Read 5 - Choker: Ike Schwartz Mystery 5 for Free Online Page B

the boy stood and walked back toward his pew. He started to sit. Blake pointed to the door.
    “Jesus,” the boy said, “what’s up with you?” Red-faced, he stomped to the narthex doors and exited. He was followed by his girl friend who, Blake assumed, had brought him to church in the first place. She, in turn, was followed by her parents.
    “What was that all about?” Lanny whispered.
    “Satan.”
    Lanny frowned.
    “Later.”
    The stir caused by Blake’s action carried over into the coffee hour. With reluctance, he slipped out of his robes and descended the back stairs to the basement which served as the church’s fellowship hall. Lanny sidled up to him.
    “Barbara Starkey is looking for you,” he said. “She’s the mother of Peachy Starkey, the girlfriend of the boy you bounced from church.”
    “I know who she is.”
    “Before she shreds you with her tongue, would you mind telling me what happened at the rail?”
    “The kid was wearing a satanic cross. Didn’t you see it?”
    “I saw an upside-down cross. I thought it was a peace symbol, or something like a protest deal. You know? Like flying the flag upside down—that sort of thing. Help, save the church from the House of Bishops, or whatever…”
    “Maybe that’s what the kid thought, too. I hope so. But the figure in the center was a ram’s head, not a peace symbol. I know about peace crosses. I wore one of those once, myself, back in the day. I’d know one if I saw one.”
    “Okay, so what’s the problem with the thing on the kid?”
    Blake spun and looked at his friend. Lanny hadn’t a clue. Like so many good church-goers, his idea of evil was largely cerebral. Yes, evil is real but…and there would follow a dissertation on a felon’s feelings of low self-esteem, an unhappy childhood, abusive parents, perhaps just the inevitable product of a dysfunctional family and a conflicted society. The list was endless and, in Blake’s view, made excuses for behavior that crossed the line, irrespective of its cause. He recalled an old seminary professor of his, near retirement, who described a trip to Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. He’d said that evil, real evil, was palpable in the air then. He was about to expand on the theme when Barbara Starkey braced him with a look that would etch glass.
    “Mr. Fisher,” she began. Blake knew he was in trouble when a parishioner addressed him as Mister. “Just what were you thinking about making Chad leave? In front of everybody. He’s very upset. So, I might add, am I. I have been a strong supporter of this church, both financially and personally. My ancestors were instrumental in building this—”
    “Yes, I know, Barb. And I appreciate all you’ve done. I told…Chad?…I told Chad that he could return if he removed his pendant and left it outside.”
    “His cross? I’d have thought you’d be pleased to see a young person wearing a cross to church.”
    “It isn’t a cross, Barb, it’s a satanic symbol, and it has no place in the church. Sorry.”
    “Satanic sym…oh, come on. Surely you don’t believe in all that mumbo-jumbo.”
    “I do, and so should you.”
    “Well, of course…I mean yes, there’s evil in the world, but what harm can come from a silly little cross thing. He just wears it, he said, because he thinks it’s cool. You know how kids are.”
    “I do know. And I know the consequences of well-meaning but dangerous behavior.”
    “Dangerous? Really! Chad isn’t a Satan person.”
    “Do you remember being in school and someone pinning a ‘kick me’ sign on another person’s back?”
    “Yes, but…”
    “Chad’s pendant is a kind of ‘kick me’ sign. It’s an invitation. He doesn’t realize it, but he’s advertising for the devil, and in a way, inviting him in.” Barbara opened her mouth to speak, but Blake cut her off. “I am serious, Barb. It begins with ignorance and ends in tragedy.”
    “Oh, really, Mr. Fisher, I thought you were smarter than that. The