St. Patrick's Day Murder Read Free Page B

maintaining eye contact and making it impossible for her to continue on her way without being rude. “And you have a big story?” He cocked his head.
    “Not really,” she said, with a shrug, guarding her scoop. She didn’t want the news to get all over town before the paper hit the newsstands later this afternoon.
    “Perhaps I can be of service,” he suggested, planting himself firmly in her path. “I have some big news.”
    She was stuck, she realized. Father Ed wasn’t going to let her go until she’d heard him out.
    “Terrific,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound sarcastic. “Fire away, Father. We’re always interested in the doings at Our Lady of Hope.”
    “Well,” he said, “it’s a bit of a story. Maybe we should find a place to sit down. I could buy you a cup of coffee at Jake’s?”
    “Oh, no, Father. As I said, I’ve got to get back. Deadline’s at noon and…”
    “All right,” he said. “I’ll be as brief as I can be. Did you know that this year is the one hundredth anniversary of Our Lady of Hope here in Tinker’s Cove?”
    “No, no, I didn’t,” said Lucy, looking with longing at the Pennysaver office, just across the street.
    “Well, to be precise, it’s just the anniversary of the building. The congregation is much older, started by émigrés from the famine, the Irish famine back in the 1840s. That was a terrible time, you know. So much suffering.”
    Lucy nodded. She knew about the terrible famine that had prompted so many Irish families to leave their homeland. “And you’re doing something special to celebrate the anniversary?” she asked, prompting him.
    “Yes, indeed. That we are.”
    “And what are you doing?” She prompted him again, conscious of the minutes ticking away.
    “We are staging a gala show,” he said, his blue eyes sparkling with excitement. “As you no doubt know, the church puts on a show every spring around St. Patrick’s Day. Last year it was Bye Bye Birdie, and it was a terrific success.”
    “Yes, it was,” agreed Lucy, who had gone with her husband, Bill, and her two youngest children, Sara and Zoe.
    “So you saw it?”
    “Yes, it was great. But what are you doing this year?”
    “This year we’re doing something special. Not that Bye Bye Birdie wasn’t great. Why even you said it was. But for the hundredth anniversary, we really want something…What’s the phrase? Something boffo.” He clearly enjoyed rolling the words off his tongue. “We really want to wow everybody!”
    “I’m sure you will,” said Lucy, desperate to be on her way. “But what is the show?”
    “Oh, I have it all right here,” he said, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his jacket pocket.
    It was only with the greatest difficulty that Lucy managed to restrain herself from grabbing the paper and running across the street to the office. Instead, she stood, tapping her foot, while he carefully unfolded it with his gloved hands.
    “As you can see here,” he said, pointing, “we’re going to stage Finian’s Rainbow. Now is this right? Is it clear enough? Mrs. Kelly always worries about getting her press releases done properly. In the correct format, if you know what I mean.”
    “It’s fine. I’m sure it’s fine,” said Lucy.
    “Now, whatever you do, don’t miss this bit,” he said, pointing to the second paragraph. “Because this is where we announce that the show is going to be directed by a professional actor. We may be amateurs, but we want this show to be as close to professional as we can make it. So we’ve hired this chap from Ireland who has considerable stage experience.”
    “Well, that’s very wise,” said Lucy. “I’ll be sure to get every word in. Now if you’ll just give me the press release…”
    Father Ed was reading the paper, checking it one last time. “I think it’s quite clear. It seems so to me. But if you have any questions…”
    “I know where to reach you,” said Lucy, snatching the paper.
    “I’m at