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"Oh, yeah?"

"He thought very highly of them," Keller said "But you know, you lose track of people I don’t knohether he joined up or not Say, isn’t that--"

"Father O’Herlihy," the cop said "He hasn’t got enough on his plate, he needs a bo else"

The h very little stayed for very long on any plate of his He had a full face and an extra chin, and looked ure His was a plain brown robe, but somehow it seemed less plain and even less brown than those worn by the other monks He was quite clearly in co he could see how the rest rearranged the to his orders

"And here comes Eyewitness News," the cop said sourly "Fuckin’ ot a certain level of corruption, and it don’t matter whether you’re the Church or so But maybe you see it different"

"No, I’m with you," Keller said

"But as soon as a man of God’s involved, and especially if he just happens to be a Catholic odda up on the Church is everybody’s favorite sport Not too , where it belongs"

"Absolutely," Keller said

"What did the man do, for Christ’s sake? I didn’t hear no scandals about altar boys All right, soonna draw attention I’ll grant you that But is it any reason to sling ood in the world as Father O’Herlihy?"

Keller was ready to express agree!" And indeed a unifor a leash to the collar of a sprightly beagle

"Jesus," sos on top of everything else"

"It’s a bo, you moron," someone else said

"It’s cute, whatever it is," a woman said

"We had one just like that when I was a kid," a man said "Dumber than dirt Couldn’t find food in his dish"

The dog disappeared into the building, and the conversation looked for other topics The abbot continued tothis one on the back, touching this one on the shoulder, looking like an officer rallying the troops

"Hey, O’Herlihy," so a special on kidneys this week!"

The crowd had been buzzing with casual conversation, and it stopped dead, as if soathering theht up short by the combination of shock and a sense of opportunity The speaker had clearly crossed the line, and they were deciding whether to disapprove or join in It would depend, he figured, on whether they cas too clever to suppress

But the abbot made the decision for them He broke off his conversation, spun around to his left, and stalked up to the curb He drew hiht and silenced the croith a stare

Then he spoke "Disperse," he said "All of ye Have ye nothing better to do? Go about your proper business, or return to your homes There’s no need for ye here"

And damned if they didn’t do exactly that, and Keller with them

Fourteen

It was pretty impressive," he told Dot "He just assuuess he must be used to it Comes with the job, wouldn’t you say?"

"I suppose so, but I got the feeling he’s been like that all his life I can picture hi disputes in kickball games"

"I alanted to play kickball," Dot said, "but at my school it was boys only I’ll bet it’s different now"

He’d bought another prepaid phone, with a chip good for one hundred minutes or one call to 911, whichever came first His first call was to Julia; he told her how it felt to be in New York, and how the auction was shaping up, and she filled hiossip about a couple two doors down the street He hadn’t told her anything specific about his assignment, and didn’t talk about it now

To Dot he said, "I’ with that call I ot a look at hih I hadn’t seen enough pictures of hi hiot a sense of the person"

"I guess"

"And you established for certain that he’s in residence there You’d assumed as much, but now you know it for a fact"

"I suppose you’re right"

"You don’t sound convinced, Keller What’s the matter?"

"The phone"

"Why’d you toss it? I know they log 911 calls, but I thought your phone’s untraceable"

"They can’t tie it to me," he said, "but they can tell what numbers I call with that phone Then all they have to do is walk back the cat"

"To Sedona," she said, "and to New Orleans No, you wouldn’t want theht a disposable phone and then you disposed of it"

"I paid seventy bucks for that phone," he said, "and Iin the New York sewer syste, Keller It probably sank like a stone"