In the summer of 1944, Leslie Atwater -- feeling abandoned by his lover Edward -- rushes to London to enlist in the armed services. After failing the physical, he retreats to the sanctuary of St. Michael’s rectory and to the love and support of his brother Robert.<br><br>When a bomb explodes near St. Andrew’s Home for Boys, it unearths a skeleton of an adolescent. As Leslie, Edward, and Robert set about identifying the remains, the shocking discovery stirs up an old antagonism between the two brothers and brings to light a string of repressed memories for Leslie.<br><br>With the truth obscured by the passage of years, can Leslie and Edward sift through the lies and subterfuge to track down the coldhearted killer of a kindred spirit?

Kindred Spirit

“In other words, leave me alone,” Leslie said.


Edward taped his partner on the hand. “Leave it, Les. Robert said he’s working on it. Besides, I think we really should be thinking of getting back to the village.”


“What do you say, Robert?” Leslie asked. “You don’t really need us here and Maisie has plenty of volunteers at the WVS.”


Robert didn’t respond. He turned a page in the newspaper, then quickly turned back to the previous one. “What the hell? Listen to this: Late yesterday, St. Andrew’s Home for Boys at Beaumont Street off the Marylebone High Street sustained significant damage to an exterior wall when a V1 struck several adjacent homes in the area.”


“What about the children?” Leslie asked.


“Evacuated to the countryside,” Robert said. “I visited Father Anselm at the beginning of the Blitz. That’s how I know.”


Robert put down the paper and set his reading glasses on top of it. “Brings back a lot of memories, doesn’t it, Les?”


Chapter 10