A Novena for Murder by Carol Anne O'Marie Read Free Book Online Page B

said politely, “right now we are not looking at eyes; we are looking at motive and opportunity.”
    Sister Mary Helen chose to ignore motive. “Did you check on where he was that night?”
    “Yes,” Kate answered. “With Marina, he says. And she says so, too. They are each other’s alibi. Yet she was alone when you saw her. Claims Leonelstayed in his room while she went to the office to pick up some work. You thought someone was in the upper hall, right? Could have been he. Anyway, we’re taking him downtown for a few questions.”
    “Ready, Kate?” Gallagher called from the car.
    “Talk to you later, Sister.” Kate slid in beside him.
    Even before she turned around, Mary Helen felt the silent stares of the kitchen help crowding the doorway. Their stained aprons covered the opening like a patchwork curtain. Only the small, black figure of Sister Therese, eyes wide, mouth shut, broke the pattern.
    Even poor Therese is stunned into silence, Mary Helen thought as she turned back to watch the taillights of the Plymouth round the building.
    Almost instantly, the kitchen burst into a babble, with Therese’s voice rising above the pack.
    Forgoing her coffee break, Mary Helen walked down the driveway toward the Sisters’ Residence. Poor, poor Leonel! She knew he hadn’t killed the professor. When lined up beside motive and opportunity, nice eyes and instinct were hardly a logical argument. Mary Helen realized that. Yet she knew, as surely as she knew the sun would rise in the east, that Leonel was innocent. Well, old girl, she thought, squaring her shoulders, with the police making that mistake, the burden of proving it seems to be falling directly on you!
    Opening the front door of the convent, she suddenly remembered why she had gone to the professor’s office. Joanna. She had forgotten to tell Kate Murphy that Joanna Alves was missing.

    “Thanks, Sister.” Kate Murphy replaced the phone and walked across the Detail to the small interrogation room. She called Gallagher out. Reluctantly, he left Leonel.
    “That was Sister Mary Helen,” she said, replacing her right earring.
    “What did she want?”
    “Seems she forgot to tell us that Joanna Alves is missing.”
    “Who the hell is Joanna Alves?”
    “The secretary’s sister. You know . . . Marina Alves—Joanna Alves.”
    “How long?”
    “Only overnight, but the sister is very worried. Called relatives, friends, everyone she can think of, and Joanna’s not with any of them. You don’t suppose something has happened to her?”
    “Naw! She probably just has a boyfriend.”
    “Wouldn’t her sister know?”
    Gallagher yawned, then checked his watch. Most of the Detail had gone home for the night, and Kate was starting to perk. He yawned again. “I think we’ve got enough to hold this guy overnight. Let’s give him to the lads upstairs and get the hell out of here. We can question him again first thing in the morning, after we’ve all had a good night’s sleep.” He emphasized the “all.”
    Kate didn’t answer.
    Gallagher sighed. “What’s on your mind, Katie girl?”
    “I was just trying to piece the day together.”
    “Yeah?”
    She flipped open her note pad. “Marina found the body. Swears she was with Leonel in his room until then. If she’s telling the truth, maybe we have the wrong guy in there.” Kate was thinking aloud. “Or, maybe
she
did it. But then, it doesn’t seem logical to hit him, then run out and raise such a commotion.”
    “Who says women are logical?”
    “No sexist jokes.” Kate’s blue eyes leveled on him.
    Gallagher cocked his head toward the interrogation room.
    “Far as I can see, the guy in there is our best bet so far. His prints are on the statue. His and Marina’s. She’s the secretary. Secretaries sometimes move things. Dust. But him? What are his prints doing on it? Which, if you remember, is why we picked him up for questioning in the first place.”
    Kate chose to ignore the sarcasm in