3
As Jack walked away from Sister Maggie's flower-smothered grave, he heard someone call his name.
"Jack! Would you be having a moment to spare."
Jack turned and saw Father Edward Halloran, an aging leprechaun in a cassock and Roman collar, hustling toward him across the grass. Father Ed had said the funeral mass, which Jack had skipped, and recited the graveside prayers. Jack had been touched by the hundreds of tearful, mourning parishioners who had made the trip from the Lower East Side to pay their respects to a beloved teacher.
"What happened, Jack?" the priest said in a low voice. Tears rimmed his eyes. "May the Lord strike me dead if a finer, sweeter, more God-loving woman ever walked the earth."
Jack looked at the bare trees rimming the fading green of the lawn, the ornate, old-fashioned gravestones filling this Queens graveyard.
"Yeah, she was something."
"But who—?"
"Doesn't matter anymore."
"Of course it does! He must be—" And then his words cut off. He looked up at Jack. "Ah, would you be telling me that he's passed beyond human justice?"
"I'll let you draw your own conclusion."
"Sure and I'll be knowing what happened to a certain fellow I asked you to keep an eye on a while back. Hasn't been seen or heard from since, has he?"
"Not by me, at least."
Father Ed sighed. "I don't want to be after condoning such things, don't you know, but, well, if justice was done, then, I guess justice was done. Still that poor woman… what was done to her. We had to keep her coffin closed." jack tried not to remember the sight of Maggie inside that body bag.
He took a breath. He'd planned to catch Father Ed later today or tomorrow at the rectory. Wanted to discuss something with him. Might as well do it now.
"On the subject of Sister Maggie, how do I set up an education fund in her name?"
Father Ed's eyes widened. "Why would you be doing that?"
"Something she told me… about some girl named Fina who'd have to leave St. Joe's because of money problems."
"Serafina! Yes, Sister Maggie was looking for a way to keep the Martinez children in school. Did you meet them?"
"No…"
"Then why would you be wanting to help?"
The leftovers from the twenty-five large Herta had given him plus the cash he'd boosted from Cordova came to a tidy sum. He couldn't very well return it to Herta.
"Let's just say I don't want to see her forgotten. Maybe you can set something up where some money can be invested, use it for the Martinez kids till they move on to high school, then use what's left for other kids who need that kind of help."
"Why, that's wonderful, Jack. The Sister Mary Margaret O'Hara Education Fund… it has a nice ring to it, don't you think? I'll get on it right away. When would you be sending the check?"
"Check?"
"Well, I assume you'll be wanting the tax deduction."
"Already have plenty of those. Cash won't be a problem, will it?"
Father Ed's eyes twinkled. "No problem at all."