As the automatic doors slid open, Koesler had everyone’s attention. He explained to the threesome what he was looking for.
“You want Lenny and Frank,” a young man said. “They’re the ones who spotted the priest last night. Lenny’s taking sick time. But Frank’s the redhead over there.” He indicated a man inventorying supplies in a cabinet.
Koesler approached and identified himself. He explained that he was checking out what had happened last night.
“I told this to the cops already, you know,” Frank said.
“I know. I talked with Lieutenant Tully of Homicide earlier today.” The name seemed to make no impression on the young man. “He told me what happened. But I wanted to check it out for myself. If you don’t mind …?”
Frank shrugged. “All I can tell you is what I told the cops. Lenny and I were working out there in the corridor near the entrance. Lenny’s the one who first spotted Father Carleson. When he said something, I looked out and, sure enough, there he was.”
“Was he standing or walking?”
Frank looked at Koesler. “The cops didn’t ask that one.
“Okay …” He gave the question some thought. “He was like making up his mind about whether to come in through Emergency or not. He was standing. But as soon as we saw him, he turned and went toward the main entrance. See, he usually comes through here. We all know him. He’s a good guy. Knows a lot about medicine too. I guess he picked that up in the missions.
“Too bad what’s happening to him. Lenny and I hated to dig a hole for him, but we had to tell the cops what we saw.”
“Of course. I understand. But are you sure it was Father Carleson you saw? I mean, I just stood about where he must’ve been standing last night. It’s not exactly close to the door. The part of the pavement that leads either into the main entrance or into Emergency is about fifteen yards from the doors. Add to that you and Lenny must’ve been inside the doors some way back. No?”
“Yeah … yeah, that’s about right for him. And us? We must’ve been maybe forty-five or fifty feet inside. But we saw him clearly. The first thing you spot is the all-black clothes. Then that spot of white in the front of the collar-like you’ve got. The white hair showing at the side of his hat-your know, by his ears. Same height, same build.
“Okay, so we weren’t standing right next to him, but it was him. It was Father Carleson. Yeah, it was Father Carleson. Lenny and I agreed on that. He’d tell you the same if he was here.”
“Well, thanks very much.”
Koesler retraced his steps to the point where the walkway forked, one path leading to the main entrance, the other to Emergency. Now he walked toward the main entrance.
Still following Tully’s description of events, Koesler went immediately to the bank of elevators, making no attempt to attract the attention of the individual in the information booth.
Tully had given Koesler the floor and the room number. He took the elevator to Herbert Demers’s floor. Exiting the elevator, he walked slowly and softly down the corridor, through the mesmerizing sounds of labored breathing, pain, loneliness, support machinery, and the ever-present opiate, television.
As he reached the room in which Demers had lived and died, he noted he was not far from the nursing station. He was surprised to find not one, but two nurses occupying the station.
He was not as surprised as the nurses were. One of them let out a little screech.
Smiling, Koesler approached the station. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. My name’s Koesler, Father Koesler. I’m pastor of Old St. Joe’s downtown. I’m a friend of Father Carleson.”
“You gave me a start,” said the screecher. “For a second there, I thought you
“Maybe. I’m walking through where Father Carleson was last night … sort of hoping to find something that might help him.”
“Well, good luck. He’s a nice guy. Nobody here can believe that he killed that bishop.”
“The bishop, eh? What about Herbert Demers? You believe that Father Carleson killed Demers?”
“What can I say?” Sensing this conversation was going to go on a while, the screecher introduced herself. “I’m Alice Cherny and” — turning to the other nurse- “this is Ann Bradley. I’m on night shift. She’s afternoon.”
“And neither of you doubts that Father killed Mr. Demers?”
“The thing I’m uncomfortable with,” Alice said, “is the word ‘kill.’ It was more like snuffing out a candle. A tomato has more life in it than Herbert had. We’re all glad Father did it. If the truth be known, we all would like to have done it. We’re just sorry he got caught.”
“It wouldn’t have happened if that detective hadn’t ordered an autopsy,” said Ann. “Until then we just assumed that Herbert slipped away during the night. The cops were sore that we’d sent down the linen to the laundry. They thought they might have picked up some fingerprints. But how were we to know?”
“The worst part of this,” Alice said, “is that we had to answer the police officer’s questions honestly.”
“I had to tell them how Father and I talked about helping Herbert die,” Ann added. “That’s what Father said Herbert asked him to do. He said that just a couple of days ago, Herbert communicated in gestures and asked Father to help him die. Then yesterday, I heard Father fairly shouting at Herbert to let go of life and die.
“Naturally, the police thought all that was very relevant. Nobody in the hospital wanted to end Herbert’s suffering more than Father Carleson. Unfortunately, that’s still called murder.”
“And then,” Alice said, “my testimony was more damning than anyone’s, I actually saw him go into Herbert’s room-just about an hour later than right now.”
“You got a good look?”
“Oh, yes. Of course, it’s kind of hard to see down the corridor. The lights are so bright here around the station and so dim in the hallway that it’s a little hard to focus quickly. But it was Father Carleson. I haven’t seen him as much as Ann, of course.” She thought for a moment. “Now that I think of it, he seemed to have put on a little weight. But it was him.” She looked at Koesler. “When you think about it, who else could it have been?”
“Were both of you on duty here last night when Father Carleson came?”
“No. No,” Ann said. “This is report time. Actually, I’m on duty till 11:30. But Alice is my replacement, and she comes on duty at 11:00. The half-hour overlap gives me a chance to advise Alice about the state of things as she replaces me. I sort of bring her up to speed before I leave.”
“So,” Alice added, “last night Annie briefed me from 11:00 to 11:30, when she went home. It wasn’t until near midnight that Father Carleson came in.”
“One last question then: Last night-and tonight-did you talk about Herbert Demers and Father Carleson and what’s happened to them?”
“Sure!” Alice said. “Why shouldn’t we be talking about what everybody in the city is talking about?”
“And you didn’t come up with anything that might help Father?”
“Boy, I wish we could. Like I said, he seems to be a genuinely nice guy. And what he did here-no matter what the law says-was a favor for everybody-especially Herbert Demers.”
“Well, thank you both very much.”
In leaving, Koesler was painstaking in continuing to follow in Carleson’s footsteps, as Lieutenant Tully had described the event.
He took the elevator to the lobby and quickly walked through it, staying some distance from the information booth. Once out the door, he turned up his overcoat collar and went straight to the parking garage.
He entered his car, started the engine, and turned the heat on. He shivered. It would be a while before the engine would heat the forced air.
He found his wallet, took out the parking stub and the single dollar that was the fixed night rate.
He stopped at the attendant’s booth, gave him the stub and money. Without Koesler’s asking, the attendant gave him a receipt. Koesler figured so many medical and legal personnel used the garage, the receipt was automatic. He stuffed it in his pocket. The parking arm lifted; Koesler exited the garage and drove away from the hospital.
What, if anything, had he learned? He was not at all sure. He would have to think this through.
He let himself in through the kitchen of St. Joe’s rectory and checked the answering machine. No calls. Good.
