Secrets in the Shallows (Book 1: The Monastery Murders) (53 page)

“I don’t understand why the body wasn’t autopsied, that’s a state law,” John replied.

“As you know, it’s a small town. Things just fell through the cracks. Besides, my wife and I refused to have it done since it wasn’t required,” Tom said, wiping his eyes.

Sheriff Johnson opened up his manila folder and said, “Okay, so tell me about Tom Junior. I understand he was a difficult young man to deal with?”

Tom spoke up, “We admit, he was a bit of a troubled teenager.”

“Did he ever get in trouble at the monastery?” the sheriff asked.

“Yes, and he had to do some extra chores as punishment, from what I was told,” Helen spoke up.

“Why did he have to do
extra
chores, Helen?” John interjected.

“Well, Tom called me from the school saying he had to stay late because he didn’t wear his jacket on the second floor. Apparently they’re very strict about the uniform codes.”

John spoke up. “Yes, they are. I remembered that from when I went there as a boy.”

Tom added, “We never realized how bad it was until we got a call from Deputy Williams one night. Mother Superior heard a bunch of noises at the monastery cemetery and called the sheriff’s department. The deputy caught Tom as he was heading back into the woods. It seemed Tom had gotten into some trouble by knocking over several old tombstones there. Mother Superior wouldn’t press charges as long as Tom took care of repairing the damages and cleaning up the graffiti. He also had to do some extra chores every day after school for a month.”

“Were there any other instances that you know of?” John asked.

Tom replied, “Another time, he did disappointed us even more. He marked up a bunch of the hymnals and prayer books. I never saw them myself, but the deputy said that there were all types of vulgar pictures and foul language scribbled with permanent ink. We had to pay for all of those books to be replaced!”

He continued, “It cost us about $800 for just the books. However, we couldn’t believe she didn’t press charges for the second violations. We thought she was being merciful by letting us replace the damaged books, and so we agreed to her terms. For his punishment, he had to attend counseling for a full two months, in addition to doing extra chores for the entire time period.”

Sheriff Johnson weighed in, “You didn’t suspect any ulterior motives?”

“Absolutely not! Why would she allow him to get off with chores and replacement costs to turn around and kill him? It just doesn’t make any sense. We thought she had genuine intentions, or we wouldn’t have agreed.”

The sheriff leaned back in his chair and said, “I see. Approximately how many sessions did he attend?”

“He had been going to see her for about seven weeks. I remember, because I especially thought about him being almost finished with his punishment. We both hoped that it was going to be the last time we’d have to deal with his antics. Little did we know that it would be our last time for another reason,” Helen answered.

Tom Sr. added, “Even with the counseling sessions, he didn’t get control of his anger. In fact, it seemed to only increase his frustration by going.”

“So when did you figure out that he was missing?” Sheriff Johnson responded.

“When Tom didn’t come home for dinner, we got concerned and called his girlfriend, Laura Price. She hadn’t heard from him since the night before when she broke up with him,” Helen replied.

“How did he act the day he went to school?” John asked.

Helen shrugged her shoulders. “He acted a little moody, but nothing out of the normal. In fact, he was excited because it was the last day of school before Spring break. He would still have to go to his sessions and do his chores during break, but at least he didn’t have classes on top of them. I could tell the months of extra chores had been wearing on him. I was very worried about him; spiritually, emotionally and physically.”

“When he didn’t show up by midnight, Helen called the Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Williams came out to the house and filed a report,” Tom said.

Tom put his arm around Helen as she sobbed. “The sheriff and some deputies came the next morning and started their search. We put fliers up all around the town. Friends and neighbors searched both day and night, yelling his name out constantly. They even brought some of their search dogs. As you already know, they found him in the monastery pond.”

“Laura showed up at our house. She told us that Tom had taken the break up very hard. In fact, it devastated him, according to her.”

“I’ll need to talk to her, too,” John looked at them. “Can you please give me her parent’s phone number?”

Tom lowered his head. “Yes, I’ll get it for you when I get home.Before this week, I never realized he was murdered. We failed him.”

“Well, when we found Tom’s red backpack, we felt there may be a connection,” John admitted.

“Yes, when Sheriff Johnson contacted us, he said they’d discovered new evidence in the pond,” Tom, Sr. replied. “He told us they had found something probably connected with Tom’s death. After collecting the other evidence we have, we have little doubt that Mother Superior is the one who killed your son, as well as Timmy Fields. Since the two cases are so similar, we will try them together, once we get to that stage.”

Anger flushed Tom’s face as he exclaimed, “I want you to make her pay for taking Junior’s life!”

“That’s what I intend on doing, Mr. and Mrs. Green. Now, do you have anything else you think would help with the case?” the sheriff asked.

“I think that’s all for now,” Tom replied.

Helen chimed in, “I can’t remember anything else right now. However, if we think of anything, we’ll let you know right away.”

John turned off his voice recorder and replied, “Then, I think we’re done here for now. Eventually, I’ll need you to do a deposition to finish preparing for the court case. I’ll call you when I need to schedule it, or if I have any more questions.”

“All right, I hope you find all the evidence you need,” Tom responded. “We’ll get out of your way so you can do your job.”

“Thank you for coming in to speak with us. You have been very helpful,” Sheriff Johnson said as he walked over to the door.

“Our pleasure, Sir,” Tom replied, standing up and holding out his hand to assist his wife.

Helen took his hand and stood up. She turned to John and said, “Thank you, Mr. Smith.”

As the couple headed out of the office, Sheriff Johnson shook their hands and closed the door behind them. Turning to John, he said, “Since we got these interviews done, and enough evidence to support the second arrest warrant, I’m going to go ahead and call Judge Taylor to see if I can meet him on my way home.”

John furrowed his brow and replied, “You sure about that, Sheriff? You know how the judge is about his days off.”

The sheriff chuckled and said, “I know how he is. Believe me. However, I need to get this done before the arraignment on Monday, and it might as well be today. I think he’ll understand.”

“It’s your funeral,” John laughed. “Let me know how it goes. Maybe I can still meet up with Katy and help her pick out some china patterns or something.”

Sheriff Johnson guffawed, “I think I’d rather go talk to the judge. You go right ahead.”

John picked up his briefcase as he stood up and walked towards the door. “I don’t mind, actually. At least I know she’s picking it out because she’ll be
my
bride.”

“I can understand that. I remember being young and in love. Go have fun,” the sheriff said as he walked back over to his chair to sit down. “Talk to you soon.”

“All right, good luck then. Enjoy what’s left of your weekend,” John said as he waved back and headed out the door.

* * * *

At home in his living room, Judge Taylor was reclining in his comfortable leather chair while looking over some files. Surrounding him on either side were dark walnut end tables with various photos and knick-knacks depicting some of his favorite family memories. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t hear his wife, June, walk in the room.

“Honey, Sheriff Johnson is here to see you,” June said.

The judge pried himself out of his chair and stood up as the sheriff came in.

“Come on in and have a seat, Sheriff,” Judge Taylor said, reaching out to shake his hand.

Sheriff Johnson reciprocated. “Hello, Your Honor. Thank you for meeting with me on your day off. I really hate to bother you. However, with Mother Superior’s arraignment scheduled for Monday, I wanted to get this taken care of beforehand.”

The judge gestured for the sheriff to sit down and retook his seat. “It’s quite all right, Sheriff. I was just looking over some files, but I know that this case is very important. So, do you have enough to prove that Mother had motive to murder Tom Green?”

“Absolutely, Sir. Do you recall that we had the recording of Timothy Fields’ counseling session with Mother Superior?”

Judge Taylor nodded and answered, “Yes, I remember. Did you find of Tom Green’s sessions in her office?”

“Yes, Sir. In addition to the tapes, John and I also re-interviewed both sets of parents, and found out a great deal about what happened.” the sheriff replied. “Apparently, Tom Green had a really bad attitude. He was even caught vandalizing the tombstones in the cemetery, as well as writing vulgarities about Mother Superior on a bunch of hymnals. The Greens had to replace the books, and have the damage repaired. Mother said she wouldn’t press charges if he did two months of counseling with her. In one of the recordings, there were some serious threats exchanged, and Mother was in a rage. It was quite strange to hear her act like that, especially with a student.”

“Good find. Is there anything else I need to be aware of?”

The sheriff smiled and replied, “We also have DNA evidence that directly ties her to the murder. Some of her hairs were found on the bricks stuffed in Tom Green’s backpack. The match was 99.8% accurate. The fact that there were bricks with her hairs in Tom Green’s backpack should be enough to indicate a possible homicide by itself. After our investigation, I am confident that Mother Superior had means, opportunity and motive to murder Tom Green. It’s a shame that it’s taken so long to find out the real cause of death.”

Placing some reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, the judge asked, “So, I assume you have the warrant ready for me to sign?”

“Of course, Your Honor,” Sheriff Johnson answered as he pulled out a folded warrant from his inside coat pocket. Handing it to the judge, he asked, “Are you satisfied enough to sign the warrant, Sir?”

Taking the warrant, the judge set it down on the table, picked up a pen and signed it quickly. After removing his reading glasses, he handed the paper back to the sheriff.

“I have to reiterate; you had better be right about these cases. I can’t imagine the fallout we’d face if Mother Superior isn’t the killer.”

“Yes, Sir. You don’t have to explain your concern. Believe me; I have had similar issues with these cases. I was sure it would come back to haunt us all. We just haven’t uncovered any other suspects with solid evidence against them.”

Judge Taylor stood up, extending his hand to Sheriff Johnson. “Well, that’s it then Sheriff. I need to get back to studying those other files again. Is there anything else?”

Sheriff Johnson stood up and shook Judge Taylor’s hand. “No, Your Honor. Thank you again for meeting with me today. Enjoy your weekend and see you on Monday. I can let myself out.”

The judge replied, “Thank you, Sheriff. Have a good day, and good luck with the cases.”

Replacing the arrest warrant inside his inner coat pocket, Sheriff Johnson said, “Thanks, Your Honor.” He turned to wave as he walked out the door.

* * * *

After leaving the Sheriff’s office, John quickly picked up Katy from her house with a special surprise in mind. He even blindfolded her after she sat down in the passenger seat. Meandering down a curvy highway for a few miles, John finally reached his turn off. Pulling from the asphalt onto a private road, he drove down the bumpy gravel. Katy was immediately startled by the noise.

“Where are we going, sweetheart?” she asked.

John smiled and replied, “Patience, baby. It will be worth the wait.”

“You know that isn’t one of my best traits,” Katy laughed.

“I know. By the way, did you have a good time looking for patterns with Ellen?” he asked, trying to divert her attention.

Katy smiled as she answered him. “You’re trying to change the subject. However, yes, we did find several that I liked. Maybe you can come look at them with me next weekend, like you promised.”

“Hopefully, I won’t be busy working on this case then.”

“You better not. I want some quality time with you too,” Katy pouted.

John continued to drive until he pulled in to a parking lot at the end and parked. Looking around, he thought,
Good! It isn’t crowded with people.
Turning off the car, he put his keys in his coat pocket.

“Are you ready for your surprise, baby?” he asked her.

Katy smiled with her eyes still covered by a black blindfold. “Yes, already! I hate waiting for surprises. Can I take this thing off yet?”