It was time for a chat with Tom Nolan. Before setting off, I did a quick search on my phone about what the role of a deacon entailed. While growing up in the Boston area, I had a bunch of Catholic friends, but I hadn’t been super familiar with all the customs of the religion. Deacons, it turned out, were ordained by the church, worked on a volunteer basis, and could officiate at services such as baptisms, wakes, and funerals, though they weren’t allowed to say mass. Unlike priests, they were free to marry.
I returned to the main road, swung left, and headedsouth to the village. The sky was a perfect blue and the sun bright. From inside the car, it would have been easy to think it was a balmy summer day.
I found St. Timothy’s Roman Catholic Church easily, but as I darted up the steps of the parish center, I nearly collided with Tom Nolan rushing out of the building. He held the door and smiled distractedly in my direction. It was clear he didn’t recognize me.
“Hi, it’s Bailey Weggins,” I said. “You told me to drop by.”
“Oh, yes,” he said, focusing now. “I’m so sorry, but I forgot about a meeting I had for my regular job.”
“Can I walk you to your car at least?” I said. He might be having second thoughts about agreeing to speak to me, and I needed to snag whatever comments I could.
“Um, sure,” he said as I fell into step with him in the parking lot.
“What can you tell me about Shannon? Do you know her well?”
“Not very well, no. I’m more acquainted with her mother and sister, though Shannon and I have chatted a few times after the ten o’clock mass. She’s a terrific person. Very thoughtful.”
“What about her husband? People have told me they have a good relationship. Is that your sense—?”
“Now, now.” He shot me a warning look. “I said I wasn’t going to engage in any gossip.”
“Hasthere been gossip?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. And besides, I don’t really know them as a couple. Cody isn’t a member of the congregation.”
“Oh, only Shannon then? Does she come alone to services?”
“For the most part, yes, though she was here with her mother a few weeks ago.”
He had plucked the car key from a pocket of his crisp black slacks and was obviously eager to bolt.
“Has she been doing volunteer work with the parish? I’m wondering about an activity that could have put her in proximity with someone who developed a fixation on her.”
“No volunteer work yet. That would probably come in time.”
“In time?” I wasn’t following.
“Shannon only joined the parish a couple of months ago. Or I should say rejoined.”
“She was a lapsed Catholic?” I asked, my curiosity aroused.
“That’s right. But very committed now.”
“So it was around the middle of summer when she rejoined?”
Nolan sighed. “I don’t see how her religious convictions are relevant. It’s really a very personal matter.”
“Off the record then.” We were at his car now, and he chirped the key. “Please, this could be important to the case.”
“That Shannon’s a Catholic? I certainly don’t see—”
“If Shannon was searching for meaning recently, it could point to the fact that something was troubling her. And that she may have eventually felt a need to escape.”
“Yes, it was in the middle of the summer,” he said. “I’d say mid-July.”
“Have you shared that with the sheriff’s department? It might prove valuable.”
“I haven’t, no.” He swept a hand through that thick brown hair of his. “But I’ll address it.”
