AFTER I LEFT JOHN, I still had about an hour and a half before my meeting with Helen. I decided to go to Saint Clare’s to see how Father McCoy was doing and catch the noon mass. When I arrived he was already in the sacristy.
He had his back to me when I knocked on the open door. He jumped and gave a little cry, spinning around.
“I told you I’d take care—Oh!” I obviously was not who he was expecting.
“Thought I was someone else?” I said, unable to hide my amusement.
“What? No, no, yes, I mean—you startled me,” sputtered the flustered Father.
“She doesn’t usually knock, you know.”
He grimaced. “I have noticed that. Is there a trick to locking the office door?”
“The trick is there is no lock,” I said. “I think she removed it.”
“I can believe it,” he nodded.
“She’s not a bad perso
