“She’s got Aggie!” she cried and lunged for the other woman.

All Sarah could see was the hand holding the hat pin raised over Aggie’s tiny neck. If she could grab it and stop it -

But Richard got there first. He snatched Aggie away just as the hat pin plunged downward. Someone else was calling Sarah’s name, but she didn’t have time to even look up. She was too busy wrestling Mrs. Wells, both of her hands wrapped around the fist that still clutched the hat pin.

Then suddenly someone was helping, overpowering Mrs. Wells and wrenching the hat pin from her fingers. A rough arm pushed Sarah away, and she recognized Malloy. He thrust the hat pin into Sarah’s hand and shoved Mrs. Wells to her knees, twisting one of her arms behind her back. She cried out in pain, but Malloy didn’t release his grip.

“What’s going on here!” an outraged voice shouted. “Get out of here or I’ll call the police!” Father Ahearn was running down the aisle toward them. He wore only an undershirt and trousers and looked very unpriestly.

“I am the police,” Malloy shouted back. “This woman is a murderer, and she’s very dangerous. Get me something to tie her up.”

The startled priest stared at the tableau for only a moment before hurrying to obey.

Malloy turned to Sarah. “What the hell were you trying to do?” he demanded, but he didn’t wait for an answer. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Take that other pin away from her!” she added, suddenly horrified to realize Mrs. Wells had another one still in her hat.

Malloy relieved the woman of that one, too, and handed it to Sarah as well. Mrs. Wells’s hat slipped off and fell to the floor in front of her. Malloy continued to hold her firmly and painfully in place.

“Can you help me here?” Richard asked, his voice oddly strained.

Sarah hurried to his aid. He lay on the floor where he had fallen in the scuffle, and he held a terrified Aggie to his chest. Still clutching the hat pins in her left hand, Sarah reached out her right one and Aggie grabbed it. Scrambling out of Richard’s arms, the child threw herself at Sarah and fairly climbed up her body until her little arms were wrapped tightly around Sarah’s neck and her legs around Sarah’s waist. Sarah managed to stagger over to one of the pews and sit down, setting the hat pins on the seat beside her so she could hold the child with both arms. Her little body was trembling, and Sarah crooned meaningless words of comfort into the soft cloud of her hair.

Father Ahearn came running back with what appeared to be drapery cords. Malloy looked at them askance, but he used them to bind Mrs. Wells’s hands securely behind her back. Then he hauled her roughly to her feet and shoved her down into the nearest pew.

Richard was a bit slow getting to his feet.

“Richard, are you all right?” Sarah asked in alarm when she noticed, remembering how Mrs. Wells had been wielding the hat pin.

But Richard wasn’t listening. He was staring in horror at Mrs. Wells. “You killed Hazel, didn’t you?”

Sarah gasped as Mrs. Wells looked up, her eyes bright with the fires of fanaticism. “She was very unhappy here, Mr. Dennis. I sent her to heaven.”

Father Ahearn caught Richard when he would have attacked her and held him back.

“Let the law take care of her, Dennis,” Malloy warned him. “She’ll die for her crimes. There’s nothing worse you can do to her.”

Richard was shaking with fury, but after a moment, he allowed the priest to push him back a few steps.

“Father,” Malloy said, “can you go to the nearest call box and have them send a wagon over for this woman?”

Father Ahearn nodded, probably only too glad to escape the nightmarish scene. Portly Father O’Brien came lumbering down the aisle, wheezing from the effort of running, just as Father Ahearn bolted away to do Malloy’s bidding. He’d taken the time to put on his cassock, so he looked more professional than his young colleague. He recognized Mrs. Wells at once. “What are you doing here?” he demanded breathlessly.

“Trying to cause you some trouble, I expect, Father,” Malloy said. “She’s the one who killed Emilia Donato, and she just tried to kill Mrs. Brandt right here in the church.”

Father O’Brien’s gaze shifted back to where Mrs. Wells sat, bound and helpless. He stared at her as if the jaws of hell had suddenly opened up to reveal their horrors. “I knew something was wrong at that place,” he murmured, and Sarah remembered his accusation about other missing girls. She didn’t even want to think about how many others the woman had “sent to heaven.” She hugged Aggie more tightly and was relieved to realize the child had stopped trembling.

Richard still glared at Mrs. Wells, but he seemed calmer now. Then Sarah noticed he was rubbing his chest.

“Richard, you are hurt!” she cried. “Did she stab you?”

“Just a little jab,” he said. “It’s not even bleeding.”

Only a tiny drop of blood had stained his shirt beneath his vest, but Sarah remembered how Emilia’s wound hadn’t bled either. “Are you sure? How deep did the pin go in?”

“Not deep at all. I told you, it was just a jab.”

Sarah knew even a shallow jab could become infected, and there was always a danger of lockjaw. He did seem pale, and he was sweating. “You should sit down. You look as if you’re going to faint.”

He took a seat in the pew in front of hers and half turned to face her. He was grinning boyishly, as if he’d done something a bit naughty and was proud of it. “I did do a bit of running to get here.” He looked over at Malloy, who was still guarding Mrs. Wells. “In the end, I beat you here,” he bragged.

Malloy frowned, but he didn’t deny it. Then Sarah realized how amazing it was that they were here at all.

“How did you know I’d be in danger? And what are the two of you doing here together?” she demanded.

“I was on my way to your house, and we ran into each other,” Malloy said unhelpfully.

Sarah turned to Richard expectantly.

“I’d just found your note and was reading it when Mr. Malloy arrived.” His smile faded. “We started discussing that girl’s murder, and I remembered something you’d said about how she looked after she died.”

“You mean Emilia?” Sarah asked, still confused.

“Yes, you said she looked as if she’d suffocated. I asked Mr. Malloy to describe it and then I realized – that’s the way Hazel looked. Mrs. Wells had come to visit her that last day, and when she left, we found Hazel gasping for breath. She died a short time later.”

His gaze drifted to Mrs. Wells, who sat staring back at him, unrepentant.

“She went to heaven, Mr. Dennis,” Mrs. Wells said. “That was her wish.”

Richard looked as if he would have cheerfully broken her neck, but he managed to restrain himself.

“She’ll be punished now,” Sarah said, reaching up to pat his shoulder reassuringly. “And nothing you do to her can bring Hazel back.”

He continued to glare at the woman, rubbing his chest absently.

Father Ahearn came running back into the church and reported that a police wagon was on its way and that a carriage had pulled up outside.

“A carriage?” Sarah echoed in amazement, looking at Richard for an explanation.

“We took my carriage from your house to the mission. Mr. Malloy was expecting to find Mrs. Wells there and accuse her of the murders. When she wasn’t there… Well, that’s when we realized she was the one who had sent you the note to lure you here. Mr. Malloy said it would be faster to go on foot, so we left Sydney to follow as best he could. It looks as if he found us,” he added to Malloy.

Father O’Brien turned to Malloy. “Can someone tell me what happened here?”

Malloy looked at Sarah. “I received a note from Father Ahearn this evening,” she began, but Ahearn interrupted her.

“I didn’t send you a note!”

“I know that now,” Sarah said. “Mrs. Wells sent it and claimed it had come from you. It said you had discovered who the killer was and asked me to come to the church as soon as possible.”