“I don’t want to tell you anything that might put you in danger. How much can you trust the other monks in the abbey?”

Franklin couldn’t help but laugh. “They’ve all been here for years. They’re getting on. We haven’t had a new brother in two decades. No, I can assure you these men can be trusted.”

“Had to ask. What about some visitor? Did anyone call or come by asking about Father Santangelo? Wanting to see him?”

There was a too long pause, I gathered not because he couldn’t remember that happening, but because he could all too well. When he spoke, it was with a cautious affirmative.

“Man? Woman?” I asked.

“A man.”

“Did he give a name?”

“Funny, he might have said, but now I don’t recall it. So many visitors come here, and names are the least important thing about them.”

“And did he ask about Santangelo?”

“No. Well, I’m trying to remember, and we did talk about Father Santangelo when I showed him the infirmary, but I can’t recall which of us brought it up. Mostly I was thinking he was one of those lost souls who hope to hide their demons under a robe. And the reason I remember him more than any other is that something about him made me uncomfortable. You’ll think I’m odd…”

“Try me.”

“I’ve known so many religious, and I think I can tell a vocation when I see it. With this man, there was no vocation. I felt there was suffering there, but not goodness. That’s all I can say.”

“And how long was it after his visit that Father Santangelo died?”

“Only a couple of nights. But do you…” His silence was only broken by a soft crying.

“I’m not suggesting … you said he was near death.”

“But now that I think about that man? What might Victor’s final moments have been like? He came to us for peace. And I couldn’t give that to him. You must understand, nothing ever happens here. We go through our hours of the day as if the whole world is doing a frantic dance, and all that we do is keep time with the music. That we should have a visitor, and you should suspect that visitor, and the next day, these events are singular and all of them connected. Now what must I do? Should I report it? Should I have his body exhumed for an autopsy to see how he really died? Are there others here who might have recognized the killer and be in danger as a result? Tell me what to do!”

“I think what you should do is not jump to conclusions. Let me ask you one more question first. Did Father Santangelo ever speak about another priest named Carlo DiForenza?”

“Oh my goodness. Why do you ask that?”