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friendliness that was a little too effusive to be genuine. The priest was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of him. The room was filled with melancholy. He did not look surprised to see Calvano. He merely shrugged and Calvano sat next to him with a poise I was not used to seeing in him.
    â€˜Where’s Danny?’ Calvano asked.
    The priest nodded toward the doorway. ‘He’s putting his things away in his room. Can’t you do something about the situation at his house? It’s not good for him to stay here. He’s afraid that his wife may try to come home and that he won’t be there. Or that someone may call and ask for money for her and he won’t be there to answer it.’
    He wanted Calvano to control the media besieging Danny’s farm. Calvano knew the task was impossible. ‘His home and cellphones are already being routed to the department in case someone calls about his wife, and I’ll see if the commander will put a couple of patrol cars on the farm,’ he promised. ‘But Father, are you sure you want to get involved?’
    The priest understood the real meaning behind Calvano’s words. He was warning him that Danny Gallagher could well be guilty. And if he was, that he could pull Father Sojak, or even all of St Raphael’s, down with him.
    Father Sojak glanced at the hallway and lowered his voice. ‘I won’t pretend that Danny is a faithful member of this church. He only comes to make his wife happy. It’s Arcelia that loves St Raphael’s. She is the light of our lives here. But he is a good husband to her and I can assure you that he loves her deeply. He would never harm her. She is everything to him. His love for her has no limit, from what I can tell.’
    There was a trace of regret in the priest’s words, and I wondered how much Arcelia Gallagher had meant to him. As I speculated on their relationship, I realized that the tiny rectory did not have the same glorious feeling that the church itself had. There was human emotion at war within the rectory’s walls. I could feel anxiousness flavoring the air around me and something else, too – it felt like an ocean of everything from hope and desire to sorrow, fear, love and utter devotion, all roiling together in such a way that I could not pinpoint who or where it was coming from.
    Was it possible that I was simply picking up on what the people Father Sojak counseled had left behind? I did not think the turmoil came from him.
    Someone passed by me in the hallway, startling me. She was nearly as quiet and invisible as I was. It was the old nun who had led Calvano to Father Sojak. She had returned to the hallway outside the kitchen to eavesdrop. She was clutching a rosary anxiously and smelled of baby powder. Her cheeks were flushed, as if she were ashamed of herself for spying but could not help herself.
    Danny Gallagher was behind one of the doors that lined the hallway, but I did not think that the nun was concerned about him. Was it Father Sojak she worried for? No, her gaze did not linger on him. She seemed concerned with Calvano.
    â€˜You’d be surprised at what a devoted husband can do,’ Calvano told the priest. ‘Are you sure you really know Danny Gallagher?’
    â€˜Not as well as you, apparently,’ Father Sojak said calmly. Either he was a very smart man or he really did have powers beyond what most people can understand. He was staring at Calvano thoughtfully. ‘People can change, you know. I see it all the time. They come to me desperate to change and then they do. I know you have a history with him, but I have never known him to be anything but a devoted and loving husband.’
    â€˜And yet, I can’t shake the feeling that you are hiding something,’ Calvano said. ‘I’m a good Catholic boy, father. I like priests. None of you are very good at hiding guilt.’
    The priest turned his deep blue eyes