Chameleon (30 page)

“No, Zoo. She don’t pay much attention to current affairs.” Mangiapane was surprised that Tully was surprised that Aunt Marie didn’t read the papers or watch TV news much. Of all people, Tully, with his lack of interest in events that had nothing to do with his work, should appreciate Aunt Marie’s information gaps.

“Okay,” Tully said. “Go on.”

“Well, I asked Aunt Marie what the old lady would do if she knew her nephew wasn’t a priest anymore. She didn’t have to think about it a minute. Right off she said the old lady would be mad as hell and would cut Stapleton out of her will.”

“Just because he stopped being a priest?” Tully obviously found that hard to believe.

“That’s the way it is with Catholics, Zoo … at least the oldtime ones. They’re proud as peacocks when a relative gets to be a priest or a nun. But let them quit and their names might as well be mud. Anyway, Aunt Marie says that’s not likely to happen: The old gal hardly ever comes to anymore. And on the off chance she would be wide awake anytime that Aunt Marie was with her, she said she’d never tell her. The old gal’d go bananas. It could kill her.”

“Either the nun or Stapleton ever come to see her?”

“Sister Joan used to come and visit. But she stopped a long time ago. I guess it just wasn’t worth the effort. As far as Aunt Marie knows, Stapleton never came.”

“Do the nun and Stapleton know about the inheritance?”

“Aunt Marie isn’t sure. But back when the old lady was a bit more with it and used to talk about her nephew and niece, she’d say how proud she was of them and that she told them she’d leave everything to them. So if she wasn’t dreaming, I guess they do know.”

Tully thought about that. “Wait a minute: Stapleton’s got a teenage daughter. He’s got to have quit the priesthood long ago. How come his aunt didn’t know about that?”

“If he never visited her when she was cookin on all eight, it’s possible. There’s not much general publicity on a thing like that. Usually there’s nothin’ in the regular papers or on TV. And the Catholic paper usually just says the priest has taken a ‘leave of absence.’ So it could work out, They were never all that close anyway. The old lady wouldn’t fuss about her nephew not comin’ to visit. She’d just be quiedy proud that he Was what she thought he was. In time she’d die, he’d have half her money, and he’d be sayin’ Masses for her way beyond her time in purgatory.”

Tully knew better than to ask what in hell purgatory was about. “Wait a minute. He was a priest. Could he have kept all that money?”

“Oh, sure, Zoo. He was a secular priest. He didn’t have no vow of poverty. He coulda kept the bundle.”

For a moment, Tully thought of the only priest he knew to any degree. There was a fleeting image in his mind of Fatfier Koesler living in a luxury high rise, fantastically wealthy. It was a ridiculous notion. But briefly amusing.

Tully realized to what supposition all this was leading. He wondered if Mangiapane did. “So, whaddya think, Manj?”

“What I was thinkin’, Zoo, was that maybe this case ain’t anything like what it looks like. Suppose Stapleton knows about the inheritance. He probably does if the old lady really did tell both of them about it. Then he knows that when she dies—which can’t be far off—he and his cousin split a fortune … if mey’re both alive.

“But what if the nun dies in the meantime? Then Stapleton gets the whole enchilada. Of course, he could make sure she was dead by killing her.”

“And the Hoffer murder?” Tully was gratified that his detective was reaching the same conclusion he had.

“Well, I was thinking, Zoo: Suppose Stapleton wants his cousin dead. With the contacts he’s kept up with priests and nuns, it ain’t hard for him to find out her routine, if he didn’t already know it. So he either already knows or he finds out that she usually get home real late at night. He waits for her outside St. Leo’s. Somebody in a nun’s habit who looks like her gets out of a cab and heads for the convent. It has to be her, doesn’t it?

“And so he kills the wrong cousin. The cousin who would never have made it into the old lady’s will because, far from being a nun, Helen’s a prostitute.

“Now he finds out he’s killed the wrong woman. Then I stop sombody from pulling a copycat murder. He develops plan B—or maybe it was part of his plan all along. He kills another head of another diocesan department. Right away we figure it’s some sort of plot to knock off department heads for God knows what reason.

“Meanwhile he can go back anytime he wants and get the right cousin. Maybe after that he kills the old lady. Or if he can wait just a little while, she’ll do him a favor. And dien he’s got it—the whole bundle.”

Tully was tempted to call out a “bravo,” but he didn’t. “Good, Manj. Very, very good. I love it. It gets us out of all this mumbo jumbo about Vatican Councils and priests who can’t marry and priests who are married so they can’t be priests and people who are mad at the Church for a zillion reasons.

“Now we got simple greed. That we can deal with. Get on it, Manj. Start digging into Stapleton. Get into his financial records—debts and liabilities. His daughter’s going to some ritzy music school. Look into that. I’ll get the rest of the squad into other facets of the man’s finances. This is it, Manj: Let’s wrap it up before he gets back to the nun.

“And, by the way, it probably would help if he knows we’re onto him. It may keep him away from the nun. So squeeze him, Manj; squeeze him.”

“You got it, Zoo.”

Both were elated. The conclusion of a very complicated investigation was nearing.

It was time for a celebration. But that would come later. Right after they caught the bad guy and delivered him for trial, conviction, and punishment.

Archbishop Lawrence Foley was surprised when he answered the door to find Fadier Ralph Higgins.

Higgins was an old buddy from Miami. He and Foley had been friends all through the seminary years. After ordination their paths separated. Higgins had been assigned to a series of parishes in the St. Augustine diocese—from which the diocese of Miami was created in 1958—until he had been named pastor of St. Agatha parish and finally pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Boca Raton. Foley, of course, after ordination spent only a brief time in parochial ministry before he was sent off to Rome for graduate studies, followed by a series of chancery assignments; then he became a bishop and ultimately archbishop of Cincinnati.

Even though their ecclesiastical careers diverged, they remained close friends. After Foley had moved on to Cincinnati, whenever he and Mark Boyle vacationed in Florida, they would stay with Higgins.

“Ralph! What a surprise!” Foley exclaimed. “What brings you here?”

“Like most things when you reach our years: a funeral.”

Foley’s demeanor instantly changed to one of concern. “Oh, I am sorry. Who was it?”

“A sister-in-law. Not terribly close, But at this stage in life, one of the last of the relatives. I thought I owed it to her memory—and, of course, to my brother, God rest him.”

“But, if I had known … I would have attended the funeral … we could have gotten together, done some things.Why don’t we—I could get some tickets … the symphony, a show—?”

“No time, Larry. Another time. I just got in this morning. Leaving in just a couple of hours. Just couldn’t be in town without seeing you, even for only a few minutes.”

“Well, that’s great. Can I get you something, anything?”

“No, no; had supper. I can only stay a few minutes.”

Foley took his friend’s coat, and they proceeded to the comfortable living room where Higgins was assaulted by a small but eager dog. He tried petting the animal but it wasn’t having any. “Now I know how the early Christian martyrs felt.” Higgins laughed.

Foley spoke sternly to the dog. “John Paul, come! Sit! Stay!” The little spaniel mix bounced willingly to Foley and sat contentedly against his leg. “His manners are not the best, but he’s an obedient little fellow.”

“John Paul?” Higgins tilted his head. “You named him after the Pope?”

“It was the least I could do.”

They laughed.

“I’m so sorry you can’t stay,” Foley said. “Mark will be too.”

“Can’t be helped. How is Mark, anyway?”

“Very fit, I’d say. Walks a lot. Stays healthy.”

“That’s the secret, okay. The path to health is not to get sick. But try telling that to the oldsters in Boca Raton. And, by the way, Larry, when are you and Mark coming down? It’s January, you know.”

“Just. I’d like to go. God knows these old bones don’t react very well to all this cold and snow. But I haven’t been able to convince Mark it’s time for us to migrate. I wish … I fervently wish I could.”

“I wish you could too. After all, Larry, Florida is your home.”

Higgins never admitted it, even to himself, but he was jealous that Foley had chosen to live out his retirement in Detroit rather than in Florida. Quite simply, it meant that Foley’s friendship with Mark Boyle was stronger than his attachment to Higgins. So much stronger that Foley would endure the bitter Michigan winters instead of basking in the warmth of the sunny South. In addition, Foley’s roots were in Florida, not in Michigan, nor even Cincinnati.

“It’s not just the warmth or the golf or the relaxation,” Foley said.

“That’s not bad for starters.”

“Yes, yes, I know, Ralph, But I’m worried about Mark. You’ve probably read about these two murders we’ve had here involving people in diocesan administration.”

“Even with all the murder and crime we’ve got in Florida, yes, Michigan murders regularly out-bizarre us. Yes, I know of them. But—”

“They’re not solved. Not even close. And I have this feeling that Mark is on the list … on the killer’s list.”

Higgins was genuinely shocked. “You must be kidding. What ever for? Why would anyone want to harm the Cardinal?”

“I’m afraid it’s not ‘Why would anyone?’; it’s more ‘How many would?’ You must be aware there are a lot of unhappy people out there suffering in one way or another from the effects of the council.”

“Sure. Although I don’t think it’s as bad where I am. By and large, most of our Catholics—at least the ones who still go to church—match the somewhat advanced age of the clergy. We are all precouncil people. So we tend to put as many of the changes as possible out of our minds as well as out of our liturgies.”

“Well, that’s not the case up here, Ralph.”

“I know. I know that. But for heaven’s sake, Larry, you’re talking about murder. That’s a whole lot more than just being a disinterested, disgusted, or even an angry Catholic.”

“It’s strange, I admit, even incredible, but it seems to many of us—it seems to me—that’s exactly what’s going on.”

“I find that hard to believe, frankly. But if that’s what you people think, all the more reason for you to come on down. You know our routine for vacations. Nothing evil can happen to you down there.”

“I know that well. That’s why I’ve been trying to convince him to go. But I think he feels his place is here now while danger threatens. The Irish have a phrase,
an beárna baol
—the gap of danger. It’s the spot where the bravest position themselves to take the brunt of any attack. You know Mark. You know he’s not the type to run from danger. Just the opposite.”

“Yes, I know. But even if you’re right, there’s nothing stopping you from coming down. Hell, you’re retired. You can spend as much time as you want wherever you want.”

“I can’t leave him, Ralph. I know there’s not much I can do to help or protect him. But I can’t leave him. Not now.”

Higgins shrugged. “If you can’t, you can’t. But we’ll keep your rooms cool and ready.” He was giving up reluctandy, bowing to inevitability. He glanced at his watch. “I guess it’s time for me to be getting out to the airport.”

“So soon? I was going to ask you about old John Gordon. Is he still helping you at Lourdes?”

“ ‘Helping’? That’s a rather generous word for what John does at Our Lady of Lourdes. Actually, we try to talk him out of ‘helping’ us on the weekends.”

“He’s worse, dien?”

“I’ll say. His latest symptom is a kind of unconscious kleptomania.”

“Kleptomania!”

“Stoles, altar breads, every now and again a chalice.”

“Are you sure?”

“Uh-huh. He’ll finish Mass, divest, and every once in a while tuck a vestment or some such in his overnight bag. I just go through the bag as a matter of routine before I drive him back to me home. I retrieve the items that belong to the parish or me. We never mention anything about it. But it’s nerve-racking.”

“Poor man.” Foley shook his head. “It’s just age, I’m sure. Could happen to any of us—please God not. How old is he now … in his late eighties?”

“Ninety going on a hundred. You might get a kick out of what happened when we celebrated his ninetieth birthday. Actually, it was a super turnout. Incredible when you think he doesn’t have any contemporaries left. They’re all dead now.”

“Careful, Ralph, we may be the closest he has to a classmate.”

“I don’t know about you, Larry, but I plan to be a little bit more in control as we assail the seasons.”

“Anyway, I interrupted: Go on with your story, Ralph.”

“Yes, well, there must have been a dozen, fifteen, priests there to concelebrate Mass with the old man. One of the guys was John Miller. You remember him, Larry?”

“I think so. Good sense of humor. Used to be Gordon’s assistant, wasn’t he?”

“Uh-huh. Pastor himself now. Well, you know how stooped over the old man is—almost doubled over”

“Yes, yes, the poor man.”

“Well, we are all vesting before Mass, and Miller came over to the old man and said, ‘I want to get one thing settled: Are you going to straighten up or are we all going to have to stoop over like you?’”

Foley chuckled.

“Then, during the Mass, right after the consecration, he put the chalice down on top of the host. He covered the bread with the chalice. None of us saw him do it; Actually, we should have been paying closer attention. Anyway, just before the Lord’s Prayer—”

“The minor elevation,” Foley cut in. “Don’t tell me: When it was time to elevate the host and chalice, he couldn’t find the host!”