Murder on Pleasant Avenue by Victoria Thompson

Author:Victoria Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

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As she made her way into the sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Harlem the next morning, Sarah wondered if going to church specifically to question a possible murder suspect was some kind of sin. She’d never seen anything in the Bible about it or heard a sermon on the subject. Since she was quite possibly the first person to have done it, she supposed it was too rare an occurrence to even merit a mention.

The church itself was magnificent. The stained glass shone brightly in the morning sun, and the quiet hum of the organ and the sweet smell of incense spoke of genuine peace.

Mrs. Cassidi was already seated in the back pew when Sarah arrived. Sarah knew the Catholics had more than one Mass on Sunday morning, unlike the Protestants, who made do with one service. Mrs. Cassidi had been very certain that Mrs. Esposito would attend the earliest Mass, which meant a very early start for Sarah, but she arrived well in time. The worshippers were still filing in as Sarah slipped into the pew beside Mrs. Cassidi.

“Good morning,” Sarah said, suddenly realizing that she had no idea how to participate in a Catholic worship service. Kneeling was involved, she knew, but how did one know when to do it? “I’m not Catholic. You’ll have to tell me what to do.”

Mrs. Cassidi nodded absently. She was scanning the people making their way down the aisle. “There she is.” She nodded to the woman who had just passed them.

Mrs. Esposito was an imposing figure. Taller than most of the women in Italian Harlem, she held herself rigidly erect and moved with a stately grace. Was she always like this, or was she simply bracing herself for all the gossip she knew must be swirling around her after her husband’s murder? How humiliating to have everyone saying he’d been killed while visiting his mistress. She was dressed in unrelieved black, but it was a stylish ensemble that looked brand new. She clutched what must be a prayer book in her gloved hands, and her unnecessarily tight grip on the book was the only thing that betrayed her tension. Her face was expressionless and strangely beautiful, although time had softened her features somewhat. The word tragic seemed to fit her, somehow.

Mrs. Esposito claimed a seat a few rows in front of them and knelt instead of sitting, bowing her head and crossing herself before she started fingering the beads of her rosary as she apparently began to pray. Sarah wondered for what she prayed, but perhaps she was just going through the motions to keep curiosity seekers at bay. She wouldn’t want to acknowledge any false expressions of sympathy, after all.

Then the service started, and Sarah had to focus all her attention on standing and sitting and kneeling at all the proper times. Since everything was in Latin, she couldn’t get any clues from the priest leading the service, so she had to mimic Mrs.

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