Boris retired within the year, and Kevin Reilly took his place.
EPOLOGUE 5
It was early summer on Lake Wallenpaupack. The wind was perfect.
For the sake of his health and sanity, the diocese made Leo take some time off.
When word got to the Bell Family that the case was getting a second look, Eric, now twenty years old, came forward.
Whether faced with the fear of going through it all again, or coming to terms with the stakes having grown a few years, Eric Bell finally told the truth. The boy had been molested, but not by a priest (Leo’s classmate or otherwise). The actual perpetrator was one of his mother’s business partners. The monster convinced Eric that the brokerage would never survive if the truth came out, so the angry and confused boy projected the abuse onto an innocent.
Video from a laptop proved everything; the slime pled no contest.
While in a familial embrace, Eric was assured by his mother that the low percentage loss in clients was well worth the trade-off. The Bells would be okay.
But this wasn’t enough for Leo. His whistle had been whetted. He started a crusade against Father Braniff, the bastard priest who took Carl Ingram camping. With help from Lynch, Gomez, Warner, and eventually Special Agent Marjorie Beck, the case got reopened.
Braniff would be found guilty, and there would be no relocation. That, however, was several months off.
Now, Leo skimmed across the choppy waters of Lake Wallenpaupack, one hand on the main sheet, the other on the tiller. Even with the Eric Bell and Carl Ingram cases resolved, or close to resolved, Leo was tortured by the notion that a lot of it could have been prevented if he’d spoken sooner.
How though? Lynch, Beck, the diocese…they all confirmed what I’d hoped: I didn’t lie on the stand. The lawyer screwed up. I can’t be held responsible for that. Braniff would have done what he did regardless of the trial outcome. But, perhaps he hurt more boys in the interim. Perhaps…I have no proof of that. I have no proof. No proof…no…
“Ahhhh! What a beautiful day.”
And Leo finally understood why his father wanted him to learn how to sail.
