It was an entry during the month of September, and Lorna had noted down that she’d told someone about the hit-and-run secret that had tainted her life.

That in itself didn’t come as a great surprise to James. What did cause his heart to jump was the name of the person she’d told. Father Thomas Silver.

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

Finally summoned up the courage to go to confession and tell Father Silver what I did to that poor girl and to explain why I didn’t go to the police. I received the priest’s absolution, but forgiveness is not enough to make me feel better.

The entry in Lorna Manning’s diary contradicted what Father Silver had told James. The priest had insisted he knew of no reason why Lorna had often appeared depressed. James could even recall some of his exact words: ‘I tried a number of times to get her to open up, but she wouldn’t.’

James was well aware that one of the cornerstones of the Catholic faith is that nothing said in confession can ever be disclosed. Priests are not allowed to break the Seal of the Confessional even after the penitent has died or has confessed to a serious crime, including murder. Priests who do so face excommunication from the Catholic Church.

Father Silver had therefore chosen not to break the Seal in respect of Lorna Manning’s confession. But it struck James as odd that he had said he’d tried to get Lorna to open up. He’d volunteered that piece of information and it hadn’t been necessary. So why had he felt compelled to say it?

However, that was only one of the many questions that had sprung up in James’s mind. He was now wondering if it was actually possible that the killer had also been to confession at St John’s Church, and that Father Silver knew far more about what was happening than he was letting on.

James was aware that he was clutching at straws here, but his sixth sense was telling him that this was something worth pursuing. And the more he thought about it, the faster his heart pounded in his chest.

He didn’t know Father Silver very well, but he had always come across as an honest and open man, a man who had been a pillar of the community for years. But now he had terminal cancer and would soon depart this world. Was he therefore intent on taking a terrible secret to his grave rather than break the Seal of the Confessional?

James decided he would pay him a visit first thing in the morning. He’d confront him with the entry in Lorna’s diary and ask him outright why he’d said that he had tried to get Lorna to open up. He would also ask him if he was keeping any other secrets that were relevant to the investigation.

It would be up to the priest to convince him that he wasn’t. But if James sensed that he was lying, he would do whatever it took to break down the older man’s resolve. It wouldn’t be easy, of course, but it was necessary.