‘No, of course not, Sister. I misunderstood, that’s all,’ Sister Joan said. ‘It’s very kind of Detective Sergeant Mill to pay for the course. Shall I take her now?’
‘You’re to get yourself a salad sandwich and a cup of tea in town, then call on Brother Cuthbert on the way back and ask him if he would be willing to play his lute at Sister Teresa’s final profession. The community will have to make do with my soup today.’ Sister Perpetua grinned mischievously.
‘I’ll take her in the van,’ Sister Joan said.
‘About the van.’ Sister Perpetua coughed. ‘Provided Brother Cuthbert agrees, since in actual fact it belongs to his community, Mother Dorothy feels that it might be a happy idea if you were to repaint it with more suitable designs. You can do it in your spare time.’
‘Yes, Sister.’
Scooping up Alice Sister Joan wondered how she was expected to stretch twenty-four hours into twenty-five.
Fortunately Alice regarded a ride in the van as something new, delightful and utterly exciting. She pranced about, sniffing happily, then settled down in the passenger seat, her feathery tail curled round her plump body.
Sister Joan fastened her seatbelt, put the van into gear, and drove out of the yard, feeling again the pleasure of driving a decent engine. And repainting it with her own designs potentially a good idea too.
Near the main gates she slowed down to wave to Sister Hilaria who stood with her eyes fixed dreamily on the sky. The two postulants were evidently still showing the guest round their quarters, Sister Marie chattering her head off, Sister Elizabeth seeing to Magdalen’s comfort. They were both nice girls, she thought. It would be a pleasure to have them in the novitiate.
There was no sign of Brother Cuthbert as she drove past the schoolhouse. Either he was within meditating or had gone for a walk across the moor. On the further horizon the ramshackle cavalcade of the new-age travellers was still stretched out over the hill. So far they had caused no trouble that she was aware of, but the gypsies might have a different tale to tell.
The bright van attracted several turned heads as she steered it up the main street and into the station yard. Detective Sergeant Mill broke off his conversation with a uniformed constable on the steps and came to open the door for her.
‘Good Lord, Sister! Couldn’t you find anything more conspicuous?’ he enquired with a grin, lifting Alice down and setting her on the ground hastily as she proceeded to wet herself.
‘It is rather snazzy, isn’t it?’ Sister Joan grinned back, pleased to see that his dark mood had apparently dissipated. ‘We borrowed it from Brother Cuthbert.’
‘Brother Cuthbert being—?’
‘A young monk from a community up in the Highlands. I met him when I went up there on retreat. We’ve rented him the schoolhouse for a year so that he can live as a hermit there. Well, as much like a hermit as modern life permits. I thought you’d have known.’
‘We’ve been too busy keeping an eye on the new-age travellers to pay heed to a hermit or two. Constable Petrie is taking the dog to the training centre and he’ll call in to keep an eye on her from time to time.’
‘She’s going to fret terribly,’ Sister Joan said.
‘For about five minutes. We’re not sending her to approved school, you know,’ he said, amused. ‘In a fortnight she’ll be back — not a fully trained guard dog, but at least inclined to listen to orders. Petrie! The dog’s here.’
Constable Petrie loped up, looking with his boyishly pink cheeks rather like a large puppy himself.
‘Her name is Alice,’ Sister Joan reminded him sternly.
‘Hi, Alice.’ Constable Petrie took hold of the lead. ‘Are you going to come with me?’
Not only was Alice willing to go with him but she didn’t even look round as she trotted off happily.
‘Have you time for a cup of tea, Sister?’ Detective Sergeant Mill was looking at her.
‘Yes. Yes, I have,’ she said. ‘There is something I wanted to talk about. I need some advice and you’re the only person who can give it to me, I think.’
‘Come on into the office, Sister. Don’t worry about Alice. She’ll be fine.’ He held open the door, looking pleased at her request. Was that one reason why he and his wife had split up? Because she had found a way to solve her problems without involving her husband who was up to his eyes in his job?
‘So! How can I help you?’ He motioned her to a chair and then sat down himself, stretching long legs beneath the desk.
‘If I were to give you a couple of facts,’ she said cautiously, ‘would you be bound to make an official report on them?’
‘Not unless you’d broken the law.’
‘Well, I haven’t.’ She considered for a moment, then brought out the flick knife and laid it on the desk.
‘Where the devil did you get this?’ he demanded.
‘It — came into my possession,’ Sister Joan said. ‘Can you get rid of it for me?’
‘You’re not able to tell me how you got it?’
‘Not without breaking a confidence, Detective Sergeant. I’d be unwilling to do that.’
‘Well, I can certainly dispose of it,’ he said frowningly. ‘I would prefer to — excuse me.’
At his elbow the telephone rang sharply. He picked it up, gave his name, and listened for a moment before saying crisply, ‘I’ll be right there. Goodbye.’
‘I’m interrupting you.’ She had half-risen.
‘That was a call from Mother Dorothy,’ he said shortly. ‘One of the nuns has been attacked. Will you follow me back to the convent in your van?’
‘Yes, of course. Did Mother Dorothy say who—?’
‘Only that it was a serious attack. Come on, Sister.’
Pausing only to slip the knife into a drawer, he opened the door and waited with obvious impatience for her to precede him.
Six
‘Good of you to come so promptly, Detective Sergeant Mill.’ Mother Dorothy shook hands briskly and led the way across the hall into her parlour. ‘Sister Marie is in the dispensary with Sister Perpetua — she’s not as badly hurt as we first feared but clearly shocked and upset as we all are. Please sit down. Sister Joan, you may stay.’
Sister Joan, who had followed the police car in the van, chose a stool at a little distance.
‘Can you tell me what happened, Reverend Mother?’ Detective Sergeant Mill had on his brisk, official face.
‘Sister Marie will tell you herself in a few moments. I was in here when Sister Perpetua came to tell me that Sister Marie — she is one of our postulants — had been attacked in the grounds. I went at once to see for myself and then rang you.’
‘Where precisely was she attacked?’ he asked.
‘In the garden. To be more precise on the rough grass above the steps leading down to the old tennis courts. You’ll recall the postulancy where Sister Hilaria and her charges sleep is at the far side of the courts.’
‘Have you called a doctor?’
‘Sister Perpetua, our infirmarian, had a look at her and decided it wasn’t necessary. She has minor cuts and abrasions to her hands and is obviously distressed but she is adamant that she doesn’t want any fuss. Here they are now.’
Sister Marie, her usually rosy cheeks pale, limped in, supported by Sister Perpetua.
‘Detective Sergeant Mill, nice to see you again,’ the latter said cordially. ‘Sister Marie is quite ready to answer any questions you have.’
‘How bad are the injuries, Sister Perpetua?’ He sounded concerned, gentle.
‘I fell down the steps as I was getting away,’ Sister Marie said. She had taken off the concealing pink bonnet and had a white coif wrapped round her head. It gave her a mysterious, medieval look.
‘She twisted an ankle and the palms of her hands are badly scraped,’ Sister Perpetua said. ‘Mother Dorothy, I don’t believe it’s necessary to call a doctor out but I do think she ought to go to Out Patients for a tetanus jab.’
‘Sister Joan can run
her down to the clinic as soon as Sister has finished answering questions,’ Mother Dorothy said.
‘Can you tell me exactly what happened, Sister Marie?’ He looked at her.
‘We were showing one of our visitors, Miss Cole, round the postulancy,’ Sister Marie said. ‘Sister Hilaria asked if we would like a cup of mint tea before we came over to the main house for lunch. I remembered seeing some wild mint in the shrubbery so I offered to go and pick some. At the head of the steps that lead down into the old tennis courts. I knelt down to gather the mint when I heard something — someone behind me in the shrubbery. I stood up and started to turn round and then someone grabbed my shoulder. I pulled away, skidded on a loose stone and fell. I must’ve put out my hands to save myself and I landed in a heap at the foot of the steps.’
She glanced wincingly at her bandaged hands.
‘Did you see who grabbed you?’ Detective Sergeant Mill asked.
‘No.’ Sister Marie shook her head. ‘I was dazed for a moment after I fell, and by the time I got to my feet whoever it was had gone. I did get the impression that it was a man but that was just an impression.’
‘He didn’t follow you down the steps? Didn’t check on whether or not you were badly hurt?’
She shook her head again.
‘I don’t think so — no, I’m sure he didn’t. I scrambled to my feet — my ankle was hurting and the palms of my hands were stinging — and made my way as fast as I could back to the postulancy. Sister Hilaria came with us over to the main house but nobody had seen anything. They’d been in the little kitchen at the back of the postulancy boiling water for the tea.’
‘You mentioned that you had visitors?’ He slightly stressed the plural.
‘Bernadette Fawkes and Magdalen Cole,’ Mother Dorothy said. ‘Both of them wrote to me expressing an interest in the order, and are staying with us for a short period in order to learn more about it.’
‘And nobody at the main house noticed anything?’ He looked from one face to the next.
‘Nobody, Detective Sergeant Mill,’ she replied. ‘I was here with Sister David going over some accounts; Sister Perpetua was in the infirmary with Sister Gabrielle and Sister Mary Concepta; Sister Martha and Sister Katharine had just completed their separate chores and gone into the chapel with Bernadette to pray together. Oh, and Sister Teresa is still in seclusion at the postulancy in preparation for her final profession. None of them saw anything at all, but if you wish to see them—?’
‘That won’t be necessary, Reverend Mother.’ He was rising. ‘It’s fairly obvious that a trespasser isn’t going to march boldly up the main driveway. Sisters, I can run you down to the clinic myself and send you back in a police car if you like. It might be more comfortable than the van for Sister Marie.’
‘That’s very kind of you, but since we have our own transport it would be a pity not to use it,’ Mother Dorothy said, also rising. ‘Sister Joan, when Sister Marie has had her injection may I suggest you stay in town for a cup of tea and a salad sandwich? Lunch here will be long over by the time you get back.’
‘Yes, Mother Dorothy. Come on, Sister.’ Sister Joan helped the postulant to her feet, relieved to see that some of the colour had returned to her cheeks.
‘I’ll have a look around the shrubbery and the tennis courts if I may before I go,’ Detective Sergeant Mill said.
‘Yes, of course, and I hope you don’t feel I called you out for nothing,’ she said.
‘Any incident of this type ought to be reported immediately,’ he assured her. ‘I can send a constable up to keep an eye on things if you wish but we are somewhat short in the manpower department as usual.’
‘I will advise the sisters to take precautions and not wander in the grounds alone,’ she allowed. ‘There’s no need to send anyone over. This is a convent after all, not a fortress.’
‘As you wish. Good day, Sisters.’
He went out, striding towards the side path as Sister Joan settled Sister Marie in the van’s passenger seat.
‘I’ll drive carefully,’ she said as she climbed behind the wheel. ‘You’re looking better already but a tetanus shot is a wise precaution.’
‘I really wasn’t much hurt,’ Sister Marie said. ‘Honestly, I feel a bit of a fraud for making such a fuss, but it did give me a shock.’
‘I’d have screamed my head off,’ Sister Joan said.
‘It happened too fast for me to scream,’ Sister Marie told her. ‘My throat just closed up. That was the frightening part of it.’
‘I can imagine.’ Sister Joan drove as steadily as the undulating track allowed towards the town.
Sister Marie had closed her eyes and leaned her head against the seat rest. The incident had probably upset her more than she liked to admit.
At the clinic she was startled to find two nurses waiting at the door to shepherd them into the surgery.
‘Mother Dorothy from the convent just telephoned us to expect you,’ one of the nurses said cordially. ‘We’ll whisk you in to save waiting.’
Sister Joan settled herself in the waiting-room and ignored the temptation of a shiny magazine in favour of a quick and silent rosary, her fingers sliding over the beads and half hidden in the folds of her grey habit. When Sister Marie limped out, having been provided with a rubber-tipped stick, the nurse with her spoke cheerfully.
‘Not too much damage. The tetanus jab will take care of any infection. Your Sister Perpetua did a good job of the bandaging. We could do with her down here! Go and have something to eat now, Sister, and keep off that foot for a couple of days.’
‘There’s a café just round the corner, if you can walk that far,’ Sister Joan began.
‘I’ll be fine,’ Sister Marie said. ‘Honestly, Sister, it’s nothing at all really.’ Nothing it might be but she was breathing hard by the time they had rounded the corner and entered the café, gay with its red and white checked tablecloths and vase of plastic flowers.
‘A pot of tea for two and two cheese and tomato sandwiches,’ Sister Joan smiled at the girl who came from the back to serve them. ‘Oh, and a glass of water, please. Sister Marie, did they give you any painkillers?’
‘I’m to take two every six hours,’ Sister Marie said.
‘Take a couple now with the water and then we’ll have our snack.’
‘Have you had an accident, Sister? It is Sister, isn’t it?’
The woman who had paused at the open door of the café came in, her shawl wrapped tightly about her gaunt person.
‘A slight mishap, Miss—?’ Sister Joan looked a question.
‘Dacre. Sylvia Dacre. Miss, though I prefer Ms.’
‘Sister Marie slipped down some steps,’ Sister Joan said, censoring the details.
‘I saw you coming out of the clinic. You’re Sister Joan. You gave your name when you were talking to the two young men.’
‘They’re travelling with you?
‘I give them house room.’ The woman’s lip curled slightly. ‘I’m glad it was nothing serious,’ she said abruptly and turned on her heel, striding out again.
‘Odd woman!’ Sister Marie gulped down her pills with a grimace and picked up the sandwich the waitress had just set down.
‘She’s with the new-age travellers,’ Sister Joan said. ‘Eccentric, I daresay.’
‘It’s nearly two years since I was in town,’ Sister Marie confided, biting with relish into her sandwich. ‘Is it all right to chat like this? I mean, you’re a professed nun and we’re not supposed to talk to the professed sisters as a general rule.’
‘You’ll be a novice very soon,’ Sister Joan reminded her, ‘and this is an unusual occasion.’
‘Thank goodness for that!’
‘You’re sure you didn’t see anybody?’ Sister Joan asked.
‘Nobody. I never got the chance to turn round.’ Sister Marie paused, the sandwich halfway to her mouth again as she said, ‘Have you got any idea who it could be? I don’t have any enemies I can think of but perhap
s it was just a random attack?’
‘Probably.’ Sister Joan frowned slightly.
Random attackers didn’t, of course, follow any rules but it seemed a long way to walk in the hope of catching a nun unawares.
‘Well, it’s a good sandwich anyway,’ Sister Marie said cheerfully. ‘Nearly as nice as the ones you make.’
‘Didn’t anyone ever tell you the Devil is father of all lies?’ Sister Joan said, amused. ‘My sandwiches are improving but they’re not cordon bleu!’
‘When I’m a novice,’ Sister Marie said, ‘that means I get to help out with lay duties, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. When I’m professed I shall volunteer as lay sister.’
‘That’ll be a burden off my shoulders,’ Sister Joan said. ‘Being a lay sister is hard, you know, having to balance so carefully the practical and the spiritual. It wasn’t until I took over as lay sister that I realized we just don’t appreciate them sufficiently — but I’ve a feeling you’ll make a good one.’
‘Sister Elizabeth prefers the contemplative side of religious life,’ Sister Marie informed her. ‘She’s devoted to Sister Hilaria — well we both are, but Elizabeth wants to be exactly like her.’
‘Sister Hilarias are born and not made,’ Sister Joan said, thinking of the quiet, obedient, slightly dull Sister Elizabeth who, unlike Sister Marie, would have been horrified to find herself sitting in a café drinking tea.
‘Is Magdalen Cole really going to enter the religious life?’ Sister Marie sipped her tea and fixed questioning eyes on her companion.
‘She seems very keen on the idea, but that’s something for Mother Dorothy to decide,’ Sister Joan said.
‘Reverend Mother is always bemoaning the lack of vocations.’
‘Bemoaning’ didn’t sound much like Mother Dorothy’s style but Sister Joan caught the general idea and nodded.
‘Provided they’re good strong vocations,’ she said.
‘Yes.’ Sister Marie started on the second half of her sandwich, her face troubled.
‘What do you think of Magdalen Cole?’ Sister Joan asked bluntly.
A VOW OF DEVOTION an utterly gripping crime mystery Page 9