Cover of All the Colors of the Dark

All the Colors of the Dark

by Chris Whitaker


Genre
Mystery, Crime, Suspense
Year
2024
Pages
865
Contents

Chapter 180

Overview

Following Grace’s instructions, Saint searches St. Mary Magdalene in Black Rock for a buried victim or some obvious link to Eli Aaron, but hours of checking archives, graves, locals, and church details produce no direct answer. The chapter’s shift comes at the end, when watching the nuns pass makes Saint focus on their rosary beads, suggesting Grace’s clue points to a religious symbol or order rather than a hidden grave.

Summary

Saint arrives at St. Mary Magdalene on Trinity Road and studies the church itself, struck by its beauty even as she focuses on Grace and the reason Grace led her there. Saint considers whether another missing girl might be buried at the site, but her earlier search through records from decades past had not uncovered a clear match.

Saint moves through the church complex, including a smaller book-filled building where she meets Sister Isabelle at the register. She then circles to the children’s home behind the church, notices children’s chalk drawings, and picks up a mourning dove feather that reminds her of Norma’s belief that such feathers symbolize protection, love, and guardian angels.

For two hours, Saint searches for meaning in the place and finds nothing definite. She questions locals about the church’s history, walks the graveyard stone by stone, and shows file photos of Eli Aaron to Sister Isabelle and to old men gathered outside, trying to connect the suspect to the church or town.

Inside the church again, Saint studies the pulpit, the Latin inscriptions, and the carved benches, asking Grace in frustration what she is supposed to understand. The chapter turns when a group of sisters passes by: Saint notices their veils, medals, and especially the rosary beads they carry, and that detail appears to give her a new way to read Grace’s clue.

Who Appears

  • Saint
    searches St. Mary Magdalene for Grace's meaning and finds a possible clue in the nuns' rosaries
  • Grace
    absent but guides Saint to the church through recorded clues
  • Sister Isabelle
    nun working at the church register; Saint shows her Eli Aaron's file photos
  • Eli Aaron
    suspect whose photos Saint shows around the church while seeking connections
  • Norma
    recalled by Saint when a mourning dove feather reminds her of protection and guardian angels
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