MASS MURDER (59 page)

“What about the murder?”

“You mean Father Wingate
.
The boy who committed the murder killed himself
.
Back in those days, the Rectory was up on that floor, at the end of the hall
.
I didn’t know about the secret door, but I suppose that’s how Father Wingate gained access to the boys.”

“Was it only Father Wingate?”

“I don’t think so
.
I have some letters written back then from the Bishop
.
Several monks were relocated and a new
Abbott
was brought in
.
It was a difficult time.”

“Was Father O’Leary a student then?”

“I don’t know
.
I suppose he was old enough to have lived here then
.
We have the re
cords. You could take a look.”

The look on his face made Giorgio believe he really didn’t know.

“What
was his job here?”

“He worked in the library and served as the building manager
.
He hired the janitors and oversaw all aspects of the building’s maintenance.”  Father Damian shifted uncomfortably in his seat
.
“The Bishop has cancelled the forum this weekend
.
He doesn’t want to draw any more attention to the monastery, although he will be coming here directly after the meeting early next week
.
He wants to lend
a ‘steady’ hand, as he put it.”

“I’m sorry
.
I know how difficult this has been
.
May I take a look at those old records?”

“I keep my keys in that little carved box on the top shelf of that bookshelf
.
The small, silver key unlocks the file cabinet in my office
.
If you look in the bottom drawer, you’ll find a set of old files.”

Giorgio located the box and the key
.
As he lifted them out, he noticed the door to the bathroom stood ajar
.
The light was off, but the toilet was still running
. W
ater
was
pooling on the ti
led floor just inside the door.

“Father Damian, I think yo
ur toilet may be running over.”

Giorgio reached in and turned on the light
.
Water was cascading over the top of the commode, soaking the floor mat and getting ready to invade the living room
.
He reached behind the commode and turned off the valve that fed the toilet
.
Father Damian appe
ared at the doorway and moaned.

“Oh my
.
Let me get a mop.”

The monk disappeared into the kitchen
,
while Giorgio grabbed a few hand towels
.
When Damian returned, he asked, “Do you have a plunger?”

“Yes, of course.”

The man seemed disoriented and left the mop propped against the door while he went in search of the plunger
.
Giorgio used the mop to soak up some of the water, but had nowhere to
dispose of it.

“Here it is,” Father Damian said, appearing with a long-handled plunger
.
“But I can call Father Abernathy
.
He’ll take care of it, Detective
.
Please, you don’t have to do this.”  He hadn’t handed over the plunger yet, making Giorgio reach for it.

“Don’t worry
.
I’m chief handy man at home.”

Giorgio took the plunger and lifted the lid to the toilet, placing the plunger over the opening. “I have two children, Father
.
I’ve found all sorts of ghoulish things in the toilet.”  He gave the plunger a shove
.
“I think we need one more,” he exclaimed and pushed the plunger in again.

As he pulled it back, he reached for the handle hoping to flush the toilet and be done with it, but an inadvertent glance into the bowl stopped him
.
Floating in the shallow water was the tip of green fabric
.
He reached inside his coat and grabbed a rubber glove before pulling out the obstruction
.
When a long, green silk scarf emerged, Giorgio heard a loud thud behind him and turned to find Father Damian out cold on the floor.

C
hapter Forty

Father Damian was sent to the hospital, but Giorgio believed it unlikely he had it in him to commit murder. It was more likely he’d been set up. But by whom?

Giorgio
was
spared the news conference
.
The Captain had taken the lead
instead,
refusing to confirm any information about the missing finger or secret passages
.
There was enough information about Anya Peters, Poindexter, Jeff
Dorman
,
and Marvin Palomar to keep the reporters happy
.
He did say though that they were making progress.

Since the children were
spending the
next
few days with a friend to give Angie a break
, Giorgio decided to work and called his brother
.
Mrs. Greenspan had made only soup that night for Angie, so Giorgio
and Rocky shared artery
-
clogging burgers and fries at the kitchen table
while Angie rested upstairs
.

“So, you think whoever killed Olsen is living a secret life,” Rocky slurred through a mouth full of food
.
“Someone trying to hide his identity, but Olsen recognized him
, and he killed her.”

Grosvner had planted himself next to Rocky, his eyes fixated on the French fry clutched between
his
fingers
.
The poor dog’s head turned circles as Rocky drew invisible curly cues in the air as he talked
.

“She didn’t plan on that drink,” Giorgio replied, swallowing
.
“It came as a surprise
.
She was already dressed for the dinner
.
At some point in between the time she dressed for dinner and when she was seen going back upstairs, I think she ran into someone she didn’t expect to see
.
We’ve cross-checked names of people she knew in high school and college, even a couple of part-time jobs she had, but nothing matches.”

“So you think either a monk or one of the confere
nce attendees was in disguise?”

Rocky had finished his burger and got up to throw his trash into the can underneath the sink.

Then he leaned against the counter and pulled out a ci
garette and lighter.

“It could have just been someone who changed his name.”

“Which is it though? 
A monk or a conference attendee?”

“I think the answer lies in why the two of them went to her room in the first place,” Giorgio
replied.
“If the old friend was a conference attendee, they could have shared drinks at the cocktail party rather than going to her room
.
On the other hand, a monk couldn’t be seen drinking socially with anyone.”

Rocky flicked the lighter to life and was about to light the cigarette when Grosvner
suddenly
barked at him
and
then
began to growl
.
Rocky
stopped and threw the cigarette into the sink
.

“
Wow,
” Giorgio exclaimed,
leaning
over
to pat the dog. “It’s okay, little guy.”

“
Sorry, Grosvner,”
Rocky
said
.

Grosvner
scooted over next to Giorgio
watching
Rocky
with anxiety
.
Rocky remained w
ith his back against the sink.

“
I didn’t mean to scare him.
”

Giorgio
stroked Grosvner’s
head
.
The dog began to pant.

“I think he remembers all too well how he got those burn marks
.
We’ll have to be careful around him
.”

“Maybe there’s a doggie therapist somewhere who can help him.”

“Maybe,” Giorgio mused, watching the dog
.
Grosvner seemed to relax now that the item in question was gone
. H
e turned and gave Giorgio a quick lick as if to tell him everything was okay.

Rocky returned to the table
.
“Well, no biggie
.
I should stop smoking anyway.”

Giorgio gave Grosvner a last pat and sat back in his ch
air
.

“
W
ouldn’t it have seemed suspicious that a monk wanted to have a drink at all?” Rocky continued, grabbing his cup
and sucking on the straw.

“My guess is that Olsen knew him before he was a monk
.
She might not have questio
ned the walk down memory lane.”

“And the monk arrived through the secret door.”

Giorgio nodded
.
“That’s another reason why I think it had to be a monk
.
A conference attendee wouldn’t have known about the door
.
The program chair said she heard someone knocking on Olsen’s door when she went to look for her mystery props
.
That meant Olse
n was waiting inside for him.”

Giorgio got up and tossed the last of his fries to Grosvner who snapped them up like a flytrap, all signs of his previous rage gone
.
Giorgio threw away his trash and reached into the
refrigerator for a can of pop.