Free The Root of All Evil (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 4) by Ellery Adams, Elizabeth Lockard

up to the school’s main entrance as techs scurried around, conducting their business.
    Cooper’s eyes went to the curb near the truck. There, Savannah and Jake sat on either side of Pastor Matthews, all three heads bowed, whether in prayer or sorrow Cooper couldn’t tell. She started toward them, slowly at first. The closer she got, the better she could see the fear and doubt in their faces. The better she could see, the faster she went until at last she was jogging. Savannah rose and greeted her with a hug, her countenance pale with anxiety.
    She pulled Cooper a few steps away from Jake and the pastor and kept her voice low. “I’m glad you could make it,” the artist said. “I know you’ve got work, but . . .”
    But Cooper was in no mood for avoiding the issue. “Savannah, whose body is it?”
    “It’s the teacher you were talking to last Friday, the one who came to our snack table. The art teacher. Pastor Matthews found her.”
    “And she’s dead?”
    Savannah nodded. Cooper sank to the curb beside the pastor, with Savannah sitting beside her. For a moment, she sat in stunned silence. She could see Sylvia Cassel’s face so vividly and hear her voice as if the teacher were there now. Less than a week ago, Sylvia had been enjoying Magnolia’s Marvels. Now she was gone.
    With a deep breath, Cooper pulled herself together. She reached over and took Pastor Matthews’s hand. Two sad eyes looked up to meet hers.
    “I’m . . . I’m so sorry,” Cooper stammered. The sorrow in his face brought tears to her own eyes. “Is there anything . . . anything I can do?”
    Pastor Matthews shook his head, but said nothing.
    Savannah put her arm around Cooper’s shoulders. “Sylvia’s body was in his office when he came in this morning. It’s been a shock for him.”
    “Do you know how she died?”
    “The police haven’t told us anything. I’m not sure how much they know.”
    Pastor Matthews muttered something as he rubbed his eyes with his fists.
    Cooper touched his arm. “What was that?”
    He heaved a devastated sigh. “She was stabbed.”
    Two shiny shoes and well-creased pant legs appeared before them, and Cooper turned her eyes upward. Inspector McNamara stared back.
    “Ms. Cooper,” he said with a salutary nod of his head. “They told me you were coming. Thank you for making the trip.”
    Cooper stood on the curb, bringing her closer to the inspector’s height than if she’d been standing on the parking lot. “Savannah here filled me in on what happened.”
    “It’s a shame, to put it lightly. First, we’ve got some criminal robbing churches and now we’ve got some criminal killing in one.” The inspector shook his head slowly. “Just a shame.”
    “Do you think the crimes are related? The thefts and the murder?”
    The inspector put up his hands as if to fend her off. “I’m not saying that. I’m not saying anything like that. I’m just saying it’s a shame. And I’m sorry, Pastor Matthews, but I need you to walk me through what happened today.”
    Pastor Matthews cleared his throat. “All right.”
    “What time did you arrive?”
    “Seven thirty. I usually get here at seven to get everything in order for the day. I try to be the first person here, so my teachers know I’m working hard for them, just like they’re working hard for the kids. But today I was late.” He looked up into McNamara’s face. “You don’t suppose if I’d gotten here earlier—”
    McNamara cut him off. “It wouldn’t have helped, so don’t start thinking that way. The coroner says she died sometime last night. We don’t know the exact time of death yet, but you coming earlier today wouldn’t have saved her. Remember that, all right?”
    Pastor Matthews nodded weakly.
    “Now then, what did you see when you got here?”
    “Nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
    “Did you see anyone else here?”
    “I saw Harry’s car in the teachers’ lot. He’s the science teacher at Hope Street.” The