Free THE FOURTH WATCH by Edwin Attella Page A

the Pistons romanced
him aggressively. But in the end he said no and went back to
school. His heart was calling him in a different direction. The
girls cried and shook their heads at the one that got away, because
Action Packed Jack Healy went back to school at Sacred Heart
Seminary. Now he's back at St. John's parish as associate pastor.
My friend, my adviser, my confessor, Father Jack.
    "You better put some weight on that bar if you
want to get big and strong," he said, strapping his gloves down
onto his wrists.
    "Just gettin' warmed up here Jack." I laid
back under the bar, lifted it off cleanly and did ten smooth reps
with a hundred and fifty pounds.
    When I was done, Jack did the same. We
stripped the small weights off and added a 45 on each side. There
were now two 45 pound plates on each side, the bar itself weighs 45
so the total was 225. I did ten smooth reps and so did
Jack.
    "What are you doin' down here in the
mourning?" I asked him in between sets. Jack and I often worked out
together but he rarely got to the gym before noon.
    He shrugged. "Things were quiet."
    We put on another 50 pounds and did ten reps
each, then stripped off the two 25's and added a 45 to each side -
315 pounds. With Jack spotting I got eight reps. He got his ten and
really didn't need me to spot him He added 20 pounds to each side.
I got four, he got his ten. He took the two 10's off each side and
in their place added a 35. The weight was now 385. 1 got one clean
one and almost dropped the bar on my neck trying to do another. I
was done. I spotted for Jack and he got seven on his own and three
more with a little help. He stripped off the 35's and put on the
45's. There were now four 45 pound plates on each side of the bar,
405 total. Jack did 5 reps and called it quits on the bench, but he
was just starting his workout.
    "What are you doin' when you're done here,
Jack?" I asked him.
    "Just going back to the rectory," he said,
loading up a curl bar, "Why?"
    "I don't know, thought I'd buy you lunch or
something."
    "Can't buy your way into heaven you know,
Kato," he said smiling, "but I won't stop you from
trying."
    "Good, cause I got a question about my
soul."
    His face took on a look of concern. "What's it
all about?"
    I laughed. "I'm only joking, Jack. I'll talk
to you at lunch."
    He smiled, but had me caught in his eyes. He
didn't look away. "Okay," he said.
    "Wonder Bar?"
    "Sure, what, an hour? Hour and a
half?
    "What time you got?"
    "Ten past twelve," I told him.
    "See you there at 1:30, how's
that."
    "1:30 sounds good."
    *****
    I SAT IN THE WHIRLPOOL for five minutes then took a sauna and a shower
and drove back downtown to my office. It was about ten of one and I
was only five minutes away from the Wonder Bar. Using my cell phone
I dialed my office number and checked my messages. Matte Genetassio
had returned my call. I called the station and Carl Wallings
patched me through.
    "Hey Kato, what's shakin'?"
    "Not too much," I said matter-of-factly, "How
you doin'?"
    "Good, busy. What can I do for ya?"
    "I've been retained by a member of the Whorley
family to look into Red Whorley's death."
    It caught him by surprise. A meaningful
silence followed. I did not break it. Then he said: "The daughter,"
and I could almost see him nodding his head on the end of the line,
"now why would she go and do a thing like that?"
    "You know, I was gonna ask you the same thing!
I think it’s because she thinks his death was a homicide. What do
you think, Matte?"
    Another pause, then, ''I think Red Whorley had
a little too much to drink and drowned in his pool Kato, that's
what I think."
    "Well you might be right, but what I'm after
is why do you think that. I mean I got to figure that when a guy
like Red dies of something other than natural causes, everybody
gets real careful and thorough. So I just want to go through the
drill with you guys. I want to take a look at the official file.
Who investigated what and came to what conclusions about what and
why.