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Are you joking?
We’ll look like we’re settled for a while if we’re on our phones.
This is ridiculous. Is it still insubordination if I tell you you’ve lost your mind by text?
Yes. Check the Strictly results or something.
Absurd!!!!
It’s working. She’s on the phone.
I’m putting my phone away now.
Kim didn’t reply as he slid his phone back into his pocket.
The woman offered them a look as she hung up, leaving Kim in no doubt the call had been about their refusal to leave.
She wasn’t surprised when a portly man with thinning brown hair appeared at the foot of the stairs.
‘Inspector,’ he said, offering his hand.
Bryant shook it while she introduced them both properly.
‘Bishop Harry Wilson. I understand you have some concerns,’ he said, guiding them into a small room, furnished only with a round table and six chairs. He closed the door and indicated for them to sit.
‘Yes, we’re here about Father George at St John’s in Halesowen.’
The man steepled his fingers and rested them below his chin. His manner wasn’t cool but guarded.
‘A woman was murdered in the graveyard on Sunday night.’
‘We’ve been briefed,’ he said. ‘But you can’t possibly think Father George was involved?’
The reassurance did not come to her lips as quickly as he would have liked, and a frown rested on his face.
‘We understand the victim had been barred from the church.’
‘On what grounds?’ he asked, demonstrating that small fact hadn’t made the briefing. ‘I was led to believe she was vaguely known to the man that found her,’ he continued, looking from her to Bryant.
‘She was banned from attending the church by Father George because she was a psychic. More worrying is that he felt the need to physically remove her from the premises, and we understand this isn’t the first or only time that Father George has put his hands on a member of his congregation.’
There was only a second of hesitation before understanding settled on the bishop’s face.
‘Father George is umm…’
‘Intolerant, misguided, archaic, ruthless and potentially violent,’ she offered for him.
‘I was going to say conservative.’
‘So you were going to lie?’ she said before she could stop herself. Yes, he was a man of the cloth but he was giving her the runaround.
‘Now, just a—’
‘Avoid the truth is what my colleague meant to say,’ Bryant interjected.
‘He has no place being a clergyman,’ Kim continued. ‘We didn’t come here unprepared. We did our homework. We know where he’s been and the poor judgement he’s displayed in his counsel. He’s been passed around quicker than a cream cake at a Weight Watchers meeting.’
The knuckles of the steeple holding up his chin were whitening.
