SUMMER OF EVIL Read online

  Bill and the three women entered the monastery. Clarice showed him down to the cellar.

  Taylor and Kellie heard Clarice calling their names as she ran up the stairs from the cellar.

  “What’s wrong?” Taylor asked.

  “Bill found a secret room. He says the wall is newer than the rest of the cellar, and it isn’t an outer wall. There must be a few feet of space behind it. It’s creepy. Why would they build a wall in the cellar?” Clarice dropped into a chair.

  Kellie’s thoughts raced back to when they found two women’s bodies in the wine cellar of her grandfather’s mansion. “This can’t be happening. Please don’t let there be hidden bodies again.”

  Kellie said, “I’ll go down and speak with him. Why don’t you talk with Taylor? She brought a thermos of tea. A cup may help calm you. Did you ask him out?”

  Clarice tried to smile, but Kellie could see the corners of her mouth quiver. Her face turned red, and she shook her head.

  #####

  “Hello,” Kellie called out when she walked into the chilly cellar. “Brrr, we need to have this cellar heated. It’s cold down here.”

  Bill walked around the corner and said, “Hi, I’m over here.” He disappeared around the corner again.

  When Kellie found him, he was inspecting the grout between the bricks. “These bricks were added by an amateur. Professionals built the rest of the basement. Before I can say this building is safe for habitation, I need to remove part of this wall to access the outer wall beyond it.”

  “Okay, do what you have to do. We would like to use this place to house families. I need it to be safe.” Kellie leaned forward to examine the wall in the dim corner of the cellar.

  “I understand. First, I need more light. Then I’m going to drill a small hole and put a wire with a camera on the end to be sure it’s safe to take down the wall.”

  “Go ahead,” Kellie said.

  Bill returned in a few minutes with two bright LED flood lights.

  She stood back while he drilled a hole and threaded the camera into the hole.

  Moving the camera around he said, “It’s dry in there. That’s a good sign. What the heck? Wait a minute. Take a look at this.”

  Kellie leaned forward to look at the screen. “Oh no, is that a skeleton?”

  “I believe so; I think you should phone the police before I remove this wall. They may want to be the ones to take it down.”

  Kellie looked at her phone, “No bars down here. I’ll be back.” She ran upstairs.

  She hurried past Clarice to make her call worried that Clarice would break down. “Hi Uncle Mike, you’re not going to believe this, but our inspector found a skeleton behind a brick wall in the monastery cellar. Yes, we’ll be here.”

  She turned and nearly collided with an ashen-faced Clarice.

  “A body, there’s a body down there? I told you the place is haunted. I’m going home.” Before Kellie could answer, Clarice bolted out the front door, and Kellie could hear her car race away from the monastery.

  #####

  Taylor sat on a wooden bench in the front hall alongside Kellie and waited for their Uncle Mike and whoever would accompany him. Bill said he would inspect the rest of the monastery while the police were in the cellar.

  Approximately thirty minutes later, a patrol car, their Uncle Mike’s personal car, and the coroner’s van pulled up. They watched Mike speak to the patrolman, and three men climb out of the van. Doctor Webster wearing his old brown, baggy suit walked in front of two young men carrying large black satchels.

  “Wow, it’s old Doc Webster,” Taylor said. “I thought he’d retire as coroner by now.” She crossed her arms across her chest as she watched the men climb the steps leading to the monastery’s front doors.

  “Maybe no one else wants his job,” Kellie answered. “Maybe it doesn’t pay well. He’s been wearing that suit for as long as I can remember.” She shrugged looking at Taylor.

  Taylor smiled, “You could be right. Plus I don’t think he has much work in Oaklin County. Not much happens here.”

  “That’s true, but when it does we always seem to be involved.”

  “Maybe we’re cursed,” Taylor smiled again.

  “Unlucky, to say the least,” Kellie said as she opened the front door for her Uncle Mike and the other men.

  Kellie hugged her uncle and Doctor Webster said, “Nice to see you again, Miss Conley. You seem to have a way of attracting bodies. Where’s the new one?”

  “It’s in the cellar. Do you mind the stairs, doctor? We don’t have an elevator here.”

  As the men headed for the cellar door, Mike looked over his shoulder and said, “You girls wait here, I’ll be back up to talk.”

  “Like hell,” Taylor whispered. “C’mon, I want to know what’s going on.”

  Kellie stifled a giggle and followed Taylor to the cellar.

  The five men were around the corner, and Taylor and Kellie were able to get close enough to hear what they were saying.

  “Here’s what I spotted with my camera,” Bill said.

  “That’s a body all right,” Doctor Webster said. “Okay, Bruce, do you think you can open this wall enough for Greg to get through and check out the body?”

  “I can do that, doc. It might take a few minutes.”

  Kellie and Taylor stood motionless listening to the sound of the mortar being loosened and bricks dropping to the floor. They looked at each other after what seemed like an hour when they heard Bruce say, “I think it’s safe for Greg to enter. The work light I lowered doesn’t show any danger, and the rest of this wall is solid.”

  Greg, Doctor Webster’s assistant climbed into the small room, and Bruce looked at Mike while he pointed behind him with his thumb.

  Both men walked a few feet away from the others. They were at the edge of the wall only inches from seeing Kellie and Taylor. The young women had pressed up against the wall hoping Mike wouldn’t catch them snooping.

  “What’s up, Bruce?” Mike asked.

  “Sir, there is something strange about that room. I noticed that it was put up by an amateur right away since the bricks are not correctly aligned, but what I saw inside is strange. Amateurs can be sloppy and drop globs of mortar on the floor. That is what happened here, but all the mortar on the floor is inside the room. Another odd thing is that there is an old pail and trowel in the corner of the room. They have dried mortar on them.”

  “That is odd,” Mike said, “but maybe most of the wall was built on the inside and then whoever built it climbed out and added the last of the wall.”

  “That could be, sir, but before I began to take down the wall I looked for the best place to start and every row of mortar is pushed out a little. It happens when the next brick is put in place. Professionals smooth it out. None of that was smooth, but inside it was more even. Unless they did as you suggested and left a small exit, I say it was closed off from the inside. However, none of the brickwork indicates it was laid from this side.”

  Mike shook his head, “Okay after the body is removed, I want you to look for any secret entrance someone could have used after they built the wall. People don’t brick themselves into rooms. Whatever you do, don’t mention this to my niece; she can build mysteries out of nothing.”

  Kellie’s eyes scrunched and she bit her tongue when she looked at Taylor. Taylor grinned at her. Kellie returned upstairs when she heard Mike and Bruce join the other men. Taylor burst into laughter as soon as they were out of earshot.

  “Stop laughing,” Kellie said hands on her hip.

  #####

  Doctor Webster stood slightly bent over looking in the hole leading into the small room. “From what I can see, the body is female, possibly forty or fifty-something. Her hair was brown with gray streaks. I’m not climbing in there. Bruce you go in and help Greg. I’ll watch you from here.”

  “Okay, doc,” Bruce turned on the recorder clipped to his jacket and stepped over the wall entering the room. “First thing I
notice is the woman is sitting, slumped against the wall. No immediate idea as to the possible cause of death. I don’t see any broken bones on the exposed skeleton. A large knife is near her left hand. It appears she may have been holding it when she died.” He snapped more than a dozen pictures as he spoke.

  “Anything else?” Doctor Webster asked.

  Bruce replied, “She’s been here a long time. The air tight room helped to slow decomp, but there is little tissue remaining. There’s a stack of newspapers next to the body that might be blood stained. They are dated December, 1939.” He snapped more pictures than Mike could count and turned to look at Doctor Webster. “There are remnants of clothing here, too. Looks like cotton fabric. Might have been here since the date on the papers. Need anything else, doc?”

  “No, Bruce. You and Greg take the body out to the van. Be sure to bring the newspapers and any pieces of cloth you find. Greg can check for blood traces and other evidence before we leave this scene to the police.” Doctor Webster turned and smiled at Mike. “We’re about done here; your men can take over. I’ll send you my report.”

  Mike nodded.

  #####

  Mike walked upstairs to phone for a police tech. He’d wait while the tech examined the small room. Meanwhile, he walked over to speak with Kellie and Taylor.

  Mike sat and stared directly at Kellie, “Why didn’t you know there was a body down in the cellar before they found it?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sure it’s because her spirit isn’t here. I only connect with spirits.”

  He leaned forward and asked, “You said ‘she.’ How did you know it was a woman? You were eavesdropping. You can get in trouble snooping where you shouldn’t.”

  Kellie stood and strode to the window and then spun around. “I’m not a snoop. Spirits come to me.”

  Mike threw his hands up. “Okay, okay, sit back down. I want to talk with you.”

  Taylor raised her eyebrows and bit her lip as she looked at Mike.

  “First off,” Mike said, “we have no idea who that woman is or how she got in that room. Newspapers in the room date back to 1939. It seems she was walled up well after the monks left and before the military used it for returning soldiers. I was hoping her spirit might speak to you.”

  “Isn’t police work your job, Uncle Mike? You keep telling me that.”

  “Right and you never listen,” Mike said trying not to smile at Kellie.

  “Agreed, do you have any ideas?”

  “When the charity inherited this monastery, I did a little checking into the history of the county’s first murder. What I learned was that Adelaide and her husband Luther had a son named Victor. The boy was born with what today we would call special needs. Adelaide believed love was the answer to helping the boy while Luther preferred the strap. Luther finally gave up on the boy and asked the monks to care for him. They did, and Adelaide went to work for them. People believed Luther left town, and some believed Adelaide killed him for what he did. Life was difficult for Victor. The monks took a vow of silence, but Victor spoke out quite often. He spent hours in the chapel as punishment.”

  “That’s terrible, Uncle Mike,” Taylor said. “Something must have happened to make her snap like that and kill those monks.”

  “If she did is still a question. Victor apparently died of pneumonia and is buried in the little graveyard behind what used to be the chapel. Adelaide never believed it and was convinced lack of care had caused him to become ill. Oaklin County didn’t have a police department or a sheriff so Adelaide went to the only man with power, the mayor. There was nothing he could do and Adelaide returned to the monastery and supposedly killed the monks.”

  Mike let out a long breath and leaned back. “There wasn’t any evidence against her. Yes, she had the monk’s blood on her, but she claimed it was from trying to help them. There were many transients that came through looking for help from the monks. Anyone could have killed them, and the powers that be decided a woman couldn’t kill three men as brutally as the monks were killed. Adelaide was never arrested. Reading the local doctor’s report, I’m not sure who killed them, but whoever did was angry. Dozens of stab wounds and a beheading was overkill.”

  “Thanks, Uncle Mike. That’s quite a story. I can understand Adelaide’s anger. You mentioned a chapel. Where is it?” Kellie asked.

  “It used to sit between the monastery and the graveyard. It burned down one night. They blamed the fire on a candle left burning, but Adelaide believed the monks blamed Victor and made him pay for it. They turned the dining room into their chapel and Victor spent hours sitting alone in the room where his mother could see him from the kitchen. She saw him get weaker, and when he died, she went crazy.” Mike leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees and holding his head up with the back of his hands.

  Kellie said, “That’s quite a story, but it doesn’t explain the body in the basement. It seems as if five people died here that might haunt the building, but I don’t sense any of the spirits. I believe the monks would have immediately entered the light as well as Victor. Mentally he was an innocent and died of an illness. That leaves Adelaide, if it’s her body in the basement. I heard stories about a woman who walks the graveyard with a bloody knife. I might feel her out there. She could have been killed there.”

  #####

  “Hold that thought, I’m going down to check on the tech and I’ll be back up.” Mike strode to the cellar stairs.

  Taylor looked at Kellie, “What do you make of Uncle Mike’s story? It’s creepy. If Clarice were still here, she would have fainted. Are we going to walk around the old graveyard?” She scrunched her face and looked at Kellie already knowing the answer.

  “Of course, we are, or at least I am. You can stay here.” Kellie stood and walked toward the dining room.

  “No way, if you go, I go,” Taylor insisted.

  Kellie hugged her. “I knew you would go with me.” She walked into the dining room and stared at the large stained glass window at the far end of the room.

  “Now I understand why there is a huge window in this room. It doubled as a chapel. If Victor was forced to sit in here for hours, I can see how his mother would become angrier as time passed. I can see the swinging door that leads to the kitchen from here. What must it have been like for her to see him and if he saw her, I can imagine he would want to talk to her. Doing that would mean punishment.” She sat on an old bench and felt like crying.

  Kellie looked at Taylor and said, “When we get this place up and running we could dedicate the day care to Victor. No child should be left alone.”

  “I agree. It’s a great idea. Maybe we could call it Victory Day Care. It would serve two purposes, a tribute to the memory of Victor and help the moms and kids feel victorious in how their lives are changing.”

  “Fantastic! We’ll bring it up at the next charity meeting. We are going to have a lot of decisions to make. Look, here comes Uncle Mike.”

  She snapped her head in the opposite direction when she heard whistling. “Do you hear that? I wish I knew who or what was whistling.”

  Taylor shook her head. “Hi Uncle Mike, we’re going to walk out to the graveyard. Do you want to go with us?”

  “Not really, but I don’t think you two should go out there alone.”

  The three walked through the dining room, into the kitchen, out the back door, and headed toward the graveyard.

  Chapter Seven

  Taylor stopped just outside the door and asked, “Where is it? I don’t see a graveyard.”

  Mike said, “That large slab of concrete to the left is the old chapel. The graveyard is behind it. I think flowering bushes are blocking the view.”

  Kellie walked toward the edge of the bushes. She turned to Taylor and her Uncle Mike who were still talking. “You were right Uncle Mike; it is back here.”

  A loud howl emanating from the woods caught their attention.

  “What is that,” Taylor stammered.

  “Most likely a lost d
og,” Mike said.

  “Not a hellhound?” Taylor’s eyes grew wide and she threw her hand over her mouth.

  “A what?” Mike stared at Taylor.

  “Clarice said hellhounds guard graveyards; I was wondering….”

  “Taylor, there are no such things as hellhounds and at worst it’s a wolf. I know they’re usually up north, but we do have some in the southern part of the state.” Mike smiled.

  She glanced at him and ran to Kellie. “Did you hear that? Uncle Mike said it might be a wolf. What if Clarice is right?”

  “Calm down. Rufus sounds that way when a rabbit is beyond our back fence. It’s not a hellhound.”

  “I’m not sure,” Taylor said shaking her head.

  Mike caught up to them and said, “We’re here to check out the graveyard. Let’s do this while we still have enough daylight. Time got away from us down in that cellar.”

  Kellie walked up to the overgrown graveyard. “No one has been here in years. I can hardly make out the names on the headstones.”

  Plain gray headstones, in perfect rows, stood in front of them. Wild flowers and weeds covered many of them.

  “Let me go first,” Mike said.

  As he walked through the graveyard, Mike pushed or pulled plants away from the headstones. They were carved only with names, birth and death dates, and a cross.

  “There are no last names here. These read ‘Brother Thomas, Brother Gregory, Brother Herbert, and Brother Richard’ along with two years and a cross on each. We should go; they’re all the same.”

  “No, Uncle Mike,” Kellie said. “I need to see if Victor is here or if something else happened to him.”

  “Okay,” Mike mumbled as he continued to walk. “Brother Peter, Brother Ernest, Brother Anthony, Brother Paul. Wait, here it is, Victor Wentz. He was only sixteen years old and died in nineteen-thirty. None of the dates on the other stones is beyond nineteen-twenty-nine. The reports must be correct that the monks left after the murders.”

  “I’m sure they did, but what about the last three monks that died. Are they buried here? Wouldn’t they be buried in the front of the graveyard near Victor?” Kellie asked.