A/N: Thanks for the reviews, Leya, Caranath, Max2013, ILoveMom, zenfrodo, Stork Hardy, catlover1033, Vinsmouse, Love and Laugh, Jackie and Manchu! They made me smile! And Catlover and Manchu, don't worry about Em. She's much more savvy now that she's been hanging around Joe for awhile. And in this story, EVERYBODY meets up with trouble. No exceptions. LOL Also for this chapter, if you google "Einsiedeln library" and hit that image button, you'll see what I'm trying to describe here. I want this library in my house! Thanks so much to everyone who is taking time to read.
Chapter 4
"This is beautiful!" Emily breathed.
Nancy smiled at her friend's elated whisper as they entered the abbey library with Bess and Father Bertrand. Joe's girlfriend definitely had a love affair with libraries, and Nancy knew this one would have Emily positively giddy.
Emily gazed around the room with a wide-eyed stare, like a child who'd gotten her first glimpse of her presents on Christmas morning. "Just look at this place!"
The walls of the library were white with large marble columns running down the center, under an arched and painted ceiling. An open second floor balcony surrounded the entire main room, with a curvy wrought iron railing allowing an unobstructed view of the floor to ceiling bookshelves lining the second story walls.
On the main floor, the books were all encased in brightly painted blue bookshelves with glass doors. The floor was a pale hardwood, and tables were situated between the marble columns. Windows along the second floor flooded the room with natural light and sunshine.
"Is every room here just as beautiful as the cathedral?" Bess asked.
"We try to make each of our public rooms reflect a tiny bit of heaven," Father Bertrand said with a smile.
"You've certainly accomplished that," Nancy said. This had to be one of the most beautiful libraries she'd ever seen.
A young, handsome man, dressed in a simple brown robe approached them. Nancy noticed that Bess was quick to give him a dimpled smile. He immediately turned his gaze downward.
Bess tried again. "Hello, my name's Bess Marvin."
The young man brushed his blond hair away from his eyes and looked at Father Bertrand.
"This is Guillaume, ladies. He is currently working in our library," Father Bertrand said. "He is a candidate here in the abbey and will be ready to take his first set of vows in a few more months."
"You mean...he's a monk?"
Bess looked stricken.
Nancy exchanged glances with Emily and bent her head to hide her smile.
"Not quite," Father Bertrand said. "First you must be a candidate for a year to really understand what is expected from the monastic lifestyle and to determine if it is truly what the Lord wants for you."
The priest turned and spoke in French to the young man, who smiled and nodded to the girls.
"His English is a bit weak," Father Bertrand explained. "I believe one of you speaks French?"
Emily raised her hand. "Oui."
Father Bertrand smiled at her. "Wonderful. Then you will not have a communication problem?"
"As long as he can understand my French, we'll be fine." Emily turned to Guillaume. "Pouvez-vous comprendre que je dis?"
Guillaume's smile was wide. "Oui, mademoiselle. Vous parlez français très bien."
Bess nudged Emily in the back.
"What did you say? What did he say?"
"I said, 'What do you think of my blonde friend?' and he said, 'I think she's really hot,'" Emily whispered.
Bess stared at her open mouthed.
Emily giggled. "Just kidding. I only asked if he understood my French."
Nancy chuckled to herself. She was definitely going to give Bess a hard time about this tonight, but right now, she wanted to focus on the case. She touched Emily on the arm. "Maybe you should start researching the monstrance?"
"I'm ready." Emily smiled and moved beside Guillaume.
Father Bertrand patted Guillaume on the back, then turned to Bess and Nancy. "Shall we return to the cathedral?"
The girls nodded and Nancy poked Bess in the ribs as they were leaving the library. "I cannot believe you were hitting on a monk."
"He's cute," Bess hissed.
OOOoooOOO
Joe and Kathy headed toward the lobby filled with guests who'd just ended their day on the slopes. Kathy slipped her hand into Joe's as they left the restaurant. He glanced down at her, but didn't say anything.
"So, did you see anyone?" she whispered.
"See anyone?"
"Anyone who looked suspicious?"
Joe chuckled. "Nothing out of the ordinary. I took note of who was around us, and if I start to see them repeatedly near you while we're here, I'll follow up on it." He looked into her frightened eyes. "Don't worry. It's going to be fine."
Kathy smiled and squeezed his hand. "I know it is. You make me feel very safe, Joe."
And you make me feel like a specimen under a microscope, he thought, as he pushed the button for the elevator.
OOOoooOOO
Lauren and Tammy surrounded Frank as he was seated at the cherry wood table in the suite's living room. He smiled inwardly. This promised to be interesting.
"So, tell us about your brother and Kathy," Lauren said as she scooted her chair closer to his.
Frank looked up at both of them. "I thought Kathy would have filled you in on Joe."
Tammy shook her head. "She's kept all of this hidden from us. It's kind of weird. Usually she blabs it all over the place when she has a new boyfriend."
Frank nodded. "Well, she must have had a good reason for not talking about Joe. I'm afraid you'll have to ask her."
"Well then, why don't you tell us about you?" Lauren asked, batting her eyelashes a bit.
Frank chuckled. She wasn't very subtle. Thank goodness Joe wasn't here to see this. He'd never hear the end of it.
"Oh, you don't want to talk about me, I'm boring."
"I don't think so."
"How about if I ask both of you some questions?"
Tammy shrugged. "Okay, if you promise to answer some of ours when you're done."
Frank laughed. These girls were good. Maybe he should think about hiring them at the agency. "I promise."
He reached for a pen and held it poised over a spiral notebook. "When did Kathy start getting these threatening notes?"
Tammy looked toward the ceiling as she bit her bottom lip. "Um, it must have been right before Christmas break."
"Yeah, it was," Lauren said. "Because we were studying for finals. She came bursting into the lounge in our dorm with the first one."
"Do you remember what it said?"
"It was kind of creepy," Lauren recalled. "Something about Kathy becoming this guy's Christmas present."
"Actually, at first we thought it was a joke," Tammy said. "You know, some kind of weird pick-up line or something like that."
"Pick-up line?"
"Yeah, well there's an all boys boarding school not too far from us," she said. "We kind of hang out with some of the guys there, and we just thought it was one of them trying to be funny."
"When did you decide it was something different?"
"When the notes kept coming," Tammy said. "And they kept getting weirder. Meaner. You know what I mean?"
"More threatening?"
"Yeah, and then Kathy started getting phone calls." Lauren leaned in closer to Frank. "Right before we were supposed to leave for break."
Frank was scribbling furiously in his notebook. "Where was she getting these calls?"
"The payphone in the hall," Lauren said. "We finally just stopped answering it."
"What did the person on the other end say?"
"I don't know," Tammy admitted. "Kathy was the only one he ever spoke with. If someone else answered, he'd hang up."
"But you know it was a man?"
Lauren shrugged. "Kathy said it was. She thought he was trying to disguise his voice."
Frank paused. "Did she ever contact the police about this?"
"She called her dad," Tammy said. "He promised he'd take care of it. It's happened before."
"Yeah, and now you're here." Lauren smiled. "I guess you and Joe are how he's taking care of it."
"How nice that Kathy managed to start dating a detective," Tammy said.
"Yeah," Frank agreed. "It's funny how things work out sometimes."
OOOoooOOO
Nancy and Bess were still craning their necks as Father Bertrand led them back through the cathedral.
"I could just sit here and stare all day long," Bess whispered.
"I know, it's incredible."
Nancy saw that Father Bertrand was smiling and waiting for the girls to catch up with him near the main altar. She met his gaze and he gestured to the wrought iron gate in front of them.
"This is always kept locked. When we say Mass, we do it behind this gate. To give the parishioners communion, we exit through these side gates," he said, pointing to a more modern looking façade extending from the original altar gate. "However, when the monstrance was stolen, this main gate was unlocked and left open."
"You never open this?" Nancy asked.
Father Bertrand shook his head. "No, as you can see, the lock is very old. I wasn't even sure it could be opened."
"Then you don't have a key?" Nancy stepped forward to examine the lock.
"I do," Father Bertrand said. "It is on my person at all times. I don't know how the thief could have gotten it. Perhaps he also has one."
"And it was opened with a key? Not broken into?" Bess asked.
"Correct." Father Bertrand guided Nancy and Bess away as a woman knelt in front of the communion rail to pray.
"The lock was not damaged in any way. It was opened with a key." He sighed. "I wasn't aware that any others existed, but apparently, they do."
Nancy's mind was going a mile a minute trying to process all the information she was getting. The monstrance was stolen through the main altar gate, that apparently hadn't been opened in decades. How would the person who stole it manage to have a key for that gate, but not for the common side gates that were constantly in use? That was just weird.
Father Bertrand began walking toward another area of the cathedral. Nancy and Bess paused as a free-standing black marble chapel came into view.
"This is a building inside of a building." Bess sounded perplexed.
"Yes, this is our Lady's chapel," the priest explained. He lowered his voice. "You may return this evening after the cathedral is locked for the night. I will be happy to show you the inside. I don't wish to disturb our visitors at the moment."
Nancy nodded. "That would probably be best." She turned to the priest. "Do you mind if we stay here for awhile? I'd like to look at some of the people who come and go. In case anyone seems...suspicious."
Father Bertrand frowned slightly. "Yes, I understand you would need to do this. It is sad, is it not, this world in which we live?"
"Sometimes it is," Nancy said. "Hopefully, we can help you though, Father."
He smiled at her. "I know you will do your best, Mademoiselle. I will be in my office until it is time to say Mass. You may come and find me there."
OOOoooOOO
Joe stepped into the bedroom he was sharing with Frank, and shut the door behind him. He glared at his brother, who was already in bed leaning against the headboard and reading a novel.
"I figured out the mystery by chapter three," Frank said, gesturing to his book.
"Yeah? Well, how about you work a little harder on figuring out the mystery we're getting paid to solve." Joe sat on the edge of his bed and pulled off his sneakers. "Because I am not going to be able to put up with the senator's daughter for much longer."
"Rough evening?"
"She's the queen of sexual innuendo, Frank." Joe tossed his shoes on the floor. "She's even got me beat. I'm out of clever comeback lines."
Frank snorted. "I find that hard to believe."
"I know. I couldn't believe it either. And I'm exhausted from trying to fight her off. She even tried to kiss me goodnight in front of her friends."
"She sounds like the female Joe Hardy."
Joe scowled at his brother.
"Okay, sorry." Frank chuckled.
Joe crashed across his bed and closed his eyes. "I don't know how I'm going to take another day of this."
Frank set his book down on the nightstand and looked at Joe. "Did you lock the bedroom door?"
"No, why?"
"Just in case your little crush wants to sneak under the covers with you tonight because she had a bad dream."
Joe's eyes shot open and he stared at his brother.
"I'm just saying."
Joe thought Frank's face might split in two from the huge grin covering it. Sighing, he walked over to the door and turned the lock.
"I at least have to be able to escape her at night."
"Oh, Joe," Frank mimicked in a high-pitched, girly voice. "I need you so much. I'm so sca-"
Joe cut him off in mid-sentence with a pillow aimed squarely at Frank's mouth.
Frank smiled broadly as he tossed it back at him.
"It's all that Hardy charm you constantly brag about being gifted with. I told you it would come back and bite you someday."
Joe frowned at his brother while he stripped off his clothes, pounded his pillow, and crawled underneath the covers.
"Shut up, Frank," he said, as he clicked off the light to the sound of his brother's laughter.
OOOoooOOO
After they'd enjoyed a simple, late night dinner of French onion soup, bread, and salad in the monastery's dining hall, Father Bertrand escorted Nancy and the girls back into the cathedral.
"Wow, it's a little spooky here this late at night, isn't it?" Bess asked, her voice echoing throughout the empty building.
"I think it's very romantic," Emily said, gazing at a statue of St. Joan of Arc over a bank of lit votive candles.
"Yeah, well, I'm not sure we have time for any of that," Nancy interrupted. "We need to investigate." She felt like she really hadn't accomplished anything in the way of finding a decent clue today. She turned to the priest.
"Father Bertrand, do you have lights in this place? Other than the candles?"
"Not electric ones, my child," he said. "The cathedral is kept locked at night, so there really isn't any need. Besides, to wire this structure for electric lights would be cost prohibitive."
"How about a flashlight, then?" Nancy suggested.
"Those we have," he said with a smile. "Let me go find one for you."
Father Bertrand headed toward the side door of the cathedral, Nancy led the girls up to the altar.
"Okay, I'm a little concerned about this whole key thing. The main gate hasn't been opened in years, yet the monstrance was stolen from the altar through the main gate."
"And Father Bertrand is the only one with a key to it?" Emily asked.
"Yes." Nancy walked over to the side gates of the altar. "And these open with a key as well."
She placed the modern gold-plated key Father Bertrand had loaned her earlier into one of the locks and turned it. Stepping through to the other side, she let the altar gate close behind her.
"There's a little latch on this side that lets you open it without a key, but I assume it locks automatically on your side when it closes, right?"
Bess walked over and tried the wrought iron door. "Right."
"So, whoever took the monstrance probably didn't have access to one of the modern keys, or else they would have used it," Nancy said, as she stepped back through the altar gate. "They also wouldn't have had access to the altar from inside the monastery or there would have been no need for them to enter through the main altar gate at all."
"But who on earth would have an ancient key to the main altar that Father Bertrand thought there was only one of?" Emily asked.
Nancy held up her finger. "There's the first part of this mystery."
Father Bertrand returned with the flashlight.
"Father?" Nancy asked. "Can you show us where the monstrance was kept?"
"Of course."
He fished out his own bulky set of keys, hanging from a chain he wore around his waist, and unlocked one of the side altar gates. He ushered the girls through and closed it quietly behind him.
"Do you always carry all those keys?" Bess asked.
"Yes. We have many treasures and sacred places within these walls. It is my job to protect them." His face fell as he gestured toward a marble enclosure on a side altar. "Although, I'd say that I failed miserably in my duty as far as the monstrance is concerned."
"Father, precious artifacts have been stolen out of places that are a million times more secure than this cathedral," Nancy said with a wave of her hand. "Someone who is determined to be a thief will find a way."
"I suppose so," the priest replied, leading the girls over to the altar.
He rested the large flashlight on it, so that the marble tabernacle was well lit. Reaching for his key chain again, he removed a smaller ring and taking a simple silver key, unlocked the front of the tabernacle. He opened the door and exposed its empty insides. "This is where we kept the monstrance."
"And how was this box opened?" Nancy asked. "With a key as well?"
Father Bertrand nodded. "It appeared so. The lock suffered no damage. The door was left open and the monstrance was gone. Nothing else was disturbed."
"Then the perpetrator knew what he was looking for and where it was." Nancy paused and gazed around her. "Who knew it was kept here?"
The abbot shrugged. "I would imagine most residents of the monastery. All of the priests. It wasn't a secret, but I'm not sure it was common knowledge either. We have more than one monstrance. The one with the consecrated communion wafer is stored behind the main altar for veneration. This was where we kept the stolen monstrance since it was not in use for Mass that day."
"Why didn't you use the stolen one all the time?" Nancy asked.
"Because of its age and value. We didn't want anything to happen to it, so we generally reserved it only for special feast days and celebrations."
"But this was not something the general public would know?" Nancy moved closer to study the tabernacle.
"I don't know," Father Bertrand said. "We never made any announcements to that effect, if that's what you mean."
Nancy stepped back and smiled brightly at him as she shook his hand. "Well, thank you, Father. You've been very helpful. I hope you don't mind if we come back early tomorrow."
"Come as early as you like," he said. "We break our fast at five a.m."
Bess made a face.
Emily laughed. "Well, two of us will be here early, anyway."
Father Bertrand chuckled as he picked up his flashlight and led the girls through the altar gate, out of the cathedral, and back into the monastery.
"I can't thank you enough, ladies. This whole incident has greatly disturbed me. I'm very relieved you are all here now."
"We'll find it, Father," Nancy assured him.
"I know you will," he said warmly. "We are praying for it."