Sanctuary

20

I finally kicked into gear. It was like I was so caught up in so many mind storms, any instincts I ever had were closed down. But now a thought hit me. I rang Stewart and he answered with, ‘Already?

He sounded testy, the Zen not up to its usual standard or more than likely, me.

I said, ‘Sorry to be a nuisance, but when you went to see the Mother Superior, did she mention our psycho friend being close to any other nun in the convent?’

‘I did take some notes after. Give me a moment.’

I tried to curb my impatience and then he was back. ‘Good thinking, Jack. She was tight with a Sister Maeve, though I don’t know, can you say nuns are tight?’

Tight is frequently used in Ireland to describe someone who’s either mean or drunk, sometimes both. Few things worse, I suppose, than a tight drunk.

I said, ‘Depends whether they were drinking buddies.’

He ignored that, said, ‘Sister Maeve teaches in the Mercy Primary School and that’s located-’

I cut him off, snapped, ‘I know where the fucking school is.’

There was an intake of breath and then he said, ‘Real pleasure to help you, Jack, you’re so grateful.’

And he rung off.