Church Meeting (Private)

At two in the afternoon, the last remaining parishioners were leaving after a rather lovely Christening. There would be another in about an hour and a half, but the ministers schedule was kept running quite smoothly. There would be time enough in between to speak to anyone who came in from the street, requiring aid or conversation.

Until then, the small church was rather quiet. To some, it might have been almost eerie, the way each little footstep echoed through the cold stone building, and a little draft travelled through the open space. Some people just disliked the insides of churches in general, but to the minister this state of emptiness was calm and peaceful.

He stepped into his poky little office, just to the left of the arched entrance to the church. His door was left ajar, so that he might hear anyone enter and so that a visitor would find him accessible.


RobbyL9

Gregory stopped in front of the church and sighed as he looked up at the arched entrance. Folding his hands together, he closed his eyes and bowed his head in quick prayer. "...Amen." he uttered, walking up to the door and pulling it open.

Coming inside the church, he looked around at the holy icons and depictions lining the walls. Examining the designs of churches around the world was something he had grown fond of since traveling to California. It never ceased to amaze him how if one looked deeply enough, every church and place of worship had its own personality, which tended to reflect in the people.

"Hello? Is there anyone here?" he called out to the walls, looking around for the priest.

There is silence for a couple of seconds, and presently a chair scraped across a tile floor. The door to the side opened a little more, and an elderly man poked his head around the doorway.

"Hello, young man," he smiled. "How may I help you?"

"Well..." Gregory began, glancing gravely at the ground "It is not myself I am trying to help, father." He extended his hand for the priest to shake. "My name is Gregory. I am an investigator on the case of Maria di Rossi, whom I am told was one of your flock."

A spark of interest reflected in his clear green eyes, and he studied the much younger man. Perhaps he was trying to gauge whether he was telling the truth, or deciding his mettle. Either way, his expression was not threatening.

"It's been some time since an officer came by investigating Maria's disappearance," the priest comment. He reached out to take the offered hand, and gave a firm shake of greeting.

"Do you have credentials for me to see?"

Gregory's eyes snapped shut. He kept forgetting the licensing and things involved with his chosen profession. "Well perhaps I should re-phrase that, father. I am not exactly doing this in any... official capacity." he confessed, scratching his throat "Because of how much time has passed, the police and other investigators seem to have given up. I have taken it upon myself to make inquiries and help the broader investigation however I can. I have recently been in contact with Maria's mother, Ana."

Sure, he could have tried to lie to the priest. But in his heart, Gregory felt that would only be a bad beginning to an inquiry and a bad gesture in general. Doubly so seeing as it would be a man of God to which his lie was directed. "Ultimately, father, my real goal is to help bring closure to the family. I hope this development does not bother you terribly."

The priest listened to Gregory's explanation quite politely, and there was not a single sense that he may have been thinking ill of the young man's honest admission. The investigator seemed sincere, and did not present the image of one who was here to cause trouble.

He raised an arm to indicate his office.

"We'll be more comfortable in there, I think," the priest explained. "To answer you, it doesn't bother me. I'm relieved that there is still an interest in Maria's disappearance. I know many young people seem to vanish from the streets, but it's the first time one of my own congregation has been the subject of something like that."

He led the way inside the office. It was a small affair, with a couple of shelves, upon which were a few books and stationary items. There was a writing pad on his desk, no computer, and several more writing implements. There was an organised chaos sort of feel to the place.

"Please, take a seat."

Gregory entered the priest's office and politely took a seat, relieved that his faith had been answered in kind. "Thank you, like I said, I only want to help." he began, briefly musing to himself that the lack of a computer must have been a result of the same sort of torture Gregory had gone through "From what I already know, Maria was not the type to disappear or get into such trouble. Though her mother did say Maria had been trying to get out on her own for once."

Removing his notepad, Gregory prepared to take notes "I was hoping to learn more about her, father. This is the only place I know of where Maria spent her time. So I was hoping she may have had friends or perhaps someone she cared about in the congregation."

The priest settled himself in his own chair, a rickety but comfortable looking thing on the opposite side of the desk to Gregory. He sat back, elbows on the arms of the chair and fingers steepled thoughtfully together. “Maria was very quiet when she first joined the congregation. Shy, but eager to learn, I think. Everyone here was very nice to her, we welcomed her to the fold. She began to open up.”

He paused, thinking.

“She started going out, and fell in with… I hesitate to say they were a bad crowd. That would be too judgemental. They were not part of the congregation, and so I didn’t know them very much. Misguided youths would be a better term, I think.”

Gregory shrugged and jotted a new entry into his notebook. Misguided... youths. Maybe this could shed a little light on the subject. The misguided and naive have been, since the dawn of time, a common target for the forces of evil and chaos. "Please continue. Tell me everything you can about this misguided crowd. When and how did you notice she was making company with them?"