Free Detective by Arthur Hailey

him. As it was, he
brought
    66 Arthur Halley
    his face close to one of Ainslie's
hands and attempted, unsuccessfully,
to kiss it.
    His voice blurred, he mumbled,
"Bless me, Father, for I have
sinned. . ."
    Father Uxbridge leapt forward, his
face flushed with anger. "No, no,
no!" he shouted to Ainslie. "This is
blasphemy!" Turning toward Doil, he
insisted, "This man is not "
    "Shut up!" Ainslie snapped. Then,
to Doil, more quietly, "I am not a
priest anymore. You know that. But
if you want to confess anything to
me, I will listen as a human being."
    Uxbridge shouted again, "You can't
take a confession. You have no
right!"
    Doil began speaking to Ainslie.
"Father, it has been . . ."
    Uxbridge shouted, "I have told you
he is not a Father!"
    Doil mumbled, and Ainslie caught
the words, "He is God's avenging
angel . . ."
    "This is desecration!" Uxbridge
roared. "I will not allow it!"
    Suddenly Doil turned his head. He
snarled at Uxbridge, "Fuck off!"
Then, facing the others, he cried,
"Get that asshole out of here!"
    Hambrick advised Uxbridge, "I'm
afraid you'll have to go, Father. If
he doesn't want you here, that's his
privilege."
    "I will not go!"
    Hambrick's voice sharpened.
"Please, Father. I don't want to
have to remove you by force."
    At a signal from the lieutenant,
one of the guards left Doil and
seized Uxbridge's arm.
    The priest jerked his arm away.
"Do not dare! I am ? priest, a man
of God!" As the guard stood
hesitantly, Ux
    DETECTIVE 67
    bridge faced Hambrick. "You will
hear more of this. I shall
personally bring your behavior to
the attention of the governor." He
snapped at Ainslie, "The church was
well rid of you." Then, with a
final, all-encompassing glare,
Uxbridge left.
    Elroy Doil, who was still on his
knees before Ainslie, began again,
"Bless me, Father, for I have
sinned. My last confession was . . .
I don't fuckin' remember."
    In other circumstances Ainslie
might have smiled, but he was torn.
His conscience troubled him. He
wanted to hear what Doil had to say,
but not as an impostor.
    It was Hambrick who, glancing at
his watch, added words of common
sense. "If you want to hear it at
all, better let him do it his way."
    Ainslie still hesitated, wishing
this moment could have happened in
some other way.
    But he wanted to know to have
answers and insights to so many
events that had begun so long ago.
    It was two years earlier, in Miami's
Coconut Grove a fresh January
morning, shortly after 7:00 A.M.
    PART
TWO
    ~i' i 2.
~<6
    Orlando Cobo, a
middle-aged security
guard at Coconut
Grove's Royal
Colonial Hotel, was
tired. He was ready
to go home when he
entered the eighth
floor a few minutes
before 7:00 A.M. on
routine patrol. It
had been an un-
eventful night, with
only three minor
incidents during his
eight-hour shift.
    Security problems
relating to youth,
sex, or drugs rarely
occurred at the
"Royal Colostomy,"
as it was sometimes
called. The
clientele comprised
mainly middle-aged,
staid, well-to-do
people who liked the
hotel's
old-fashioned quiet
lobby, its indoor
profusion of
tropical plants, and
an architectural
style once described
as "brick wedding
cake."
    In a way the hotel
matched its Coconut
Grove locale a
sometimes jarring
mix of past and
present. Within the
Grove, decrepit
frame houses nudged
once-exclusive,
stylish homes;
mom-and-pop trivia
shops stood
cheek-byjowl with
upscale galleries
and boutiques;
fast-food takeouts
abutted gourmet
restaurants;
everywhere, poverty
and wealth rubbed
shoulders. Florida's
oldest settlement a
historic village
established twenty
years before Miami
Coconut Grove seemed
to have not one
character but many,
all untidily
competing.
    72 Arthur llailey
    None of this troubled Cobo as he
left an elevator and walked along
the eighth-floor corridor. He was
neither a philosopher nor a Coconut
Grove resident, but drove to work
each day from North Miami. At the
moment nothing seemed amiss, and he
began to anticipate the relaxing
journey home.
    Then, nearing a fire-exit stairway
at the