Herb explained about what he had uncovered that day, how Sally had told Father O'Reilly the truth about the chief and that the doctor had somehow found out on his own. He had kept her confession a secret, but now wasn't the time for secrets anymore. He told her about the two o'clock meeting at St. Timothy's to plan their next move.
Sally had said the sheriff and the chief were good friends; Ken Davis would never believe the chief was a murderer and a pedophile, and would certainly never arrest him. Sally had convinced him that Chief Addams would not spend one night in jail.
He said, "Of course, we've got to get him out of circulation, but we're not sure how, and there's another problem. We don't want to blow this thing wide open, ruin the town and everyone in it. Remember, you're married to the man."
"Yes, I am still Mrs. Scott Addams, and I could never hold my head up again in Oakton if people knew the truth about their supposed hero. And Dan and Kate, they could never come back here."
Herb said, "Think about it. If this hit the news circuit, look out. CNN would have a field day 24/7 for weeks, and Fox News, I don't even want to think what they'd do with a scandal like this; police chief molesting little girls, and their mother, Agnes, murdered in her kitchen while carving Halloween pumpkins. It wouldn't be pretty."
They looked up when the doctor opened his office door, and beckoned to them. Herb could see Dan farther inside behind Dr. Gold. When Dan looked up at his mother there was such anger and heartbreak in his expression. Herb knew what Louise must have realized; Dr. Gold had told Dan everything.
Louise blanched and said she was going home now and might not see them later at the church. She surprised Herb when she said she was going to try, through some subterfuge or other, to keep the chief home so he didn't blunder in on them at St. Timothy's or come for Lucy again while they were gone. Louise only looked at her son before she walked out of the clinic.
Herb joined Dan in the doctor's office and told the doctor that he wanted to fill him in before the meeting. They were going to all be on the same page now, and they needed the same information so they could think of the best way to deal with the chief.
The doctor said, "I may not know it all, but what I do know makes my skin crawl. I'd like to chain him to a wall, castrate him, then take a rubber hose to that animal." Dr. Gold glanced at Dan, still in shock at hearing the truth about his father. "But we know corporal punishment isn't legal."
"No, Doc, you're right." Dan sat up and looked at each man in turn. "My fa...the chief is a monster. There's no telling what he'll do to stop us. I don't usually wear a side piece home on vacation, but I'll have my .45with me at the church tonight."
Dan stood and made his way to the door. "I have some things I've got to take care of before the meeting at two." He didn't wait for their response before he left and shut the doctor's door behind him.
Silence passed between the doctor and rabbi. Herb tried to diffuse it by saying, "I know what you mean, Joe, about corporal punishment. I've seriously thought seriously about ambushing the guy and shooting him with my .45."
Dr. Gold said he never knew Herb had a .45. Then he added, "Well, I've got my own little surprise." He took a small key from his pocket, unlocked a drawer in his desk, reached in, and held up a shiny Walther PPK.
"I'm not James Bond, but I do like the look of this...small, silver, compact." He moved it from hand to hand. "Would you like to hold it?"
The rabbi reached for it, almost pulling it out of the doctor's hand, and said he was going to get one like it, even though he already owned a Berretta and a .45.
Dr. Gold said, "That's quite an arsenal you described, Herb. What are you protecting?" Herb wasn't planning on protecting anything. He loved Louise. If they couldn't think of a way to stop the chief at the meeting at the church, he would find some other way to save her.
Seventeen
Leaving Herb at the clinic, Father O'Reilly stopped at the drug and called Mrs. Murphy, alerting her that there would be people gathering at the church, at two o'clock.
By the time he got back to the church, it was almost one o'clock. He walked up the broad front steps, through the big white doors, genuflected, and slowly walked among the empty pews. A welcoming sense of calm flowed over him for those few minutes before he opened the door to Mrs. Murphy's brightly lit kitchen. She greeted him with a humph, chiding him for such short notice. She asked what was so important about this meeting and who was coming.
Facing Mrs. Murphy, her arms akimbo and her lips a thin line of disapproval, he ticked off names one by one: herself, Kate, Louise, and Dan Addams, Rabbi Gordon, Dr. Gold, Frank Stevenson, and his father. Terry asked if she remembered when Frank's father was chief of police.
He watched Mrs. Murphy's face soften into a smile. She said that not only did she remember him, but Bill Stevenson was the nicest man in the parish. Occasionally, he even stopped by her kitchen after church for a cuppa and a chat.
Then he saw her face harden, her lips grim and bloodless as she told him that while she was busying around that morning, she looked out the window and saw the chief's car drive into the alley, and she thought she heard his car backfire.
Skeptical, the priest asked, "Are you sure you heard a car backfire, Mrs. Murphy? Cars haven't backfired since the 70s."
She said that whatever it was, it sounded like a car backfiring to her.
Terry scowled at the thought of dealing with the rapist before discussing how to approach him with the others, but it had to be done. It was after one, and Herb had already called to tell him that Louise was supposed to keep the chief home. 'So what's he doing here? Did he hear about the meeting and come to break it up?'
He put his coat back on, went down the steps, and went around the back. He walked slowly toward the black and white. It looked like Addams was just sitting in the driver's seat. The motor was off. The rear door behind the driver's seat was open, and as he got closer Terry smelled gasoline. He looked in, and on the floor by the back seat he saw a rag stuck in the top of an open can. As he bent to investigate, his eyes were drawn to the blood smears on the driver's seat window.
Terry saw that the chief's head was hard against the window, a blood-caked, small, round, black hole at his temple. Terry gagged and jammed his handkerchief in his mouth to stifle the bile rising in his throat. He forced himself to take a closer look through the blood streaked window. He noticed a gun on the seat near the chief.
'Oh, my,' he thought. 'He learned that we knew everything and killed himself!'
The priest ran back to the church, anxious to get his small ritual bag and determined to administer last rites, in spite of it being suicide.
As he went into the kitchen, he told Mrs. Murphy to call 911 immediately because the chief was out there in his car, dead as a stone.
She went for her coat and crossed herself, saying, "God help us all."
She tried to push past him, but Terry stopped her. "Don't go out there, Mrs. Murphy. It's a crime scene. I'm going down only to administer last rites. No matter what kind of monster he was, he deserves to be read over."
Terry left a bewildered Mrs. Murphy sitting in the kitchen, bundled up and waiting for the police, while he went back down to the car. He stood at the blood stained window, opened his bag, and did his priestly duty. He soon heard sirens, and together he and Mrs. Murphy met the black and white pulling into the alley.
Frank Stevenson was a tall imposing figure even when he wasn't wearing his navy blue, brass buttoned policeman's uniform over a blue shirt and precisely knotted tie. Now he stood in front of them in full uniform, and speaking in a deep, calm voice commanding their attention, he asked his routine question, "What's the emergency, Father O'Reilly?"
"It's not an emergency any more. Come see for yourself, Frank. The chief is dead. I just administered last rites."
Terry held on to Mrs. Murphy, and they stood aside as Frank strode past them.
They followed close behind and watched Frank peer in the open back doo
r, cough when the gasoline fumes went up his nose, then move to the driver's window. He looked hard and long at the bloody head and the blood still dripping down the glass through the door into the dirt at his feet. The policeman looked at them. "Did you kill him, Mrs. Murphy?"
Her hand went to her throat as she screamed at him. "What are you saying, Officer Stevenson? Of course I didn't kill him!"
Terry said, "I can't imagine you would even ask that question, Frank. Why on earth would you ask such a question?"
Now Frank looked at them. He pointed at the car window. "See that? That's blood, still oozing from the wound and running down the inside of the window. That was done within the past fifteen minutes, and as far as I can tell, you two are the only ones round. That's why I asked the question."
Terry and Mrs. Murphy leaned in to take a closer look. Terry said he was so busy doing the right thing, he never noticed the blood.
Frank moved them back away from the car. "Did either of you see anybody, hear anything?"
Mrs. Murphy told Frank what she told Terry, that she heard a car backfire a little while ago but never looked out because she never thought it was a gunshot.
Frank asked, "Did either of you touch anything?"
Terry said he may have left a few fingerprints when he leaned in. Frank asked him to show him exactly where he stood and what he touched. Terry showed him and was surprised when Frank said that was okay since he probably would eliminate him and Mrs. Murphy as suspects.
Terry asked, "What do you mean, suspect? What about the gun on the seat next to him? I administered last rites, but I thought it was suicide."
"You may be right, Father O'Reilly, but I'm not a detective, just one of your everyday, flatfoot policemen."
Frank was shivering, flinging his arms around to create some body warmth. Since nothing was going to change outside, the priest suggested they go inside where they could warm up while Frank decided what to do.
Leading the way into her kitchen, Mrs. Murphy said, "St. Patty's smiling down on us today, you can be sure. I couldn't believe me own eyes when I seen what I just saw. The evil beast of a man won't be hurting nobody, never again."
Frank, holding his cup steady while she filled it with hot coffee asked, "Why did you call the chief evil, Mrs. Murphy?"
"Yes, Mrs. Murphy," Terry asked. "What did you mean when you saw the chief in the car and said it was a blessing?"
She took a handkerchief from her pocket, blew her nose, and wiped her eyes. "I'll sit a minute with you, Officer Stevenson." She sat down, gave him a crooked smile. "I must say, you got here in a hurry, almost like you was in the neighborhood."
Terry said, "Stop stalling, woman, and tell us, what you know about the chief?"
"Why, God love ya and curse that man. I saw it all." Mrs. Murphy waved her hands in the sign of the cross again.
The words spilled out as she told them she saw the doctor, the cowboy, the chief. She knew what he did to those girls, but how could she accuse him? Him, the chief of police and her a poor Irish washerwoman. Who would believe her?
Terry slammed his fist down on the table and yelled, "What do you mean, you saw it all? Explain yourself, Mrs. Murphy. If you knew about the dead animals, why did you play dumb and let me and Rabbi Gordon run around like idiots, trying to figure out who was doing those poor mutilated creatures, week after week?"
She sniffled that maybe those girls invited him in, reminding Terry that the chief said the Clark women were whores and liars. If she accused him, God forbid, he might attack the priest or even bomb the church. "You saw the rags and that can of gasoline. That man could do whatever he wanted."
She lowered her eyes when she said, "He has secrets about everybody, believe me, and because he knows things, he gets whatever he wants. You both know I'm speaking true."
Terry paced back and forth. "I'm sorry I yelled, but you must realize that if somebody knew what you knew, we might have gotten to Lucy sooner. She might have had a healthy baby, and now that poor child is suffering."
He stopped pacing and looked at Mrs. Murphy. "Are you telling me he had power over you, knew secrets about you? What did he know that I didn't?"
A knock came at the door. Mrs. Murphy got up and opened the door to let Rabbi Gordon walk in, explaining that it wasn't quite two o'clock but he had things to discuss with Terry. He stopped talking when he noticed Frank, and asked why he was so early.
Frank stood up, and Terry quickly walked in front of him and held up his hand, indicating he wanted to answer the rabbi. "Prepare yourself..."
Herb looked from one to the other. "Will somebody please tell me, what the hell is going on?"
Terry blurted, "The chief is dead!"
He watched the rabbi shift from one foot to the other. His face went ashen, and he glared at Terry. "Who killed him?"
Frank spoke up, warning them not to draw any conclusions about the chief. He was calling County Sheriff Ken Davis to tell him what he found and leave it to Davis and his detectives to figure out the facts of the case.
He asked Father Terry if he wanted to call off the meeting, but Terry said he wasn't sure he'd be able to reach everybody on such short notice, and this way, they'd all find out what happened at the same time.
"Hold on a minute, Frank, before you make your call. I'm afraid if you tell the sheriff it's the chief, he'll drive into town with a fleet of official cars, lights flashing and sirens blaring. I think it would be prudent to tell him we're trying to keep this quiet for now so people don't panic. There'll be plenty of time to let everybody know when he's taken a look with his crew, and we know what actually happened."
They watched Frank make his call, nod several times, tell Davis about the sirens, close the phone, and inform them that the sheriff and his people would be there in half hour, and the sheriff gave strict instructions that no one was to go near the crime scene before he got there.
Responding to the loud knock on the door, Terry shuddered inwardly when he saw Kate and Dr. Gold through the curtained window arriving for the two o'clock meeting. How should he tell them that the chief was dead?
While they were hanging up their coats, Terry took Herb aside and told him to call Louise and tell her that she didn't need a plan to keep Scott at home, and if Dan was there, they should both come to the church right away.
He wondered if he should tell Kate that he was the one who found her father dead in his car. How would she react? Terry knew that when she was growing up she had good feelings about her father. How much did that change after hearing Lucy's story? Did she even know it was her father who abused the Clark girls?
Kate asked, "What the hell is going on, Terry? I saw Dad's black and white as I came up the steps. You knew Louise wanted to try to keep the chief home, but obviously that didn't happen. If he's not in here, where is he? And what's everybody whispering about? Is there some sort of cabal happening already?"
Terry suggested they go into the church, because it was hard to talk with everybody milling around. He took her hand, led her out of the kitchen, across the hall, and into a pew. He knelt, crossed himself, then sat down next to her. "Kate, I know you loved your father..."
"What do you mean, loved, Terry? Why past tense? I know he's done some horrible things. I never told you what Lucy told me about her cowboy. And then on the drive over here I figured..." She paused, choking back tears. Terry had worried all day how she would react to the news of who her father really was. She was holding herself together better than he would have, and now he was going to break her heart all over again. "What was the chief doing here? Who blabbed about the meeting?"
He listened as Kate talked faster and faster without stopping to take a breath. "Remember when we were at the clinic, talking about what to do? Did I mention that I thought the state hospital for the mentally ill might be the first step, whoever the rapist was? Maybe with proper treatment, he could come back."
"Kate, please," Terry said, stopping her. He put his hand on hers and held it in he
r lap. If he was being too familiar with Kate, he didn't care. "Something has happened. Your father…Chief Addams has been shot."
Kate looked blankly at him for a moment. She sputtered, and then she started to hyperventilate and shake her head. She muttered, "No. No, it can't be..." over and over to herself. She doubled over, held her face in her hands, sobbed, and wailed, 'This isn't what I wanted!"
Terry took out a bunch of tissues, wiped perspiration from his face, and said,"Kate, I'm not sure that's what most of us had in mind. I'm a priest and could never sanction cold blooded murder, but remember, Chief Addams, your father, threatened to kill Lucy and Sally if they ever talked. Maybe someone tried to prevent three cold blood ed murders by attacking the chief."
Kate's tears cleared up quickly. She got to her feet and distanced herself from the priest. "Whatever you think you're saying, Terry, I don't believe it for a minute. He isn't dead!"
He stood up and grabbed her hands. "I don't know who could do it, Kate, but it's true. It could even be suicide."
"What do you mean, Terry? For God's sake, talk plainly."
"Okay, Kate. There's no easy way to tell you. I think the chief committed suicide. He's sitting out there with a bullet hole in his head, but no one was around when it happened. It sure looks like suicide."
"That's a bunch of crap, Terry O'Reilly, and you know it! He would never kill himself. I know my father better than you. He couldn't, wouldn't, ever..." Kate looked like she would break down again. Terry leaned forward to comfort her, but she backed away from him and ran from him. She ran out of the church without looking back, leaving Terry alone and feeling rejected.
Terry walked back to the kitchen on the other side of the church. Herb, Frank, and Dr. Gold looked up as he entered alone. Frank asked where Kate went. "She left after I told her what happened. You should go get her, Frank. You don't want her to be alone when she sees that mess out there."
Frank nodded and left, but the others who had come in looked at Terry in confusion. Dr. Gold asked him what was going on, and why Kate ran out, so upset. Terry took a deep breath to tell him about the chief when the back door opened and Louise and Dan walked in.
Chief Among Sinners Page 19
