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His face hardened. ‘You’re being ridiculous. I simply placed my hands on her upper arms and guided her towards the door. Hardly assault,’ he scoffed.
‘If she’d made a complaint, that would have been decided in court, but as she didn’t, I’ll have to be content with your explanation as to why you felt it necessary to physically remove her.’
‘She was unsettling,’ he answered.
‘Unsettling how?’ Kim asked.
‘Inspector, there is no such thing as communicating with the dead or foreseeing the future. The spirit leaves the body and is delivered into God’s safe hands. There is no wish or need to try to continue life on earth. Only God can foresee events in His great plan, so any claim to be able to do such things is pure blasphemy.’
Kim chose not to mention that religion on a whole was based on belief in something that you can’t see. She knew there was no point sharing her thoughts on his faith. She only wanted to know how his convictions related to one person.
‘Do you not believe in forgiveness and acceptance? You think God would approve of your actions?’
‘I absolutely do. Not only was she peddling lies but she was charging money to intrude on people’s grief and misery.’
‘Okay, I understand the difference of opinion between you and Sandra Deakin, but I’m sure your opinions differ with those of your congregation on many things. I’d like to understand what was unsettling about her presence. Did she do readings in the middle of your service?’
‘Of course not.’
‘Did she actively disrupt any other church activity?’
He shook his head.
‘Father George, you’re going to have to help me out. What exactly did she do?’
‘Her presence upset many members of the congregation.’
‘Written complaints?’
‘No. Unease doesn’t have to be formalised.’
‘Surely it does for action to be taken. Quite frankly, people eating anything with horseradish makes me uneasy, but I wouldn’t ask for them to be banned from Starbucks.’
She felt rather than heard Bryant’s groan beside her. Father George was oblivious and all his attention was on her.
‘Inspector, you’re trivialising the effect of her presence on the good people of—’
‘Okay, fair enough,’ she conceded. ‘Give me the names of the people she offended and I’ll have a quick chat with them directly.’
Bryant took out his notebook and they both waited.
‘I’m not going to share—’
‘Father, I don’t think there’s anything to share. I believe your decision to exclude Sandra Deakin from the church was a personal choice based on your own prejudices about her career choice.’
‘Inspector, that is absolute—’
‘Is it? It’s not the first time you’ve granted yourself divine right to judge who the good people actually are.’
He said nothing.
‘Your perpetual move from parish to parish appears to coincide with questionable decisions made in relation to the not-so-good people of your congregation.’
‘I do God’s work, Inspector.’
‘Even if the Church has moved on and views things differently?’ she pushed.
‘The Church buckled under pressure and popular demand. God did not, and I continue to follow the teachings of—’
