Frank took a shower and then put
on a new suit. I made a cup of
Death Wish Coffee for Frank.
“Okay Jack, see if you can find
out what hospital the Monsignor was taken to. And change your clothes. I don’t want the Monsignor to place you
earlier when you were my spy. He is
no dummy.”
“Yes sir, he is at the same
hospital we visited this morning.”
“Call them and see if he can
have visitors yet.”
It took a few minutes to check
on the Monsignor’s status.
“Frank, the Monsignor is in
stable condition and is conscious.
From the police report he had only superficial wounds and bruises. I guess it looked worse than it was as
far as being life threatening.”
“Good, let’s go bring him some
flowers and see if we can find out why the Monsignor is snooping our
lead.”
With only a detour to the gift
shop for flowers we went to the Monsignor’s room.
Frank entered quietly and saw
that the Monsignor was awake.
“Monsignor Pietro, are you up to
having visitors?”
“Mr. Huntington, what are you
doing here? How did you know I was
here?”
“That was what I were wondering
this morning at the East Los Angeles Buddhist Temple.”
I could see the Monsignor’s
heart rate went up. He kept a poker
face, but he was genuinely surprised that we knew. Rather than wait for the Monsignor to
answer Frank went onto a more comfortable question.”
“How are you
feeling?”
“I am still a little
shaken. Thanks for
asking.”
“What the hell set off that
guy?”
“Not much I can tell you. I had just started to ask him what
happened at the temple and he grabbed a knife and started to go after me. I’ve never met someone so
angry.”
“You haven’t met my editor. That was pretty amazing. Have you ever heard of any religious
group turning against their religion in such a violent way?”
“No, never. The sister’s rampage was only against a
few religious symbols, but they did not go after people.”
“What is the connection between
the sisters and the temple?”
The Monsignor looked directly at
Frank and said very slowly, “I don’t know.
It doesn’t make sense. Both
communities were happy and had absolutely no scandals or signs of division. Have you any idea?”
“No, I’m afraid I am in the same
boat as you. I just thought the
sister’s rebellion was so strange I told my Jack to tell me if there were any
others like it.”
“Have you seen the actual the
local coverage on this?”
“No. Jack only saw the original
press report of the police being called in because of the disorderly
conduct. He did not tell me of the
later reports on how it turned into a riot.”
“Six people were killed. Before the temple burned down some of
the members rushed into the cultural exhibit and broke the display cases where
four samurai swords were on display.
One of them killed the Buddhist minister. Some of the younger members used the
swords to attack their parents and even one grandfather was brutally
beheaded.”
“Christ. Oh, sorry Monsignor.”
The Monsignor only showed a
small smile at Frank’s profane outburst.
“I saw in the graveyard where
one of the murders took place. I
think the victim must have tried to escape into the graveyard from where the
rioting was going. Then again, it
may have been someone killed by the vehicles used to ram the
memorials.”
“I just can’t see how these
could be connected. Both groups
lost faith, but their reactions were so extreme compared to each other. Have there been any
suicides?”
“I think it is a little early
for that. It only happened two days
ago.”
“True. Did your people ever find anything that
could have caused the sisters to react as they did.”
“No. Nothing.” Again I sensed the Monsignor’s heart
rate go up. It could mean
nothing. Cardiac rhythms naturally
varied, but I also sensed an increase in his sweat rate. While science has shown this is only
nervousness or an uptick in some stronger emotion, it was not a foolproof
indicator of lying. However, I
would tell Frank later. I wish he
had his ear bud on.
Frank gave the Monsignor a good
long look and said, “I am a journalist.
I exaggerate patterns into worldwide phenomenon. Half the time it is just journalistic
paranoia. Most likely the sisters
and the Buddhists are just coincidence, but I still have to
wonder.”
“Two strange events separated by
thousands of miles does stretch credulity, but there have been more than two,
Mr. Huntington.”
It was hard to hear the last
syllable because a loud alarm suddenly filled the air. Frank looked at me and I told him, “I
have no information, Sir.”
A moment later, I still could
not find any intelligence on the hospital’s network. However, I did sense a large number of
people assembling by the room where Bishop Noritaki was.
“Sorry Monsigor, I need to go
check it out.”
“Come back and tell
me.”
Frank took off with me close
behind. He looked back and said,
“Jack, take the lead. Show me the quickest way to Noritaki’s
room.
I increased my speed and
overtook Frank. I made sure he
could keep up. I knew the stairs
would be the best way to get to Noritaki’s room. It was one floor down. When we entered the hall it was filled
with several nurses and security people.
Frank calmly walked over to
one of the nurses and asked what happened.
“Oh, it so terrible. The man in 3310 smashed the window and
jumped. Suicide.”
“Wow, that is surprising,” Frank
said to the nurse, but gave me a look like it was not. If there was a relationship between the
sisters and the Buddhists then I guess suicide would be expected. Frank turned away and started walking
back towards the stairway. I
naturally followed him.
He slowly walked up the
stairs. I could tell by the slow
pace he was thinking. Finally, he
turned to me and said, “You know, Jack, if the priest is right about there being
more of these religious reversals there must be a reason. What the fuck is it?”
“Well sir, in the thirteenth
century there was. . . “
“Not now Jack” Frank said. I often mess up rhetorical
questions. We approached the
Monsignor’s door and Frank slowly opened it up. The bed was empty. Frank stared at it for a second and then
looked towards the bathroom. The
door was open and it was empty.
“It seems our Monsignor has
flown the coop,” Frank said with an even voice that showed no sign of
surprise. We then went to the
nurse’s station and asked if the Monsignor had been released. The nurse sitting there looked at her
computer monitor and said he should be in his room. Frank informed her that he was not there
and she immediately picked up the phone and talked to someone. From what I could hear with my advanced
hearing it must have been her supervisor.
He told her to go check the room again. I saw Frank putting in his ear bud and I
communicated that the nurse was to check the Monsignor’s room.
Frank gave me a quick nod and
said aloud, “Well, I guess we can come back later and visit him.”
After that Frank started walking away towards the elevator. Once inside the elevator he said, “Looks like the Monsignor decided to leave quickly. I wonder if he was worried if he might be tempted to jump out of a window?” I knew that was rhetorical, so I kept my mouth shut.
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