Chapter 23: Councillor Julia

Father John extended his hand to me, saying, "God bless you, James," as he shook my hand. I bid Father John farewell and made my way to the car. Once inside, I called Andrew to inform him of Father John and Father Lewis's approval to hand over the camera recordings to me. From him, I received assurance that he would send me the data necessary to connect to the cameras and the server with the recordings.

While I was on the phone with Andrew, Samuel approached the car and immediately got in with a notebook in hand. "Here you are, Samuel," I said.

"Have you finished gathering information?" Samuel asked.

"Yes, fortunately, the church council and the pastors themselves helped me to the fullest extent. The church council also made a deal with me. We won't visit other Protestant churches, and in return, they will send us lists of suspicious parishioners and, if possible, provide us with access to the cameras and their recordings. I think we're ahead from this trip," I explained.

"It's great," said Samuel. "I didn't get much useful information from them, just rumors circulating among the church visitors. Like a drug addict visiting the church late at night or a widower who lost his mind. And then there's the fact that one of the pastors of this church is seeing a young girl. Most people were talking about that."

"I didn't get that information, though I shouldn't expect much from the church council," I sighed. "Although it might be a rumor after all."

"The more I heard about it, the more details were added to this rumor. So maybe it's the granddaughter of one of the pastors who they saw when she visited him. It could be anything, but I doubt that such a thing would happen within the walls of a church. So it's an unfounded rumor, as you said, James," Samuel said.

"So it's just about the drug addict and the widower. Did you hear anything about the missing parishioner?" I asked him.

"As I said, I only learned about these three rumors," answered Samuel.

"Then let's go to the Catholics or the Orthodox?" I asked.

"Let's go to the central Catholic church. We need to go to the biggest one, and maybe you can negotiate with their council for help with the investigation. That way we won't have to visit all fifteen Catholic churches in the city," said Samuel.

"I hope so too. After all, I found out that there are fifteen Catholic churches in the city. We spent over two hours on just one Protestant church," I said.

"Then let's not delay our trip any longer. Let's go," said Samuel.

I selected the central Catholic church on the navigator. It would take about 20 minutes to get there, during which time I would contemplate and digest all the information I had gathered here. Maybe it's worth calling the drug enforcement department now to have them investigate the person I was told about in the church. Although we shouldn't overlook the fact that he might be involved here. After all, drugs and manipulation go hand in hand.

Thus, as I pondered over what the best course of action would be, I turned to Samuel for guidance.

"Do you think we should reveal now that there is a drug addict attending this church?" I asked.

"Not yet. If there are so many rumors circulating about him, then he may still be of use to us. It would be a shame to lose someone who is potentially a victim of someone's manipulation. After all, even knowing that people are talking about him, he continues to come here, even at late hours," Samuel replied.

And so we discussed the heroes of rumors and suspicions as we arrived at the Catholic church. As I had mentioned before, I was a Protestant, so I was not very familiar with Catholic terms. Therefore, I quickly skimmed through Wikipedia to memorize the necessary terms.

While I studied the information I needed, Samuel left the car and went to the church first. Before he left, I asked him if he knew anything about Catholicism. He replied that he knew it well, as he had studied all religions. For me, the main thing was for him to obtain information, even if it turned out to be somewhat inaccurate.

So, what did I learn at first? There is also a council in this church, which I had suspected. There are at least six members, unlike the Protestant church, and a priest is included in the council, namely Emily Wright, a 65-year-old priest. The council members are Thomas Harris, Alice Lee, Peter Chang, Julia Martinez, and Richard Brown, including the church's pastor, Emily Wright.

As for the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism, it lies in faith, namely the basis of faith. Catholics combine the authority of Sacred Scripture with the traditions of the church and the teachings of the Magisterium. Protestants, on the other hand, take Sacred Scripture as their foundation. Protestants also directly address God through Jesus Christ, while Catholics do so through the mediation of the saints' prayers for the deceased. But for me, the main thing is that Catholicism is united in its centralized structure. Therefore, I can receive the same support as from the Protestants.

Having faith in the knowledge that I had just refreshed, I slowly made my way to the entrance of the church. There, I was greeted by a nun who helped me find a representative of the church council.

As we walked through the church building, I noticed that there was still a difference in the way it was arranged, albeit not significantly. We walked for a few minutes until I was introduced to Julia Martinez. She approached the nun and whispered something to her.

Her bright red lips caught my attention, in combination with her stark white suit, which made her appear to be sitting under a spotlight, yet it suited her remarkably well. My amazement was replaced by embarrassment. She seemed to stand out from the image of a church council member that I had imagined. She would be better suited to the image of a prosecutor or a lawyer with a capital "L."

As I was struck by her appearance, she threw a gaze at me that seemed to assess me. Then she extended her hand to me.

"Hello, my name is Julia Martinez. Just call me by my first name. And what is your name?" she greeted me, then asked.

"Hello, my name is James," I replied cautiously, shaking her hand.

"I was told that you were looking for me. So, why did you want to see me?" she asked with her alluring and confident voice, speaking with a unique speed of articulation.

I was as if enchanted by her. Until a picture, or rather a silhouette, appeared in my mind. The silhouette of Kate, who was in the photo on my phone. Remembering her, I lost the excitement I had felt from seeing Julia.