Sister Rose fumbled as she threaded her fingers together. “I do see your point, Ruth. We did guarantee you all your privacy. But I’m at a loss. We couldn’t foresee this terrible set of events. But we can’t make the situation worse by attempting to cover anything up. Also, you’ve forgotten that there are monks here. They certainly won’t agree to lie to the police.”
“I will sue the pants off every one of you if you go ahead with this,” said Richard to the mentors. “Because if this goes public, I’ll have nothing to lose.”
I knew it was wrong—because we were here, and that made us part of what happened to Saul—but I couldn’t make myself speak up. Maybe right and wrong wasn’t so black and white. It was right that Saul’s addiction didn’t get splashed across every news outlet just because he had the bad luck of getting murdered. I knew exactly what the reporters would do with a story about sex addiction. And his wife and kids would bear the brunt of it. Saul’s murderer had been caught and killed. Justice was already served.
Brother Sage’s expression grew taut. “I’ll meet you halfway. We will be informing the police of what happened here tonight. When the police arrive, we will tell them that you are here on retreat and that none of your names may be released to the media, nor may any photographs of you be released to the media. We will also inform the police that none of you witnessed any part of the discovery of the victim or the subsequent shooting of the murderer. We’ll be asking the police to search the monastery and grounds to ensure that it is safe and that there are no more of these monastery invaders. Our program will continue, as planned. We have an entire day until the next challenge round.”
Duncan clapped his hands together. “Sounds like a good plan. Is everyone happy with that?”
“Shut up, Duncan,” said Ruth. “And yes, I’m happy. We just need to make sure everyone sticks to the same story.” She shot a stern look at each of the challenge participants. “Anyone who doesn’t stick to the story has to leave immediately and doesn’t get their fat cheque. Capisce?” She turned to the mentors as if for affirmation.
Brother Sage gave a nod. “We’re sticking our necks out for all of you. We’ll expect you to play your part. The most important thing now is for everyone to remain safe. Everyone must return to the dormitories and remain securely locked inside.”
“Wait,” I said hesitantly. “I told Brother Vito about noises I’ve been hearing since the first morning. I thought it might be rats. But now I’m wondering if it was this man. We’ve seen someone at night in the halls. And that first morning, I even thought I saw eyes watching us . . . through the walls . . .”
People looked at me as if I was ever so slightly off my rocker.
“We’ll make sure the police do a thorough search tomorrow,” Brother Vito assured me, a placating tone in his voice. “The monks did a search for rat droppings but found nothing. It seems it was this person all along. He must have stayed out of sight when they were looking.”
“Off to get some rest now,” Sister Rose instructed us. “You’ll be safe in your beds.”
We were herded to the dormitories, Poppy reaching for my hand and gripping it tightly.
My throat felt dry and swollen, as if I’d been screaming ever since we’d found Saul. But I hadn’t screamed at all.
Ruth and Harrington walked the hall together, a little in front.
“At least we’re through the third challenge,” Ruth was saying to Harrington. “Done and dusted. When I understood what the challenge wanted of us, I gave it the performance of my life.”
Harrington snickered. “Yeah. Not hard to make people believe you’re really feeling that shit.”
Ruth swivelled her head around slightly, catching sight of me and then falling silent.
I felt burned. She and Harrington had just been acting in the challenge room? And now they were both crowing about it straight after we’d found Saul dead.
My skin prickled with cold beneath my monastery clothing.
Far away in the hills, a raucous chorus of peacocks started up.
35. Gray
VERITY TOOK WILLOW AND LILLY OUT to a park for some fresh air. She was treating them to a special lunch at a restaurant after they left the park. She seemed to be relishing her time with them. For all the strange and annoying things about Verity, she actually did love Willow and Lilly. Shame she was so harsh with Evie, because that was bad for Evie and also meant she gave Verity a wide berth. The girls had largely missed out on bonding with their grandmother.