Koesler shook his head.
“Okay, so we’ll concentrate on the members of the discussion group. Let’s start with Hunsinger while we’ve got a little time. Why would a guy like him join a Bible discussion group anyway?”
Koesler hesitated. “I haven’t given it that much thought. For one thing, for athletes to join some sort of Christian organization is very prevalent. . like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, for instance. You know, there’s more than one religious discussion group just within the Cougars.
“Now that I think of it, though, it was an odd group. On the surface, they seemed to have nothing in common but football. Some actually played the game; then there was the trainer, of course, and the two in management.
“But it seemed to me that something was going on just beneath the surface. For one thing, there was a good deal of conflict. The arguments that occurred between the Hun and Bobby and Kit, I always felt, were more than mere differences of opinion.
“Then, in the group at large, I got the impression that most of them were there because they just had to know what the others were doing, what the others were thinking. A couple of the players attending represented the highest paid athletes on the team. The welfare of the players, how they were spending their time away from the field, seemed a special concern of the trainer. And of course the players wanted to get every clue they could as to what plans management had.
“As for Hunsinger specifically,” he shook his head, “I just don’t know. It might have been his way of saying, in effect, You guys think you know me, but you don’t. You don’t know where I’m coming from. You think I’m incapable of anything spiritual, but I’ve read my Bible too. . and just because I don’t turn the other cheek doesn’t mean I don’t know what you’re getting at.” He shook his head again. “But then, I don’t usually spend a lot of time trying to analyze people’s motivations; I tend to just take them at face value. . Maybe Hunsinger thought he needed some higher-up help. .”
“All in all, Father,” Ewing had been jotting notes, “you’re not describing a very altruistic bunch.”
“After a few get-togethers, I didn’t think I was attending very altruistic meetings either. But it was a fascinating study in human behavior nonetheless. I learned some things. And not just about human behavior. About Scripture too. Each of these men had his own peculiar interpretation of Scripture. Through those interpretations, I think I learned something about each of them and also got some fresh insights into Scripture.”
Ewing had half turned toward the rear seat. He now swung his left arm over the front seat and faced Koesler. “I’m going to tell you some things now, Father, that we hope no one outside the investigating team will learn. Things that are vital to our investigation and are not to be revealed to anyone else.”
Koesler nodded and smiled. “I’m good at keeping secrets.”
So far, the news media knew only that Hunsinger had been poisoned. Ewing now explained in detail the manner in which the dead man had been killed.
At the end of the account, Koesler sighed. It had been an ugly if quick way to go. The older he grew, the more dismayed he became that anyone would take it upon himself that another should not live. That conviction stretched from abortion to war to capital punishment.
“You’ve been involved in enough of these investigations to know that we’re looking for someone who had a sufficient motive to kill, had the opportunity, and actually did the deed,” Ewing continued. “But, in this case, there are a few other things we’re looking for along the way. We think that in order to use the method he did to commit murder, the killer had to know certain things about Hunsinger. So, let’s see what you knew about him and, maybe, what you think the others knew.”
Koesler nodded.
“To begin with, were you aware of anything peculiar about Hunsinger’s behavior?”
“Peculiar?”
“One might even call it neurotic.”
“Neurotic. .”
“Compulsive,” Ewing finally clarified. He was beginning to wonder about the advisability of including the priest in this investigation.
“Compulsive! Oh, my, yes. I don’t think anyone could have been around Hank very long without noticing the repetition of one routine after another: the precise placing of his Bible, pen, pad; he even got upset if anyone disturbed anything in the apartment-and if anyone did he had better put it back in its exact position. But then,” Koesler expanded, “I’ve always thought that if a Catholic was going to become neurotic, compulsive behavior was a natural vehicle to choose, even subconsciously.” Koesler smiled as he launched into one of his favorite routines.
“After all, we provide our people with so many numbers: one God, two natures, three persons, four cardinal virtues, five processions, seven sacraments, nine Beatitudes, nine First Fridays, Ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys, twelve promises to St. Margaret Mary, fourteen Stations of the Cross. Probably one of the most popular images for a Catholic is a rosary. And there you’ve got the Catholic carefully counting out ten Hail Marys for each decade, five decades in the small popular rosary, fifteen decades in the full rosary. And it’s the rosary that’s entwined in the Catholic’s hands when he or she is laid to the final rest.
“Mind you, I don’t claim that all Catholics become compulsive. Only that I’ll bet the majority of Catholics who become neurotic at least go through a phase of compulsive behavior.”
Silently, Harris hoped Koesler would be able to hold down the quantity of his responses.
“Okay,” said Ewing, “how about the others in the group? Do you think they were aware of his compulsiveness?”
“Oh, yes. Remember I told you about how he insisted on everything’s being in its proper place? He almost forced his guests to join him in his compulsiveness.”
Better, thought Harris.
“Now, here’s a second consideration, Father. Were you aware that Hunsinger had any problems with his vision?”
“His vision? Well, I assume he had some problem; I mean, he wore contact lenses. At least I noticed one of those lens-disinfectant containers-what do they call them, cookers? — in the apartment.”
“Would the others in that group know about the lenses?”
“Again, I assume so. Surely his teammates would see him putting the contacts in, taking them out. . wouldn’t they? Surely his employers. . the trainer. . would know. . wouldn’t they?”
“We’re not so sure they all knew. We do know that Hunsinger was very reserved when it came to anything that might be construed as a personal defect or deficiency. But that’s an interesting observation about the lens cleaner. Do you recall where you saw it?”
“Yes. When I visited the bathroom, it was on a dresser in the bedroom.”
“Then the others could have seen it?”
“Uh-huh. Anybody who looked into the bedroom-and we all did-would be likely to see it. That is, if you could get your eyes away from all those mirrors.
“Another thing, about the strychnine. Hank bragged about having it in the apartment. Said it was the atom bomb of rat poisons. Everyone in the discussion group would have known it was there.”
“Okay. One final thing, Father: Were you aware of anything else that might have been wrong with Hunsinger’s vision?”
“You mean besides the fact that he wore glasses-or contacts? No. . I didn’t even know the reason he needed corrective lenses. Was there something else?”
“He was colorblind, Father, totally colorblind. We just visited with his eye doctor. All Hunsinger could see was white, black, and gray.”
“Amazing!” A new light came into Koesler’s eyes. “Say, that would explain why Hank’s apartment was decorated the way it was, wouldn’t it? I never really wondered about it, just thought it was sort of. . masculine. Maybe because that’s the way I ordinarily dress: in black and white. But that certainly explains the decor of his apartment.”