As soon as Faith walked inside the office, however, she was an FBI agent again.She smiled at Kessler and greeted her with a handshake, then accepted the chair Kessler gestured too.Jessica did the same, and Turk sat in between the two chairs.He remained at attention, back straight, head high, face forward.
Kessler smiled at him.“Excellent posture, Marine.”She glanced at Faith.“Was he yours?”
“Not in the Corps, no, ma’am.I was already out when he was born.”And now I feel old yet again.Wonderful.
“I see.Well, he cuts an excellent figure of a Marine.”
Turk looked like he was about to explode with pride, and Faith grinned affectionately at her dog.“He’s a good dog.”
“That reflects well on his handler,” Kessler replied.
She sat down and sighed wearily.She was a beautiful older African American woman with shoulder-length black hair sprinkled liberally with gray and kind brown eyes that had seen the darkest aspects of humanity and carried a torch for the race in spite of that.She looked much as Hayes had in Faith’s memory.
“Hayes was fond of visiting the memorials at dawn every Sunday before mass,” Kessler began unprompted.“He believed in beginning his week by remembering those for whom he had performed last rites.Several of them are buried in Arlington.He would usually arrive here before dawn, pray for those whose resting places he couldn’t visit, then drive to the cemetery to pray for those he could.”
“He was allowed in before visiting hours?”Jessica asked.
Kessler smiled at her and explained, “Combat veterans are permitted twenty-four-hour access to all national cemeteries.”
Jessica raised an eyebrow and looked at Faith.That was a strong hint that their killer was a combat veteran.Faith noted that and continued the interview.“Was there anything especially important about Annette Winslow?”
Kessler shook her head.“Not as far as I know.Hayes mentioned that he felt bad for her family, but he mentioned that about all of them.”
“Do any of those family members live close by?”
She shook her head.“I don’t think so, no.In any case, I met Mr.Winslow once, and he didn’t strike me as the vindictive type.He had lost his faith, but he wasn’t violent.Of course, that’s based only on one interaction.”
Her eyes fell to her hands, and Faith guessed at the reason for the change in her expression.“Do you know of anyone whowasviolent who might have threatened Hayes?”
Kessler sighed.“Unfortunately, yes.We had a veteran visit the clinic last week.He encountered Robert while he was visiting other patients and… there was an altercation.”
Faith glanced at Jessica.“Can you expand on that?”
“This individual accused Hayes and all chaplains of spreading false hope.He called Hayes a snake-oil salesman and a great deal of other names that I won’t repeat.He became vehement enough that security had to remove him from the clinic.
“What was his name?”Faith asked.
“Marcus Welling.”Kessler sighed again.“He was a project of mine.I hoped to bring him back to God, but he’s so angry.Just so angry.”
She looked at her hands for a long moment, then lifted her gaze back to the agents.“Please don’t judge him too harshly.He has suffered so much.They all have.”
Me too,Faith thought.I’m not taking it out on innocent old men.
She kept that thought to herself.Aloud, she replied, “I’m not here to judge anyone.Only to find a murderer and take him off the street before he can take any other lives.”
“Yes,” Kessler agreed.“Just remember that he has a life too, one that is just as meaningful as anyone’s, including mine and yours.Including Robert’s.He believed that just as strongly as I do.”
Faith couldn’t think of a way to answer that without either lying or lashing out, so she got to her feet and only said, “Thank you for your time.”
She stepped outside, but Jessica remained in the office to get Welling’s contact information from Kessler, something Faith had forgotten to do.
Turk patted next to Faith, looking up at her with concern.She smiled at him and said, “I’m okay, boy.I’m okay.”
She repeated that phrase a few more times.It didn’t stop feeling like a lie.
CHAPTER SIX
“More coffee?”David asked.
