Free 3 Gates of the Dead (The 3 Gates of the Dead Series) by Jonathan Ryan Page A

that, but first we need to ask some more questions.”
    “If you think it will help,” I said, recovering some control in my voice.
    Jen nodded and wrote something down on a small notepad.
    “Where were you on January 6th, at about three in the morning?”
    “That was what, two days ago?”
    “Yes.”
    “I imagine I was at home sleeping.”
    Jen looked at me with her left eye scrunched in a skeptical twitch. “Are you sure?”
    “Yes, wh … no! Wait, I’m sorry. I was at the hospital.”
    “What were you doing at the hospital at three in the morning? Cut yourself doing yard work?”
    I got a bit annoyed. “It wasn’t for me.”
    “Then, why?” Jen pressed.
    I gripped the water bottle. “Detective Brown, I’m a minister, and like doctors we often get calls in the middle of the night. On that night, or rather that morning, I got the call at about one o’clock. A member of our congregation called to say her husband was having severe chest pains.”
    Jen traced a finger along her scar. “And you rushed right off to be there?”
    “I did. Even if I wasn’t on call, I would have.”
    “On call?”
    “The senior pastor and I take turns being on emergency pastoral call.”
    “Can you describe what that looks like?”
    I folded my arms against my chest. “Whenever there is an emergency in the church, for example, if someone goes to the hospital, plumbing breaks, or little Julie has just gotten pregnant … whatever it is, we drop what we are doing and go.”
    “I see.” Jennifer continued writing on her notepad. “Can you tell me their names?”
    “Of course, Olan and Edna Wilkes. It turns out Olan just had a bad case of acid reflux, thank God, but it took them about seven hours to get the diagnosis.”
    “You stayed the whole time? Why?”
    “Um, because I didn’t want Edna to be alone while her husband might have been having a heart attack.”
    “You care that much?”
    Enough was enough. “I’m sorry, detective, does this have anything to do with Amanda’s murder?”
    “It could.”
    “What, are you trying to establish my alibi? Am I a suspect or something?” I stared at them, not understanding the direction the conversation had taken.
    “That’s exactly what we are trying to do,” Lieutenant Weaver said.
    I couldn’t believe it. Me? A murder suspect?
    “You’re serious?”
    “Yes, we are,” Weaver said.
    “How did you come up with that?”
    “We’ll get to that, Pastor Schaeffer,” Jennifer said.
    So, she was back to Pastor Schaeffer. “No, I don’t want to get to that , I want to know now!”
    Jennifer stared at me. I couldn’t figure out how eyes that beautiful could look so cold. “Pastor Schaeffer, we will get to everything in due process. For now, let me ask the questions.”
    “I’m sorry, but this is all a bit much.”
    She nodded. “I’m sure it is, but if your story checks out about the hospital, you’re in the clear. I’m having an officer call the Wilkes’ right now, but in the meantime, I need to ask you some more questions.”
    I crossed my legs and sat back in the chair. “Okay.”
    “I want to return to that last conversation with Ms. McDougal. Describe the nature of your relationship about that time.”
    “Do I have to? It’s not really one of my finer moments.”
    She nodded. “Please.”
    I sighed. “Well, to begin with, breaking up was not my idea. She met some other pastor. I never found out who it was, and she said she needed someone more spiritual in her life.”
    “And how did you react?” She wrote on her legal pad, not looking at me.
    “Well, I guess I exploded. We were engaged, got a dog together, and were making plans for the future. It was like being punched in the face. I really thought we were going to spend our lives together. I called her every name I could think of.”
    Jennifer raised her eyebrows at me. “That’s not very spiritual of you.”
    Yeah, well I’m not very spiritual anymore, so stick it up your ass!
    “Ministers