Chapter 11 #5
As he walked, he pondered the issue only to realize that he was right back at the same Catholic church. He frowned as he walked up the front steps and entered the building, finding the same priest here.
The priest looked up and smiled. “Come in, my friend.”
Simon sighed as he walked in. “I really don’t know why I’m here.”
The priest laughed and shared, “You would be surprised at the number of people who say that to me on a regular basis.”
Simon nodded. “I’m not really surprised about that,” he clarified, “but I’m not exactly here for myself.”
The priest focused on him and nodded. “If you need to talk about something, I’m here to help you if I can.”
“Yeah, but you don’t work with the police, do you?”
“The police?” he asked, his eyebrows shooting up. “No, not generally, but, of course, we’ve had some instances where the police had to be involved. However, we do our best to help our congregation and our neighborhood without bringing them in. Are you in trouble with the police?”
The question was simple enough, and concern filled the priest’s gaze. Simon laughed. And it was such a carefree, joyous laugh that even the man of the cloth had to smile. Simon shook his head. “No, I’m not in any trouble.”
“That is good news, indeed.”
“I’m fine, Father. I have some of the usual ailments that plague a lot of people.
For example, somebody is trying to tell my bank and others that I’m in a desperate financial position, which isn’t true, yet it is still causing me problems. It’s always so great when you have that level of betrayal in your world. ”
The priest nodded. “Lost souls, right?”
“And what about the souls that are even more lost? I understand that if somebody’s in a confessional, you can’t tell the police what they say, but how does …” He pondered it for a moment. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”
“And yet anything you say to me,” the priest explained, “I can certainly try to keep as a confidence if you have done something wrong.”
“No, no, no. I have not done anything wrong. You don’t need to be worried about that.”
The priest still watched him closely, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“My partner is a homicide detective,” he began. “A couple cases right now are driving both of us a little bit wacky. And I know it’s not my problem, but, if I could do something to help her, I would absolutely do so,” he explained, trying to keep his own involvement minimized.
“What’s the problem?”
“The problem is, in each case, this card was left behind, with a weird message saying, Believe.”
He frowned at him. “As in, believe in God? Believe in justice? Believe in love? What exactly is the insinuation here? I mean, that’s a fairly open-ended message.”
“That’s the problem,” Simon agreed, smiling at him with appreciation.
“All those instances could fit, but we have, … she,” he corrected, “has three cases open that could have been foul play. One of the cases is possibly an overdose. The other two appear to be murder,” he shared.
“Yet the third case is too similar for it to be ignored, since it followed the same pattern.”
The priest asked him, “You’re not talking about Detective Kate Morgan, are you?”
“Yes, I absolutely am,” he stated, with a nod. “Are you familiar with her?”
He nodded. “She is a woman driven to help, but the pathway she has taken in this life is extremely difficult,” he replied. “I worry for her psyche.”
“I had no idea you even knew her. Like you, I also worry for her, and I care very much for her.”
The priest eyed him shrewdly and noted, “And yet you haven’t made an honest woman of her.”
Simon chuckled. “I haven’t even brought it up. She is very much a free spirit, and I have been trying to avoid upsetting the apple cart and changing the status quo. As long as she knows I care about her, I am not worried about putting a ring on her finger, though I’m not against it either.”
The priest nodded. “That seems to be the way of so many these days, doesn’t it?” he noted.
“I’m not here to discuss our marital life.”
“But you are interested because you think I have knowledge of this,” he pointed out, focusing on him.
“But you do have your ways.”
“If you’re asking if anybody has confessed to murder recently,” he offered, “I can absolutely tell you no.”
“That’s a good thing,” Simon said. “I guess part of what’s got me wondering is, do you see a return of women to being traditional housewives?”
“I don’t know if there’s a return,” the priest clarified.
“I think women who absolutely want to stay home and raise children have always been in the background. However, I also see more women seem to want the independence and the ability to have a career and to not focus solely on the children—or doing both even. So there has always been that group of women too. I guess I’m really not sure what you’re asking. ”
“No, I’m not either,” Simon admitted. “I guess I’m wondering if this killer could be somebody who wants the men to believe in monogamy.”
The priest stared at him, and his lips quirked. “My son, that is probably something you would have a much better idea about than me.”
It took Simon a moment, and then he burst out into a big chuckle.
The priest was grinning from ear to ear as well. “I am glad I have made your day that much easier.”
“Father, you have, indeed,” Simon declared, with a bright smile. “I don’t have the answers I want, but you are entirely correct in that you have certainly given me a much lighter heart,” he shared. “And, for that, I’m grateful.”
“And you are most welcome. I have no idea how to help you with your quest for her, but you can certainly tell her to come back and visit. She is always welcome here, as are you, anytime.”
“Thank you,” Simon muttered, “though I’m not entirely sure she would appreciate it.”
He chuckled. “No, maybe not. However, she too has a place in this world and a place in all our hearts. She does a job that is incredibly difficult, and she should be honored for that and for the sacrifices she makes along the way.”
“What’s your name, Father?”
“Call me Father McCain.”
“It was nice to have someone to talk to, … without being judged.”
As Simon turned to walk away, Father McCain called out, “Just remember, my son, that you don’t live forever. So, if something is important to you, experience it now.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that life can take unexpected turns, and what you think you have a long time for, you actually don’t.”
“Words to live by,” he muttered to himself as he stepped back out of the church and then glanced around to get his bearings, now heading back home.