Chapter 18

The Holy Catholic Church of Saint Bartholomew was located two blocks from the Adventures Mall on 1st Street in downtown Siren. Built in the mid-70’s, St. Bart’s was a plain, unadorned building with tiny, long, thin stained glass panes dotting the sides of the brick walls. The architect was following the conventional wisdom at the time that with an energy shortage, the warmth of the building would be best created in a closed up, bunker like structure, forgetting the warming and heating aspects that light would bring if allowed in through bigger windows. The inside of the sanctuary was a bit more embellished, but still stark in comparison to the other Catholic churches in Burnett County. No hand-carved marble altar and baptism font, no gold plated chalice or offering plates, no brocade altar cloths. It was as if the entire place was stuck in the 70’s - earth tone altar cloths, wooden collection plates, pottery chalice, straight, flat altar and a stainless steel bowl on a rectangular wooden pedestal for the baptism font. Even the priests wore simple woven robes with rough, woven vestments. Not a gold thread in sight.

Martin left his car in the Adventures Mall parking lot and walked over to the church. He knew that all Holy Week services would be crowded, even Holy Thursday, and parking would be at a premium. And no Burnett County sheriff would be giving out parking tickets tonight – they’d all be in church.

St. Bart’s Holy Thursday service started at 7:00 p.m., so arriving at 6:40 allowed Martin to park himself in a premium location in the very back pew by the main entrance in order to watch who came in and where they sat. He was the tenth person to be seated in the sanctuary, and he sat at the end of the pew, on the aisle, to give him the best vantage point.

As he watched the door, Martin began to feel guilty for being so calculating on a holy day, and in church even! As his eyes followed the waddling old ladies who took the same seats they had probably been sitting in for decades, he assessed his own spiritual bankruptcy and vowed to call his mother that night to make arrangements to accompany her to Good Friday and Easter services that weekend.

Martin thought of his mother and felt another flash of guilt. His last interaction with her on Palm Sunday was far from pleasant, and he wasn’t sure how Jean would react when he called her. One thing he was sure of though – she’d jump at the chance to go to church with Martin this weekend.

The pews in the sanctuary were gradually filling up, but Martin hadn’t seen anyone of interest in terms of who he hoped to talk to in terms of Talbot and the story. No Howes, no Daniels, no Talbot. Not even any of the other teachers from the high school. Just a lot of older women and couples that Martin was sure had driven in with their many children from the back woods areas surrounding the many lakes in the area.

It was 30 seconds to 7:00 p.m. when Martin could hear rustling and voices in the narthex of the church. He turned to see the commotion and saw Jeff and Karen Howe and their two beautiful teenage daughters coming in the doors. The priests and altar boys had already lined up for the procession, candles and incense lit, processional cross in place, everyone set and ready to go. Martin watched, transfixed, as all of the priests and altar boys left their positions to reach for Jeff’s hand and welcome the family. They all moved out of the way as the Howes made their way to the sanctuary entrance and down the center aisle to the very first pew on the left in front of the pulpit. There was no reserved sign on the pew, but the entire congregation knew that it was saved for the Howes, whenever they chose to show up.

Once Jeff and his harem were seated and settled, the organ hit its first cord, and the service began.

+ + +

Martin was never one to enjoy church services much and was even known to sleep through them, but he managed to stay awake and alert throughout this one because he saw it as an opportunity to watch Jeff Howe and the people around him. Jeff was attentive and acted devout, but it seemed to be just that – acting. The Howe daughters, Julie and Lauren, looked bored and antsy, and Karen Howe looked as she often did – agitated, irritated and nervous. And just on the verge of spitting tacks.

Martin watched as each and every person went up to the altar to receive the sacrament after the sermon. He didn’t see anyone of interest other than the Howes. He decided this was for the best because he’d easily be able to connect with his only available target - Jeff Howe.

+ + +

Martin planted himself right next to the door where the Howes entered the church, hoping to “run into them” as they exited the sanctuary. Sure enough, the Howes headed for that door and seemed in a rush to get out. Cursing his bad luck for the potential failure of his plan, Martin started moving toward the exit, but then saw that Father Bob O’Halloran grabbed Jeff’s elbow as he tried to sneak past the priest in order to avoid a lengthy conversation at the door. Karen, Julie and Lauren continued past Jeff and Father Bob, prepared to wait by the exit. Martin made his move.

“Well hi again, Karen,” Martin said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Did you enjoy the service?” Martin could see that she was annoyed by the delay as she focused her gaze, through narrowed eyes, at Jeff as he spoke to the priest about the new building project. She slowly turned her head back toward Martin, and said, “Hello, Martin. Yes, we enjoyed the service very much.”

He turned to the girls. “Hi, I’m Martin Lundeen,” Martin said to the two Howe daughters, sticking out his hand. They shook it limply and murmured “Hello”. Karen jumped in, “Martin writes for the newspaper. He’s going to do a story on my shop, right Martin?” He nodded his head, and said, “Absolutely! Your mom’s store is great, and I’m looking forward to getting her some coverage.”

The two girls rolled their eyes and snickered, and turned to see if their father was almost done talking to the priest. “Why doesn’t he hurry up?” Julie whispered loudly to her mother. “Doesn’t he know I have a date later?”

Her comment was just loud enough for Jeff to hear. He looked up from his conversation with Father Bob, saw Karen’s and Julie’s frown and began moving away as the priest was still talking to him. “Father Bob, let’s get together next week for coffee , and we can talk about this,” Jeff said. “There are so many people who want your time tonight. Let’s set something up for later when we can really talk. I’ll try to bring Dayton Daniels with me.”

Jeff rushed over the Karen and the girls, ignoring Martin, and making noises apologizing to his family. “Well let’s just go,” Karen said, irritated. Martin saw his opportunity slipping away. “Good to see you, Karen. I’ll be in touch to set up that interview,” he said quickly before the Howes got away.

Jeff turned to him, suddenly interested, after not even noticing him before that moment. "An interview?” Martin stuck his hand out to Jeff and said quickly, “Hi, Mr. Howe. I’m Martin Lundeen with the Burnett County Sentinel. I’m planning on doing a story on your wife and her store.”

“Oh, really,” Jeff responded, clearly amused. “Well, that’s great! Maybe, with a little publicity, that place might finally turn a profit.” Karen glared at him, but Jeff continued, “I’ll look forward to seeing that story…Martin you said?” Martin nodded and said, “Yes, Martin Lundeen. By the way, I may be calling you sometime in the next few weeks, too. I’m doing another story on some of the teachers who are retiring this year…”

Jeff started moving towards the door. “Oh, okay, that’s fine.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a card. “Here’s my cell phone. Just call me whenever, and I’ll answer any questions you have about our fine teaching staff, retiring or otherwise.” Jeff flashed Martin one of his trademark winning grins, and shepherded his women out the door. “Happy Easter, Martin," he called as the heavy wooden door closed.

Martin didn’t know if he had been brushed off or played, but he didn’t care. He had Jeff Howe’s cell phone number, and would definitely call him when the time was right. What bothered Martin was that his request didn’t phase Jeff at all which meant he either didn’t know about Frank Talbot or felt he had done such a good job of hiding it for so long, he figured no one else knew about it. Either way, Martin was going to find out…and soon.