But he was unable to reply, and she took it from him, finding the object of his gaze. It was a photo of a priest impaled on a window pole, the banner beneath it reading: priest killed in bizarre tragedy.

Katherine looked at her husband and saw that he was shaking; in confusion, she reached for his hand. It was cold.

"Jerry..."

Thorn rose stiffly and began to move out of the room.

"Did you know him?" asked Katherine.

But he never replied. Katherine looked again at the photo, and as she read the article she heard Thorn's car start, then disappear down the drive.

For Mrs. James Akrewian, teacher of the third grade, Bishops Industrial School, the day had begun like any other. It was Friday, and when the rain started she was preparing her class for reading aloud. Though no rain was coming in the window, she attempted to close it to shut out the noise. She had complained many times about the antiquated windows, for she could not herself reach the uppermost ones, needing a stool to reach them, even with the pole. Unable to make contact between the metal ring on the window and the hook on the pole, she thrust the pole outward, attempting to catch the back end of the window and pull it toward her. The balance of the pole was upset and it slipped from her grip, falling outward where it hit the passerby who was probably seeking shelter from the rain. The identity of the deceased is being withheld by police pending notification of relatives.

Katherine could make no sense of it and she called Thorn's office, leaving word for him to phone her as soon as he arrived. Apparently he never arrived, for by noon the return call had still not come. She next phoned Greer, her psychiatrist, but he was too busy and could not come to the phone. Her last call was to the hospital to make arrangements for an abortion.

Chapter Nine

After seeing the priest's photo, Thorn had driven fast toward London, his mind racing in an attempt to sort things out. Katherine was pregnant, the priest had been right. And now he could no longer dismiss the rest of what Tassone had said. He tried to recall their meeting in the park: the names, the places that Tassone said he should go. He fought for calm, trying to register each recent event: the conversation with Katherine, the anonymous phone call. "Read the papers," the voice had said. The voice was familiar, but Thorn could not nail it down. Who on the face of this earth knew he was involved with the priest? The photographer. That was the voice. It was Haber Jennings.