“I don’t think so. He had a conference that starts tomorrow; I think he flew out early this morning.”

“But do you have a key?”

“What? To his office? Oh, no.” She seemed startled at Val’s suggestion. “No, of course not.”

Val wanted to ask Simone if she would show her the priest’s office and unlock the door if it was bolted, but she thought better of it. Besides, if it came to looking through Father Thomas’s things, she’d rather do it alone. Not that she had any reason to suspect the priest of anything, but maybe, just maybe, if Camille needed to talk to someone about her relationship with Father Frank, she might have turned to someone outside Frank O’Toole’s parish for counsel.

Something to think about.

“It’s odd,” Sister Simone said as she ushered Valerie toward the front of the complex again.

Val wondered what had happened to Slade. It had been over an hour since he’d taken the call that had propelled him from the office.

“What’s odd?” Val asked. Everything was odd to Valerie; there wasn’t any one thing she could put her finger on.

“I’d just called St. Marguerite’s and spoke with Sister Charity today about Sister Camille’s things, and now they’re gone.”

“When did you make the call?”

“Just a few hours ago.” Simone’s perfect brow knitted. “She said she’d send someone for them, but no one spoke to me.”

“Maybe we could look on the computer and see what she found.”

“I don’t know.”

“They were my parents, too,” Val pushed.

“The parish computers are private, for parish use only, but . . . I’ll have to check with Sister Georgia.”

At that moment, Val finally spied Slade, walking swiftly along the hallway as he tucked his cell phone into the pocket of his shirt.

“Ready to go?” he asked Val, then extended his big hand to Sister Simone. “Slade Houston, Val’s husband.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said as Val introduced her.

“Sister Simone was a friend of Camille’s and showed me around.”

“Sorry I missed it,” he said with that crooked smile that she found so irritatingly endearing. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we really have to go.”

She caught his look and didn’t argue, even though she didn’t think she was finished here—she was certain that somewhere in these dark hallways was the answer to her sister’s death. “Would you please let me know if you find out what happened to Camille’s things?”

“I’m sure the reverend mother will,” Sister Simone said as Slade walked swiftly to the front doors, Valerie at his side.

“What’s wrong with you?” Val demanded once they were outside. With storm clouds brewing, dusk was soon settling over the land. “Is there something wrong at the ranch?”

His lips twisted as they reached the truck. “Everything’s fine.”