Chapter 32

REBECCA

April played with Legos on the floor and Plato napped. Jerry was staying the night in Booneville with the team as they were in the middle of their second group's first workshop. Kathy's head had pretty well healed and she and Julie had gone to the high school's graduation practice. Julie was so amazingly responsible, I never asked where she was going, but she did tell me about this one. She was a great role model for Kathy to grow into.

When Jerry left for Booneville, he was like a proud parent attending his children's first recital. In only four weeks, the first team had developed an R&B combo from their own ranks, three inmates, one guard, plus young Father Kennedy. Dan McGuire and Kennedy had acquired the needed instruments for the group. I looked forward to hearing how it went, but now I sat back and enjoyed the peaceful house.

The quiet didn't last long as the house phone rang next to me. I answered, "Hello."

"Is this Ms. Rebecca Brady?" asked a very polite and cultured voice. "Yes, it is, and who is this?" Ever since my third article on prison reform and my articles on pedophiles in the Catholic Church, I had gotten several hostile calls and so I got into the habit of hanging up on all impolite, harsh, or hateful-sounding voices.

"I'm George Stevens. I would like to talk to you about a Joseph Carson, also known as Father Joe Carson, or perhaps, Father Joe Carroll. You've written about him, right?"

"I know him. What do you want to know?" I was always cautious when Joe's name came up when I was talking to someone unfamiliar to me.

"It is something private and very confidential and I cannot talk about it over the phone. Could we meet somewhere? And soon, if possible." He sounded a bit desperate but not threatening.

"Where are you calling from, Mr. Stevens?"

"You can call me George, if you wish. I'm calling from Belleville, Illinois, but I could come to St. Louis."

"If this involves the law, I would like to meet at the District Attorney's office here in St. Louis. How would that be?" If he didn't want to meet me there, he could forget it.

"That would be fine. Just tell me the time, address, and the name of the DA."

"I don't know who is handling Joe's case here, so I'll get it and call you back." He gave me his phone number and asked if we could meet this afternoon. I called the detective, Dave Lawson, and he gave me the name of the assistant DA, Paul Jennings.

Dave asked, "If this involves Joe Carroll, may I attend the meeting?"

I said, "Sure." I asked our neighbor Agnes to take care of April until Julie got home, then I called Jennings. He could meet with us at 5:00, if that was okay with me, Lawson, and Stevens.

I was a bit nervous as I entered Jennings's small office near the courthouse. Jennings looked to be in his sixties and was rather rotund with salt and pepper hair and a pleasant smile. Stewart was rather young, probably in his thirties, nervous, slight, and had a fair complexion. He had anxious eyes, as if expecting someone or something to jump out at him from every corner. After we crowded into the office, I introduced him to Dave and Paul. All three of us looked at Stevens and I said, "Well, George, tell Paul, Dave, and me what this important thing is that you couldn't tell me over the phone."

He looked around nervously, "First, Joe Carroll has been released on bail."

I jumped up and yelled, "What the hell? Is he running around loose right now?" I was terrified that the scary bastard would already be in St. Louis and looking for Kathy and me—or any member of my family to hurt us. "Dave," I asked, "could you send a patrol car to my house? Right now, only our baby April is there with the babysitter, but the other two girls, teenagers, should be home soon. Jerry is in Booneville. Please?"

Dave nodded, pulled out his cell, excused himself, and left the room.

I turned to Paul Jennings, the attorney, and yelled, "First I heard that he was being held without bail, then I understood that he was transferred to Illinois and held with a $700,000 bail. So, what the hell happened?" Then I turned to Stevens, "And you! You tell us who you are and how you are involved in all this. And how did Joe get $700,000?"

I must have scared him as he grew even more nervous. "I'm George Stevens and the son of the late Ethyl Stevens. Ethyl is, uh, was my mother who died just a month ago, and, well, ah, my sister and I just learned that our mother left us with a much smaller inheritance than we had expected. My sister, Ruth, has been reading your articles in the women's magazine and that's where we got your name. Ruth thought you, uh, might know why Joe Carroll or Joe Carson received three million dollars in our mother's will. Now, I'm guessing he's using part of that to post a bail you just mentioned." He nervously looked at each of us, and said, "Do you, Mr. Jennings, know anything about this?"

"No, I'm afraid this is the first time I've heard all this. I'll call the DA in Belleview as soon as we are through here."

It was my turn to be nervous. Three million to that bastard! "Okay, sorry George for yelling, but Joe nearly killed our foster-daughter. So where is he now?"

"I, uh, I don't know. I thought you might know or someone here, like the police or district attorney, would have some idea. It, uh, seems like you are in the dark like us. But we thought you might know something. You know his brother, Jack. Would he, perhaps, have any ideas?"

"I'm sure Jack does not know anything because he surely would have told me. Again, I turned to Jennings, "Paul, would you make that call right now and find what you can about Joe's whereabouts?"

Stevens and I sat nervously quiet while Paul called Illinois. After about five minutes of 'yeses', 'nos', 'okays' and other monosyllables, Paul ended the call and said, "He had an item on his agenda to call me today and telling me that Carroll had made bail. The judge had been informed about his arrest here and the charge of attempted murder. The judge dismissed our charges and ignored our request that Joe be held without bail for some damned reason. The DA said that the $200,000 bail was the same as being held without bail as far as this judge is concerned. I told him that I'd learned that the bail was $700,000 and he said I must be mistaken. So, George, what do you say to that?"

"I, uh, I just know what our attorney said to my sister and me."

I jumped in, "I wonder if it has anything to do with the judge dismissing our arrest here and the charge of attempted murder? Five hundred thousand dollars might look pretty nice to the judge or an attorney ... or both." I was beginning to be suspicious of everybody and I didn't like it.

Paul said, "I'm sure as hell going to look into that, pretty damned soon. Now, no one seems to have any idea where Joe might be. He has been ordered to show up in court in two weeks, that's all my colleague knew there. Damn! George, how did your mother know Joe Carroll?"

"I didn't even know his name, but mother did talk about this wonderful priest who accompanied her to the Holy Land, to Rome, to all the places that the Virgin Mary was supposed to have appeared—like Lourdes, Fatima, and others. She told us that they stayed in the finest hotels and ate in the best restaurants. It seems that she paid for all their expenses. Often it sounded like she had a boyfriend. Our father died seven years ago and I know mother was very lonely. Ruth and I thought that the priest was doing her, and us, a favor. I'll ask Ruth if she knew if it was this Father Joe Carroll."

I looked at my watch. It was a little after 6:00 p.m. As if on cue, my phone rang. I dug it out of my purse and heard Julie scream, "Mom, I can't find Kathy."