Secrets in the Shallows (Book 1: The Monastery Murders)

by Karen Vance Hammond

  Helen took it from him and braced the paper as she added her signature below Tom’s. With the last stroke of the pen, a myriad of memories flooded her mind. Laying it down on the table beside her, she stated softly, “I always knew my Tommy didn’t kill himself. Please catch my baby’s killer so that justice is done.”

  “We’ll do our best, ma’am,” John replied, taking the papers and stacking them neatly in his briefcase.

  Peter added, “That’s all we need for now. If we find anything out, we will let you know right away.”

  “Thank you both, and good luck.” With that, Tom and Helen stood up and slowly made their way towards the doors to leave.

  CHAPTER 37

  Whistling a tune that had been stuck in his head all day, Deputy Shamberg walked down the hallway towards the men’s cellblock. The familiar rhythm of his heavy footsteps echoed throughout the jail corridor, announcing his approach to the inmates housed there. Keys rattled from his utility belt as he passed by a young man’s cell.

  A scruffy-faced inmate, with dirty blonde hair and wearing an orange prison uniform, stood up in hopes of being released. Sticking his hand out from between the metal bars, he spoke in a low tone, “Deputy?”

  “What is it, Toby?”

  The young man with a short beard and mustache gave a faint smile. Deep purple bruises marred his face; evidence from the bar fight during the previous night. The large knot on his forehead covered in a dozen color hues, was a strong reminder of the brawl which required his opponent go to the hospital ER.

  “Know anything about when I can get out of here?”

  “Toby, I haven’t heard anything yet. Your lawyer will be the first to know; not me.”

  Discouraged, Toby sighed as he watched Deputy Shamberg walk in the direction of the guard station.

  Reaching the doorway, he swiped his card to release the lock. Opening the door, he walked into the central hub guard station. Nodding to the deputy on duty, he stopped in front of the sparse desk. “Mother Superior has a lawyer here. I’m gonna’ take her to meet with him.”

  “No problem. Don’t forget to sign her out, please,” the bored deputy said, as he pushed a clipboard through a slot in the Plexiglas window protecting his desk. Smiling politely, he returned his attention to the latest comedy hit show playing on the small television in the corner.

  Looking at his watch, Deputy Shamberg grabbed his pen and leaned down to fill out the clipboard form then pushed it back. “Thanks! I think this will take care of it. I’ll bring her back right after they’re done.”

  Halfway listening, the deputy chuckled as something amused him. Waving at Deputy Shamberg, he replied, “No problem.”

  “Thanks,” Shamberg replied to the deputy, who barely noticed.

  Sitting at a desk just outside the woman’s cellblock, Deputy Stephanie Simms stopped reading her magazine as Deputy Shamberg approached. She smiled as she looked him directly in the eyes. “You need to get one of the inmates?” she asked with a friendly tone.

  “Yes, Steph. I need Mother Superior Mary Ellen, please.”

  Deputy Simms bookmarked her page in the magazine, set it down on the desk, and proceeded to lead her colleague to Mother Superior’s cell. Swiping her card, she waited for the familiar buzzing noise. Continuing on to their destination, she opened the door and into the corridor for the female’s cellblock. Passing by four cells, they stopped to find an elderly lady sitting quietly on her cell’s bench.

  The dark circles draped below Mother Superior’s eyes were a blatant sign of sleep loss, due to hours of prayer. I wonder if my prayers are being heard; or, are they just hitting the ceiling? she thought to herself.

  A woman’s loud voice broke the silence. “Thanks for getting her out of here. I’m tired of hearing that holy rolla’ prayin’ all day.” Grabbing the metal cell bars, the large woman with cropped off hair continued to yell from the across the aisle. “Look at you, all dressed up in yer’ prayin’ dress from one of those big churches. I hear ya’ whisperin’ and prayin’ those jibber-jabber prayers all the time, and I’m sick of it. You think they would do you some good, but look! You still in here, just like the rest of us! Prayers ain’t heard here, Preacher Lady. Don’t ya’ know that?”

  “Quiet down over there, Rosie. This has nothing to do with you. Don’t cause any trouble. You’ve gotten in enough trouble already,” Deputy Simms reprimanded her.

  “We have ta’ listen to her constant talking ta’ God. Just lettin’ her know what we think about it.” Small tattoos decorated each knuckle as she held on to the bars. “Hey, Preacher Lady! What you get in here for anyways? Stealing one of those Bibles from the motel rooms? I know what it was. Talkin’ someone to death!” she said, laughing so hard that she started coughing.

  Mother sat on her bench as a tear streamed down her face. “I did nothing to deserve being here. Praying to God brings me comfort though.”

  “Jail’s full of innocent people, Sista’. Don’t ya’ know that by now?”

  Turning towards Mother Superior, Deputy Shamberg said, “Just ignore her. You have a visitor.”

  Standing up, Mother Superior quickly moved toward the holding cell door. “Sir? Who is here?”

  Shamberg answered, “Ma’am, someone’s here to represent you.”

  Rosie spoke up, “As much as she’s been praying, I wouldn’t be surprised if God came to shut her up himself.” Raising her hands in the air, she waved them vigorously, “Hallelujah! Thank God she’s leaving for a while.”

  Deputy Simms shook her head at the annoying woman and rolled her eyes. Turning back to Mother Superior, she directed, “Put your hands in the slot between the bars, please.”

  Obeying her order, Mother pushed her hands through the small rectangular slot in the cell door. After cuffing each wrist, she said to her, “Step back.”

  As Mother Superior stood away from the door, Deputy Shamberg swiped his electronic card and punched some numbers in the keypad, opening the door automatically.

  Taking Mother Superior by the upper arm, Deputy Simms said, “Right this way.”

  Leading her out of the holding cell block, the deputies walked Mother past the tattooed woman as she yelled, “Hey! Hey! Where’s ya’ goin’? Take me with ya’!”

  Deputy Simms looked back at the boisterous detainee, “Not this time, Rosie.”

  * * * *

  Back in Judge Taylor’s private chambers, Sheriff Johnson and John sat and patiently waited in their seats as they finished listening to the counseling session tape. The judge hit the stop button as the session ended, and shook his head in disgust.

  “I really didn’t think she could be responsible for such a horrific act.” Gazing over the lab results from the hair samples, he added, “And Mother Superior’s hair matched the ones from the rope and backpack?”

  “Yes, it did, Your Honor,” the sheriff replied. “We got the results from Dr. Peter Balkan with the State’s forensic department. He said there’s a 99.8% probability that they all match.”

  Furrowing his brow, the judge asked, “You also said the missing evidence seen taken by a nun on the surveillance footage we saw was found in Mother Superior Mary Ellen’s office desk?”

  Leaning back in his chair, Sheriff Johnson replied, “Yes, sir. Again, Dr. Balkan found it in his search.”

  Pausing a moment to think, the judge said, “Well, I don’t see anything to keep me from signing the arrest warrant against her for Timothy Fields’ murder. Until you get the results from examining Tom Green’s body to conclusively change his cause of death to murder, I can’t justify including that charge against her. If you can prove that she had motive to kill Tom, then I will consider adding the charge.”

  Picking up a pen, he scribbled his signature on the arrest warrant in front of him on the desk and handed it to the sheriff. “Here you go, Sheriff. I take it that is all you need for today?”

  Accepting the document, the sheriff replied, “Thank you, Your Honor. That’s all I have for now. I’ll let
you know when I get the results from the examination.”

  “Very good, Sheriff.” Turning to John, he added, “Nice seeing you again, Mr. District Attorney. I suppose I will see you again soon as well.”

  “Probably so, Your Honor. Thank you for your time,” John said as he stood.

  Sheriff Johnson gathered his things and stood up. “Have a nice evening, sir.”

  “You too, Sheriff,” the judge replied as they headed out the door.

  Sheriff Johnson looked over at John and said, “We need to make sure you are up-to-date on everything, John. Do you have a few minutes today, so we can catch you up on everything we have found?”

  “Sure, I’m heading back to my office now. Feel free to come by.”

  The sheriff smiled and said, “I need to stop by my office first, and then I’ll stop by.”

  “Sounds great! See you then,” John replied as he waved and turned down another hallway to head towards his office.

  CHAPTER 38

  Inside a station interrogation room, a rather thin-looking man and placed his briefcase on a table nearby. After rubbing the top of his greased-back black hair, Charles Posey opened the case and sat down. For several seconds, he rummaged through a stack of folders. Finally finding the one he had been searching for, he pulled it out and laid it down in front of him. Straightening both ends of his red bow tie which adorned his white starched shirt, he poured a cup of water and waited patiently for his newest client.

  As Charles looked at his watch, a gentle rapping echoed in the room. Immediately, the door opened and Charles stood to his feet as Mother Superior was ushered in by Deputies Shamberg and Simms. Charles was surprised to see the elderly woman walk in with handcuffs.

  Not recognizing the tall man, Mother Superior asked, “Who are you? You look familiar, but I can’t place you.”

  “Mother Superior, my name is Charles Posey, and I am your newly-appointed attorney.”

  With a sigh of relief, Mother raised her eyes toward the ceiling. Folding her hands in prayer, she whispered, “Thank you, Lord.”

  Charles watched as Deputy Simms removed the handcuffs from Mother Superior’s wrist. Turning towards her escorts, he said, “Thank you, Deputies. That will be all.”

  After the deputies had stepped out of the room, he walked around the wooden table pulling out a chair for Mother Superior to sit in. Slightly leaning over he said, “Can I get you something to drink? Would you like some coffee?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  Charles poured her a small Styrofoam cup of coffee, then sat down at the table across from her and cleared his throat. “Mother, I want you to know that I offered to take your case. One of the reasons why I wanted to help so badly is because I am a Catholic also. I was an altar boy at the monastery when I was a young child. I have even seen the work you have done over the years, and how much you have sacrificed for the Church. I admire your dedication and leadership in the Catholic faith.”

  Her voice quivered as she sat down, “Thank you, Mister Posey.”

  “You may call me Charles.”

  Wringing her hands, she replied, “All right, Charles. But I have a question. Were you hired by someone? I have very little money to pay you for my representation.”

  “Mother Superior, I understand your concerns; however I am taking your case pro bono. I wanted to make sure you would be represented by someone who actually cares about your fate; so, I contacted Bishop O’Connell to find out how I could represent you. I know that they haven’t arrested you yet, but it may be just a matter of time, unfortunately.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I knew I needed help, but I’ve never been in legal trouble in my life. I had no idea who to call to represent me. Thank you so much. You’re a godsend.”

  Leaning slightly forward, he made eye contact with her and said, “I’m going to be totally honest with you, Mother Superio. There is a lot of evidence that is stacking up against you for the Timmy Fields’ murder case. The good news is that they have to have means, opportunity, and motive in order to show probable cause to arrest you. They don’t have everything yet, from what I can tell.”

  “But I didn’t kill anyone, Charles!” Mother interrupted.

  “I’m not saying you did, Mother Superior.”

  “This is such a mess. I didn’t do anything they are accusing me of.”

  Continuing with his initial conversation, Charles Posey said, “We’re getting ahead of ourselves, Mother. In order to represent you properly, I need you to tell me the truth about everything associated with this case. I’m going to do everything I can in my power to get you out of here and represent you with this case.”

  Mother Superior felt the sting from the tears in her swollen, red eyes. “Charles, I did not do anything to that boy. I don’t know why they have the evidence against me, because I did not do what these men are accusing me of. As God is my witness, I never laid a hand on any of my students. My life has been spent taking care of them. Not harming them. I don’t know the reason for it, but I think I’m being framed.”

  Charles reached inside his coat pocket retrieving a writing pad. Taking an ink pen out of his shirt pocket, he clicked the end as he said, “Mother, we need to start from the very beginning. Tell me everything you know about Timmy Fields and Tom Green.”

  Mother Superior grabbed one of the tissues and dabbed her eyes as she began to tell her new lawyer, Charles Posey, all that she could think of about her case.

  * * * *

  Contemplating his strategy to find Mother Superior’s motive for the murders, John sat at his desk typing some notes in his computer. I know that I have a lot of hard evidence to win the murder case hands down and to put that woman away for a long time; however, what was her motive to kill Tom? Without motive, things are still risky, he thought to himself.

  John stretched his arms out as he looked up at the ceiling. With a smirk, he let out a laugh. “If I win this case like I think I will, I could definitely make a name for myself all over Maine.”

  With doughnuts and hot coffee in hand, Sheriff Johnson knocked briefly with his elbow before invited himself in John’s office. “Hello? Counselor? You in here? I bring the snack of champion lawyers. Well, if you like coffee and doughnuts, that is.” Sheriff Johnson chuckled a little under his breath as he walked in and set down a disposable drink carrier with two coffees inside.

  John grinned as he stood up and walked around the front of his desk and said, “Hot coffee? Great! Just what is needed for this working lawyer. I need to wake up anyway. Been a long day.”

  “Happy about the arrest warrant?” Sheriff Johnson asked.

  “Well, of course. But you brought fresh doughnuts and hot coffee too. That’s a bonus.”

  Sheriff Johnson placed the box of glazed, sugary doughnuts down on the corner of John’s desk. “So, what did you think about the counseling session tape Peter found? Pretty strong evidence, eh? It should help a great deal with Timmy’s case. I just wish we had the same thing for Tom’s case.” Pausing for a moment, he asked, “Do you think Tom ever had any sessions like that? I’m sure that Peter didn’t know to look for anything about Tom Green in the files.”

  Opening up the lid, John’s mouth watered as he took a paper napkin and retrieved one of the glazed doughnuts. With his cheeks bulging, he said, “Hmmm ... I don’t know, Sheriff. Did you ask the Greens if he had any sessions like that with Mother Superior?”

  “I had a great opportunity, but I didn’t think about it this morning. I was so focused on getting their permission for exhuming the body.”

  John took another bite of the glazed doughnut and licked the sugar from his lips. “I wonder if they’d be willing to talk to you about it.”

  “I’ll have to give them a call in the morning and have Deputy Williams go back out to the monastery to see if there are any files on Tom Green. Maybe there’s a connection in addition to the fact he went to that school.”

  John stopped chewing for a moment, took a sip of his coffee, and
said, “Good luck! Do you think we can get Tom’s body exhumed tomorrow?”

  Sheriff Johnson retrieved a doughnut from the box. Stuffing it in his mouth, he said, “My assistant, Heather, is getting the details taken care of right now. We’re going to try our best.”

  Using a paper napkin, Sheriff Johnson immediately put his doughnut down on John’s table.

  Sheriff Johnson reached inside his pocket, retrieving a CD. “John, I had one of my tech guys burn a few copies of the surveillance and counseling session tape so we can all be very familiar with them. This is your copy to study.”

  John reached out as Sheriff Johnson handed it over. “If Williams finds any tapes on Tom Green, can you get me a copy of that as well, please?”

  “Yes, of course, Counselor. I’ll make sure you get a copy of anything we find.”

  After licking his fingers, John took another sip of his coffee and commented, “I wonder why Timmy didn’t reveal any of that while they were searching for Tom.”

  “I don’t know. That’s a good question,” John replied.

  Sheriff Johnson suggested, “Maybe he felt threatened. Ironically, it seems the only person he trusted was Mother Superior, other than his girlfriend, Lisa. There are still a lot of questions that haven’t been answered. It’s too bad we can’t ask him. I guess we’ll probably never know, will we?”

  “Probably not, Sheriff.”

  “Nevertheless, I wonder if Timmy was murdered so he wouldn’t say anything to anyone else. I mean, we know he saw something,” the sheriff commented. “We already have a good idea of why Timmy was killed. The murderer probably felt that Timmy saw Tom’s murder. What I don’t understand is why Tom was killed too? How does he fit into all of this? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “I still think she did it. You heard the tape!”

  “I know! I know! But something is still missing for this case. I hope that the examination of Tom’s body will answer a lot of questions and help us wrap up this last murder case too. We’ve at least got her for Timmy’s murder, but we can’t arrest her for murdering Tom until we have that connection.”