Murder Makes a Pilgrimage Read Online Free

its money.” Señor Fraga’s face was flushed. Clearly he had worked himself up to a full head of steam. “And the big man? He has no money. He has no pilgrims. His mother, she comes to me.”
    His voice shifted into a falsetto to imitate his sister-in-law. “ ‘Carlos, please help my Pepe.’ Can you imagine, Seesters,a thirty-year-old still called Pepe? ‘I am afraid he will go to jail!’ she says. ‘Good place for him,’ I say. She cries. She goes to my wife, who says that I am a heartless man.” Incredulous, Señor Fraga shrugged and stared at the nuns. “Me, a heartless man!
    “ ‘Maybe this is Pepe’s big chance,’ my wife says. I say, ‘Pepe has had enough chances from me.’ ” He slammed his fist down on the table, rattling the cups. “ ‘Enough, no more,’ I say. But my wife, she begs me, and when I say, ‘No,’ she cries, and then she stops speaking.”
    A frustrated and spent Señor Fraga leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “It costs me a fortune, but maybe it is worth it after all. At least, my wife is speaking, her sister is out of my hair, and Pepe, he is out of the country for a while. There are nice girls at Pulmantur. Maybe he will meet one, marry her, and stay in Spain.
    “But enough of my troubles.” He pushed the last bit of glazed doughnut into his mouth and drained his cup. “I must get back to my restaurant.” Señor Fraga rose.
“Adios
, for now,” he said, bowing formally to each of them. “I will see you on Thursday, October seventh. A driver will pick you up here and bring you to the airport. The time is on your itinerary.” He pointed to the envelope that Eileen was still clutching.
    “Perhaps you would just as soon we didn’t accept the trip,” Mary Helen said, feeling a certain sympathy for the man.
    Eileen’s face fell, but Señor Fraga’s fell farther. “No, Seester, we must send ten people to Santiago. I am happy that two of them are religious. I have already given all the information to my accountant.”
    Accountant? Mary Helen wondered, watching Señor Fraga disappear. With short, quick steps he sailed down thedarkened hallway, leaving nothing but the staccato clicking in his wake.
    “He surely answered all your questions,” Eileen said cheerfully.
    And raised a few, too, Mary Helen thought, wondering just how wise it was to go on a tour led by someone who sounded as irresponsible as Pepe.
    Eileen suffered from no such qualms. “Our winning was even lucky for Señor Fraga,” she noted. “He seems genuinely pleased to have picked out two religious.”
    Suddenly something that the señor had said and that had puzzled her became crystal clear. “Picked is right!” Mary Helen stared at her friend. Of course, he had “picked” them. He would have picked as many religious as were in the box.
    “We are a charitable tax deduction, Eileen,” she announced triumphantly. “That’s why he is so anxious for us to go, and that is why he said ‘accountant.’ He may have to pay full fare for eight, but not us. Us he has declared a donation.”
    At first Eileen stared at her with wide, unbelieving eyes. Finally she dismissed the suggestion with a wave of her pudgy hand. “This fund-raising business is beginning to affect you, Mary Helen. You see tax deductions everywhere.” She wagged her head. “Not to press a point, old dear, but I honestly do think it was a stroke of very good luck that I saw that box and that you won this trip. You know, Mary Helen, you really do need a vacation, a chance to get away from everything and just relax.”
    And what better place to do it, Mary Helen thought, than in sunny Spain?

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7
Feast of
Our Lady of the Rosary
    The shrill ring of the convent doorbell cut through the chatter in the Community Room. Much to Mary Helen’s surprise, the nuns had gathered there after the last class for an impromptu party to wish the travelers well.
    Sister Agnes had prepared her famous spinach dip, Sister Marta