Cypress Nights Read Online Free PDF

secrets.”
    â€œHey, Bleu,” Jilly called over the din. “Great presentation on the school last night. One of these days, Guy and I will be wanting our kids to go there.”
    A hoot swelled among the customers and Jilly glared at them. “When we’re expecting, you folks will be among the last to know,” she said in a neutral tone of voice. Her meaning sank in and boos replaced hoots.
    When the noise died down, Bleu said, “Thanks, Jilly. We’ve got a long way to go yet.”
    It would be hard to miss the rumble of low voices that followed.
    â€œHere you go, Father,” Sidney said, her face pink from the warm kitchen. On the plate she put in front of Cyrus were two large, golden-brown tarts.
    â€œI’m a happy man,” Cyrus said. He closed his ever-changing blue-green eyes and breathed deeply. Then he picked up a tart and sank in his teeth, closing his eyes again as he chewed the first bite. After that, all restraint disappeared and he chomped through both pastries until nothing but crumbs remained on the plate.
    â€œOh-oh, I’m gonna get to heaven,” Sidney sang, “on a marzipan tart.” She left humming her ditty amid laughter on all sides.
    Bleu peered at Cyrus’s plate and said, “It’s all right, Father Cyrus, I didn’t really want a bite of one of your tarts.”
    â€œGood,” he said.
    More coffees arrived, soon followed by their meals.
    Before they could do more than take a few bites, the door opened hard and Ozaire Dupre, Lil’s husband and the caretaker at St. Cecil’s, made a wild-eyed entrance.His bald head shone when he turned from side to side. He raised his thick arms like wings, obviously searching for someone.
    Lil said, “There’s a chair for you here, Ozaire,” and pulled one out.
    He ignored her, but his round chin jutted when he saw Cyrus, and he pushed his way past complaining people to reach the table.
    â€œGood morning, Ozaire,” Roche said, but the man focused only on the priest.
    â€œFather,” he said, panting for breath. “You can’t have heard. Lordy, lordy, we’ve got the devil unleashed on us.”
    â€œSit down,” Cyrus told him.
    Already an intense silence had blanketed the place.
    Ozaire remained standing. He pulled a handkerchief from a pocket in his denim overalls and swabbed his face and scalp, the back of his neck.
    â€œHave a seat,” Roche said. “I know you’d rather have a quiet chat about what’s on your mind.”
    â€œJim Zachary’s dead,” Ozaire all but shouted. “Stabbed through his neck, all the way through. In the church. And that pamphlet we all got about not wanting the new school—stuck in his mouth.”
    Roche actually saw Cyrus give up on the situation.
    Shocked exclamations burst out, and people stood up.
    â€œIt’ll be okay,” Bleu said loudly. She sensed the glances coming her way. “Spike and his department are already on it.”
    â€œThere’s no mystery to be solved?” Ozaire said. “This ain’t nothin’ to do with more buildin’ at St. Cecil’s. That’s just a red herring. We all know Kate Harper is the one who’d want Jim dead.”

Chapter 4
    Later the same morning
    A priest must expect to be tested. Cyrus didn’t smile at his own small sarcasm. Priest-testing had been getting heavy around here.
    After he got to St. Cecil’s, he went into the rectory by the kitchen door at the back of the house. He had hoped to get inside without talking to anyone, but Lil, who must have rushed to get back from town before him, stood at one of the old-fashioned marble counters, punching down bread dough.
    As soon as she saw him, she picked up a dish towel and came toward him, rubbing her flour-covered hands and arms. “Don’t be angry with him, Father,” she said. “Him, he was upset about Jim Zachary and he didn’t think