Bishop as Pawn

CHAPTER TWENTY — FIVE

Tully was amused.

A young patrolman stood at parade rest in front of the door to Julio Ramirez’s hospital room, blocking entrance. Directly opposite him in the corridor was the entire body of Albert Salveigh. If Salveigh had decided to march forward, the officer could have testified to how it felt to be trampled by an elephant.

Tully nodded at the patrolman, who quickly relaxed, relieved that a superior officer was here to deal with Ursus across the way.

“I’ve got a problem with Mr. Wayne’s ‘gift,’” Tully said to Salveigh. “We’ve rearrested Father Carleson and he’s going to be charged with two murders … and one of them is Bishop Diego’s.”

The deferential look did not leave Salveigh’s face. “I don’t think Mr. Wayne is aware of that.”

“He will be. It just went down. The media have probably already got it.”

Salveigh digested this new development.

“Mr. Wayne would be the last one to claim infallibility,” he said finally. “But I was part of the effort that found Julio Ramirez. And I still think we have the right person. However, I need to speak to Ramirez. He’s been unconscious since before we found him. Perhaps I could communicate with him now.”

“Let me check.”

Tully consulted the floor nurse.

“She says he drifts in and out. We can see him for only a little while. What do you want to see him about anyway?”

Salveigh shrugged. “I just want to assure him that Mr. Wayne is responsible for his hospitalization and responsible for his arrest as well. We want to be sure that he is convinced that he should cooperate with your investigation.”

“Sounds okay. Let’s go.”

They entered the room. The light was soft. The single bed held an inert body.

Tully remained near the door while Salveigh went to the bed. Whatever he said to Ramirez was uttered just above a whisper. Yet Ramirez seemed to hear and understand. His head moved in what Tully took to be an affirmation. Then, after a slight nod to Tully, Salveigh left the room. He had delivered his message in less than two minutes.

Tully moved to the bed and identified himself. Ramirez’s eyes were glassy. He was nowhere near recovered.

“Julio, do you know where you are? Do you know what happened?”

Ramirez nodded, almost imperceptibly. He tried to speak, but his lips were caked. Tully took a handy cloth, dipped it in water, and moistened the young man’s lips.

“Am I gonna make it?”

“I don’t know. You’re pretty bad off. But you look like you might. Julio, I got to know: Did you kill that bishop-Diego?”

“I don’ wanna think, man.”

“Julio, you know who tipped us. You know who wants you to cooperate with us.”

Ramirez seemed to wince, but he nodded.

“Did you kill the bishop and take his money?”

Weakly, “Yeah.”

“How did it happen? You know the money was there?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you kill him?”

“A gun?”

“No.”

“Uh … a knife?”

“No.”

“Uh … I forget.”

“You killed him and you forgot how you did it?”

“My head hurts. My balls hurt. Ever ‘thin’ hurts.”

“Are you sure you killed the bishop?”

“I dunno. I musta. There was blood all over. I gotta sleep, m’n.…” Ramirez’s head rolled slightly toward the shuttered window. He appeared to lose consciousness.

A nurse quietly entered the room. “You’ll have to leave now.”

“What are his chances?”

“Improving. He took in a ton of dope. Time is the only thing that can tell now.”

Tully left disheartened. If Ramirez died without a coherent confession, they had no case. Even if he lived, he could be so spaced out he’d be useless.

Then he recalled what Salveigh had said … something about Mr. Wayne not being infallible. Maybe this whole thing was just a dead end. Tully figured he’d better start getting used to the idea that, as ugly as that possibility was, Quirt might just be right.

By the time he’d walked back to headquarters, Tully was feeling glum. A number of phone messages were stacked on his desk. He thumbed through the pile. One of the calls was from Father Koesler. Tully decided to return that one first. Koesler had been most cooperative. He deserved consideration.

The murder of Herbert Demers had happened far too late in the night for inclusion in Detroit’s morning Free Press. But the news was on radio. Television was trying to catch up.

Koesler watched as Father Carleson was once again taken into custody. Avery Cone, Carleson’s attorney, was shielding his client from the intrusive cameras and responding over and over, “No comment!”

Koesler was sitting transfixed before the TV set when the phone rang. It was Lieutenant Tully returning his call.

Tully brought Koesler up to the moment, after explaining all the overnight developments. “The thing of it is, Demers was terminal. Hell, he could have checked out last night on his own.”

“The thing is,” Koesler responded, “maybe he wouldn’t have died last night. From all you’ve said, Mr. Demers has been dying for a long time. He could have gone on a long time more. Father Carleson had no way of knowing.”

Tully was surprised. “Hey, you don’t think Carleson did it, do you? Somehow, I thought no matter how convincing the evidence might be, you wouldn’t believe it. I mean, I thought euthanasia or assisting suicide was against your religion.”

“Well … yes.”

“You have doubts?”

“Not doubts so much as developments.” Koesler realized that expounding on this topic might compromise Father Carleson, but it seemed important to be candid with Tully. After all, they had confided in each other throughout this case.

“There’s been a lot of talk among theologians,” Koesler said, “about what happens when one’s productive life is over. When all that a person planned to do is accomplished and all he or she faces is pain and vegetation.

“See, the Church teaches that it is not necessary to prolong life if the only way to do it is by extraordinary means. This-euthanasia-is the next step. This is not pulling a plug to let nature take its course. This means actively doing something that will take a life.

“There hasn’t even been much written on this. The theologians that propose these ideas are afraid of retribution. The present Pope would not tolerate such an idea. The next one might.”

“Uh-huh,” Tully said. “Would Father Carleson know about this kind of talk?”

Koesler hesitated. “I don’t really know. We haven’t discussed it specifically. But he strikes me as being well informed. I still don’t believe that he was involved in a mercy killing. It’s just that I can sympathize with him if he was. I’ve watched people die too slowly when there wasn’t any purpose left to their lives. It’s one of those things we might be able to do something about someday. But not yet.”

“And Father Carleson is not the type to wait, is he?”