âGood idea not to.â She added, âWho knows when the lab people will be done.â
âYou could stay in a hotel,â Emil said. âOr call a friend?â
Amy thought about it. âIâll call Susan Devere.â
2
Menteur summoned Tetzel from the pressroom in the courthouse to give him the assignment.
âThatâs religious news,â he protested. âGive it to the religion editor.â
âThen you havenât heard?â
âHeard what?â
âBipple insists that the charges are false. He says it is retaliation.â
âWhat charges?â
Bipple in the past had been an assistant Scout leader, and now many years later some of his troop, since grown old, were remembering odd activities around the campfire and in the tents. No journalist had been more zealous than Bipple in publicizing the misdeeds of some of the Catholic clergy. His series in the Fox River Tribune had been called âSuffer Little Childrenâ and had been reprinted far and wide. Bipple had always been a pain in the ass, but he became insufferable with fame. Tetzel settled in a chair across the desk from Menteur and wanted to hear all about it. He shook his head and tried not to smile.
âI never put much stock in the rumors myself,â Tetzel said with a virtuous look.
âAbout the Boy Scouts?â
âMenteur, I never made it to Tenderfoot. I couldnât tie the knots. No, I meant here.â He lifted his brows significantly.
âHere!â
Tetzel cleared his throat. âThe menâs room. Should I write it up?â
âOver my dead body.â
âIâll keep your name out of it.â
Despite himself, Menteur laughed. âI almost hope the charges are true. We could use a new religion editor.â
âDonât look at me.â
âIâm thinking of you for obituaries.â
This was the most congenial conversation Tetzel had had with Menteur in months. He was almost cheerful about being assigned to look into the closing of St. Hilaryâs. âWhatâs going on?â
Menteur chewed his gum and glared at Tetzel. âIf I already knew, why would I send you? Rebeccaâs story on the seniors drew a lot of letters.â
Going down in the elevator, Tetzel was thankful that Menteur, sitting there in his smoke-free office, had gotten over his obsession with the fact that they could still light up in the courthouse pressroom. Or was that the motive behind this freak assignment? Was it a subtle revenge? Then Tetzel thought of Bipple and chuckled, somewhat to the alarm of his fellow passengers in the elevator. Before exiting, he took a cigarette from his pack and put it unlit in his mouth. If chuckling got attention, the sight of a man with a cigarette in his mouth filled observers with shock and horror, some perhaps with envy. Tetzel strolled through the revolving doors and outside to freedom. He lit up.
The funny thing about the assignment was that every time Tetzel had heard St. Hilaryâs mentioned it was as a booming operation. He might ask Rebecca about it, but he feared she would laugh at the
thought of Tetzel being assigned to religious news. Besides, she was trying to find a way to write about what had shocked her when she had been traveling in Europe. Female attendants in menâs rooms! Sitting there at little tables just inside, dispensing towels, a dish for tips before them.
âHowâd you find out about it?â Tetzel asked.
She glared at him. âIt is common knowledge.â
âMaybe they have boys in the ladiesâ rooms.â
Rebecca turned away in disgust and fumbled in her drawer, perhaps to find her Tetzel doll so she could stick a few pins in it. She huddled over, using her back as a shield against Tetzel, then after some moments settled back, kicking the drawer shut. She lifted a glass and tossed it off. Say what you would about Rebecca, at least she smoked and drank. Nonetheless,
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