CHAPTER 15

 

Freitag was busy wolfing down a pastrami sandwich; his attention focused on the abundant slabs of meat pressed between thick slices of rye bread that he held between his oversized fingers. A bright yellow smear of mustard colored the corner of his mouth. Across the table, Davis fiddled idly with his corned beef counterpart and finally said what was on his mind.

“Maybe we’re barking up the wrong tree,” he said.

“Huh?” said Freitag, his voice muffled by a mouthful of pastrami.

“What if they’re just the guy’s initials? What if the J and the C are just his initials? Then what?”

“You mean no religious connection?” said Freitag, taking a huge swallow of cream soda, and belching loudly. He smiled proudly.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” said Davis, ignoring his partner’s breach of etiquette. “What if we’re just following the obvious and ignoring something really significant. Maybe we should be looking at every guy in the neighborhood with J.C. as his initials.”

“Well, I guess we could do that,” answered Freitag. “But, it ain’t gonna do much for narrowing down the list of suspects.”

Davis took a bite of his corned beef sandwich. He started to chew, then stopped suddenly. “Let’s go,” he said.

“Go where?” asked a perplexed Freitag.

“I want to talk to CSU. See if they found anything else that might be of religious significance in the Spiros’s apartment.”

 

The pert technician at CSU clicked her chewing gum when she spoke. “Well, we did find a bible—a New Testament—but that should have been on the inventory,” she said.

“I don’t know how I could have missed that, but I did,” replied Davis. “Can I see it?”

“Sure,” replied the tech, “just give me a minute, and I’ll bring it out for you.”

She disappeared down the hall, her ample behind swaying side to side as Freitag watched in amusement. Davis frowned.

“What?” said Chris, with a grin.

“You’re an asshole,” muttered Matt.

“Hey, I’m not dead yet.”

The woman reappeared several minutes later carrying the book. Davis took the bible and began thumbing through it, looking for something of significance, anything at all. Somewhere around the middle of the book, he found it. It was a bookmark. “Here, look,” said Matt. He held the book out to his partner, the pages exposed.

Freitag leaned over Davis’s shoulder and peered at the pages. A vacant look spread across his face. He obviously did not see anything of significance in front of him. As if reading his partner’s mind, Davis said, “Right here. This passage here – EPHESIANS, Chapter 5.”

“3 But fornication, and all unclean-

ness, or covetousness, let it not be once

named among you, as becometh saints;

4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking,

nor jesting, which are not convenient:

but rather giving of thanks.

For this ye know, that no whore monger,

nor unclean person, nor covetous man,

who is an Idolater, hath any inheritance

in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

“I don’t get it,” said Freitag. “What are you saying?”

“Well, it looks as if someone was trying to counsel Mrs. Spiros about something.”

“Okay. So, you think this is the connection? I mean—with the J.C. and all? Is that what you’re saying?” asked Freitag.

“What I’m saying is, I think we need to go back and check on the Simpson homicide,” answered Davis. “I’ll lay you odds that we’ll find a bible there, too.”

 

 

He was right.

The bible had been inventoried, right along with the jewelry, coffee cups, cigarette butts, and so forth. A quick examination of the book revealed a similar bookmark in the same location, with the same passage underlined.

“I guess we can say that there’s a little religious significance now,” remarked Davis.

“Yeah—I guess so,” said Freitag.

Maybe they were finally getting somewhere.

“Why don’t we go talk to Father Richter,” suggested Matt. “Tell him about the bibles. See if it rings any bells.”

“Can’t hurt,” said Chris.

 

Richter greeted the detectives in his study. “Is there anything wrong?” he asked.

“Not another murder, if that’s what you’re thinking.” said Matt. “But, there is something we’d like to run by you. Get your take on it.”

“Whatever I can do,” replied Richter.

“We found a bible at both scenes,” said Davis.

“Nothing unusual about that, is there?” asked the priest. “Most of my parishioners have a New Testament in their homes.”

“I agree,” said Matt. “It’s what we found inside the bibles that got us thinking.”

“And what was that?”

“Underlined passages relating to infidelity.”

“EPHESIANS, Chapter Five?” asked Richter.

“Yeah,” said Matt. “How’d you know?”

Richter walked over to a bookcase in the corner of his study, and retrieved a copy of the New Testament. He thumbed through it as he returned to the detectives. “Hmm,” he said. “Let’s see, EPHESIANS—.” He flipped through the pages, stopping when he had reached a particular spot. “Here it is.” He began to read: “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it be once named among you, as becometh—”

“Yeah,” said Freitag. “That sounds like it. What’s it mean?”

“Well, in a nutshell,” said Richter, “it relates to infidelity. It basically says that if one is unfaithful to one’s spouse, that person faces the prospect of not going to Heaven.”

“Well,” said Matt. “That would fit – sort of. If they were running around on their husbands, but the husbands have alibis tighter than a duck’s—”

“I think I get the picture,” said the priest. “Look, there’s something you might as well know. I apologize for not telling you sooner, but I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I had counseled both women regarding some indiscretions in their lives. I’d rather not go into too much detail. I hope you understand.”

Davis nodded. “Then you knew about the bibles?” he asked.

“Not exactly. I knew both women were having trouble in their marriages.”

“Did you suggest that they consult their bible?”

“We refer to it as the New Testament,” answered the priest. “Actually, I recommended those passages to them over the phone. My guess is they underlined them themselves. That would explain it, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes it would,” said Matt. He reached out and shook Richter’s hand. “Thank you very much for your time, father. It certainly clears up the business about the bibles…uh…I mean New Testaments. It must be difficult dealing with these murders. I mean, both women in your own parish, women that you knew.” Richter looked away. When he turned back, his eyes were moist. “It’s most difficult, I assure you.”

“Well, we won’t take up anymore of your time,” said Chris.