“No, these guys are the real thing.” Bram pushed hair out of his eyes. “I don’t know why my father hooked up with such a motley crew. Unless he was trying to reform them.”

“Did your father try to reform people?”

“My family is Fundamentalist, Lieutenant. Saving souls is an integral part of the doctrine. All we kids have done missionary work as teenagers. My mother chose to act out her life’s mission through her church, and my father saved souls through his work. But even with all the medical miracles he performed, he was still vocal about being a personal missionary as well as a professional one. He used to pray with his patients before the surgeries.”

Decker paused. “It didn’t create a conflict with non-Fundamentalist patients?”

“He showed sensitivity if the patient wasn’t Christian. Spoke exclusively of God instead of Jesus. Sometimes, he’d even use the common parlance of a Higher Being.”

“What if the patient was an atheist?”

The priest shrugged. “I would imagine everyone recognizes his or her own mortality before major transplant surgery. I don’t think Dad’s invocation caused a problem. If it did, I never heard about it.”

Decker looked around. Again, he spoke softly. “Obviously, his Fundamentalist beliefs didn’t influence his choice of colleagues.”

“You mean Dr. Decameron? Reggie’s a brilliant man. My father wouldn’t have kept him on if he wasn’t.”

“He didn’t find his overt homosexuality a slap in the face of his religion?”

The priest’s eyes darted about. “You don’t turn your back on sinners.”

“But you don’t have to hire them on. Nor do you have to keep them on once they’ve been convicted of morals charges.”

Bram said, “Take a walk with me.”

Decker followed the priest back into the kitchen. To his surprise, it was empty, leaving Decker to wonder where Bram had stowed his twin, Luke. The priest leaned against the kitchen counter, eyes on Decker’s face. “Did Dr. Decameron tell you about the arrest or did you dig that up?”

“Decameron told me.”

“It made the local throwaway papers here in a big way. You can picture the byline: RENOWNED HEART DOCTOR BUSTED CRUISING SANTA MONICA. It caused a mini-scandal not only in the hospital, but in Father’s church. Dad got a lot of flak. Not to his face of course, but there were whisperings that were painful for my mother. Even so, Dad was a man of integrity. He stood behind Decameron and eventually everything died down. I called you in here because I’m asking you to please refrain from mentioning the incident around my mother.”

“She doesn’t like Dr. Decameron.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Because of the scandal or because he’s gay?”