Heinous Habits! by Anna Celeste Burke

Author:Anna Celeste Burke [Burke, Anna Celeste]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781530845781
Published: 2017-09-28T04:00:00+00:00

11 Father Bede?

Mitchum almost did a spit take when I began putting items, one by one, on the table in front of him. First, that GPS device. Brien had brought it with us just in case Brother Thaddeus wanted it back. It now came in handy for the “show and tell” session we were holding. I had imagined, at some point, we’d hand that thing over to the police. Down at the San Albinus Police Station, most likely. This arrangement was much better. What self-respecting homicide detective would strangle sleuthing knuckleheads on the grounds of a monastery?

I kept quiet and let Brother Thaddeus speak about where he had found that missing GPS device. Still, it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. As Mitchum listened, his mustache and one eyelid twitched. When he snorted as if he might be about to bellow, I slid that platter of cookies close to him. The detective picked up one of those Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies and took a bite. When he spoke after that, he sounded disgruntled but not mad bull angry.

“How do you know that’s even the same one that belonged to your dead friend?”

“Apart from the fact that Brother Thaddeus found it in the same network of caves where Owen Taylor kept his stash of stolen goods and recovered treasure you mean?” I was about ready to snort and paw the ground where I sat. “How about these, oh ye of little faith?”

I glanced at Brother Thaddeus, concerned I might have crossed a line uttering that phrase with such sarcasm. He was stifling a smile, so I moved on and placed Exhibit 2 on the table. Half a dozen gold Krugerrands like those we’d found hidden in a barrel in that underground chamber once used as a chapel. That room wasn’t too far from where the stupidly avaricious Owen Taylor had hidden a cache of stolen, counterfeit goods. A theft that cost him dearly.

“Okay,” he muttered. “Now you have my attention. Tell me more.” He grabbed another cookie. As Brother Thaddeus continued to speak, I placed a couple of other items on the table. Several cookies later, we had reached the point in our story where we had encountered someone—a creepy, angry, ugly someone—who raged at us from above us in those ruins.

“So, what do you want me to do about it? There’s no way we’re going to send cops into those caves after a guy who’s running around loose as a goose. How good a look did you get at him? Was he dressed like a monk—like the guy who’s been telling tourists the world’s about to end before he hits them up for money?”

“He was wearing a hood, but I couldn’t tell if he also had on a robe,” I replied.

“Yes, he wears a cassock—a long tunic like the one I have on. Brown, not black, and with a scapular, that’s also brown.” As he said scapular, he pointed to the piece of clothing I’d regarded as an apron.

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