Should I tell him about Rose Noire’s premonition of danger in the church and her suspicions of Lightfoot? He’d probably only find it annoying. And what good were premonitions about something that had now already happened? I shook my head.

“Keep this to yourself for now,” he said finally.

I nodded.

“It’s possible that whoever did this is hoping the blame will fall on the boys,” he went on.

“And you want the real culprit to think that he’s succeeded so you can catch him off his guard. Or her.”

“Or them,” he added. “Precisely. So tell no one.”

“Not even Michael?”

He frowned for a moment.

“I think we may rely on Michael’s discretion as well,” he said finally. “But no one else.”

“Especially not my dad,” I said. “Who would probably manage to tell the whole county within a few hours—swearing them all to secrecy, of course.”

That got a slight smile out of him.

“Speaking of your father, I need to talk to him. Stick around, if possible. I may need your help to sort out what went on here.”

With that he started down the stairway toward the basement. I headed back for the parish hall, to wait with the others there. Just as I was about to enter it, Horace dashed through the front door. The deputies in the vestibule pointed him toward the stairway.

He waved to me before disappearing into the basement.

In the parish hall, four of the watch members were once again playing Parcheesi at one of the long tables we used for meals, while the older woman was seated a little farther down the table, reading an Agatha Christie paperback.

They all looked up when I came in.

“The investigation continues.” I slumped in a chair at the same table, but at the far end from the Parcheesi game, and closed my eyes as if too exhausted to speak. I wasn’t sure they knew about Vess’s death, and if they didn’t, I was sure the chief would want to break the news himself and watch their reactions.

A few minutes later the chief came in, accompanied by Robyn. Several deputies came in after him and stood along the wall.

“Are all of you okay?” Robyn exclaimed. The chief stood by watching while she went around to give each of the watchers a few words and a quick hug. She ended up with me.

“So sorry,” she said. “I have a feeling we’re going to be rearranging again.”

I nodded.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the chief said. “I want to have a brief word with each of you. But first, I have to tell you that tonight’s incident is more than just a prank. There’s been a murder.”

The watch and Robyn all reacted with gasps and exclamations of “Oh, no!” or “Who?”