Page 13 of Dead Rattled
“I will.” Ten walked Cisco to the door and shut it behind him. “Where do we start?”
“We’re gonna do what Cisco said. I want you and Ronan working on the social media angle looking for groups that have to do with St. Agnes Catholic Church, the St. Agnes House, and any groups for Catholic adoptions from the 1950s through the 1970s. Jude, I want you on the history of the St. Agnes House. If you can find priests or nuns who worked at the house, that’s even better. Also, see if you can dig anything up on the doctor who delivered Natalie’s baby.”
“His name is Savini,” Ten said. “I’m sure I could get more information about him from Natalie.”
“Let’s hold off on that for the time being.” Fitz jotted notes on his pad before looking up at Ten. “I want to wait until she gets the results of her DNA test before we contact her again.”
“Understood, but what if she contacts me?” Ten asked. “Natalie knew we were going to pay Angel of Mercy Cemetery a visit to see if Amanda’s grave was empty.”
“If that’s the case, let her know what you discovered and that we’re on the case.” Fitz tapped his pen a few times on his pad. “Get in touch with Angel of Mercy. Find out what the procedure is for exhuming the St. Agnes House graves. Yes, each of the graves has a number, but are those numbers registered to the mothers of the babies who were allegedly buried there? Keepyour calls as far on the downlow as possible. We don’t want to stir anything up until we have to.”
“I’ll just say I’m calling because one of the mothers wants their child moved to a family plot.”
“Yeah, that works,” Fitz agreed. “Let’s get together later this afternoon to discuss the results. I’m gonna spend the rest of the afternoon working from home. I’m still feeling groggy from the anesthesia and sore from the procedure.”
“I’ll drive you home,” Jude said. “I wouldn’t mind working from home too. The house is so quiet when Ronan isn’t there.”
“Asshole,” Ronan muttered. “Let’s grab some lunch first. I could go for some spicy enchiladas!”
Ten rolled his eyes. “If that’s the case, you can go work with Jude. The two of you can annihilate each other with your Mexican food farts and leave me to breathe in peace.”
“Fitz, you in the mood to get lunch or do you just want to go home?” Jude asked.
“Lunch sounds great. I didn’t eat anything before my procedure, but maybe not Mexican.” Fitz grimaced. “How about Thai instead?”
“Works for me!” Jude said.
“Me too,” Ten agreed.
Fitz grabbed his notebook and stuffed it into his briefcase. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you guys this morning.”
“It’s okay, Fitz. There wasn’t anything for you to do. To be honest, Everly did all the work.” Ronan knew how important it was to his daughter to feel like she was making a difference with her gift, but he hoped visiting the cemetery was the end of herinvolvement in this case. But the little voice in the back of his head was telling him this was only the beginning.
6
Tennyson
After lunch, Ten felt stuffed to the gills. He’d eaten crunchy spring rolls, dumplings, and half an order of crazy noodles. Ronan had done the same. Now, both of them, plus Jude, were settled in at the kitchen table ready to work on their assignments handed down by Fitzgibbon.
“I’m gonna start by calling the rectory at the church to find out about the plots at Angel of Mercy. “ Ten sighed. It was the hardest assignment and he’d rather get it done first so that the task didn’t eat away at him until it was done.
“I think that’s a good place to start,” Ronan agreed. “I won’t say anything as you’re talking, but if I have a question, I’ll write it down on my pad. You too, Jude.”
“Got it,” Jude agreed.
Ten flipped through the contacts on his phone and tapped the one for St. Agnes Rectory. The phone connected and rang once. Twice. Ten was hopeful the call was going to go to voicemail and he could hang up, but it wasn’t to be. “St. Agnes, Father Sam Baker speaking.”
“H-Hello, Father Baker. My name is Tennyson Grimm.” Ten knew he’d made a mistake by using his real name, he could see disappointment written all over Ronan’s face, but there was no way he was going to lie to a priest.
“Hello, Tennyson. I had no idea you were a practicing Catholic. How can I help you today?”
“I’m not exactly Catholic, Father. I was raised in the Baptist church, but I do believe whole-heartedly that Jesus Christ is myLord and Savior.” Ten felt himself start to sweat. The quicker he got to the point and ended this call, the better.
Jude shot Ten two thumbs up.
“It’s good to hear that, son. What’s on your mind?” Father Baker sounded mild mannered, like the kind of man you could speak to about anything.
“I have a question about the St. Agnes House graves and how one would go about exhuming one so that the poor lost child could be buried in a family plot on consecrated ground. A client came in to see me earlier in the week and I told her I’d make the call. Her relationship with the church is still strained.”
