“I had quite a few calls to visitors this morning,” he said.
“I’ve been getting a lot of calls, too,” Delores replied.
“What kind of calls?”
“About your sermon on Sunday.”
“I know I went longer than usual, but I didn’t get any negative feedback from folks as they left the church.”
“Well, my phone rang quite a bit Sunday afternoon.”
“Who called?”
“Different people.”
Mike didn’t pressure Delores for names. Eventually, she always revealed her sources of information.
“What was the complaint?” he asked.
“That you didn’t sound like yourself, and the stories you told were weird.”
“Anything else?”
“One person was upset when she found out that Mr. and Mrs. Miller were in the sanctuary.”
“Why do you think it’s called a sanctuary?” Mike asked testily.
“Don’t get mad at me. If you don’t want to know—”
“Was it a member of the session?”
Delores didn’t respond, but Mike easily interpreted her expression as a yes.
“Well, Libby Gorman made her wishes known at the meeting,” he said. “And Sam Miller had a business reason to be here. I asked him to look at our property and submit a bid to cut the grass. Our current service does a sloppy job, especially in the cemetery.”
“But they don’t have any criminals working for them.”
Mike stared at her for a moment, decided not to remind her of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and returned to his office. He didn’t come out until Delores left for lunch.
After she had gone, Mike fielded a phone call from a church member wanting to know the charge for a nonmember to rent the old sanctuary for a wedding. A few minutes later, the phone rang again.
“Little Creek Church,” Mike said.
“I didn’t know the pope answered his own phone,” Braxton Hodges responded.
“I don’t think I’m qualified for the job.”
“You don’t seem afraid to multitask,” the newspaperman replied. “Preacher on Sunday, lawyer for the people on Monday. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Sure. The answering machine will pick up the calls.”
“I’m working on an article about your client, Sam Miller.”
“Good. What have you found out?”
“That when I left a message for Jack Hatcher this morning, he didn’t immediately return my call.”
“He’s a busy bank president. Even if he wants you to write an article, he’s not going to drop everything to talk to a reporter.”
“But Maxwell Forrest did. He phoned me ten minutes after I told Hatcher’s assistant that I wanted to ask a few questions about the Miller embezzlement case.”
“That makes sense. After all, it is a legal matter. What did Mr. Forrest say?”
“Nothing worth printing. He rolled out a nebulous comment or two that the pertinent information had been turned over to the proper authorities. I could tell he was processing me toward a quick end to the conversation until I asked him if there had been any correspondence between Miller and Jack Hatcher.”
“What did he say?”
“Do you want to listen?”
“You recorded the conversation?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Do I have to?”
“No, so long as you’re a party to the conversation.”
“I already knew that, so don’t send me a bill for your opinion.”
“Are you recording this conversation?”
“Not unless you change your mind about running for pope.”
“No chance. Turn on the tape of Mr. Forrest.”
“Actually, it’s digital, which makes it a lot clearer. I’ll start at the beginning.”
Mike pressed the receiver close to his ear, but it wasn’t necessary. The voices were clear. He could easily recognize Hodges’s nasal tone and Forrest’s carefully modulated Southern drawl. In every conversation, Maxwell Forrest chose his words with skill.
“I think you’re doing the community a service,” Forrest said. “Many people don’t follow the results of the criminal docket, and an article might deter someone thinking about mismanaging church money in the future.”
“Let’s hope so,” Hodges replied. “One other thing. Did Mr. Hatcher receive any correspondence from Miller prior to the filing of the embezzlement charge?”
“I’d have to check with Mr. Hatcher about that.”
“Could you do that and let me know?”
“Mr. Hatcher gets a lot of correspondence.”
“People who get a letter from Sam Miller usually remember it.”