“It must in that case have been something relating to the church.”
“Not necessarily. I do not, in fact, think that it was.”
“Why so?”
“Notice the next line: ‘Though the sacred secrecy of the confessional forbids,’” Nick pointed out. “There he stopped and dropped his pen. Forbids what? We know that it forbids his revealing what is imparted in confession. That seems to have been the source of the information about which he intended to write, judging from the beginning of the letter. It may not, of course, have been part of a penitent’s confession. It may have been something indirectly related with it, or referring to a confession.”
“I see,” Fallon nodded. “There seems to be no way to definitely determine.”
“Not at present,” Nick replied, folding the sheet of paper and putting it in his pocket. “Let’s go a step farther.”
Nick turned and took up the lamp on the table, shaking it gently and peering into the chimney.
“Empty,” said he tersely. “The wick is turned up and charred. The lamp burned until the oil was exhausted.[{8}] The assassin did not extinguish the light. He left in a hurry, no doubt.”
“He remained long enough to close the door leading into the hall,” said Fallon. “The housekeeper found it closed this morning.”
“Father Cleary may have closed it when he received his first visitor.”