Sister O'Marie - A Novena for Murder

Eileen could hardly believe it. “Sounds like a combination of loan shark and indentured servant,” she said.

“And the men he duped were only a beginning. If he could bring three or four more over every year and have them repay him, with all the money tax free, in no time at all the man would have a very lucrative business going.

“But these guys were merely poor, not stupid. They weren’t here very long before they realized they were getting nowhere fast. They began to demand a little something back and adeus !” Kate pulled her forefinger across her throat.

“Himself?” Mary Helen was aghast to think of the meticulously groomed professor with the practiced smile slitting someone’s throat.

Kate shook her head. “Dirty his fingernails? Never! He had Tony take care of it. Stalk, kill, and bury. All for one fee.”

“Why Tony?”

“Seems Tony killed a man in a drunken brawl in Santa Clara. At least, the professor told him he had. Tony couldn’t remember. We’ll have to check it out. Villanueva claimed he covered up for him, so the professor had Tony right where he wanted him. The guy was desperate. I don’t think his heart was ever really in it.”

“And there is no accuser so terrible as the conscience that dwells in the heart of every man.” Sister Mary Helen remembered some Roman or other had said that in the first century, but she couldn’t, for the life of her, remember which one.

Eileen shuddered. “Why would anyone in his right mind do such a thing?”

“Simple,” Kate said. “Greed.”

Lucre, Mary Helen thought, relieved the motive wasn’t loathing. All along, Leonel had weighed a little heavily on the loathing. She really should not have worried, however. She had seen it all in the eyes: the professor’s, Leonel’s, and finally, Tony’s. Those fifty years in the classroom had, indeed, stood her in good stead. One good look, and she could spot innocence or malevolence instantly. She was glad she hadn’t lost her touch!

“Have you identified the bodies yet?” Mary Helen asked.

“Not officially. But Tony told us who they were. By the way, I’d appreciate it if tomorrow you could go with me to see Senhora Rubiero.”

“Her two nephews?” Mary Helen sucked in her breath.

“Plus the two Manuels we were looking for.”

“How does Joanna fit in?” Eileen asked.

“Joanna and her sister were a different story. They did have legal papers. For some reason, the professor didn’t want to mess with them.”

“Leonel did mention that in the village, they were richer and better educated than most,” Mary Helen said.

“Maybe the professor was afraid the family would make trouble.”

“He couldn’t exploit them nor blow his cover by not sponsoring them.” Mary Helen was getting into the spirit of the thing.

“Anyway. It was Joanna’s thesis on Portuguese immigrants that got her into trouble. When she went looking for primary sources and how well her subjects adjusted to life in the United States, she found out too much for her own good.”

“We’ll never know exactly what made her suspicious,” Mary Helen said. “All the copies have disappeared.

“Even my library copy,” Eileen added.

“I suppose he thought that if Joanna could stumble onto his scheme, someone else reading the thesis might do the same.”

Kate nodded.

“Anyway, after the thesis was finished, she decided to do something about the abuses. When she went back to find these fellows for the second time, they had disappeared.”

“And of course, she got suspicious-went to check it out with the relatives.”

“The little dots on her list!” Eileen beamed.

“Right. What Kevin Doherty told you was correct. When Joanna went to see Senhora Rubiero, she finally realized something was not jibing. She probably guessed what it was. Unfortunately, she told her suspicions to Tony.” Kate faced Sister Mary Helen. “As a matter of fact, the day you saw him kiss her, she had just come upon him digging a grave.”

“For whom?” Mary Helen could feel a tingle race up her spine.

“For Leonel,” she said. “Tony tried to persuade her to join him. You were right, Sister. She hated Tony. So he had no choice but to kill her. She knew that.”

“And is that why the poor girl disappeared?” Eileen asked.

“Yes. She was scared to death. And with good reason. Knew he’d look for her at home. So she must have gone into hiding.

“Then she made her fatal mistake.”

“What was that?”

“Instead of calling us, she came back to the college. We don’t know why. Tony came upon her, bashed her skull with his shovel. Didn’t have time for his usual throat-slitting. Waited all day to stuff her body in the chapel.”

Eileen gasped. “Then that’s who I must have seen on the hillside,” she said. “Do you remember?” She turned toward her friend. “It was the foggy morning we were going to see Leonel in jail. If we had only…”

“There’s lots of ‘ifs,’ Sister,” Kate said.

Mary Helen eased herself back into a more comfortable position. She felt drained. “Why didn’t he just bury her with the rest?” she asked.

“This part is hard to swallow, but he loved her and wanted her to be buried in the Church. Funeral Mass, Christian burial, the whole schmeer.”

“I guess no one is all bad.” Eileen blinked.

“And the chip of paint?”

“The lab is still checking it out. Probably from the professor’s car. These guys had their own hearse service.”

“But then, why the professor? Why kill the hand that feeds you?” Mary Helen twisted the old adage a bit, but the point was clear.

“That’s the bad news. Tony claims, vehemently, that he did not kill the professor.”

“Maybe it was an accident, then?”

“No. Coroner says that’s impossible.”

A sharp, unsettling pain shot through the bottom of Sister Mary Helen’s stomach, like the end of an elevator ride. So her worst fears were true. There were two murderers! “Who do you think it is, then?”

Before Kate could answer, a soft, persistent knocking began on the parlor door. Cautiously, Mary Helen opened it.

Anne, eyes bleary, black hair uncombed, stood with her slender arm around Marina. The young woman, her delicate face drawn, fumbled with a wadded Kleenex. Her eyes were swollen from crying. Anne eased her into the room. “Marina has something to tell you,” she said.

“I killed him,” Marina blurted out before anyone had time even to ask What ?”

“Killed whom?” Kate asked softly.

“Professor Villanueva!”

Methodically, Kate read Marina her rights.

“But I want to tell you about it,” Marina burst in. Her face looked set in stone. “I did it. I killed him. That animal wanted to destroy my Leonel.”

“Did you know this?” Kate turned toward Sister Anne.

“Not till last night. Marina had to tell someone.”

“Why didn’t you call me immediately?”

“It was a confidence. Believe me, I wrestled with it all night. This morning I persuaded Marina to tell you.” Anne glanced at the young woman. “May I?”

Marina nodded her head. “Go ahead,” Kate said.

“Seems our Professor Villanueva had helped Leonel emigrate. Promised him Marina,” she said. “When Leonel came to talk to the professor about the papers that would enable him to marry legally in this country, he hedged. Leonel became suspicious. Not only of him and his dealings, but of what had happened to his friends from home. Joanna had mentioned something to him. Anyway, the night of the earthquake, he and Marina had decided to confront Villanueva. Lionel became violently angry, lunged for the man’s throat. The professor pulled a knife. He meant to use it. Marina was behind, and bashed him with the first thing handy. The statue. Leonel grabbed it from her to strike again, but just then the earthquake hit.”