Big Lake Sinner by Russell Nick

Author:Russell, Nick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

They stopped in Springerville for lunch on the way back to Big Lake, and as they were finishing their chicken fried steaks, Weber asked, “Are you in a hurry to get back to the office?”

“Not necessarily. What did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking about stopping at the Catholic church and seeing if they can tell us anything about Father Hagen.”

“That sounds good to me,” Jennifer said. “I’m beginning to think I should have majored in Criminal Justice instead of Journalism. This is fun.”

“As a journalist, you’ll have plenty of stories to investigate.”

“I know,” she said, draining the last of her soda. “But reporters don’t get to have lights and sirens.”

***

A woman wearing black slacks and a pink paisley print blouse was dusting at the front of the sanctuary and looked up, saying, “Hello,” when they entered. “Welcome to Saint Matthews. Can I help you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Weber said. “I’m Sheriff Weber from Big Lake and this is Jennifer Shores.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Grace O’Dell. What’s a sheriff from Big Lake doing here?”

The plump woman looked like she was probably in her early 50s, with a friendly smile on her face and curly brown hair.

“We’re looking for some information,” Weber said. “Would you happen to know anything about a Father Thomas Hagen?”

The woman shook her head and said, “Not that I’m aware of.”

“He would have been here a long time ago,” Weber said. “Back in the 1950s.”

“That was before my time,” she said. “Let me ask Father Jeffery. He’s in his office.” She went through a door off to the side and came back momentarily to say, “Follow me, please.”

They followed her into the office, where a young round-cheeked priest with a baby face was sitting behind a desk. He stood up and shook their hands and said, “Welcome to Saint Matthews. I’m Father Jeffery. I understand you’re asking about a priest from the 1950s?”

“Yes,” Weber said. “A Father Thomas Hagen.”

“Gosh, I have no idea. Was he associated with this parish?”

“I believe so, but we don’t know for sure.” Weber said. “We know he would come over to Big Lake and conduct services, and also on the Apache reservation back then.”

“I wasn’t aware Big Lake ever had a Catholic church.”

“There wasn’t,” Weber said. “From what I understand, it was held in the community hall.”

Jennifer showed him the copy of the newspaper picture and he looked at it and said, “I don’t know what to tell you, but I know someone who might be able to help. Can you hold on for a minute or two?”

“Of course.”

Turning to the woman who had greeted them, the priest asked, “Mrs. Nobles, can you see if Father Eustis is busy?”

“No problem, Father. I’ll be right back.

She came back a while later with another priest, much older, and Father Jeffery said, “This is Father Eustis. He’s been with the parish for many years. He might be able to answer your questions.”

The white-haired, stately looking priest smiled and nodded to them, and Weber told him who they were and where they were from.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.