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Authors: Lynne Hinton
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she was able to contribute even a small thing to the bounty spread on the table for her brothers and sisters at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, she felt whole inside, complete. And as she stood just inside the doors of the kitchen, she felt a twinge of sadness that the nuns would no longer be there, the women who were suddenly banned from it all. A long breath poured from her, and she shook away her thoughts of the changes going on around her and returned to the matters at hand, trying to imagine where Brother Anthony had gone.
If he had been in the kitchen or the dining room as the officers said he was earlier, it was clear he had left. If he had been working on the morning meal or getting himself something to eat, he was nowhere to be found. Eve walked back to the pantry where they kept nonperishable supplies and peeked in. Not there. Then she headed down a short hall, over to the large walk-in freezers, and, knowing it couldn’t be seen from anywhere else, turned on a light. She was alone. Realizing she was not going to find Anthony there, she walked back into the kitchen and then into the dining room, pulled open the blinds, and looked out a window in the direction of the guest quarters.
Several monks and guests had gathered around the main entrance, and she could still see the lights of the patrol cars and ambulance flashing in the distance. A news van from a local television station had also arrived and was heading past the window where she stood, over to where the action was taking place. As soon as it passed by, she turned and noticed a vehicle exiting the grounds.
It was a pickup truck, an old one, white, with a taillight out. She couldn’t make out the numbers on the license plate and she couldn’t see who was driving, but she did think it was odd that a vehicle was leaving the premises. She wondered why the police hadn’t stopped it, but when she turned back to see what was going on at the guest quarters, there was so much commotion she was sure no one was paying close attention to who was coming and who was going.
Someone was putting up yellow tape around the front room of the guest quarters, marking the area as a crime scene and no longer just a guest room. The death of Dr. Kelly Middlesworth, Eve realized, was no longer a secret between her, Father Oliver, and Brother Anthony. The news was about to be known by everyone.
She shook her head and closed the blinds, making her way to one of the tables in the room. She dragged out a chair and sat down, pulling the letter out of her back pocket that she had taken from the vice superior’s desk and unfolding it. She spread it out before her and, turning on the flashlight app on her cell phone, began to read:
Dear Father Oliver,
I realize now the horrible sin I have committed. I cannot take back the evil that has been done to my sister, and I am deeply sorry for all of these things that have happened and see now that I have to go. I meant no harm to the other monks at the abbey, to you, or to my dear Kelly. I know I can never be forgiven for my sins. I can only pray that God will have mercy on me.
Your devoted son,
Anthony
Eve switched off the light, folded the letter back up, and placed it on the table. She knew it should be turned over to the authorities; it would certainly be seen as relevant to the crime. It didn’t exactly bear a confession to murder, but Eve knew enough about the law to realize that if the police added this letter to the eyewitness report from Father Oliver that he had seen the young monk preparing the tray with tea near the time the victim was killed, along with the many reports from those who had seen the siblings argue at dinner, and the fact that he was now missing, things wouldn’t look good for Brother Anthony.
Eve rested her elbows on the table, clasped her hands together, and tried to sort through everything that had happened in the last few hours.
Dr. Kelly Middlesworth had been given writings, their existence apparently
If he had been in the kitchen or the dining room as the officers said he was earlier, it was clear he had left. If he had been working on the morning meal or getting himself something to eat, he was nowhere to be found. Eve walked back to the pantry where they kept nonperishable supplies and peeked in. Not there. Then she headed down a short hall, over to the large walk-in freezers, and, knowing it couldn’t be seen from anywhere else, turned on a light. She was alone. Realizing she was not going to find Anthony there, she walked back into the kitchen and then into the dining room, pulled open the blinds, and looked out a window in the direction of the guest quarters.
Several monks and guests had gathered around the main entrance, and she could still see the lights of the patrol cars and ambulance flashing in the distance. A news van from a local television station had also arrived and was heading past the window where she stood, over to where the action was taking place. As soon as it passed by, she turned and noticed a vehicle exiting the grounds.
It was a pickup truck, an old one, white, with a taillight out. She couldn’t make out the numbers on the license plate and she couldn’t see who was driving, but she did think it was odd that a vehicle was leaving the premises. She wondered why the police hadn’t stopped it, but when she turned back to see what was going on at the guest quarters, there was so much commotion she was sure no one was paying close attention to who was coming and who was going.
Someone was putting up yellow tape around the front room of the guest quarters, marking the area as a crime scene and no longer just a guest room. The death of Dr. Kelly Middlesworth, Eve realized, was no longer a secret between her, Father Oliver, and Brother Anthony. The news was about to be known by everyone.
She shook her head and closed the blinds, making her way to one of the tables in the room. She dragged out a chair and sat down, pulling the letter out of her back pocket that she had taken from the vice superior’s desk and unfolding it. She spread it out before her and, turning on the flashlight app on her cell phone, began to read:
Dear Father Oliver,
I realize now the horrible sin I have committed. I cannot take back the evil that has been done to my sister, and I am deeply sorry for all of these things that have happened and see now that I have to go. I meant no harm to the other monks at the abbey, to you, or to my dear Kelly. I know I can never be forgiven for my sins. I can only pray that God will have mercy on me.
Your devoted son,
Anthony
Eve switched off the light, folded the letter back up, and placed it on the table. She knew it should be turned over to the authorities; it would certainly be seen as relevant to the crime. It didn’t exactly bear a confession to murder, but Eve knew enough about the law to realize that if the police added this letter to the eyewitness report from Father Oliver that he had seen the young monk preparing the tray with tea near the time the victim was killed, along with the many reports from those who had seen the siblings argue at dinner, and the fact that he was now missing, things wouldn’t look good for Brother Anthony.
Eve rested her elbows on the table, clasped her hands together, and tried to sort through everything that had happened in the last few hours.
Dr. Kelly Middlesworth had been given writings, their existence apparently
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