Secrets in the Shallows (Book 1: The Monastery Murders) (34 page)

He added, “Also, I will have to go to Sanger and get permission from Tom’s parents to have the body exhumed. Once I do that, we can get the judge to sign off on it fairly quickly so we can make the arrangements right away. I have a lot of suspicions about Tom’s death after they found his backpack this morning.” Looking over at Peter, the sheriff asked, “Doc, so what did you find?”

“You won’t believe it, but I think I found the missing evidence from the morgue locker up in Mother Superior’s desk drawer.”

Picking up the bag and studying the contents, the sheriff replied, “That shoe is definitely the mate for the one we found behind the building. Did you find anything else?”

Peter set the bag with the tape recorder on the table and then pulled out a pair of latex gloves from his kit. Putting them on, he opened the bag and pulled the tape recorder out with the tape already inside. Placing it on top of the bag, he said, “I found the school counseling files for the students in her file cabinet too. There was even a file for Timothy Fields that has a cassette tape with some of the sessions on it. I heard enough to know that there’s important info on it about the Fields, and maybe even Tom Green’s case. I couldn’t finish listening to it due to the power outage, but I think it could be an important piece of the puzzle.”

Sheriff Johnson crossed his arms as he listened attentively to Peter. “And you found all of this in Mother Superior’s office?”

“That’s right. Good thing the recorder batteries work. Ready?” Peter asked as he grabbed a pad and pen from his kit to write down some notes.

“Definitely.”

Peter rewound the tape from the beginning and pressed the
play
button. Some static sounded through the speakers before Mother’s familiar voice spoke clearly when the tape began to finally play.

“
Hi, Timothy. Why don’t you come in and sit down? Well, how have you been this week?”

“Oh, okay.”

“You seem quiet. What’s on your mind, child? Timmy, what is it?”

“Can I tell you a secret and you not tell anyone?”

“Yes, my child.”

“You promise?”

“Yes.”

“You remember Tom Green who went to this school?”

“Yes. Now why are we talking about him, Timothy?”

“I know who killed Tom Green.”

After several seconds of silence, Timmy Fields asked her, “Why aren’t you saying anything, Mother Superior?”

She cleared her throat. “How do you know this, Timothy?”

“I saw it, Mother, and I didn’t want to say anything because I was scared.”

“Okay, since you know who killed Tom Green, why don’t you tell me who it was? Tell me, Timothy,” she said emphatically.

“You promise you won’t say a thing?”

“I promise.”

“It was a nun.”

“A nun wouldn’t do something like this.”

“Mother Superior, I swear it was a nun!”

“Timothy, this session is over.”

Timmy began to sob as he asked her, “How can I convince you that I’m telling the truth?”

“But, it can’t be the truth.”

“No, Mother Superior Mary Ellen,” Timmy yelled. “It was a nun. I saw her with my own eyes.”

“This session is over. Your time is up, Timothy,” Mother Superior yelled angrily.

“He was dragged to the pond after he was attacked in the woods. He was standing up and then she made him fall to the ground. She put his backpack on his back, and drowned him in the pond.”

“Timothy, this session is over and if you say another word, I will ... I will...”

“You’ll what, Mother Superior?”

“I’ll put you in detention for lying to me; also you’ll have to scrub every floor in this monastery on your hands and knees. You’ll scrub until you want to die, Timothy. Pick up your stuff and get out of this office.”

“I thought I could trust you, Mother Superior. I don’t understand why you’re so angry with me.”

“This conversation will not go out of this office, unless it is in a confession to Father James Bartholomew.”

“Don’t I have to sign something, Mother Superior?”

“No! This conversation never happened.”

“If I hear another thing come out of your mouth about Tom Green again, you’ll regret it.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Oh God, how could this happen? Oh, I forgot to turn the recorder off.”
Click.

Turning to Peter, Sheriff Johnson said, “I think we have our answer. Don’t you, Doc?”

“Timmy seems to have seen a nun, but I have issues with it. I just don’t see one of the sisters being able to do that. What is her motive? Why would she hurt Timmy or Tom? Could any of the nuns even drag Timmy’s body to the pond? Unless there may be a couple of them working together, it just doesn’t make any sense.”

“The one thing bothering me is that it’s been almost too easy,” the sheriff replied. “When do you think your
Coke bottle
friend will be done with examining the backpack and rope?”

“We should have those hair sample comparison results back by mid-morning tomorrow,” Peter responded. “Coke told me he found several bricks inside the backpack. There were even a few long gray hairs tangled in the rope; matching ones were found on one of the bricks too. Once we get the comparison samples analyzed, we may know who the killer is... Finding the hairs inside Tom Green’s backpack will make a strong case for homicide.”

“When do you think they’ll actually exhume Tom Green’s body?” Katy chimed in.

John smiled and said, “If we can get the judge to sign off tomorrow afternoon, then we could have something set up by the morning after.”

The sheriff leaned forward in his chair and picked up a flashlight. Looking at Peter, he instructed, “Send me your results as soon as possible. I’ll be busy most of tomorrow morning visiting with the Greens. It would be great to come back and have your report waiting on me.”

“We’ll get it done, Sheriff,” Peter replied.

Sheriff Johnson stood up and stated, “Well, it’s starting to get late, so we better get those nuns out of here and taken care of. I’m dying to find out what Mother Superior will say about that recording.” Gathering his paperwork, he moved towards the door.

John, Katy and Peter all stood up and walked into the foyer with the sheriff. John turned to the sheriff and said, “Sheriff, I need to take Katy home soon and get started on some legal paperwork, before I’m done for the night. I’m sure I’ll talk to you in the morning, and we’ll meet up when you get back from seeing the Greens.”

“That will work, Counselor. Be careful driving her home,” the sheriff chuckled.

“Good night, Sheriff. Thank you for letting me join in today. I learned a lot,” Katy said.

Sheriff Johnson smiled at her and replied, “Well you definitely make working with John more tolerable.” He laughed.

John helped Katy into her coat. “She makes work more tolerable in a lot of ways, so I can’t argue,” he replied, smiling.

Peter couldn’t help but notice Katy’s fine figure as she slipped into her coat. He tried his best not to be too obvious as he thought to himself,
She definitely does make things much more tolerable.

In the corner of her eye, Katy caught a glimpse of Peter stealing glances at her. When their eyes met briefly, she coyly smiled and looked away almost immediately.

After donning his own coat on, John and Katy gathered their things and headed outside to leave. As they walked out the door, Katy quickly looked back to see Peter watching her.

The sheriff and Peter spotted Williams standing guard in front of the bridal suite. As they walked over to him, the deputy smiled and said, “Sheriff, Deputy Shamberg and I were able to escort each nun to get what they need for their overnight stay. The transport is waiting outside.”

“Very good, Deputy. Thanks for all your hard work today. I hate that it’s going to be just a bit longer,” the sheriff said.

“I’ll take care of the everything, sir,” Williams replied.

“Then go ahead and get those nuns in the van, Deputy,” the sheriff smiled.

Deputy Williams smiled and punctuated his reply. “Yes, sir!” He entered the bridal parlor and assisted every nun outside to the van waiting in the driveway, leaving only Mother Superior to be transported.

* * * *

Alone in the bridal parlor, Mother Superior Mary Ellen sat on the couch holding her rosary beads and praying.

As Sheriff Johnson entered, he cleared his throat. “Mother, we need to ask you a couple of questions. With the power out, I’m going to go ahead and take you back to headquarters.”

Mother Superior crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Sheriff Johnson, I have nothing to hide. Why am I not being taken to the inn with my sisters?”

Sheriff Johnson replied, “I need to speak with you personally. Deputy Williams is going to speak with the other sisters to get their statements.”

Annoyed, Mother Superior scowled at Sheriff Johnson. Counting at her rosary beads, she asked, “How long will we be gone, Sheriff? I have my duties here, you know.”

“We will talk about that down at the station.”

Sheriff Johnson opened the door and led Mother Superior gently by the arm out into the foyer. He maintained a grasp on Mother Superior’s arm and stopped at the coat rack.

“You will probably need your coat, Mother. I wouldn’t want you to get sick.”

Frustrated, Mother Superior Mary Ellen grabbed her coat and a scarf. Sarcastically, she asked, “May I have my arm for a moment, Sheriff?”

“Be my guest,” Sheriff Johnson replied.

Mother Superior proceeded to put on her coat, being careful to button it up completely. She took a pair of gloves out of her coat pocket and put them on before wrapping a scarf around her neck. After tying it in a knot, she said, “I’m ready now, Sheriff. Where are my sisters going?”

“Don’t worry, Mother. We’ll take good care of them while you’re away. They are being taken to the
Mariner’s Inn
for the night so that we can resume the search again tomorrow morning.”

Lightly grasping her arm again, the sheriff guided Mother towards the front door. As they reached the entrance, Deputy Williams opened it for them.

Looking at Williams, the sheriff asked him, “Deputy, can you station a couple of men to keep watch here overnight. I wouldn’t want anyone to try to break in or anything. Once you do that, you can go ahead and head over to the inn and begin the interrogations over there. I send someone to relieve you before it gets too late.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it,” Deputy Williams said as he closed the door. The sheriff led Mother Superior to his cruiser and helped her inside the car.

C
HAPTER
32

The only thing Mother Superior could think about was the other sisters on their way to the inn.
What’s going to happen to them? They are MY responsibility. Furthermore, what’s going to happen to me now? I wonder what they are going to ask me,
she thought to herself as she looked out the window and watched the snow flurries coming down. Lowering her head in prayer, she whispered, “God, please help me?”

Overhearing her prayers, Sheriff Johnson glanced in the rear view mirror and thought to himself,
I don’t think your prayers are going to help, Sister. You’re just wasting your breath.

Moments later, Sheriff Johnson drove up and parked in front of the Wattsville Sheriff’s Department. After getting out of the squad car, he opened the door to allow Mother Superior to exit the car and stand up.

“Right this way, Mother,” he said as he held her elbow again.

As they reached the front entrance, Sheriff Johnson opened the door and gestured for her to go inside. He maintained a hold of her elbow as they entered a long hallway with several doors on either side. Streams of sunlight shot through the solitary window on the bare concrete wall at the opposite end. With a slight tug, he said, “Right this way, Mother.”

As they approached the second door on the right, the sheriff guided her into a small interrogation room. Pulling out one of the gray metal chairs, he said, “Have a seat, ma’am. Make yourself comfortable, because we’re gonna’ be here while.”