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By the time I had helped him to his feet and he had twice nearly pulled , and he identified himself as Reverend Charles Moran His eyes were merry, and when he assured me that his fall had not been as terrible as Satan’s, I saw that he aerator, he withdrew a bottle of water and froolden retriever, where he lay obediently in front of the chancel railing

Reverend Moran did not suggest that I had been wrong to bring the dog into the church, but only asked his name I didn’t know the name and didn’t want to explain how the retriever and I had coether, so I said his name was Raphael

For an instant, I did not understand why I had chosen Raphael instead of Fido Later, I would realize what had inspired the name

When asked my name, I said it was Todd

This was not exactly a lie My parents insisted that they meant to name me Todd but a mistake had been made on my birth certificate--which did not explain why they had called me Odd forever thereafter

Besides, when I say that s and explanations ensues After my adventures since late afternoon, I did not have the patience to thread the needle ofas he drank, and Reverend Moran asked if I was new in town

I said that I had been there about afor a church to join I told hi to pray becauseturn

The reverend proved discreet enough not to pressskills to tease h I had coic Beach alone--but for Boo and Frank Sinatra--I was incoood alone I need bonds, vows real if unspoken, shared laughter, and people who depend on me as I depend on them

Hutch was turned too far inward to be more than a casual friend I had not known the wonderful Blossos with her

At ease on the floor with the dog, the reverend had a relaxedwith him for a few minutes made me feel less alone

I did not tell hiot around to the subject of Ar These days, with most people, doomsday seemed to crop up in conversation more than it once did

Eventually Reverend Moran asked if Raphael ry as he had been thirsty, and I said maybe so, but I did not want him to bother hi of his own, and he went away to get some biscuits from the pantry in the rectory

Charles Moran’s coe off the fear that ressively sharpened

The dog solicited more attention, and I was pleased to respond, because in the hu relationship, both are therapists

After a few minutes, however, Raphael scrambled to his feet His ears lifted asat the sacristy door at the back of the sanctuary

I assu with biscuits and that the dog had smelled them at a distance

When Raphael shifted his attention fro toward the narthex, toward the ot up from the floor

EVERYONE A NEIGHBOR, EVERY NEIGHBOR A FRIEND

Maybe the community motto did not apply to newcomers until they had been in residence a year I had not read the fine print on the sign that welco your first year, you were fair gaht ht s

I went to the third pew on the right A long wooden pocket on the back of the second-ros held hymnals for use by those who sat in the third row

From my left hip pocket, I fished out Sam Whittle’s wallet, the possession of which would be incri now that he lay dead in his bathtub Hy pocket, but there were spaces between the would be gained by revealing more about myself than the name Todd I fished my wallet from my other hip pocket and secreted it with Whittle’s

I returned to the dog and stood with hi from the sacristy door to the narthex, sacristy to narthex…

The first two police officers cah the main entrance, crossed the narthex, and stepped into the nave They did not draw their pistols, but they approached along the center aisle with their hands on the butts of those weapons

A policeman also stepped out of the sacristy, onto the altar platform He was in his late forties, a decade older than the two officers in the center aisle His preray hair was shorn close on the sides, as flat on top as brush bristles

He possessed an air of authority that had nothing to do with his uniform If you encountered him in his undershorts, you would still call him sir and do what he told you to do--or be prepared to pay a high price for disobedience

Reverend Charles Moran followed Brush Cut out of the sacristy He aze and did not look away, but his eyes were not as merry as they had been earlier

I asked hiain, but the reverend seeh ere both alive and neither of us governed by the law of silence i dead

TWENTY-FIVE

I HAD RIDDEN IN A SQUAD CAR BEFORE, BACK IN Pico Mundo Although this was not my first time, it was still kind of cool

Police headquarters--which included a s that stood adjacent to the courthouse, on the park, in one of thelike astation, and all of that would be on theofficers parked in an alleyway behind the building and took h a back door

Earlier at the church, they had searched me for weapons Here, I expected them to take n a receipt acknowledging that they had confiscated no additional iteerprintthat they ht allow me to call an attorney if not book an appearance on a reality-TV courtroo a hallith depressing blue-speckled linoleuh a door, doo flights of stairs, along another hallith an intriguingly stained concrete floor, through another door, and into a bleak less rooh to kill asthmatics and, under that, subtly of vomit

This chamber measured about twelve by fifteen feet A concrete floor, concrete walls, and a low concrete ceiling offered little to ith for even the ner

A square metal table and two chairs stood in the center of the room

A third chair had been placed in a corner Maybe that here they would make me sit if I didn’t behave

One of the officers pulled out a chair for n that they were respectful of a prisoner’s innate huht ankle to a ringbolt that was built in to the table leg Although he did not handle hly, he did seeco a snack if I should want one, they went out and closed the door, leavingin, I had noticed that the door was so thick it ned by a paranoid It closed with the solid clunk of one thousand pounds of steel

They had leftto do except contemplate my pain threshold and my mortality, which was probably their intention

The table to which I had been shackled see it aroundto see or do, I reht-inch-diaic Beach had no history of floods, I supposed that this design feature facilitated the hosing-out of the room after unfortunate accidents

This was one of those sobering circuination, if I were not careful, could cause a portion of my cerebellum to melt down, and set my hair on fire I counseled myself that I remained in the United States, which was not Cuba or Venezuela, or even Mordor

I consulted my watch--8:56 I still had a few nificant portion thereof No problem

Because I had fir happened by 8:57 or by 8:58, although I ithin seconds of shouting strident demands for justice when the door finally opened at 8:59