The Church of Rohm by Micheal Maxwell

Author:Micheal Maxwell [Maxwell, Micheal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery
Published: 2023-07-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Father Bill was at his desk, reading some material from the diocese, when he was distracted by some noise at his door. When he looked up, his jaw dropped. A tall man wearing a suit and tie leaned on his open door, with a big smile on his face.

“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” the man said. “I have a blackmailing scheme in mind. It would make me a great deal of money but, alas, it would be sinful.”

The priest gave a sarcastic smile but was clearly displeased at seeing the man.

“I’m getting a little tired of hearing that phrase.”

The tall man almost laughed as he walked toward the desk. He eased down in the chair before Father Bill. “I don’t think you rejected sin, Father. I bet you went along with it.” He spread his hands as if looking at a wondrous artifact. “How did you get away with it? If a con artist wants to impersonate someone, he doesn’t want a public job. He wants to keep a low profile. The more people you see, the greater the chance your con will be revealed. But I’ll give credit for audacity and luck. But you always were a little lucky. At least I thought you were. There was no one in the area who knew the real Catholic priest who, now, I assume is demised. It’s rare for a priest to be sent to a parish where he is completely new and knows no one. Not impossible. It has happened, but it is rare.”

“Frank, I didn’t realize you knew the details of the Catholic faith.”

“Oh, I was raised Catholic. It didn’t take but up to about the age of twelve I was devoted. Alas, the world corrupted me, and I went down the way of sin and depravity.”

Father Bob gave a sly smile. “What path are you going down now? Sin or depravity?”

“More like financial this time.”

The pseudo-priest studied the man in his office. Frank Lindquist was something of a sophisticate. It was rumored he came from a rich background but had to make a dishonest living after his family disowned him. Lindquist’s parents might have been devout Catholics, but even if they were atheists, they were also strict moralists, and Lindquist’s wild lifestyle when he was young angered them. They wrote him out of their will and out of their lives.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, money, of course. But it won’t be a huge amount. Sometimes you can lean on your victim too hard, and it backfires, and you have to be careful when you blackmail a mafia hitman because he won’t hesitate to kill you if you make a mistake. But how did you pull it off for so long? No one came one Sunday who knew the real priest? The Bishop never came by—which they usually do—to check on the churches in his territory? There wasn’t an annual or semi-annual meeting of all the priests in the diocese? Just to get together to meet and say hello.

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