‘On the contrary, Sister, I feel exceedingly cheerful here. Why shouldn’t I?’ The other gave a sudden impish grin. ‘After all I’m still sitting up, and at nearly eighty-five that’s cause for congratulation, don’t you think?’
‘Everybody says that you’re wonderful for your age, Sister.’
‘If I make it to ninety I’ll be even more wonderful,’ Sister Gabrielle said. ‘I have been thinking about the child who was found in the chapel. Is it known yet how he died?’
‘From a massive overdose of LSD in white wine with a lot of sugar added.’
‘Then it was murder,’ Sister Gabrielle said thoughtfully. ‘I have been hoping there might be some other explanation, but there couldn’t be. Someone must have tempted him to drink the stuff and then carried him into the chapel when he was dead. There is something very sick and twisted about that.’
‘The police are being very thorough in their enquiries.’
‘And you’re assisting them? I saw you prancing off with that good-looking officer this morning.’
‘Sister Gabrielle, I wasn’t prancing!’
‘Like a child let out of school,’ Sister Gabrielle said firmly. ‘That dream you had the other night — it could have been the prelude to temptation.’
‘Sister, I’m a nun vowed to chastity,’ Sister Joan said coldly.
‘You think words spoken even to God can change the urges of the body and the wishes of the heart? You have a long way to go in the religious life, Sister.’
‘Are you saying that I have mistaken my vocation?’ Sister Joan asked.
‘On the contrary I am saying that you must have a very strong vocation otherwise you wouldn’t be tempted‚’ Sister Gabrielle said firmly. ‘Don’t imagine that you are immune from feelings, my dear. The trick is to divert them into the proper channels, not to deny them. Are you still conscious of the presence of evil? I know that I am.’
‘So many unconnected things are happening,’ Sister Joan said worriedly, ‘and yet I have the feeling they are connected. Sister, do you see any links between a classful of children who suddenly start behaving like angels, candles, flowers and holy water disappearing from the chapel and a boy who dies of an overdose of drugs which all my instincts tell me were given to him?’
‘I understand you went to see the parents on two nights running. What was your impression of them?’
‘Mixed.’ Sister Joan smiled her thanks as the other thrust the extra blanket towards her. ‘May I sit on the grass, Sister?’
‘Much more sensible than crouching down like a dormouse,’ Sister Gabrielle said. ‘The parents.’
‘Padraic Lee’s wife has a drinking problem and I get the impression that he holds that family together. He takes good care of his two little girls and he takes — took care of his nephew, Petroc. Petroc’s father is in gaol for a minor offence and his mother ran off. The father of the two Smith children, Conrad and Hagar ran off too — not with Petroc’s mother, and Mrs Smith does her best to cope but finds it hard. Those are the ones from the Romany camp.’
‘And the others? Farming people?’
‘Not the Wesleys. They live on the edge of town and Billy’s father is in and out of work like a yo-yo. They’re good-natured and feckless. The Penglows and the Holts are farmers. The Penglows are conventional and rather dull; the Holts are quite elderly and had Timothy after Mrs Holt had a series of miscarriages. Mr Holt told me that he felt the presence of evil. I’d almost forgotten that! He’s not the fanciful sort at all but a very down to earth working farmer.’
‘Close to the earth and sensitive to its vibrations. Is that it?’
‘There are the Olives, newcomers who’ve bought the old Druid house. Their daughter, Samantha, comes to the school. They don’t seem to be doing any farming. Mr Olive is writing a book, I was told. He’s slightly lame by the way. His wife is rather elegant. Oh, they had a Swedish au pair girl who left suddenly in the middle of the night, according to Samantha. Mother Dorothy is trying to contact her. If she fails then we will mention it to the police. Anyway they have a new au pair now, a very beautiful young man who doesn’t speak English.’
‘It sounds rather odd,’ Sister Gabrielle said. ‘You know the religious persuasions of the families?’
‘The Lees are nominally Catholic — at least Petroc was, but they don’t practice the Faith. The Holts are Catholic. The Penglows are Church of England and the Wesleys are too, though I don’t think they go to church very often. I don’t know about the Olives. You know the school is non-denominational. I try not to make distinctions.’
‘You pussyfoot around, no doubt,’ Sister Gabrielle said with asperity. ‘All this modern tolerance is very well in its way but it has its dangers. In the old days we did at least recognize the boundaries. Is it possible that the child was killed by a passing stranger? No, I suppose not. He must have known his killer well enough to sit down and drink a glass of wine with him.’
‘There is another thing, Sister Gabrielle. Sister Margaret lost her rosary somewhere and it was found in Petroc’s pocket. If she lost it when she was out with me then that can only mean that Petroc was there later, and picked it up.’
‘Or someone else picked it up and put it in his pocket.’
‘And brought him to the chapel.’
‘Presumably by car. How many of the families have cars?’
‘Padraic brings the Romanies in his pick-up lorry. Mr Holt brings Timothy and picks up Billy on the way — the Wesleys don’t have a car so Billy walks part way, when he bothers to arrive at school at all, that is. The Penglows come by car and Samantha too. The au pair drops
