The Prodigal Nun (12 page)

“He’s angry, and I can’t blame him. He pulled the deputy off monastery duty to help us search.”

“So the monastery was left unguarded because of us?”

“That’s the way it shapes up,” she said. As they pulled out into the road, she could see the deputy walking back from the cycle to his vehicle. “At least he’s going to be able to go back now.”

Sister Jo followed the deputy’s vehicle, and the Antichrysler
brought up the rear. A short time later, as they drew close to the monastery, Sister Agatha saw the deputy’s department vehicle once again parked across the street from their entrance. They waved as they went by, and then continued up the monastery’s driveway.

Inside the open gates, Sister Bernarda parked next to the Harley. A second later, Sister Jo came out of the parlor, Pax at her side.

“Thanks for coming to check on me,” Sister Jo said. “I was stupid, falling for that fake Mr. Stevens’s call. Then I took the wrong turn after leaving the highway and had to come back the long way. At least I got the chance to try out the Harley. That’s sure one cool ride, Sisters!”

“Why didn’t you even attempt to find one of us? Sister Bernarda had the car keys. And are you licensed to operate a motorcycle?” Sister Agatha asked.

Sister Jo’s mouth fell open. “Well, no, but I knew how to drive it, and Mr. Stevens sounded so…disappointed. I figured there wouldn’t be any harm in taking the motorcycle on a quick delivery.”

“If you’d called St. Augustine’s and checked, you would have known it was a crank call,” Sister Agatha replied. “We were worried sick that you might have been lured into a trap by…you know.”

Sister Jo paled under Sister Agatha’s steady gaze. “A killer, like with Jane Sanchez? I didn’t think of that. I was just worried that some poor elderly man would go without his only hot meal of the day. But Our Lord must have been protecting me. On Calle de Elena I passed another deputy.”

“A deputy?” Her words sparked Sister Agatha’s curiosity—the sheriff had said there was no officer in the area. “What exactly did you see?”

“He was meeting some guy in a baseball cap. The man was holding a big envelope in his hand, too,” she said. “I didn’t get a close look at the deputy, so I can’t tell you who he was.”

“What happened then?” Sister Agatha asked, leading the way back into the parlor.

“Once I found out that the address I was looking for didn’t exist, I turned around and came right back to the monastery.”

Sister Agatha shook her head in frustration. “No, regarding the deputy’s meeting. What can you tell me about that?”

“Not much. As I said, I didn’t get a good look. All I noticed was that the deputy was tall and wearing his tan uniform and cap. Sunglasses, too.” She paused, then added, “Come to think of it, he had something in
his
hand, too…” She squinted, and a pensive look came over her face. “I think it may have been a camera.”

“Anything else?” Sister Agatha pressed, keeping her voice low since the portress was on the phone.

Sister Jo thought about it a moment, then finally shook her head. “I don’t think so. And I really am sorry if I worried you. It never occurred to me that I was being punked.”

“Punked?” Sister Bernarda asked.

“Scammed. Set up,” Sister Jo added in explanation.

“Welcome to the twenty-first century, Sister Bernarda,” Sister Agatha said, finally finding a reason to smile. Looking back at Sister Jo, she grew serious once again. “Okay, it’s over, but let’s all learn from this and not be fooled again. Keep in mind that we still don’t know the extent of the threat against us, but one woman has already died. One of us—maybe you—could be the next target.” Sister Agatha met Sister Jo’s gaze and held it.

“I’ll be more careful next time. I’ll make it up to both of you, too. What if I take a double shift as portress? How’s that?” she asked brightly.

Sister de Lourdes beamed Sister Agatha a hopeful smile.

“All right. Sister de Lourdes will be grateful for the help. One more thing—did you ever think to inform Reverend Mother that you’d left the monastery grounds?” Seeing Sister Jo shake her head, a mortified expression on her face, Sister Agatha continued. “An extern needs to get permission before leaving the grounds. That’s our rule, except in a grave emergency, of course.”

“I’ll tell Reverend Mother what happened right away,” Sister Jo said, then excused herself and left the parlor.

Sister Agatha stood by the window, looking back down the road, lost in thought. After a few minutes, Sister Bernarda cleared her throat. “Okay, what’s bothering you? Is it something to do with the meeting Sister Jo witnessed—the deputy and that civilian?”

“You read my mind,” she said, turning around. “Maybe it’s just my imagination working overtime, but I can come up with some interesting explanations for what she saw.”

“Like what?” Sister Bernarda pressed.

“What if it was Gerry Bennett paying off the person who murdered his mother-in-law, or maybe someone he enlisted to help with the logistics, like stealing Louis’s bike?”

“Then again, it could have been just another deputy receiving information from an informant,” Sister Bernarda countered. “Maybe the man in the baseball cap gave the deputy the envelope after Sister Jo went by. It could all have been perfectly legitimate.”

As the bells for the Angelus rang, Sister Agatha glanced at Sister Bernarda. “Let’s join the sisters at prayer. Then, after Sext and our meal at one, we’ll head back into town and see what we can dig up.”

Closing up the parlor, they returned to the peacefulness of their cloister.

A
FTER THEIR MEAL, REVEREND MOTHER APPROACHED
Sister Agatha. “Follow me to my office, child.”

Moments later Sister Agatha sat down across from the abbess. She could see Reverend Mother was deeply troubled about something.

“This morning we received four crank calls and six disturbing e-mails,” Reverend Mother said at last. “Though they came from different locations and e-mail addresses, collectively they’re threatening to harm us—for no stated reasons. I reported these to the sheriff, and Sister de Lourdes sent copies of the e-mails to his computer. Sheriff Green said that it could all be the work of one person. The calls in particular seem to be so. Sister de Lourdes said that although the caller was trying to disguise his voice, he sounded pretty much the same each time.”

“E-mails from the same person can come in from multiple addresses, too,” Sister Agatha answered.

“Although the deputies will continue to watch our monastery, I’d like us to take all the precautions we can as well. That’s why I called you here. How much danger do you think we’re facing? We won’t close the monastery, of course, but we could send some of our sisters elsewhere until the crisis is past.”

Sister Agatha took a slow, deep breath, then let it out again. “Mother, I think we’re being manipulated. Sister Jo reported what happened to her over at St. Charles, and we’ve been the victims of vandalism and dirty tricks. But I think the real issue is Jane Sanchez’s murder. Whoever killed her is trying to confuse us and the sheriff.”

“So you believe that we’re in no danger?”

Sister Agatha paused for several seconds. “We can’t afford to assume we’re safe or that someone is just out to scare us. On the other hand, I just can’t figure out a motive for whatever’s going on, unless it has to do with Jane Sanchez.”

“Our monastery has always been a place of safety, and our older sisters in particular are having a very difficult time coping. We need to put an end to this situation, child.” She stared at the statue of the Blessed Mother, then, at long last, added, “As of right now, you’ll have no other duties except helping the sheriff find out who killed Jane Sanchez.”

“Mother, if I may make one small request?”

“What is it, child?”

“I’d like to be able to travel to town alone during daytime hours whenever I need to do so. Seeing two of us together in the station wagon isn’t going to dissuade anyone who really wants to come after us. The Harley is much more practical, and, oddly enough, seeing me on the cycle makes people smile and puts them in a good mood. I’ve also noticed that I get more cooperation when I’m alone with Pax.”

Reverend Mother considered it, then nodded. “All right, but
if any extern has to go into town after dusk, I still want you to travel in pairs. The rest of the time you may use the Harley—as long as you continue to take Pax along.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

“I also wanted to thank you for going to check on Sister Jo. Some of what happened wasn’t her fault, but I’m glad you reminded her of our rules. Now that I’ve spoken to her, I’m sure we’ll never have another incident like that again.”

Sister Agatha left Reverend Mother’s office and went directly to the parlor. Sister Bernarda was behind the desk just hanging up the phone as she came in.

“I’ll be taking the Harley and running the errands in town with Pax this afternoon. Mother’s okay with that,” Sister Agatha said.

Sister Bernarda nodded in approval. “Pax is the best second you could have. Between his running speed and those huge teeth, he can do far more to protect you than I could.”

Sister Agatha laughed and realized she hadn’t done that in several days. It felt good. “Give me the list of afternoon errands that need to be done. I’ll take care of those while I’m in town and be back as soon as possible.”

Sister Bernarda handed her a sheet of paper, and Sister Agatha studied it for a moment. “Onion sets, drippers, hose, connectors, and other irrigation supplies. I should have room in the sidecar for this. These are for the drip system Sister Jo has drawn up for us?”

“She claims it’ll save us a lot of water, even if we just use it for the roses and other perennials. We can do the work ourselves, and the materials are cheap,” Sister Bernarda said. “The nursery you suggested, Southwest Gardens, carries everything we need.”

“I was hoping it would. That’s the place where Jane
Sanchez worked. We’ve done business there before, and I know the owner.”

“You were hoping for a chance to go there on business so you could ask them about Jane?” Sister Bernarda asked.

“Yes,” Sister Agatha admitted.

“Go with courage and leave the rest to Him,” Sister Bernarda said resolutely.

“Amen to that.”

Sister Agatha was in the Harley with Pax a short time later. With his huge panting grin, Pax was enjoying the feel of the wind whipping past his face to the utmost. She, too, loved the sense of freedom that came from being on the Harley and always took time to thank the Lord for this blessing.

By the time Sister Agatha arrived at the nursery, the onion sets and other supplies were in a small cardboard box waiting for her. She paid for the order, then went to speak to the owner, Josh Douglas, about Jane.

After seeing to Pax, who would remain in the sidecar in the shade of a cottonwood tree, she went to find Josh. She found him out back beneath a shaded work area, transplanting seedlings into hand-painted clay pots. In his midsixties, Josh still led a very active life. He wasn’t the kind who’d ever even consider retirement, even though his years as a policeman were past.

“Hey, Sister Agatha. I’m sure glad you sisters have decided to go with a drip system. Saves a ton of water.”

“We have a new nun at Our Lady, and she’s helping bring our garden into the twenty-first century. So how’s business, Josh?”

“Fine, but maybe I should be asking
you
that question. Any news? I heard that the monastery also got some threats outta that.”

“It’s true, and I’m trying to help out,” she said with a nod. “The situation affects us directly.”

“I see your point,” he answered with a nod. “I’ve given some thought to what happened, and I’m satisfied that nothing about her work here was connected to the crime. Jane was our bookkeeper, which kept her away from the rest of the staff—a good thing, because she could be very controlling. But she was a great worker and always made us look good at the end of the year.”

“Did she ever talk to you about family or personal problems?”

“Of course she did. Jane was a gossip and had lots of issues with her daughter and son-in-law. Jane was sure he was cheating on Evelyn and was doing her best to catch him in the act. She’d even started bringing the car to work instead of having Louis drop her off so she could go find Gerry during her lunch hour and check on him. Those are hard facts, and exactly what I told the sheriff.”

“She sounds obsessed,” Sister Agatha said. “How’d that all work out for her?”

“I don’t know, but I do know that Jane came back from lunch one day last week acting really strange. I didn’t ask her about it because I really didn’t want to know.”

“Do you think she saw something that upset her?”

“Maybe, but if she’d seen Gerry messing around, I’m almost sure she would have said so. It was the kind of thing she’d want
everyone
to know. Jane really wanted to get Evelyn away from Gerry. She hated that guy.”

Sister Agatha shook her head, now realizing that her brief conversations with Jane after Mass had only shown her the tip of the iceberg. How could anyone so pious on Sunday become so bitter and hostile the rest of the week? “Obsession of any kind can take over your life.”

“I hated having to tell the sheriff any of this. I think it was Jane, not Gerry, who had the problem. Still, it gives Gerry a motive for wanting his mother-in-law out of his hair permanently. That’s not the kind of information I could withhold with a clear conscience.” He met her gaze. “Anyway, I know Tom Green won’t let this ruin his objectivity when it comes to Gerry Bennett.”

“It’s too soon to do much except gather information,” Sister Agatha assured him. “There are way too many possibilities and confusing clues to sift through.”

“Gerry’s argumentative and controlling, just like Jane was,” he said. “I know that from experience. In my book, that’s probably why they never got along. Gerry’s a tough guy, and he only shows his softer side around his daughter, Mary. I’ve seen him here with her, picking out flowers he was going to plant by her playhouse—one he built on his own. Anyone who sees that side of him would never forget it.”