Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [657]
Her gaze returned to Maggie. “I was eleven,” she said. “It was right after…a particularly difficult year. I guess my parents wanted me to get away. They wanted me to be safe. I’m not too sure they would have been happy had they discovered our summer reading material. But it was exactly what I needed, knights in shining armor coming to the rescue. It was quite…comforting.”
Now there was something different in her smile. Maggie thought it was softer, perhaps more genuine, but not with the radiance of before. This was a knowing smile shared with someone who had experienced a similar tragedy. What exactly was it that this woman thought they shared? Maggie had only just met her.
“How easy is it to find one of these?” Maggie asked, remembering the medical examiner’s speculation that a dagger had been used to killed Monsignor O’Sullivan.
“Very.” Sister Kate didn’t hesitate, nor did she seem surprised at the question. “I’ve bought several daggers as well as swords on the Internet and eBay. Imitations are popular right now. You have to be careful and know what you’re looking at. Whether they’re imitation or authentic they’re all considered artifacts, so they’re not treated with the same security as a regular weapon. Even when I travel with them for presentations I simply put them inside my suitcase and check it.”
“You said the imitations are popular right now. Why is that?”
“I think it’s mostly kids buying them. Many of them simply can’t afford the real thing. From what I understand, there are several Internet games that are based on knights and the Crusades, medieval stuff. They seem to be quite popular. In fact, one of my students brought in his collection today to show me. His seems to be authentic, though. He’s done a good job bartering for the items.”
She pointed to a wooden box left open on her desk. Maggie glanced inside, noticing immediately the silver crucifix that looked like a dagger. She remembered what Bonzado had said about his students playing Internet games, particularly ones that resembled Dungeons and Dragons, creating characters and playing them out on the screen, taking it as far as getting tattoos with roses and daggers. Now Sister Kate was telling her these games were popular enough that kids were buying and collecting imitation daggers. The man who discovered Monsignor O’Sullivan’s body in the airport bathroom thought he ran into the killer on his way out, a young boy with a baseball cap. Was it possible the killer was a young boy, a teenager, perhaps? If she was correct about the killer playing the role of avenger he could very well have been a victim of one of the priests.
“Are you in town for long?” Sister Kate asked, interrupting Maggie’s thoughts.
Maggie wanted to say she’d be in Omaha until the next dead priest turned up somewhere else. “I never know how long I’ll be in one city,” she said instead.
“I travel quite a bit, too, making presentations, attending workshops. I know how boring it can be having room service in your hotel or going to a restaurant to eat alone. If you get bored, let me know.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” She was surprised by the invitation and this time she found herself assessing Sister Kate’s motive. Maggie wondered if her profession made her so skeptical that she suspected everyone’s motives, including a friendly invitation to dinner. She glanced around the classroom again. But then, feeling the need to prove herself wrong, she found herself asking, “Are you free tomorrow evening?”
“Yes, certainly.