Eve was hopeful that the detectives would not notice her as she tried to exit the parking lot and head up to the main building, but she was too late. As Dr. Peter Pierce drove past her, Detective Bootskievely motioned her to join them. She took in a breath and headed toward them.
“You did a nice job with the press,” she said to Detective Bootskievely as she made it to where they were standing. “I guess Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey is now the headline story for New Mexico.”
The older officer scratched his chin. “Somebody apparently tweeted from here.”
“I’m sorry,” Eve responded, not understanding the reference.
“Tweet,” he repeated and then held out his thumbs like he was texting on a smart phone. “It’s the latest way to get your news,” he added.
Eve shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t know about that.”
Detective Lujan smiled, and Eve felt that funny tumbling feeling again. She tried to shake it off. “So, I heard the line you gave the reporters, but do you have anything new?”
Bootskievely shook his head. “It’s still early, so at this point, everything’s new.”
Eve nodded, counting down the hours since the murder. It had not yet been twenty-four.
“You know Dr. Pierce?” Boots wanted to know, the apparent real reason he had called her over.
“No,” she answered, guessing they were curious about her conversation. “I had heard that he was upset, and I just wanted to make sure he knew there were resources for him if he needed any support while he stayed here.” She touched her chest first and then dropped her head, a kind of bow.
“Yes, yes,” the older detective said. “Of course, you would be doing your ministry here,” he added, nodding.
She felt Detective Lujan’s eyes on her.
“We’ve asked him to stay awhile,” Boots added, watching the car as it moved out of the gate and onto the main road. “He and the victim were apparently close.”
Eve glanced back up at Boots. “Sounds like it, yes,” she responded. “Colleagues at the University of Texas.”
“Now, Sister, you might not know about tweeting, but I’m somehow guessing you know they were more than colleagues.” Boots leaned back with his hands on his hips, exposing his badge and gun. He winked.
“I could certainly see that he was taking the news of her death pretty hard, yes,” she answered, not taking the bait. “If you asked him to stay, why is he leaving the grounds?” She knew they had watched him exit.
“He’s not under house arrest.” Boots paused for a minute. “Going to buy deodorant. I don’t know. He’s free to come and go, just not go and stay away.”
Eve nodded. It made sense even if she did worry he would disappear.
“How did he seem to you?” Boots asked.
Eve glanced to where she had been talking to the professor. “Sad, sure; upset.” She turned back to the detectives. “Is he a suspect?”
Boots smiled, winked at his partner, and nodded at Evangeline. “Daughter of Captain Jackson Di-vine,” he said, holding out the last syllable, making sure to pronounce it correctly. “Darling, at this stage, everybody’s a suspect.”
She nodded.
“Even you,” he said and then started to laugh.
The tease startled Eve, and she didn’t quite know how to respond.
“All right, Earl, you get on the phone and call up forensics, see what news they got for us from the tox screen about the brand of poison our killer likes to use.” He glanced back at Eve. “You ever hear from the monk?”
“I’m sorry.” Eve was confused again.
He pulled a pad out of his front pocket and opened it, glanced down, and then closed it before putting it back. “Anthony,” he replied. “The victim’s brother, the one who’s missing, the one who had a fight with her, stole something from Isleta. Brother Anthony, you heard from him this morning?”
“I have not heard from Brother Anthony,” she answered sincerely.
“Well, if he calls you, you’ll let us know, right?” Boots reached up and pulled at the collar of his shirt.
“I doubt he will call me,” she replied.
“Yes, but?” Boots wanted a promise.
“Yes, if he calls me, I will definitely let you know.”
“Good, that’s good.” He stretched and then patted his stomach. “I’m going to go back to the scene, take another look at things, try to figure out why the cup the victim was holding fell and broke like it did. So far, that doesn’t quite make any sense to me with where she landed.”
Eve felt her face redden and she quickly glanced down. When she looked back up, Boots was gone and Detective Lujan was watching her. “Well, it sounds like you’ve got some phone work to do this morning,” she said, hoping to make an exit without any more questions.
“Why do I get the feeling that you know more than you’re letting on?” he asked. “The letter from the brother . . . being in the abbot’s room after we were called . . . now out here with the victim’s . . .” He paused. “Colleague.”
She immediately started shaking her head. “I wouldn’t know why you have that feeling, Detective,” she said, trying to give a smile for reassurance.
Before Officer Lujan could ask something else, another guest came out of his room, pulling a suitcase. As he got closer to them, he stopped and turned to look behind him in the direction of the crime scene. He let go of his bag.
“It’s a real shame this happened,” he said. “I was just talking to Dr. Middlesworth last evening, and now . . .” He shook his head, ran a hand through his hair, clearly distressed. “You just never know, do you?”
Eve reached out and touched the man on his arm. “This is a terrible day,” she said.
He glanced down, nodding. “Yes, yes,” he replied.
“Drive safely to your home,” Eve said with a tenderness in her voice. “And may God bless you.”
He reached out and took her hand. “Thank you, Sister,” he said and then continued walking toward the parking lot.
Eve and Detective Lujan watched as he opened the trunk of his car, threw his suitcase in, closed it, and headed to the driver’s side.
“Frequent guest here at the monastery?” the officer asked.
She shook her head as if to say she didn’t understand the question.
“He called you Sister and yet you’re not wearing your habit.” He paused and still she said nothing. “No robe, no veil. I didn’t know you’re a nun when I met you, so he must know you live here, right? And you do live here? Right? For now, I mean?”
Eve glanced over as the man drove past them out of the parking lot and toward the monastery’s main gate. “We met earlier in the week.” She hesitated. “And I have lived here for twenty years,” she answered, not giving anything away.