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I turned the corner and found the rectory immediately adjacent to the church It was three stories tall and built of the sa the bell and stood on the front step in the rain for a few ray-haired woaveyou" She led me into a parlor and pointed me to an armchair I sat down across fro in it The wall on either side of the fireplace was lined with bookshelves An Oriental rug with a muted pattern covered most of the parquet floor The roo for him and decided I should have stopped for a drink instead of a cup of coffee I wasn't likely to get a drink in this cheerless house

He let me sit there for five ot to my feet as he entered the roo I was on the telephone But please have a seat, won't you?"

He was very tall and rail-thin He wore a plain black suit, a clerical collar, and a pair of black leather bedroohts here and there It would have been considered long a few years ago, but now the abundant curls were conservative enough His horn-rilasses had thick lenses that made it difficult for me to see his eyes

"Coffee, Mr Scudder?"

"No, thank you"

"And none for me, either If I have ht" He sat down in a chair that was a mate to mine He leaned toward me and placed his hands on his knees "Well, now," he said "I don't see how I can possibly help you, but please tell me if I can"

I explained a littlefor Cale Hanniford When I had finished he touched his chin with his thuhtfully

"Mr Hanniford has lost a daughter," he said "And I have lost a son"

"Yes"

"It's so difficult to father children in today's world, Mr Scudder Perhaps it was always thus, but it seeainst us Oh, I can sympathize fully with Mr Hanniford, more fully than ever since I have suffered a siaze at the fire "But I fear I have no sy

"It's a failing on nize it as such Man is an iion has no higher function than to sharpen his awareness of the extent of his ireatest handiwork, is hopelessly flawed A paradox, Mr Scudder, don't you think?"

"Yes"

"Not the least of rieve for Wendy Hanniford You see, her father no doubt holds hter And I, in turn, hold his daughter responsible for the loss of ot to his feet and approached the fireplace He stood there for ahis hands He turned towardInstead, he walked slowly to his chair and sat down again, this ti over the other

He said, "Are you a Christian, Mr Scudder?"

"No"

"A Jew?"

"I have no religion"

"How sad for you," he said "I asked your religion because the nature of your own beliefs s toward the Hanniford girl But perhaps I can approach the ood and evil, Mr Scudder?"

"Yes, I do"

"Do you believe that there is such a thing as evil extant in the world?"

"I know there is"

He nodded, satisfied "So do I," he said "It would be difficult to believe otherwise, whatever one's religious outlook A glance at a daily newspaper provides evidence enough of the existence of evil" He paused, and I thought he aiting forThen he said, "She was evil"

"Wendy Hanniford?"

"Yes An evil, Devil-ridden woion, away froood paths and unto the paths of evil" His voice was picking up a tiregation "It waswithin him, who made it possible for him to kill" His voice dropped in pitch, and he held his hands palms down at his sides "And so I cannot ret that her death caret that he then took his own life, but I cannot hter"

He let his hands drop, lowered his head I couldn't see his eyes, but his face was troubled, wrapped up in chains of good and evil I thought of the serht of all the different roads to Hell and all the paving stones therein I pictured Martin Vanderpoel as a long, lean Sisyphus arduously rolling the boulders into place

I said, "Your son was in Manhattan a year and a half ago That hen he went to work for Burghash Antiques" He nodded "So he left here so Wendy Hanniford's apartment"

"That is correct"

"But you feel she led him astray"

"Yes" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly "My son left raduation I did not approve, but neither did I object violently I would have wanted Richard to go to college He was an intelligent boy and would have done well in college I had hopes, naturally enough, that he ht follow me into the ministry I did not force him in this direction, however One must determine for oneself whether one has a vocation I am not fanatical on the subject, Mr Scudder I would prefer to see a son of mine as a contented and productive doctor or lawyer or businessospel

"I realized that Richard had to find hi these days, is it not? He had to find himself I understood this I expected that this process of self-discovery would ultie after a year or two I hoped this would occur, but in any event I saw no cause for alar in a decent Christian residence, and I felt that his feet were on a good path Not perhaps the path he would ultimately pursue, but one that was correct for him at that point in his life

"Then he met Wendy Hanniford He lived in sin with her He became corrupted by her And, ultiraffiti: Happiness is when your son marries a boy of his own faith Evidently Richie Vanderpoel had functioned as so anything Then he irl, and his father was shattered

I said, "Reverend Vanderpoel, a greatnize this, Mr Scudder I do not condone it, but I could hardly fail to recognize it"