Secrets in the Shallows (Book 1: The Monastery Murders) (49 page)

C
HAPTER
44

Sitting in his office, Sheriff Johnson held a CD that was burned from the original cassette tapes found in Tom Green’s folder. Opening up the plastic case, he placed it in the stereo. Pressing the
play
button, he listened as Mother Superior’s familiar voice began to speak. Before Sheriff Johnson could scribble down some notes, he heard a knock at the door and he stopped the CD.

“Come on in,” he answered.

John came through the doorway, holding three cups of hot coffee and a box filled with assorted doughnuts. “I tried to get here as quickly as I could, Sheriff. I had to make sure that Katy was settled at the office first. I didn’t get any lunch, so I figured I’d get some doughnuts to give us something to snack on.”

Sheriff Johnson licked his lips, as he eyed the tempting doughnuts. “Well, you bringing doughnuts and fresh coffee for me is becoming a habit. It’s just in time too. I was starving,” he chuckled.

John handed one of the coffee cups over to Sheriff Johnson. “Did you miss lunch too, Sheriff?”

“Oh, no. I ate something. But my wife has me on one of those trend diets;
South
something or other. I can’t remember.” Rubbing his stomach, he said, “She thinks I need to lose a few pounds. It doesn’t come close to filling me up though. I have to sneak some decent food here at work.”

The sheriff laughed as he opened the box lid to find a mix of sugary glazed and chocolate covered doughnuts staring back at him. Like a kid in a candy store, he licked his lips and reached in and retrieved a chocolate one.

“Oh, I’m so glad the missus isn’t here to see this. You brought my favorite. Thanks.” Taking a small bite he muttered while chewing, “John, have a seat. Do you know when Peter will be here?”

John grabbed a doughnut and sat down in an armchair. Drinking a sip of his hot coffee, he asked, “He should be here soon. He was talking outside on his cell phone to his lab guy.”

A rapping sounded from the door and the sheriff replied, “Come in.”

Peter opened the door and walked in. Smiling, he sat down in the last available armchair. Seeing the doughnuts, he perked up. “Mmmmmmm Doughnuts. Can I have one, please?”

John replied, “Help yourself, Doc. There’s a coffee for you too.”

Opening the box, Peter picked out a glazed doughnut and grabbed the cup of coffee, smiling. “Awesome! The doughnut’s still warm, and the coffee’s still hot. By the way, I just got off the phone with Coke, and he’s still working on Tom Green’s remains. He should have it done by the end of the day.”

Sheriff Johnson sat down in his leather chair with his cheeks bulging. Finishing his bite, he replied, “So, I wanted to get you both caught up. We went ahead and arrested Mother Superior last night for Timmy Fields’ murder. I feel that Tom Green was murdered too, and hopefully
Coke
will prove I’m right. I have a gut feeling that the two deaths are tied together; and all the evidence seems to point to Mother Superior.”

He continued, “The only difficulty I was having was the fact that even if we prove Tom was murdered, there wasn’t any motive to directly tie her to his homicide; there are only similar circumstances. That was at least until yesterday...” Elaborating, he said, “I was almost ready to leave for the day when I had a call from Lisa Tucker … Timmy’s girlfriend.”

“Oh, what did she say?” John asked, leaning towards the sheriff.

Sheriff Johnson replied, “She told me that Tom came over to Timmy’s house bragging. She said he had knocked over some tombstones at the cemetery, and drew dirty pictures of the nuns in some of the hymnals and such in the monastery. I had Deputy Williams go back to the monastery yesterday, to see if he could find anything in her files.”

Reaching for the manila file folder, Sheriff Johnson held it up and continued, “He found this folder with two cassette tapes of counseling sessions Mother had with Tom Green. Two months of counseling sessions were part of the requirements by Mother Superior after the violations. The parents still had to pay for damages too. It was so that she wouldn’t press charges against Tom for the vandalism he did at the monastery. I’m not sure if there are more tapes, but we have these. One of them seems rather important to the case. John, I have to ask you a question?”

John took a sip of this hot coffee. “What is it, Sheriff?”

“Will you have everything ready for Mother’s arraignment and bond hearing on Monday?”

“Of course, Sheriff. That’s one reason I took Katy to the office. Her paralegal skills really come in handy when I’ve got a lot to do, or if I need to be in court. She’s beautiful
and
smart,” he chuckled.

I would agree,
Peter thought while visualizing Katy standing at the funeral in the black full-length, wool coat she was wearing. “She is a catch, Counselor. I admit I’m a bit envious.”

John furrowed his brow a little at hearing Peter’s comment. Trying to prevent his jealousy from coming out, he scooted forward to the edge of his seat, and reached for another doughnut. “You said that the tapes help understand the motive for Tom Green’s death, right?”

“Yes, one of them seems to be very helpful; especially with the information I got from Lisa. This morning, I had Tech burn these CDs. for you.” Handing one to John and the other to Peter, he added, “We will listen to them, so you can understand why they are so important.”

John took a sip of his hot coffee and replied, “Sure, let’s hear it.”

Sheriff Johnson reached over and pressed the
play
button as John listened intently while the session began.

Mother Superior’s voice began,
“Is your chair comfortable, Tom?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Now, young man, I want to talk about what you did.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Tom, I had a very reliable source tell me that they saw you destroy some of the tombstones. They also said you wrote filthy messages and drawings in the books and hymnals for others to see.”

Sheriff Johnson and John could hear someone pick up a book.

Mother continued,
“Why did you do that, Tom? What has gotten into you?”

Only silence remained for a few seconds.

“Why aren’t you answering me, Tom Green?”
she asked.

The sheriff, John and Peter heard anger in Mother Superior’s voice as she commanded,
“Answer me, Tom. Don’t just sit there with a smirk on your face. Answer me right now! Why are you giggling at me, with that disgusting look on your face?”

John and Sheriff Johnson locked eyes as they heard a sinister laugh coming from Tom on the recording.

“I hate you, Mother. I hate all of you. And if you don’t think what I wrote is bad in the prayer and hymnal books, you just wait, Mother. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Don’t you threaten me, young man, or I’ll—”

“You’ll do what, Mother? What are you going to do to me? You can’t touch me.”

“I’m going to talk to your parents about replacing those books. PLUS, I want you to attend counseling sessions with me for at least two months, or I’m going to press charges on you for property damage. Now, what do you think about that?”

“I don’t give a crap what you do to me. I am going to smear your name all over this God forsaken town. Nobody will want to come to your school. You’re not a godly woman. You’re the Devil!”

“That is absolutely not true, Tom. And, I’m sure your parents will have something to say about your behavior.”

“You blame me for everything! And you give me the nastiest and hardest chores to do, even when I haven’t done anything wrong. So, I wanted to show you a lesson for once! I wanted to show you how it feels to be picked on!”

“Tom, first of all, I don’t pick on you more than I do anyone else. My job to this town is to teach and train responsible, respectable students. I will not condone what you have done. You need to make better choices and to think about what you have done. If you don’t replace every book you’ve ruined, and repair the other damages within thirty days, your punishment will be more severe, young man!”

“What are you gonna’ do, old lady? I’m not afraid of you, Mother. You don’t have the guts.”

“I’m going to put the worst punishment on you. You will regret being such a destructive boy!”

On the recording, Sheriff Johnson and John heard a chair toppling onto the floor.

“You stupid nuns can have your Heaven. I’m already in Hell!”

“Wait! Where are you going, Tom?”
Mother Superior yelled, followed by the sound of a door slamming loudly.

“Tom Green, you need to pay for your sins! I have a plan of my own, young man. You think you got back at me? Well, I’m going to get back to you!”

With that statement, Sheriff Johnson, John and Peter jerked their heads up at once and looked at each other.

John exclaimed, “Wow!”

Sheriff Johnson stopped the CD and looked over at John, smiling.

John said, “Great job, Sheriff! That’s exactly what we needed!”

“I thought you would be happy about this. It backs up what Timmy’s girlfriend told me about last night, and ties a lot of things together. Tom was a problem and had to be dealt with; and Timmy happened to see her murder him. It all makes sense now. Oh, and the date on that tape was only about two months before Tom’s body was discovered. Coincidence? I think not.”

John replied, “I agree with you, Sheriff. Do you think it’s enough to get the other arrest warrant?”

“With all of the DNA evidence, the rope, backpack, recovered evidence from her desk, and the autopsy reports, not to mention the witnesses and tapes to back them up, we have a lot to support the case against her. I think we have plenty to get the second arrest warrant signed by the judge. I’m going to go ahead and have Williams write his evidence report, so I can get the official complaint filed and move forward with it.”

Turning to John, the sheriff asked, “Can you get started on your part of the paperwork right away, so we may be able to get it signed as soon as possible? It would be nice to get the judge to spare a few moments over the weekend, so it will be all taken care of before the arraignment.”

Glancing at his watch, John replied, “I’m trying to get interviews setup with the Greens and the Fields couples. We need to discuss the circumstances of both Timmy’s and Tom’s deaths in more detail, especially concerning the vandalism instances at the monastery. I’ll let you know when I get something setup. However, to answer your question, I should have enough time to take care of what I need to, Sheriff.”

“That’s good. Thank you, John. I want to get this case underway.”

“I’m anxious to have it taken care of too, Sheriff,” John smiled. “You said there were two cassettes that were found? Are they both on the CD we have?”

“Yes, the CDs have both sessions on them. We still have one more to listen to now. I haven’t had time to listen to it yet with everything going on. Had to appease the wife last night, if you know what I mean?” Sheriff Johnson said, chuckling.

“I understand completely. Well, let’s listen to it. Maybe this will help even more,” John replied.

Sheriff Johnson nodded and grabbed a doughnut.

“Ready for the next one, whenever you are.” John sipped his coffee and took a bite out of his doughnut.

“Okay. This recording was from before the punishment sessions began, and about 3 months before the last one we heard. Let’s see what else she may be hiding,” the sheriff said as he pushed
play
again.

“Why don’t you come in and have a seat, Tom? How are you doing today?”

“I’m fine, Mother. A lot better than I was.”

“That’s wonderful to hear, Tom. I’m glad to hear that things are going better at home. There’s a big world out there, Thomas. I want you to be ready for it with open arms, and ready to take on the challenges that you may face.”

“Yes, Mother.”

There was a long pause before Mother Superior said,
“You-who!? Tom, where are you? You seem like you’re a thousand miles away.”

“I’m right here, Mother.”

John sat back comfortably on the sofa, and looked up at the ceiling as he began counting the tiles. His interest in the recording seemed less than enthusiastic. Sheriff Johnson looked over at him and noticed his complacency.

“My father isn’t so bad anymore. He hasn’t been as angry lately.”

“My dear child, I’m glad you asked to speak with me. What was bothering you so much that you wanted to meet?”

“I’ve been doing a lot better at home. My mother even paid me to clean out her closet.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, Tom. So, what is on your mind then, dear?”

“While I was cleaning it out, I found an old newspaper. It was yellow and frayed at the edges. The newspaper was dated from about ten years ago. I thought that was kind of cool. However, what caught my attention was the caption on the front of the newspaper. It made me very sad; almost to the point of bringing tears to my eyes, and I don’t cry much. My father always told me, ‘Be a man. Don’t cry, or show your feelings. Only Sissies do that!’”