Sister Eve and the Blue Nun Read Online Free Page B

because she didn’t know what she was about to find in the guest room occupied by the religion professor. There was nothing coming from inside, no sounds of any kind as, slowly, she reached for the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door.
    The overhead light was burning inside, and when Eve looked in she immediately saw the young woman lying near the center of room, between the bed and the small wooden desk. She was on her right side, one arm raised above her head, the other resting on her chest; her legs were bent at the knees, one in front of the other. She was wearing a robe, probably her nightgown underneath, Eve assumed, with her pale white feet stuck beneath the chair that was pulled away from the desk as if she had been sitting there at one time.
    Eve entered the room and then shut the door behind her, aware that she should not touch anything but also knowing that she needed to make sure Kelly was really dead. She had to feel for a pulse, had to make sure the young woman couldn’t be helped. Eve walked over and knelt down by the victim, placing her fore and middle fingers on the woman’s neck, and waited. She held her breath, trying to listen for a heartbeat, trying to will the young woman back to life. But there was no pulse. Anthony was right. His sister was dead. Quickly, Eve made the sign of the cross over the woman, bowed, closed her eyes, and said a quick prayer for the soul of Kelly Middlesworth.
    Eve stood with plans to search for a phone, knowing that she must call the police, but she couldn’t help herself. She didn’t move, and instead of trying to find a phone, she glanced around, trying to take and keep a mental picture of everything in the room. She had been working with her dad as a private detective for only a few months, but there were some lessons she had learned well.
    From wall to wall she studied everything. The narrow bed by the desk was covered with a thick brown comforter that appeared ruffled, not as if someone had slept under it recently, but rather as if someone had been sitting on top of it. There were two pillows, both pushed against the headboard and situated one in front of the other, giving the appearance that they had been placed that way to be leaned against and not slept upon. A blanket was folded and lying across the end of the bed. The room was warm, the heaters still on and working in all the buildings of the monastery for the late winter season. A small crucifix hung on the wall over the bed, and a thin pair of tan curtains were closed over the only window in the room.
    On top of the desk next to the bed were five books, hardbacks, religious in nature, she thought, all somehow pertinent to Dr. Middlesworth’s studies. Eve recognized the spine of one, a copy of The Mystical City of God , the book written by Sister Maria in the 1600s, a book the nun claimed had been given to her word for word by the Virgin Mary. The others appeared to be books about the Spanish sister, even a novel written about the appearance of the nun to the Indians in New Mexico. Eve thought she had read that one, suggested to her by one of the monks after she had first become interested in the woman known as the Lady in Blue.
    She noticed the tray, the small teapot, the cup and saucer, and a small pitcher with what looked like honey, all items that she recognized from the kitchen at the monastery. She saw a legal pad with scribbled notes; several manila folders; a computer bag; a thin binder, closed, white; and a small glass with several pens and pencils inside. That was all Eve could see on top of the desk. A long gray sweater hung on the back of the chair, and a trash can stood near the bathroom with several pieces of rumpled paper inside. A lady’s navy-blue skirt and jacket, along with a pink silk blouse, hung on the outside of the closet, the hooks of the hangers placed over the top of the door, which was partially open.
    Eve looked around slowly as she took notes in her mind of everything she was