’s in there,
he thought to himself.

Attempting to press the metal button at the top of the filing cabinet, he found it was locked. On top, a lonely green and white ivy plant sat with its long vines draping down onto the cabinet surface. In hopes of finding a secret key, Peter reached in the plant with fingers. Digging around on top of the potting soil, he was sadly disappointed.

“Nothing,” he whispered.
Perhaps the key is in her desk
.

Peter pulled the leather chair out from the desk and yanked the handle on the middle drawer. Tugging firmly, it slid open where he found a key resting within a pile of paperclips in a small white box.

How convenient
, he thought.
Most people hide keys like this. I guess living in a monastery may have something to do with the lax security.

Retracing his steps to the cabinet, Peter quickly inserted the key into the lock and turned it. As he heard the latch release, he immediately pulled the drawer open. Completely pleased with himself, he rubbed his hands together with excitement.

“Let’s see what we got here?” he whispered to himself.

Peter stared at dozens of manila file folders. They contained the names of every student that had attended the Catholic school for decades. Reaching in, he thumbed through each one quickly.

“F ... F ... F ... Fields,” he said aloud. “Where are you Timmy Fields?” Working through the many files, he finally recognized one. Pulling out the manila folder, Peter opened it. Inside, he found a cassette tape, along with some papers.

“Counseling Session Number Three,” he read aloud, while skimming through the paper. Working his way down towards the bottom of the pile, Peter saw Timmy’s name, but there was no signature on the line.

Picking up the cassette, he held it up for a moment to check its condition. Checking the top of the desk, he saw no tape player, so he opened the side drawer. Inside, he found a bottle of whiskey and a single shot glass.

I guess even Mother Superior needs a high ball every once in a while. I don’t blame her since I personally know what it’s like to deal with people’s problems every day,
he thought to himself.

Holding the glass up to the light, Peter noticed fingerprints on it. He put it in an evidence bag. Carefully grabbing the whiskey bottle, he placed it in another bag and labeled them both.

Next, Peter checked the bottom drawer, and found a large tote bag tucked in the corner. He smiled at his discovery and quickly picked it up. As he looked inside, he saw several articles of clothing, including a solitary men’s shoe.

“Jackpot!” Peter exclaimed, as he grabbed his camera and took several pictures of the drawer before picking up the tote bag. Immediately, he put it inside a large evidence bag.
I bet this is the missing evidence, but I want to hear this tape before I radio the sheriff.

Carefully rummaging through the other drawer contents, he found a cassette tape recorder. Picking up the machine, he placed it on the desk. After inserting the tape, he pushed
play.
Immediately, the conversation began.

“Good morning Timothy. How are you today?”

“I’m okay, Mother Mary Ellen.”

In order to get past the introductions, Peter pushed fast forward and listened some more. Suddenly, a lightning flash pierced the sky outside, illuminating the room completely. Peter’s heart jumped in his chest as the clash startled him.
Another storm already? I guess the weather forecast was wrong.
Turning his attention back to the tape recorder, he sat at the desk and pushed play again.

“Don’t tell anyone you know this. Okay?”

“Your mind is playing tricks on you, child,”
Mother Superior Mary Ellen’s voice replied.

Peter pushed rewind and then stopped it again. As he pressed play, a crackling noise blared from the speaker.

“What do you know, Timothy?”

“I know who killed Tom Green.”

Peter pushed the stop button and rewound the tape slightly.

“I know who killed Tom Green.”

Thunder rolled as a flash in the distance dissipated. Flickering lights sputtered for a few seconds as the stone floors vibrated. Peter pressed the off button to the tape recorder and looked up toward the light hovering above him.

“Oh, don’t go out. Don’t go out, please,”
he quietly pleaded.

Lightning struck again in the gardens outside, shaking Mother Superior’s window loudly. Darkness infused the room as the power went out completely. Peter carefully got up and fumbled for a flashlight from his evidence kit.

“Wow! That was close! I haven’t seen a thunder snowstorm in a long time,” he exclaimed.

A sharp pain shot through his foot as he stubbed his big toe on the desk leg. Stumbling forward, he caught himself with the front of the cabinet, knocking the flashlight onto the floor. He yelled,
“Damn!”

Frustrated, he leaned down in the darkness and patted the floor, but his missing flashlight still eluded him. Lightning struck once more. The brightness of the flash revealed that the flashlight had rolled under the chair by the desk. Cautiously, he crept over and picked it up.

“Without the lights, it looks like we’re through for today,” he said.

Picking up his radio, he said, “Sheriff, I believe I have what you’re looking for, but without electricity, we may have to call it a night.”

Sheriff Johnson’s voice responded, “Okay, Doc. I want to see what you’ve got, but we need to get everyone to a safe location. Go ahead and get your guys back to the foyer. We’ll finish this up in the morning. I need to get the sisters to the inn soon anyway.”

“Fine, Sheriff. I’ll get everyone together and show you what I found.”

“Okay, Doc.”

Pushing the
talk
button again, Peter said, “Come in, Forensics Team.”

Joe’s voice replied, “What’s up with the lights?”

“With the power out, we should wrap things up and head to the foyer. We’ll resume in the morning.”

“All right, sir.”

Peter sat the flashlight up on the desk and pulled an evidence bag from his kit. He secured the tape recorder, put it in the bag and then labeled it. Carefully, he replaced everything in his kit. Picking up his flashlight, he scanned once more around the room before heading to the front entrance.

C
HAPTER
31

With his kit strap over his shoulder, Peter aimed his flashlight to navigate the stairs. Reaching the hallway below, he grasped a couple of larger evidence bags in his free hand as he headed to the foyer and gently rapped on the groom’s parlor door. From inside, a voice beckoned him to come in. Opening the door, he quickly entered the dimly candlelit room and sat down on the couch beside Katy.

Placing the flashlight to shine upward from the table, Peter set the kit on the floor. Moving some papers aside, he laid two clear evidence bags on the coffee table. Inside the bag, the solitary shoe landed on top of the pile of recovered items.

Peter asked, “Seems like the power doesn’t want to cooperate, eh?”

Sheriff Johnson replied, “Yeah, we were just about to make sure the nuns were being transported to the inn and get out of here for the night. I’ll take Mother Superior back to headquarters for questioning. John will be busy getting some papers together to exhume Tom Green’s body.”