A Mass Murderer - Coffin for the living (ADDITIONAL BOOK INCLUDED ) Read Free Page A

the dusty stillness their shoes sounding surprisingly loud. The Reverend stood still by the organ, resting a hand on the ivory keyboard.
    “Pretty instrument, Reverend,” commented Bates positioning himself ready to block off the avenue of escape to the main door.
    “Yes. My late wife played it for me, until she passed on some years back.” The Reverend said.
    Looked at the minister, trying to imagine him laying with Louise. Straining in the dim light of the single bulb to see the man’s face. A great flash of lightening made them all jump, seeming to come right on top of the church, followed by a peal of thunder that seemed to shake the foundation of the building. It actually set the small bell in the tower over the front entrance to jingling softly in protest at the noise and viberation.
    Smith’s face was clearly illuminated in that great sheet of silver light and Klyne recognized the sign of everything they had been told about him. A soft face, pink-cheeked. A halo of silvery hair, and long sideburns, neatly trimmed. Dark suit, expensively-cut. At a glance the image that any town would be glad to see in its minister.
    “Doesn’t your housekeeper play at all?” Klyne asked.
    “Who?”
    “Your housekeeper, the lady who looks after you.”
    Bates laughed. A course, rasping sound that was at odds with the shadowy church. “Yeah. I figure that little lady has played on a whole heap of organs in her time. What do you say, Roy?”
    Klyne didn’t answer, watching the man they had come to kill, as he stood quite still in front of them, fingers idly tugging at a loose button on his waistcoat.
    When the Reverend finally spoke, they had to strain to hear his quiet words. “I think that you must have come from out of town. Am I right?”
    “Damn right!” Bates took a step forward, his lip curling with anger, fist clenching, but Klyne held him back.
    “I…..I have been expecting you. I….shall we sit down, I fear my legs do not seem able to support me?” Together the three men walked slowly across the aisle and sat down in the front row of the carved wooden pews.
The Gates of Hell
    The Reverend buried his face in his hands, as though he was at prayer. When he spoke his voice came from an immense distance, and it was the voice of a tired and beaten man.
    “I did expect you. There is little that I feel able to say. I was there while it went on. I was drunk, as most of them were. I even…..I did it, as the others did. But I was outside when the killing was done. I think it was one of the twins, but I don’t know. They are a most Godless couple.”
    “You don’t seem all that close to God yourself, Reverend,” said Klyne quietly.
    “No. Yet I shall walk with him and all the Saints in that blessed peace that comes with true repentance. I have sinned most grievously, and I do repent of it with all my heart.” His voice grew stronger, filling out as though he was preaching a sermon to a packed congregation, instead of talking to the men come to kill him.
    Overhead, the storm seemed to be reaching its peak, and the building vibrated to each new crash of thunder, and the lightening was almost continuous, making it easy for all three men to see each other the whole time.
    “You aren’t going to run? Nor fight?” Bates couldn’t believe that it was going to be this easy, and sounded almost disappointed.
    The Reverend smiled gently at him. “No. I shall return to your town with you and I shall simply tell the truth. And throw myself on the mercy of the law.”
    Klyne finally saw it. With both women dead, then the evidence would be at best sketchy. And with two of the killers already dead, it might be hard to press anything against such a pious man of God. He knew that the folks in his town and they might not be all that enthusiastic to see a minister swinging from the gallows.
    Bates might not be all that bright, but he could spot a rat wriggling free from the trap as fast as most men.
    “Wait a damned minute! You