The Oldest Sin (36 page)

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Morton duck out. She moved quickly to the other end of the pew, burrowed through the glut of people standing in the vestibule, and followed him.

As she stepped into the chilly night air she saw only a trickle of people making their way to their cars. Most everyone was still inside. To her immediate right was a gravel path that curved around to a stone arch on the north side of the building. When the service was a funeral, and not a memorial, that’s where the hearse usually parked. She started down the path but stopped when she heard someone whisper, “Mrs. Greenway, over here!”

She turned, squinting into the darkness. Morton stood at the south end of the chapel. The soft, undulating hills of Lakewood Cemetery stretched out behind him, a faint glimmer of dusk still visible in the western sky.

She accompanied him around to the back of the building.

Stopping in front of a door marked flower room delivery entrance, Morton put a finger to his lips. He looked carefully over both shoulders and then said, “I knew I’d find you here. The six o’clock news said there was going to be a memorial tonight. I gotta talk to you. I been thinkin’ about this all day.”

“Thinking about what?” asked Sophie, seeing a look of tension cross his face.

He drew her closer to the door. “Here,” he said, handing over the envelope. “Isaac gave me this last week. He asked me to keep it for him. I didn’t tell you about it the other day ‘cause it was a secret.”

“What is it?”

“It’s stuff he planned to use against the Purdis family if he needed to. He was plannin’ to leave that church and take as many folks with him as he could. Did you know that?”

“I suspected it.”

Running a nervous hand over his unshaven face, he continued. “He told me not to look at it, just keep it safe. And then he made me promise not to tell no one about it. Not even the wife.”

Sophie wished she had a flashlight in her purse. She had everything else. In the darkness, there was no way on earth she could read.

“But I broke my promise,” said Morton, shaking his head. “Do you think that was wrong?”

“No,” said Sophie. “Isaac’s dead now. Who knows? He might even have wanted you to open it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. So I took all the stuff out and looked at it. You’re never gonna believe what I found.” Snatching the envelope back, he reached inside. “Remember I told you Isaac helped some girl get an abortion once? Well, I was wrong about part of it. He didn’t get her pregnant, another guy did.”

“Do you know what guy?”

“Sure. It was the head honcho’s son. Hugh Purdis.”

Just as Sophie had suspected. “And you’ve got proof?”

“Shit, yes. That’s what’s in the envelope. There’s a prayer list that belonged to the girl. All it talks about is Hugh
this
and Hugh
that.
Poor kid, she really had it bad for him. Then there’s some legal crap — a notarized letter from some doctor. The sleaze admits he lied about how the girl died. Way back when he said it was cancer. This paper says he takes it ad back. She died from a botched abortion.”

Sophie couldn’t believe her ears. This was incredible luck. “Anything else?”

Morton shoved an audiotape into her hands. “That,” he said angrily. “I played it on my kid’s box this afternoon. There’s a label on die plastic case that reads ‘May twelfth, 1971,’ and then the words ‘Counseling session with Ginger Pomejay.’ When Isaac worked at that college, did he, like … counsel people?”

“That was one of his primary responsibilities,” said Sophie.

“That’s what I figured. He must’ve taped the sessions. On this one, the girl admits she’s pregnant, and that Hugh Purdis is the father.”

It was everything Sophie needed, all neat and tidy and ready to hand over to the police. They’d have to listen to her now. “But why are you giving it to me?”

“I want you to pass it to the cops.”

“But… why don’t you?”

“Hell no, lady. I ain’t no fool. The cops don’t know about me and Isaac, and I ain’t gonna tell ‘em. Besides, if they get enough on someone else, they won’t come lookin’ for me.”

So, thought Sophie. The police hadn’t connected them yet.

“Look, you can make up some sort of story, can’t you? Ted ‘em someone mailed it to you or somethin’. Use your imagination. But, yeah. The main reason I brought it to you was so you could help clear Isaac’s name. I’d bet you any thing he didn’t have nothin’ to do with Mrs. Fiore’s death. It was probably that Purdis guy. And the more me and the wife thought about it, the more we figure Purdis murdered Isaac, too.”

Sophie’s thoughts exactly. Stuffing everything back into the envelope, she said, “I’ll do my best.”

Morton stuck out his hand. “Thanks, Mrs. Greenway. And —” He hesitated, jamming his hands into his pockets. “Remember, don’t mention my name.”

“They won’t find out about you from me,” Sophie assured him.

“Great. Will you call if you get any news?”

“I will. And thanks, Morton. This will make all the difference.”

He gave his cap a yank and then took off running around the side of the building.

Sophie stood for a moment, her eyes rising to stars just beginning to appear in the night sky. A harvest moon sat directly over one of the mausoleums on the hill, shining a brittle light down onto its triangle façade. All around her, the graveyard was silent and empty. Peaceful, in its own way. For the first time all week Sophie felt truly hopeful.

Remembering that Bram was still inside, she tucked the envelope under her arm. As she rounded the corner she walked straight into Adelle Purdis.

“We need to talk,” said Adelle, her body blocking the narrow path.

Sophie was startled, but tried to hide it. Adelle was the last person she wanted to run into right now. “If you don’t mind —” She tried to push past her.

“I do mind,” said Adelle, standing her ground. She took her right hand out of her raincoat pocket and pointed a gun at Sophie. “I’ll take that.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Adelle grabbed the envelope. “I’ve been looking for this all week. It was kind of you to find it for me.”

“You mean —”

“Yes. I heard everything. Lucky for me I followed you out here.”

Sophie’s eyes dropped to the gun barrel. “Adelle … wait. Just think for a moment.” She knew, even as she said the words, that it was hopeless. “You have to be reasonable. The police will find out what Hugh did sooner or later. Save yourself now — and your son.”

At the mention of her son, Adelle leveled the gun at Sophie’s stomach and said, “Walk.”

“But… where?”

“Down that hill,” she said, pushing her forward. “I’m right behind you, so don’t make a sound.”

Sophie tripped and stumbled. Scrambling to her feet, she said, “Adelle, this is crazy.”

“Shut up.”

“But… what are you going to do?”

“Just keep moving.”

Sophie perched precariously on a gravestone, easing off her right shoe and rubbing her ankle. She’d twisted it as they’d run down the hill. Attempting to keep her voice calm and steady, she asked, “Where are we going?”

Adelle stood over her, breathing hard. Glancing up to the mausoleums at the top of the hill, she said, “I don’t know. Maybe up there.”

“But… why?”

“I don’t know!” She spun to her right and walked over to the gravel road. “Where does this lead?”

“The road? It crisscrosses the cemetery. It doesn’t really lead anywhere.”

“Then … how do you get out?”

“Through the front gate.”

“But… there are guards on the front gate!”

“Then I guess you take your chances with the spiked wrought-iron fence.”

Adelle whirled around, looking wildly in every direction. Sophie could feel her confusion, and her desperation. “Look, Adelle, can we talk for a minute?”

“Shut up and let me think.”

“I want you to know that I understand. You’re guilty of nothing more than wanting to protect your husband and your son.”

“Get up.”

Sophie tried to put some weight on her foot but stopped when a searing pain shot up her leg. “I can’t. I think I sprained my ankle. Let me rest just a minute more.”

“Look, you either cooperate or I shoot you right here.” She leveled the gun at Sophie’s head.

Sophie didn’t really believe she’d do it. Adelle wasn’t a killer, but she was frightened. “All right,” she said, hobbling to her feet. Right now she didn’t see that she had any other choice.

“Walk in front of me.” Adelle directed her through the darkness. The streetlights from Dupont Avenue shed some light on their path, though instead of staying close to the street, Adelle pointed them deeper into the graveyard. Sophie felt certain that Adelle didn’t have a clue where they were going, they simply had to keep up the appearance of movement. Yet when the pain in her leg became so terrible that she couldn’t stand it another minute, she eased onto another gravestone. “Let me rest here, Adelle. Please.”

Adelle leaned against a tree, catching her breath. “Okay, maybe… maybe I need some time to figure this out.” Looking back at the chapel, she said, “We’ve got to get out of here, but to do that we’re going to need a car. Howell will eventually get impatient and want to leave. He’ll send Hugh out to look for me.” Walking a few paces away from the tree, she announced, ‘“We’re just going to have to wait here until he comes.”

Bram would discover that she was missing, too, thought Sophie. She had to hold on to the hope that he’d find them first.

“You know,” said Adelle, “this is all your fault. Cindy told me you thought I lied yesterday. If you’d minded your own business, none of this would be happening.”

“But Ginger was my friend,” said Sophie indignantly. “So was Lavinia.”

“Just… shut up.”

“Look,” said Sophie, slipping off her shoe. The ankle was starting to swell. “I understand why Hugh did what he did. I was part of the church once myself. I haven’t forgotten the doctrines.”

“Meaning what?”

“Your son, Joshua. He could never become the head of the church if Hugh had fathered a child before him. Even if that child didn’t live, it meant your boy wasn’t Hugh’s first child — there would always have been a question whether or not he was Hugh’s first son. And that, in and of itself, would have disqualified him to be a minister.”

Adelle dropped the hand holding the gun and just stared at her. “Amazing, Sophie. This is so true to form. Why don’t you stay out of matters that don’t concern you?” She sank down onto a gravestone.

“But … I wanted some resolution about Ginger — about what happened to her. And then, about Lavinia, too. I understand what your life’s been like. I’ve been there myself, seen the kind of isolation you live with as a minister’s wife. Only, I’m sure with Hugh, the isolation was ten times worse. It’s tough always having to set the example, be the role model. You’re never allowed to form any real friendships because you have to keep so much hidden.”

‘Tell me about it.”

“But, Adelle, you can talk to me. I won’t judge you.”

“How generous.”

“I need to understand. I need to hear it from you.” She took a chance. “I was right, wasn’t I — about Hugh’s motive for Isaac’s murder?”

“Oh, don’t feel sorry for Isaac. He was a complete bastard. He’s been dangling that little tidbit of knowledge over our heads for the last twenty-five years.”

Of course, thought Sophie. Isaac must have wielded a great deal of power. “If he told Howell what he knew —”

“Howell would have hit the ceiling. He’d have tossed Hugh and me out of the church. And Joshua, well, he could forget being a minister.”

“But Isaac arranged the abortion. He couldn’t exactly deny it.”

“Which is why I never worried all that much about him talking. We all had something to lose. I figured it was a standoff. That is, until this week. I realized too late that the balance of power was about to change.”

Sophie nodded. “I knew something was up when I saw all those evangelists checking into the hotel.”

“Yes, you would have recognized them wouldn’t you?” She got up and walked back over to the tree, holding the gun stiffly at her side as if she were almost afraid of it “The fact is, Howell finally found out what Isaac had been doing behind his back all these months. He intended to toss him out, and that’s exactly what he would have done except for one small point Isaac threatened to take half the church and most of the ministry with him. Howell pretended to reconsider, but only to test the waters, see who was still on his side.

“Isaac wasn’t stupid. He knew his days were numbered, so he forced a showdown. He had nothing more to lose. So, in a masterstroke, he decided to blackmail Hugh into joining his side against Howell. Hugh would have been the final zircon in his fake diadem. No matter what my husband did, he couldn’t win. If he threw in with Isaac, Joshua was lost. He’d never become the head of the true church because Isaac was hell-bent on destroying it. He was changing doctrines, Sophie. He no longer believed abortion was wrong. Since most of the ministry agreed with him, he had nothing to fear from his past. Hugh, on the other hand, did. And in Isaac’s new church — well, guess who was going to lead that? On the other hand, if Hugh stayed with Howell, Isaac threatened to spill the beans about Ginger. Either way, Joshua was lost, and so was die church. There was no other way.”