Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(71)
“I know this seems inappropriate, but I wanted to take this chance to explore with you anything you know about Iris. I feel that her death was suspicious and even Father Keegan’s death, as well.”
“What?” Father Vega’s dark eyes flared with alarm. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” Judy almost regretted bringing it up, but she didn’t want to wait. “Do you know what Father Keegan did today? If he met with anyone, visited anyone? Even called anyone?”
“As far as I know, he conducted a funeral mass in the morning.”
“Why do you say, ‘as far as I know’?”
“I wasn’t here. On Mondays I travel to another church in Octorara. There’s a shortage of priests, as you may know, and we’re spread thin.”
“So you wouldn’t know firsthand what he did today? For example, if he made any phone calls or had any visits with anyone?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“You didn’t see him or talk with him before he went to dinner?”
“No, I haven’t seen him since this morning.”
“And it’s true that he eats dinner at Jamie’s, in the early evening?” Judy found herself lapsing into deposition mode.
“Yes, I told the police that, too. They came by earlier this evening. They’re the ones who notified me of his death.”
Judy could see that the women behind him were waiting to talk to him, so she didn’t mince words. “Father, I feel that Iris might have been involved with some kind of drug ring or some other illegal business that generated a lot of money. She hid cash in my aunt’s house, and her death seems very suspicious.”
“Drugs? Iris? No, not possible.” Father Vega shook his head. “I understood she had a heart attack.”
“I just don’t believe it, and it seems too coincidental, now that Father Keegan was killed. It’s also very strange that Iris’s best friend Daniella suddenly decided to go back to Mexico—”
“What did you say?” Father Vega interrupted, a frown creasing his short forehead.
“Daniella went back to Mexico.”
“She did? How do you know that?”
“That’s what they told me at the mission yesterday. That’s why she wasn’t working there yesterday.”
“She didn’t tell me. Neither did anyone else.” Father Vega shook his head again. “You must be mistaken, Judy.”
“That’s what they said. How do you know so much about her? I had the impression she wasn’t a regular churchgoer.”
“She wasn’t but I was helping her, with counseling. Daniella is from my town at home. I heard about her from my mother and my sisters.” Father Vega permitted himself a tight smile. “There’s no Internet like Mexican family.”
“Would she have gone back?”
“No. I haven’t heard from her lately, but I’ll call her at my first opportunity. I can’t do it now, I’m busy.” Father Vega gestured behind him at the line, where an older woman behind him kept looking over, impatient to speak with him.
“Do you have her number? May I have it?”
“I wouldn’t do that without her permission. You understand.”
Judy let it go. “Father Vega, I’m surprised that Father Keegan didn’t tell me this when he found out that Daniella was gone, because I told him.”
“He wouldn’t know. I would.”
“Is Daniella’s family here? Do you think I could go speak with them?”
“The only ones in the country are in Newark, New Jersey.”
“Is she married?”
“No longer, but there’s a man she’s been seeing.” Father Vega’s lips flattened in a way that suggested he wasn’t a fan. “She met him at work.”
“At Mike’s Exotics?”
“Yes. I don’t know much about him, but Daniella brought him to Mass one time and introduced me.”
“What’s his name?”
“Carlos Ramiro,” Father Vega answered, and the older woman behind him stepped closer to him, hovering at his elbow.
“Where does he live?”
“In the barracks.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some of the mushroom growers house their workers in barracks. His are on Mallard Road, where it meets Ravine.”
“Thanks.” Judy made a mental note, beginning to feel like a GPS map of Chester County.
“Padre Vega?” said the old woman, teary-eyed. She placed a hand on the priest’s arm.
Father Vega turned to her, caught betwixt and between. “Sí, Guadalupe, uno momento, por favor.”
Judy knew it was time to go. “Father, I didn’t mean to monopolize you. Thank you so much.”
“Padre Vega,” the woman said again.
“Good night, Father.” Judy turned away, hurried down the aisle, and out of the church.
Chapter Thirty-one
Judy braked, hesitating before she turned onto the makeshift driveway, two dirt ruts that divided a black tangle of underbrush tall enough to obscure whatever lay on the other side. The only reason she knew it had to be the barracks was that she was at the intersection on Ravine Road, a single-lane backroad with neither houses, stores, nor streetlights, in a rural pocket of East Grove, about six miles from Kennett Square and civilization.