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

“I think it’s time,” Robert said with an air of finality.


The three shared a moment of silence with nothing to intrude but the ticking of the grandfather clock, the rattle of a lorry on the street, and the occasional horn from a passing motorcar.


Sometime later, Leslie and Edward were clearing the table when the telephone rang and Robert answered it.


Coming back into the dining room, Robert explained about the call. “That was a doctor friend who often assists the police in murder investigations. He’s very bright, that one. Should have been a forensic pathologist.”


“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Leslie said. “Out with it.”


“He said he had trouble getting permission to take a look at the remains. The skeleton was immediately taken to the morgue and there promptly forgotten. One of the orderlies remembered seeing it and led him to a small room where they found the bones laid out on an examining table and covered with a cloth. Obviously to be dealt with later.”


Chapter 13