Disappearance at Devil's Rock (32 page)

Murtagh: Can you repeat that please, Josh?

Josh: Tommy. Tommy said we had to drink some of the beers. I didn't want to. I never even liked drinking ever.

Murtagh: Why did you have to drink?

Josh: He said that when Arnold showed up we had to make sure everything seemed normal. I only took a couple of sips. I stood on the rock and poured the rest of mine out right in front of them.

Luis: I did drink a beer, ma'am. Only one. Tommy drank a couple, I think. Josh poured his out. And I was scared because I knew this wasn't going to work, and I was going to tell Tommy we should go home and come up with something else. Then Tommy told Josh that pouring out the beer was fine, that it was good, because it would make the rock smell like beer, like we'd been there waiting for him for a while. He said that Arnold would be there any minute.

Murtagh: Josh had the backpack of beer. What did you bring with you?

Luis: I didn't bring anything, ma'am. I'd grabbed a walking stick in the woods, before we got to the rock. I wasn't planning on doing anything with it. Nothing planned. Maybe protection. Just in case.

Murtagh: Did anyone bring a flashlight or a lighter?

Luis: We used our phones as flashlights, totally drained our batteries so fast. But we could still see okay. It was surprisingly bright out. Especially on top of the rock. Clear sky, big moon.

Murtagh: Did Tommy have anything with him?

Murtagh: Did you ever hit or stab your uncle, Rooney?

Rooney: No. I didn't do anything. He was dead, right there on the couch.

Murtagh: Are you're saying the boys killed your uncle?

Rooney: I don't think they meant to, but they couldn't stop hitting and jabbing him once they got started. The boys finally quit when they were totally exhausted. Wore
themselves out on my uncle. They finished and kind of wandered out of the room into the kitchen and one of them called out to me, said let's go. So I did. I drove them home in a state of shock. I don't even remember the ride or where I dropped them, and I don't remember the ride back to the apartment. Total autopilot, you know? When I got back, my uncle was sitting on the bathroom floor, sitting in his own blood and everything, and I tried to get him up, to help him, but there was nothing I could do. He was gone.

Murtagh: Didn't you say that your uncle was dead on the couch? How did he get to the bathroom?

Rooney: Yeah, he was dead before he got to the bathroom. He still got there somehow. Maybe he didn't know any better. I'm sorry, I'm so nervous telling you all this, because there are more parts that don't make sense like that part. Yes, yes, he was dead on the couch. But when I got back he was in the bathroom.

Murtagh: There wasn't a lot of blood on the couch or living room rug, Rooney. Very little. A few drops. But there was a lot of blood in the bathroom. Do you—

Rooney: (interrupts) I want to go back. Can I go back now? I want to go back.

Police: Go back?

Rooney: To my cave. I should've stayed there.

Josh: It was in the pocket of his cargo shorts. He showed it to us. It was dumb and scary. That's when I poured out my beer. After he showed us that.

Luis: It was a jackknife, ma'am.

Murtagh: How big was it?

Luis: I didn't get a long look at it. I remember that he finished his beer before I did and put the empty back in Josh's pack. Then he didn't say anything about it or what he was going to do with the knife. He took it out of his pocket, opened it up real quick. It looked small to me. Then he folded it up and put it back in his pocket. I didn't see him take it out again.

Murtagh: Did you know he was bringing it?

Luis: No, ma'am.

Murtagh: Had he ever previously shown you the knife?

Luis: No, ma'am.

Murtagh: You named it Devil's Rock, is that correct, Rooney?

Rooney: No, I told the boys that is what it's called, should be called. I can't name stuff. I'm not that important. Never was.

Murtagh: Tommy contacted you via Snapchat and invited you to meet them at Devil's Rock on the night of August 16th. Is that correct?

Rooney: It is. It is indeed. Indubitably. Sorry. Okay, sorry.

Murtagh: That's okay, Rooney. We thank you for talking with us and helping us. You still want to help us, right?

Rooney: Yes, I do. I want to help.

Murtagh: Did you go to Borderland on the 16th?

Rooney: I did. Yes, I did.

Murtagh: Why did you meet them there? After everything you said they'd done to your uncle, why would you go?

Rooney: I wanted to talk to them. Convince them to turn themselves in and get my uncle the help he needed.

Murtagh: Why didn't you call for help yourself?

Rooney: Right after it happened I was helping him. I was watching him, making sure he was comfortable. I couldn't call the police or anything because you wouldn't have believed me that it was them, all them. So they had to call and tell the truth and then my uncle could get more help.

Murtagh: Who taped up the bathroom door, Rooney?

Rooney: I don't know. I'm having a hard time figuring that out myself, you know? I don't remember. Really, I don't. Seeing them attack the Rev like that, it messed me up pretty good. Knocked me loose for like a whole week. I mean, why would my friends do that to my uncle? And how did they tape the bathroom, you know? It wasn't me. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't. I wouldn't do that!

Murtagh: You don't have to shout, Rooney. We're sitting across from you and listening.

Rooney: Yeah, okay. I know. Thank you. I know. Hey, but, yeah, I left. I wasn't even home for a long time, until today. When you found me there. I was gone before that. For a long time. For as long as Tommy was gone. So maybe they came back to my apartment and taped up the bathroom
door. Ask Josh and Luis about that. About the tape. It wasn't me. I was gone.

Murtagh: Where were you?

Rooney: I was at Borderland.

Murtagh: Where in Borderland?

Rooney: Over in the way north end of the park. No one ever uses those trails, especially over by the old Moyles quarry. Tough hiking and climbing there. Did you know they built that old viaduct in Canton from those stones? It's true. Look it up. And Tommy's dad crashed into those rocks. Same rocks. Weird, huh? Coincidence, yeah? There's no fucking coincidences. You know that. You have to. Your job is about finding how all the coincidences fit together. I know you know everything already and the only reason you're here and I'm here is to mess with me.

Murtagh: Rooney, that's not true.

Rooney: After Tommy tried to hurt me I walked around, walked around, tried to figure things out, get my head on straight, and I walked to the other end of the park where there were all those rocks everywhere and I stopped, and this is something you're not going to believe me about either, and maybe I don't believe it now, like I said, seeing them kill the Rev totally fried my brain and then Tommy trying to hurt me didn't exactly help . . . Anyway, so I wandered over to the quarry and there were all these rocks everywhere, and then rocks, they kind of opened up, like, like a flower, and they took me in.

Josh: It was so hard sitting there waiting and waiting for Arnold. Watching the woods, listening, jumping at every stupid bird or squirrel or whatever in the bushes. Tommy called out to Arnold like every two minutes. It echoed and the noises we heard would always stop after he called out and it would be quiet again and then we would think we heard something so we didn't say anything for a long time. Tommy said we should talk and sound like we're having fun so Arnold wouldn't suspect anything. I told him this was stupid and Luis told me to shut up. I said okay let's talk about the jackknife then. Tommy said he was sorry he didn't tell us about the knife. He said it was a contingency plan, like in case there was zombies out here too. He said that was a joke. Luis and Tommy started talking and laughing a little, but I didn't listen to them. I . . . I don't know.

Murtagh: Go on, Josh. Were you going to add something?

Josh: I think maybe Tommy and Luis talked to each other about the plan, the Arnold plan, without me. It felt like I was there because I lived next to the park and I could get the beer. It felt like they were a lot more comfortable with the plan and that night in general, so, I don't know, maybe they talked about it before without me.

Murtagh: Do you think they were hiding something from you or not telling you something?

Josh: No, I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, I don't think Luis knows anything more than I do about what happened to Tommy. I'm not saying that at all. All summer, I was kind of on the outs. It didn't used to be like that.

Murtagh: What were Luis and Tommy talking about that night on the rock?

Josh: They talked about zombies. I wasn't really listening. I was in my own head. I wanted to go home. I was going to call my parents. Even with Arnold knowing where I lived and like stalking my house the night before I really was going to call my parents and have them come get us or call the police. I made up my mind that this was stupid and we were going to get hurt, but before I could call them Tommy was standing over the split and they stopped talking. Luis was saying what is it? What is it? And Tommy. Tommy . . .

Murtagh: It's okay, Josh. You can take a moment.

Murtagh: Had you and Tommy discussed the plan to meet Arnold in Borderland by yourselves, without Josh?

Luis: No, ma'am. Definitely not. After we got back from Arnold's apartment I tried calling Tommy that night and then the next morning but he didn't want to talk about anything. I was thinking that he and Josh were talking about it because they've been friends since kindergarten.

Murtagh: The night you were all in the park, what were you and Tommy talking to each other about right before he ran off into the woods?

Luis: He was trying to be normal, you know? He told us about a new Minecraft house he built. He asked me and Josh if we were working on anything. We said no. Then I think he made some kind of joke about zombies when Josh asked about the jackknife again. Then he started talking more
about zombies. He said what if there are different kinds of zombies. And I said like fast or slow? Tommy said no, and said he was thinking more like no two zombies were the same. I made a joke about zombie snowflakes. Tommy said what if every zombie was different based on the personality of who you were. I said something about nice people being nice zombies, and vegetarian zombies would eat like lettuce heads. I was going to ask Tommy if we should just go home and then Tommy started in on zombies again. And all this I remember because I thought he was trying to tell us something.

Murtagh: What do you think he was trying to tell you?

Luis: I'm not sure, ma'am. Like maybe he knew then he was going to run off by himself, without us, that it was his real plan all along.

Murtagh: What else did he say?

Luis: He said maybe it was more like zombie-you would be totally opposite your personality, or the secret side of who you were, the you you kept in your head and the worst part was that you were still in there and watching the zombie-you doing all the terrible things and you couldn't stop it from happening, like at Arnold's apartment. He said that. And I didn't know what to say. I think that was our last chance. Maybe. I think I blew it right there, ma'am. If I said let's leave, Josh totally would've said yeah and maybe Tommy would've left too, and as scared as we were, call the police. Or maybe he would've stayed there by himself anyway and told us to leave. So, I don't know. We just kept going. Seems so crazy now, even to me, especially to me, like it wasn't
us, wasn't ever us, but we just kept going. Like Tommy said about those zombie-yous. We were the zombie-yous.

Rooney: Tommy sent me some messages asking me to meet them out at Devil's Rock in the middle of the night. Nothing good happens in the middle of the night, right? I didn't know what was what. I was so confused about my uncle. I didn't want to be home anymore. I couldn't help my uncle. What they did to him, it broke something inside me. And I wasn't thinking too straight. Seeing what they did brought everything back that had happened to me when I was younger with Mom and then with the Rev. All that awful shit came back, you know? I'm not telling you so you feel sorry for me, I'm telling you because it's the truth. Okay? So I went for a walk. That's what I did. A long one. I like to walk. Only thing that clears out my head when it's all messy. Gets me in trouble sometimes too, I know. A bunch of my bullshit trumped-up home invasion arrests were me walking around in neighborhoods a guy like me wasn't supposed to be in, that's all it was, walking, cutting through some yards and stuff. I was just walking, walking, and then I walked all the way to the park. It's not as far as you think. Blinked my eyes, took a couple steps, and poof I was there. Maybe I stepped into one of them wormholes. Me taking a walk and then finding myself at Borderland, right? I was there anyway, so I decided that yeah I would go meet them at Devil's Rock. That's what we called it. Our rock. I knew it might be dangerous with the three of them and only me, but I was going to try to talk some sense into them, tell them what they did was wrong, so wrong, and that they had to
fix it, make it better. I was going to follow them home if I had to, and make them call for police, for help.

Josh: Tommy called out Arnold's name one more time and asked if we saw something. He pointed like crazy out into the middle of the woods and not along the trail. I don't think Luis could see anything.

Murtagh: But you did see something?

Josh: (inaudible)

Murtagh: Josh? Did you see something?

Josh: No. Maybe. I'm not sure. It's weird. I think I did. A little later.

Luis: He looked at us and said, “You guys don't see that?” Then he scrambled down off the rock so fast. Like he fell off and slid down the side. He must've scraped up his arms and legs but he landed hard and didn't stop, and he ran off the trail and into the woods. I climbed down and called after him. I couldn't see him but heard all kinds of like shaking crashing branches, and it was darker down at the bottom of the rock, couldn't really see into the woods, and Tommy wasn't saying anything. I shouted out Tommy's name. I didn't know what was happening. Then Tommy, I don't know, started moaning. It was so low and lasted so long and then started rising and it . . . it was . . . It was the worst sound I ever heard.