Chief Among Sinners

by Lois K. Gibson

  Standing at the sink, rinsing off his dirty dishes, he heard Mrs. Murphy's sharp voice. "Stop that messing around and get out of here. You have more important things to do than fuss around my kitchen, like changing your clothes." When he saw the look on her face, he quickly exited her domain.

  Passing through the sacristy and into the peace and quiet of the sanctuary, he wondered if one of his parishioners, sitting quietly in a pew, was part of his Sunday night mystery. As he approached the per­son, the woman raised her hand, and he backed away.

  He looked through the glass panels in the front door and saw four men rounding the corner, heading toward the rear of the church. By instinct, he picked up a collar as he went back through the sacristy. With more willing hands and minds hopefully, they would get answers. He felt better about things for the first time in weeks.

  As he came into the kitchen, Mrs. Murphy was opening the back door to the men. They greeted Mrs. Murphy and politely wiped the leaves and dirt off their shoes on the mat before stepping onto her kitchen floor.

  Nodding to the priest, Chief Addams pulled a young man for­ward, and said, "Say hello to Scott Daniel Addams, Junior. We call him Dan. He's studying to be a detective at the police academy in Minne­apolis. He's been home since Halloween, and I decided to fill him in."

  Terry noticed that young Dan didn't look anything like his father. Rather, he resembled his mother, Louise; he had medium height, slen­der, with soft dark brown curly hair and big brown eyes.

  Aware that small town gossip could easily blow an innocent prank into an all-out scandal, he had tried to keep the story to people who were bound by confidentiality. He didn't let on to Chief Addams that he was annoyed by the intrusion. He just shrugged and said, "I guess it's okay. Welcome aboard, Dan."

  They sat down at the kitchen table. Mrs. Murphy put mugs of hot coffee on the table, and butter, jam, honey, and a basket of biscuits. The priest remained standing, too edgy to sit.

  With his mouth full of biscuit, Kurt Schultz managed to smursh out, "'Pon my soul, Mrs. Murphy, these are the best biscuits I ever ate."

  Reaching for the biscuit basket, the rabbi said, "I'm not a biscuit maven, Ms. Murphy, but I agree with Kurt. There can't be any better than these."

  When they finished off the last of the biscuits, they leaned back in their chairs and looked up at the priest.

  Chief Addams said, 'Well, Father O'Reilly, let's have a look these strange gifts. Show me exactly how and where you found them."

  "We'll need our coats. Everything is out in the shed. Let me see," Terry said, more to himself than to the others, "First the fish, then the chipmunk, the bat, the rat, and the birthing rabbit."

  They put on coats, hats, gloves, and followed Terry out and down the back steps. The priest fumbled with the padlock, reached around the door of the shed, and one by one, lifted out the fish bowl and five boxes. Red ribbons fluttered from the corner of each box, just the way he found them. He hadn't touched the red ribbon around the neck of birthing rabbit, and, after he and Herb examined it, he had taped the hand printed note back in place.

  One by one, each man took a package and placed it on the lowest step, the fish bowl first. Lined up, in a row, it was obvious that, except for the fish bowl, each box was bigger than the last. The animal victims looked weird, even ferocious, each with its mouth propped open with a stick, hat pins sticking out of their heads.

  Suddenly, Terry plopped down on the far end of the bottom step and put his head in his hands. Herb Gordon went over to him. "Hey, what gives, Terry?"

  Terry said, "I've been holding it together, living with this horrible business for weeks. Seeing those boxes, lined up in a row, that last mes­sage, such a desperate cry for help, it's getting to me—somebody doing these murders, these horrible mutilations. It's so awful. Why them? Why me?

  He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his face, blew his nose, then called out, "All right, men. Let's get on with this."

  Terry watched the rabbi, minister, and chief examine each pack­age. He sensed they were embarrassed by his display of emotion but hoped they recognized his sense of dread. He saw each of them pale a little at the last one. A dead rabbit in the process of giving birth to a baby rabbit, and the blatant message, HELP ME. It was enough to undo any sane man.

  He saw Dan Addams step back from the group, seeming less ea­ger than his father and the others to put his nose in the fishbowl and his eye up to each and every box. Terry wondered if it was inexperi­ence or the mutilated animals that kept him back.

  The chief and Pastor Schultz stood up, looked at each other, then at Terry. They didn't speak, but it was obvious neither of them had an insight into what might be the meaning behind the animals. Then, in one swift move, Terry saw Dan move close to the steps, and they all watched as he peered slowly and carefully at the fishbowl, then at each box.

  To Terry, the young man seemed to inhale their aura as much as study them. He remembered the chief said Dan had been home since Halloween and wondered if the young man knew something the rest of them didn't. Noticing a strange expression on Dan's face, as he inspected the small box holding the bat, Terry caught his breath, think­ing, "Boy, am I spooked or what? Am I imagining things, or does Dan look as if he has seen that small blue box before?"

  Chief Addams took Terry's arm, shaking terry from his thoughts. He said, "I see what you mean, Father O'Reilly, about all of this get­ting to you. It certainly is unnerving. After this first cursory glance, I don't know any more than you do. It could be a prank, although that message is pretty jarring."

  Before Terry could respond, Chief Addams announced, "Listen up, men. I've decided to take everything to my office. Maybe one of my other officers saw something like this in another part of town. Let's get to it. Do you have one large box that will hold all of these, Father? I want to keep everything as intact as possible."

  Terry opened the shed door, reached in, and with a quick jerk pulled out a big box. Speaking to the chief, almost apologetically, he said, "Listen, chief, right from the beginning I have tried to keep these specimens intact. Aside from Mrs. Murphy, you four are the only ones to set eyes on them."

  "You've done a good job, too, Father." Addams smiled and turned to his son. "Here, Dan. You heard the priest. Get your lazy ass over here and pack these away without messing them up."

  Dan walked over and very gingerly picked up one blue jewelry box. For the second time, Terry noticed Dan muttering to himself and saw how carefully he handled the small blue box as he placed it into the wooden crate.

  The chief's voice became more gruff. "Hey, Dan, what are you muttering about? If you have something on your mind, speak up. After all, you're a smart ass cop from the big city with more experience than us dumb hicks here in Oakton."

  To Terry the man sounded mean and sarcastic, and he wondered about their father-son relationship, especially when the chief went on, "I figured, you'd have all the answers by now, but you haven't said a word since we got here."

  "All of you," Dan said. Terry was surprised at the quick response. Dan included the men of faith with his father in a wave of his arm, "All this time you've been ruining whatever evidence there might have been. You pawed over every box, shuffled through the dirt and leaves on the ground. If there was a fingerprint, or tell-tale footprint, nobody could find it now. I may not be the brilliant policeman my father is, but I do know simple things like, don't mess with the evidence!" Dan turned and stomped away.

  "Where do you think you're going?" Chief Addams hollered at Dan's back. Dan kept going and didn't look back. He quickly passed the corner and was gone from sight.

  Still holding one mystery box, the chief shook his head, then leaned over to put the box into the crate. He was surprised when the priest came over and gently poked his arm.

  "You know," Terry said, "I'm not sure it would do any good to take these things to the station. If anybody on your staff had come across anything like this, they surely would have told you, chief. A dead animal
with a hat pin through its brain isn't exactly the kind of thing a cop would keep to himself. I'd like to keep them here."

  After the meeting in the chief's office the night before, the priest wasn't surprised at Addams's reaction. Addams fumed, "Hey, wait a minute! You brought me here. You showed me these things, and now it's police business! If you want to look into this, any further, you bet­ter check with me first. I'm not walking away from this thing, no way!"

  Terry watched him get red in the face, staring at the three of them. Terry wondered if it was the dead animals or the altercation with Dan that riled him, or were they seeing the real Chief Addams, like the epi­sode with the leather glove?

  "Wait a minute, chief." Terry placed himself between Addams and the box of dead animals. Speaking softly but firmly, he said, "This is church property and these items were left for the priest at St. Timo­ thy's, that's me, and this is where they're going to stay. If you try to take them, I'll make quite a ruckus. I don't think people in Oakton would appreciate knowing the chief of police came to St. Timothy's and took something away against the wishes of their priest. If you do it here, you could do it at Kurt's church, or at St. Andrews. I don't think people would understand."

  Father Terrence O'Reilly rarely grew to anger. He did not get red in the face, but he set his jaw, determination fortifying his words.

  The chief stepped back, glowered at the priest, and straightened his uniform. He shifted his holster and buttoned his coat before he turned and lumbered across the yard, following Dan's footsteps.

  Terry looked at his two friends and felt a slow grin cross his face. "Well, well," he said. "Was that me? I don't remember ever speaking to anybody like that, my whole life.

  He took a deep breath to calm his growing nerves. "I guess this is really important to me. But what will happen now? If somebody is hurt or murdered, will I be to blame? I don't know what made me do that. I just knew it wasn't right for him to take these things to the sta­tion and have them pawed over. But what do I do now? I don't know anything about forensic evidence, and Dan is probably right. If there ever was any, we destroyed it long ago. I wish Kate was here. She'd know what I should do."

  There was a moment's silence. then Terry watched Herb throw back his head and laugh. Kurt couldn't hold it in, and he laughed until tears started. Terry started to laugh slowly with them, then guffawed. The tension that bound them for the entire morning finally let go.

  Herb wheezed, coughed, calmed himself, and said, "Well, you've done it now. I don't remember seeing Chief Addams that angry, ex­cept last night with the leather glove. I'd worry, if I were you. He'll do something, believe it.

  The rabbi added, "You know, Terry, I think we should get Dan back here. Watching him, I had a feeling he might know more than he let on about these wee beasties of yours. Of course, we want Kate and her insights when she gets home, but, try to use Dan in the meantime. In spite of what the chief thinks of his son, Dan seems to be a pretty good."

  Kurt nodded in agreement. Terry pushed the big box into the shed and turned off the light. He clicked the padlock, tugging on it to make sure it was locked. Each man pulled his coat tight and were strangely silent for a moment. Then they went up the steps into the warm kitchen.

  Mrs. Murphy was at the stove, a long wooden spoon in hand again as she stirred something in a large black pot. "Well, gentlemen, when I didn't hear any talking before you started clumping up the steps, I had time to put out hot chocolate to warm you up. There's a pitcher of cream and a plate of those itty bitty marshmallows on the table, and I've got a pot of vegetable soup here, in case any of you are staying for lunch. No meat, Rabbi." She smiled at him, and Terry smiled at both of them when Herb walked over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

  "Careful," she said. "Don't get fresh with me, or I'll whack you with my spoon." She laughed and added, "There's a pot of cocoa, keeping warm on the back of the stove. Help yourselves. Believe me, with Christmas coming I've got a million things to do around here besides wait on you gentlemen." Mrs. Murphy put down her wooden spoon and left the kitchen.

  At the table, Kurt dropped some marshmallows in his cup, took a big gulp and said, "Hot! Hot! Take it easy guys. Don't burn your tongues like I just did."

  "Well," Herb sipped his cocoa, and said, "if we agree, I'll stop at the Addams house, and if Dan is there, without Chief Addams, he and I can talk. I bet he'd like to get involved. For one thing, because he's a cop, and for another, to show up his father." He took another sip of his cocoa before adding, "I wonder if he and sister Kate are close."

  Terry finished his cocoa and looked at Herb and Kurt. "I am wor­ried about that last message. Let's get on with it, before someone is seriously hurt. If he's interested, Herb, bring Dan here and find out when he expects Kate."

  Kurt finished his cocoa and got his coat. "Call me when you need me." He faced the two men at the table and whipped an imaginary sword from an imaginary scabbard. He lifted it high and said, "Hail the three Musketeers. I am Porthos, you, Terry, are Aramis and our sturdy Athos is off to recruit D'Artagnan. Now, let us touch swords and pledge fealty to our cause. Remember, all for one and one for all."

  Herb chuckled and raised an invisible sword of his own. "We stand together! All for one and one for all!"

  Terry smiled, held up his own invisible sword and shook his head. "You guys are crazy," but he repeated, "All for one and one for all!"

  Five

  Chief Addams lived in the middle of Sycamore Street, not far from the police station. Like the rest of Oakton, it was quiet at 10:30 on a Monday morning. Children were in school, adults at work, and babies were down for naps.

  Rabbi Gordon drove through the neighborhood as he thought about his journey to Oakton. Herb had been one of three rabbis in a large suburban synagogue in Milwaukee. He wanted a change, and thought a small town would be nice, but he didn't want isolation from those things that made life challenging: study, arts, music.

  So here he was in Oakton, Minnesota. Most puzzling to Herb Gordon was the fact that there were Jews in this unlikely place. Explor­ing when and why turned out to be an interesting history lesson.

  He learned that Oakton, nestled in the southern crook of Min­nesota on the Root River, was one of the larger towns in the area with three to four thousand people. The Dakota, the largest tribe in that part Minnesota, called the area Okatonawa.

  Intrepid pioneers came from the East, challenging the Northwest Territory. They were searching for new lands to explore, to trap, to hunt, and to settle. They developed an easy association with the indig­enous tribes—Dakota, Fox, Sioux, Wyandotte, Winnebago—sharing the land, learning Indian ways, and teaching white men's ways.

  In the mid 1800s, women joined the men, started families, and encroached on more and more Indian land. Some Indians learned a little English, but not all settlers spoke English. Relationships got complicated, misunderstandings with the natives arose, resulting in the famous Dakota and Sioux massacre of white settlers in 1862.

  In retribution for the massacre thirty-eight Indians were hanged, and in 1863 Minnesota passed a law driving native tribes out of Min­nesota. Years later, treaties were made and reservations redeveloped; tribes returned, built casinos, and made lots of money.

  A thriving community developed in Okatonawa, now Oakton—eas-ier to say, easier to spell. Several itinerant merchants, serving the needs of the developing area were Jewish, and after the Civil War, a small Jew­ish community settled there and became part of Oakton history. Rabbi Herbert Aaron Gordon was happy to be their most recent spiritual leader.

  Herb parked at the curb. Walking up the steps to the porch, he could hear a TV in the front room. As he put his finger on the bell, his pulse quickened and his mouth went dry, hoping Louise would be the one to open the door. Louise Addams was slim, attractive, and youthful looking with curly dark brown hair and soulful brown eyes. There was something deep, thoughtful and provocative about Louise Addams, something the continued to draw Herb to her, even though he
knew she was married.

  The door opened and instead of Louise he faced Kate Addams wearing cut-off jeans and a cotton pullover. He wondered why she wasn't turning blue with cold, but then he felt the warmth from the house through the open door. After looking at her, Herb realized that Kate was more like her father than her mother, as far as coloring and bone structure was concerned. She smiled and held out her hand in welcome. "Hello, Rabbi. I'm glad to see you again. Come in, please."

  As she stepped aside, holding the door wide and taking his hand in a warm welcoming grasp, he wondered if her brother had told her about the morning at St. Timothy's.

  "Hello, Kate. What a nice surprise. How are things in Minneapolis? How is law school? Knowing you, I'm sure you're knocking them dead." She hung his coat in the close, and turned toward him, a big smile on her face.

  "I never suspected you were such a flatterer, Rabbi. Thank you for your words of praise, but, law school is a bitch, and I'm working my buns off."

  She saw him blush at her words and said she didn't think he was so easily offended.

  He said that he was not offended, adding, "Please call me Herb. After all, we've known each other for a long time, if not very well."

  "I'm looking forward to changing that," Kate said.

  The rabbi saw the grin on her face and wasn't sure what she meant, but it was nice to be flattered by a beautiful young woman.

  "Is your father here, or your mother, or Dan?" he asked.

  Kate gave him a queer look. "The chief is at the station, Mom's at the library, and Dan is in his room. Should I run up and tell him you're here?"

  Herb nodded. He noticed she wore no lipstick and her sandy colored hair was pulled back and clipped in place. She wasn't beautiful in a movie star way, but she was very attractive. She had the best features of both her father and mother. She was tall and had her father's green eyes, square face, and strong chin; her mother's creamy complexion and warm smile.