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Manny screaainst his ropes

“This is getting good,” one of the Twoomey brothers said

“No!” Manny shrieked “No! No! No! Desiree Stone came to the Therapeutic Center on November nineteenth She, she, she was depressed because, because, because—”

“Slon, Manny,” Angie said “Slon”

Manny closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his face drenched in sweat

Bubba sat on the floor and fondled his acetylene torch

“Okay, Manny,” Angie said “From the top” She placed a tape recorder on the floor in front of him and turned it on

“Desiree was depressed because her father had cancer, her e had drowned”

“We know that part,” I said

“So, she came to us and—”

“How’d she coie said “Did she just walk in off the street?”

“Yes” Manny blinked

Angie looked at Bubba “He’s lying”

Bubba shook his head slowly and turned on the torch

“Okay,” Manny said “Okay She was recruited”

Bubba said, “I turn this on again, I’e Whether you like it or not”

She nodded

“Jeff Price,” Manny said “He was the recruiter”

“Jeff?” I said “I thought his name was Sean”

Manny shook his head “That was his middle name He used it as an alias sometimes”

“Tell us about him”

“He was the treatment supervisor at Grief Release and a member of the Church Council”

“Which is?”

“The Church Council is like the board of directors It’s made up of people who’ve been with the Church since its days in Chicago”

“So, this Jeff Price,” Angie said, “where’s he now?”

“Gone,” John said

We looked at hi interested Maybe he was taking mental notes for the day he’d start his own Church The Temple Defective

“Jeff Price stole two million dollars from the Church and disappeared”

“How long ago?” I said

“Little over six weeks ago,” Manny said

“Which is when Desiree Stone disappeared”

Manny nodded “They were lovers”