The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors by Jonathan Santlofer, S.J. Rozan Read Free Book Online Page A

heart,” she prompted.
    â€œYes.”
    When nothing more was forthcoming, she threw out ideas. “Meaning what? A jealous husband? A rejected suitor? A fatal attraction?”
    â€œAn angry young man,” he said after a moment. The gray eyes lifted toward the church spire, the only part of the building visible from the secluded bench, then went higher, perhaps seeking out Heaven itself. “Joshua Bauer ran what was at the time perhaps the largest chain of funeral homes in the area. The second largest in the country owned by a member of the darker nation. His family began the business during the Civil War. That’s when most of the larger mortuaries began their work. Collecting corpses from the battlefield, preserving them, sending them home to their parents for burial. That’s how they all got started, black and white alike.”
    â€œI see.”
    â€œMr. Bauer was always a member of the vestry. Senior warden, junior warden, treasurer. Always held an important position. He had this daughter—Theresa, known as Terry—who was, by common consent, the most beautiful young woman in the church.” For the first time, a tinge of emotion colored Taite’s tone. A warmth, perhaps, but mixed somehow with awe, even fear. “The Bauers were not particularly religious, you should understand. Mr. Bauer did the vestry because that was how one maintained one’s position, both social and commercial. But his commitment to the enterprise was entirely financial. He gave generously, but also collected greedily. I daresay half or more of the congregants in those days buried their relatives through his funeral home.”
    â€œI see.”
    â€œThe Bauers had several children, but Terry was their pride and joy. She had the easy charm so many young women just miss. The boys, I fear, chased her—at times literally. Even when she was a little girl, here at the church, they would chase her around the parking lot. When she grew older—well, as I say, the Bauers were not particularly religious. Their children mostly ran wild, but Terry they shielded. They wanted her unsullied by the world. One might have described their attitude toward her as idolatrous. Certainly they loved that child more than they loved their God.”
    â€œI see,” Amanda said again, trying to understand the disapproval in his voice. She would have assumed that a traditionalist such as Christopher Taite would approve of a daughter being overprotected by her family.
    â€œTerry, however, was quite faithful. She never missed a Sunday, even when the rest of her family chose not to attend. She was the first girl to serve as acolyte at Trinity and St. Michael. She even talked about becoming a priest, if you can imagine. In the seventies.”
    When the national church was first fighting over the same issue, Amanda marveled. Terry sounded like a battler. The priest realized that she liked her.
    â€œDespite the vigilance of her parents,” Christopher Taite continued, “Terry naturally had her suitors. There was one young man in particular who coveted her. Wally. He, too, was from an important family in the parish. They might have made precisely the sort of marriage for which the older families of the darker nation yearn, a merging of two senior clans. Wally, however, never met the approval of Terry’s parents. He was a bit of a ne’er-do-well, what we might call, if you will forgive the allusion, the black sheep of an otherwise successful family. Did poorly in school. Often in trouble. The Bauers barred him from their house. They wanted no contact between Wally and their precious Terry. The congregation chose up sides. It was very nearly open warfare.”
    â€œAnd that’s what led to the murder?”
    â€œYou are getting ahead of yourself, Miss Seaver.” It was the first time he had referred to her by any name. Most of the congregants called her “Amanda.” A few were willing to