Page 24 of Monkey Business

“We don’t believe you did either,” said Grace, “but we want to make sure we have the timing of everything down in order to properly defend you and figure this out.”

“It wasn’t my sister that accused me. The woman thought she could get me arrested and placed in jail simply based on a letter. She signed it with my sister’s name. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t know that my sister had been murdered just a few weeks prior.”

“That explains why the charges were dismissed,” said Kari.

“They were dismissed because they were false,” said Gus. “I might not remember certain details, but I would have never touched a woman. Or man. Never. I loved serving my community, serving my parishioners. I loved being a priest. They stole that from me. I knew that no one would ever trust me again, so I simply turned to my truck for full-time employment.”

“Gus, we were just discussing the possibility that you heard a confession someone didn’t want you to hear. Do you remember anything that stuck out for you?” asked Baptiste.

“I-I’m not sure. I mean, I remember confessions of adultery by both men and women, children stealing things from stores and their parents, drug use, so many horrible things,” he said, shaking his head.

“Leave him be for now,” said Matthew.

“But, Pops,” started Gaspar.

“I said leave him be for now, Gaspar.” Matthew shook his head, walking toward the distressed spirit. “One day, and I hope that I’m still here to see it, but one day, you boys will learn patience. It’s important to prove Gus’s innocence. But nothing is more important than his mental health, even as a ghost. He needs time to think these things through.”

The others all nodded as Matthew and Irene left with Gus. When they were outside, walking toward the bayou, Nine looked at the team.

“Find out who wrote that letter and see if the church has any records at all on who came for confession during that time. We need to help him.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Antoine and Luc walked into the offices of the diocese. They’d called ahead to speak with the current archbishop and were told he would be happy to speak with them. An elderly woman was typing something on her computer, muttering to herself as she used the ‘hunt and peck’ method. They both smiled at one another then cleared their throats.

“Oh! Oh, goodness,” she exclaimed. “Sorry, gentlemen. I get focused and don’t see or hear anything else. How can I help you?”

“I’m Luc Robicheaux, and this is my brother, Antoine. We called and have an appointment to speak with Archbishop Sutherland.”

“Yes. Yes, I see that here. One moment.” She stood with some difficulty, grabbing a cane and walking down a long hallway. They could hear low conversation, then she reappeared. “You can go on down now. Last door at the end of the hall.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” The two brothers walked down the hallway, seeing photos of past archbishops, popes, priests, and several religious artifacts. Tapping on the door, an older man turned and smiled at them.

“Come in, come in,” smiled the man. “I’m Archbishop Sutherland, but just call me Hollis.”

“I’m not sure I can do that, sir,” smirked Luc. “Our mother and father are deeply religious, faithful Catholics. I’d prefer to not get scolded when I get home.” The man laughed, nodding at the men as he waved them to the sofa.

“I should have guessed with a name like Robicheaux and then two very French first names, Antoine and Luc, that you are Catholic. Your phone call mentioned that you wanted to speak about Father Presley.”

“Yes, sir. Gus. We’re trying to solve the cold case of his disappearance and the charges that were brought against him here and in Arizona. We don’t believe that Gus was guilty of such a thing and want to prove it,” said Antoine.

“Yes,” he frowned. “I’ll start with the charges of him during his time as a priest. We all knew it was bogus. There was no way that Gus would have ever, in this lifetime or another, have touched any parishioner inappropriately. But there was a letter, and the writer claimed to be his sister, so we had to follow up on it.”

“Why were you so certain that he wouldn’t have done it?” asked Luc.

“Do you know how when you meet someone, you immediately know that they are good? That they have a countenance, an aura, if you believe in such things, about them that tells you that they are good people?”

“I do, sir,” nodded Luc. It seemed ironic that it was the same statement Lanier made about Gus.

“I met Gus in the seminary. He wasn’t the smartest man. He had trouble remembering things we studied. But he made up for that by studying harder, taking more thorough notes. He was an average student, but he fought harder than any man I’ve ever known to be average.

“But his intelligence didn’t matter. His heart, his soul was, well, exceptional. If there was ever someone born with goodness in their heart, it was Gus Presley. He was kind, giving, generous, loving, truly the perfect person to minister others.

“When we started digging into the letter, the individual who claimed she was the sister wouldn’t respond to us. The letter had an address on it of Prescott, Arizona, but that address didn’t even exist. Gus explained that this sister had died just weeks before, so we knew then it was a false claim. But the damage had been done for him. He was crushed that someone would hurt him in such a way.”

“What about the truck and his business on the side?” asked Antoine.

“That,” laughed the man, “that was pure Gus trying to help those around him. It started with someone needing assistance with moving into a new home. He had a pickup truck at the time. It was old and unreliable, so he started saving to buy an old moving truck. Then, it was the big tractor-trailer he ended up with. He was careful who he chose as clients and only moved for people that he felt had the same moral values as him.”

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