An Unexpected Witness

By E J Henry

There is no going back…

George Fellows is visiting an elderly relative at the Immaculate Heart care home in Sussex, England, when he stumbles on something that will change his life and the lives of those he loves, forever.

While chasing after his son Ben, George sees the priest, Father Thomas, holding a pillow over the face of an elderly man.

The doctor shoots George full of ketamine, a powerful anaesthetic, but when he regains consciousness it soon becomes clear that George remembers what he saw…and he won’t let it go.

But the more George pushes for justice, the more of a target he makes of himself.

Before long, he is stopped for speeding and drugs are found in his car.

He loses his job as a solicitor and his father-in-law, the devout Sir Hugh Bircham, who has never been a fan of George’s, now wants him out of his daughter’s life.

Still, George digs, discovering the dead man was a defrocked priest named Renshaw, who was alleged to have abused children.

The only person on George’s side is Father Cuthbert, an estranged cousin of Sir Hugh.

But even Father Cuthbert is aghast when he learns the people involved in the death of Renshaw are members of the Society of the Sacramentum Poenitentiae, named after the Sacramentum Poenitentiae, the apostolic constitution published by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741 declaring severe punishments for clergy found to have committed sexual abuse.

Father Cuthbert starts to question, and discovers his right-hand man, Father Thomas, is a member of the society, and was also the priest that performed the Last Rites on Renshaw.

But is Father Cuthbert strong enough to take on the shadowy figures known as The Guardian and The Fixer?

Will the truth ever be known?

In the spirit of Dan Brown, An Unexpected Witness is a dark look at the Catholic Church, sins, retribution and justice.