The Uninvited

The Uninvited A Michael Bishop Mystery by Anthony J. Pucci This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Copyright © 2023 Anthony J. Pucci. All rights reserved. The Michael Bishop Mysteries Outline for Murder (2015) Schooled in Deception (2016) A Question of Judgment (2017) Murder on the Marginal Way (2018) Rooted in Evil (2019) Winning Ticket (2020) Where There Is Darkness (2021) Non-Fiction Twin Tiers Legends: Remembering Joel Stephens and Coach D (2022) Special Preface Although each of the books in the Michael Bishop series may be read independently, there is some merit in reading them in the order of publication. This is especially true of The Univited. I strongly recommend that you read Where There Is Darkness first. Of course, the final decision is up to you. Happy Reading! AJP Epigraph One sees more devils than vast hell can hold. William Shakespeare A Midsummer’s Night Dream, V.i Table of Contents Copyright Page Special Preface Epigraph Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five About the Author Chapter One He should have been standing at the entrance to his classroom welcoming his students on the first day of the new school year. Instead, he was in the men’s room trying not to be sick. Luckily, the room was unoccupied. No one was there sneaking a smoke or making a last-minute pit stop before classes started. No one was there to observe a panicked Michael Bishop dabbing at the beads of sweat forming on his forehead as his hands shook like those of an old man. Just weeks earlier he was in Ogunquit, Maine, basking in the warmth of the late summer sun and the brisk, salty ocean air, walking the scenic Marginal Way, enjoying fresh seafood dinners, and making love to his wife Grace. Any doubts or concerns about his first day of teaching at Holy Trinity High School rarely rose to the surface. Now those thoughts nearly overwhelmed him. Had he made a mistake moving to a small town in upstate New York? How could they survive on the meager salary he had accepted? Grace would have to find a job, but that might be easier said than done in a community with limited opportunities and where they knew no one. Thinking that he might attend law school, he had done all his undergraduate and graduate work without taking a single course in education. He majored in English, but what made him think that he could teach English to a bunch of high school kids who were most likely more interested in sports, rock and roll, and members of the opposite sex? The second bell was about to ring. He splashed some water on his face. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he noticed that his summer tan had faded almost overnight. His thick, black moustache was in sharp contrast with his pale skin. He adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses, straightened the maroon tie that he had purchased for this occasion since it was one of the school colors, breathed deeply to calm his jitters, and made his way to Room 208. Even if blindfolded, he could have easily located his classroom by the sounds of laughter and chatter emanating from the open door. He got there just as the bell rang. All eyes focused on him as he settled in behind the podium. Although he had met several of the students in homeroom earlier that morning, he couldn’t match any of the faces with the names on the class list. The thought crossed his mind that if he quit now he would set a record for the shortest teaching career in the history of the school … perhaps of any school … one day. His wife would be so disappointed. Sister Alphonsa, the principal who had taken a chance in hiring him, would have to scramble to find a replacement. He would be disappointed in himself. He couldn’t let any of that happen. “Good morning, everyone. My name is Mr. Bishop.” *** Almost to the day, forty-nine years later, he stood at the entrance to Room 208 greeting and welcoming his students on the first day of the new school year. So much had changed over the years. Although he still felt the jitters associated with the start of another year … something he realized was actually a good thing … he didn’t need to seek refuge in the men’s room. He knew almost every student by name. He exchanged a few words with each of them as he assigned them a seat. He taught many of them when they were underclassmen. He had taught a good number of their parents as well. When young Bill Manzi took his place, he made a bit of history. His grandfather, Phil, was a student in the very first class when Mr. Bishop wasn’t sure he could make it through the day. *** Given his many years in education, people often suggested that he should write a book. He certainly had enough experiences to use as inspiration running the gamut from comic to tragic. He had encountered thousands of students, worked with hundreds of colleagues and dozens of administrators and staff. In many ways, the previous year had been the most challenging of them all. The tenure of the terrible tandem of Mayhem and Meany, who did more damage to the reputation of Holy Trinity High School than one would think humanly possible, had come to an unexpected and disturbing