“Come in,” said the small voice.The four men entered and a sweet older woman looked at them from her recliner in the corner.“Hello.Do I know you?”
“No, ma’am,” said Luke, “but we need to speak with you about the orphanage.Not about the fire.Before then.”
“Before?” she frowned.“Nothing remarkable happened before then.We’d been running the orphanage for nearly sixteen years.”
“We?” asked Cam.
“The Sisters of the Blessed Mother.”
“You’re a nun?” asked Hex with surprise.
“Yes,” she laughed.“Is that surprising to you?”
“We just weren’t aware of that,” said Luke.“Sister Gladys, there were two children in your care for about six to eight months.Sutton and Pippen.”
“Oh, yes!Wonderful children.Pip was such a delight, so very talented and yet couldn’t hear anything.It was truly one of God’s miracles.Sutton, she wouldn’t leave his side.Promised her parents she would watch over him and she sure did.”
“Yes, ma’am.They were sent to a hospital.Why?” asked Luke.
“Well, this hospital had taken a few other children we had that were possible savants.They’d been working with these children to help them refine their gifts and give them better lives, possibly even get their hearing back, although I never heard of one that was successful for that procedure.
“Sutton, she just wouldn’t be separated from Pip.She kept running away and they’d bring her back, telling us to lock her up.That’s not something we do.Finally, we agreed she should just stay with them.”
Gladys stared at the men, their frowning, handsome faces telling her that something was not right.
“Are the children okay?” she asked.“Is something wrong?”
“Sister Gladys, the children at the hospital were operated on unnecessarily.To the point of torture,” said Eric.The old woman gasped, her hands beginning to shake as tears filled her old, cloudy eyes.
“Sutton ran away from the hospital with Pip and four other children about a year ago.She kept them safe, stole food for them, and survived all this time because those people at the hospital were going to open their skulls.”
“Oh, dear God in heaven,” she said wringing her hands together and then making the sign of the cross.“I trusted them.I trusted what they said, so did the other sisters.We believed in the work they were doing and wanted the children to be able to use their gifts.How?How could this evil happen?”
“We’re not sure, ma’am.Who did you speak to at the hospital?” asked Luke.
“Two people.Dr. Paul Jericho and a woman, Judy something or other.I didn’t get her last name.Honestly, I’m not sure if she was a doctor or not.She didn’t seem very comfortable around the children.I should have known something was wrong.”
“It’s hard to know when something is wrong, ma’am.Was there anything else that you found odd or that you thought was suspicious?” asked Eric.
“Nothing.I promise you there was nothing I found strange.If I had, I would never have allowed those children to be taken from the orphanage.Are they okay?Are they alive?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes, ma’am.They’re all doing well and they are safe,” said Eric, not willing to provide any further information.
Sister Gladys closed her eyes, nodding as she whispered a prayer, holding the crucifix at her neck.The men all noticed the leathery, wrinkled skin caused by burns.It must have been very painful for her.
“Sister, did they ever find out exactly what happened the night of the fire?” asked Eric.
“No,” she said shaking her head.“Someone said I must have left the paper towels too close to the burner with my tea kettle but I can assure you, the burner was off and the paper towels were on their holder.”
“Sister, was Paul or Judy there that night?Had they been there that night?” asked Hex.
“Y-yes,” she whispered in despair.“They’d come earlier to see a child that I thought they could help but before they got there, the child’s aunt and uncle came to take him home.We’d been trying to reunite them for months but couldn’t get through to them.They’re missionaries and travel the world.When they found out the child was now an orphan, they got back as quickly as they could.”
“And the child is well?” asked Luke.
“Oh, yes.I get letters and photos from them all the time.They travel with the child, and she’s doing beautifully, learning, improving her ASL skills, and she continues to play music wherever she is.”
“I see.And were Paul and Judy angry when they learned the child was gone?” asked Hex.
