The Advocate's Conviction (30 page)

“But?”

“But Rob apparently invited Craig, Barney, and Ric to my house because a half hour after I returned home all four of them showed up. They walked in ready to party. Craig was carrying a case of beer and Barney had a bottle of wine in each hand. I was upset at first but after a few glasses of wine I settled in. I had only drank alcohol one time before that night, so it didn’t take much to hit me pretty hard. Barney and I drank the wine; the others guzzled the beer. We mostly stood around and talked but we had the stereo blaring and the more we drank the louder it got.”

“Where was Scott?”

“He was right there with us. The boys were treating him like he was real important. I think Craig even slipped him a few drinks of his beer.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Then someone knocked on the door and I answered it. A neighbor had come over to complain about the music being too loud. So I turned the stereo down, but Craig kept turning it up so I shut it off. Craig suggested we take the party to a hilltop off of Highland. Apparently Rob had been there before and thought it was a good idea. I protested because I had Scottie and I couldn’t leave him and it was nearly midnight. They said to bring him along and Scottie begged to go, so we all piled in the car and left.”

“Whose car did you take?”

“Craig’s.”

“And he was driving?”

“Yes, even though he had had way too much to drink. Rob didn’t want to drive his car and I don’t think Barney even had a license—not that Craig would’ve let anyone else drive anyway.”

“So you went to the hilltop?”

“No. Well, we went that direction, but Craig turned just before we reached Highland Ave. He drove through a residential neighborhood and pulled over by this little ridge that overlooked the street. He said, ‘I have an idea.’ Then he opened his trunk and took out a life-size dummy that his school used at the pep rallies to hang the other team in effigy. It was made of cream-colored cloth and was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a baseball cap. The students changed the t-shirt to match the jerseys of whatever team they were playing and then hanged the dummy at the rallies. We had one at our school, too. When I think back on it now, even that was pretty creepy. I don’t think the schools allow it anymore.

“Anyway, Craig told us to stay by the car and to just watch. He waited until there were no cars coming, and then he dashed out onto Highland Ave. and sat the dummy near the side of the road, just on the edge. Then he ran back to us. Before long a car came along and swerved to avoid hitting the dummy. After the car passed, Craig ran back and grabbed it in case he came back. He waited about five minutes and then he did it again.”

“Did anyone else do it?”

“Barney did it once and I think Ric did it. Scottie begged to have a turn, but I wouldn’t let him.” Maryanne looked despondent and JP could tell she didn’t want to go on.

JP stood up, “Can I bring you some more tea?”

“No, thank you. I’m good.”

JP walked over to the coffee pot, filled his cup, and then sat back down across from Maryanne. “And then what happened?”

“Craig was becoming bored with that game and he encouraged us all to climb up on the ridge with him, which we did. Craig carried the dummy and told Barney to bring the rest of the beer. We were trying to be quiet because there were houses only a couple hundred feet away. The lights were out in most of them. By then we were all pretty wasted, so we kept falling down and then everyone would laugh. I’m surprised we didn’t wake anyone.

“I thought we were going to the top of the ridge to sit and finish the beer. I actually thought this was the hilltop he was initially taking us to, but when we all reached the top Craig said, ‘Now watch this.’ There was a convertible driving east on Highland, and it was probably moving a little faster than it should have been. Music was blaring from the car. Just as the car approached the ridge, Craig threw the dummy. We could hear the thud as it landed on the front hood of the car. The driver swerved to the left and then back again. I heard brakes screeching and metal crashing. Then the car flipped over, and I saw what I thought was the dummy flying through the air. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was the girl who had been driving the car. She landed on the street, and the car rolled over on top of her. And all of a sudden there was complete silence.”

Maryanne stopped talking, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. Then she began her narration again. “I started to scream, but Rob put his hand over my mouth and stopped me. As he was trying to calm me down, I saw Scottie start to run down the ridge. He was yelling, ‘I’ll get the dummy.’ I ran after him, but he was too far ahead of me and I had had too much to drink. By the time I reached him, Scottie was standing near the car with his mouth agape looking at the young girl pinned under the car.” Maryanne swallowed; tears were forming in her eyes. “Her torso was nearly severed where the metal had cut into her, and her insides were falling out. Her head looked like it was on sideways because her neck had obviously been broken, and there was blood everywhere.”

JP reached over and patted her on the arm. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I need to finish,” she said. “I grabbed Scottie and tried to pull him away, but he just stood there. I don’t know if he was in too much shock or if I was too drunk, but I couldn’t make him move. The next thing I knew Rob picked him up and carried him to Craig’s car. I followed behind. At first Rob was walking fast but he kept going faster and faster and soon he was in a full run. He kept yelling at me to hurry. I saw Ric over in the bushes looking for something when we ran past. By the time we reached the car Craig already had it running, Barney was seated in the front, and we climbed into the back. Craig flipped the car around and popped his trunk open. I looked back and saw Ric running toward the car with the dummy. He threw it in the trunk, jumped into the back with us, and Craig took off.

“I could see that lights in some of the houses had been turned on, and we weren’t very far from the scene when we passed a fire truck coming towards us with its siren blaring. We turned and took a back way to Fontana, but we heard sirens for quite a while.”

Maryanne took a deep breath and blew it out. “There, that’s the first time I’ve told the whole story. Even in confession I just gave the highlights. God already knew anyway.”

JP heard her take a few deep breaths and then she began to sip on her tea. “Do you think you can answer a few more questions?”

“Sure.”

“None of you reported it?”

“No. Someone from one of the houses must have called in the crash because the ambulance and fire engines were there quickly. At least we assumed that’s where they were going.”

“And I assume none of you ever told anyone.”

“I don’t think so. I know I didn’t. We drove back to my house and everyone came inside. We all sat down and Barney said, ‘We need a plan.’ It’s the only time I ever saw him take charge. He started telling everyone what to do and everyone just followed along. He made Scottie and me members of the Route 66 gang, and we swore to never say anything about what had happened. We cleaned up the house and put all the empty bottles in Craig’s trunk. He was to dispose of the dummy and the bottles on his way home. The gang agreed that we would forever be bound by the evening’s events but we’d never operate as a gang again. We would for the most part go our separate ways.”

“So you broke up with Rob?”

“He didn’t want to, but I couldn’t be around him without talking about it. I could hardly live with myself. Everything changed after that. I couldn’t concentrate on my studies. I didn’t want to be with any of my friends. I wouldn’t get close enough to anyone for fear I would be compelled to confide in someone.”

“What about Scott?”

“Everyone was worried that he might talk, so Craig went up to his room before he left and talked with him. When he came back down, Craig seemed confident that he wouldn’t say anything. To tell you the truth, I think he threatened him.”

“Did Scott ever say anything to you about it?”

“Nope, not a word. Nor did I to him. Looking back, I realize what a horrible disservice I did to my little brother. I wanted to talk to him sometimes but I didn’t know what to say. And I had started consuming a lot of alcohol to drown out my memories. I would hear him crying himself to sleep at night, and that just made me drink more. It totally ruined Scottie. He was such a sweet little boy, but after that night he was never the same. He didn’t smile much. Heck, he hardly even spoke for a year. My parents could see there was something wrong, but they thought it was just a phase. Then his behavior became much worse. He started smoking and stealing and skipping school. By the time he was eleven, Scottie had become a full-fledged delinquent. By the age of thirteen, he was a drug addict.”

“Were you still at home?”

“No. I was in the convent by then. I moved as far away from Fontana as I could. But I’d receive letters from home. My mother always wrote that everything was fine. She never mentioned any of Scottie’s problems, but my cousin, Yvonne, would tell me everything he was into and I would just pray for him.”

“Was he ever into a cult or devil worship or anything like that?”

Maryanne shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of. He didn’t really believe in much of anything. But who knows what he was into later.”

“Did you ever hear what happened to Barney?”

“No. I know he always wanted to go back to San Diego where his mother was living, but I don’t know if he did. His parents were divorced and I think he lived here with his dad, but I’m not even certain of that.”

Silence ensued for several minutes. Finally JP said, “Did you ever think about reporting it all to the authorities?”

“Every day for the last thirty-five years, but I never knew what good it would do or how many lives it would destroy. I know it ruined a lot of lives anyway, but after some time had passed what was the point? We could’ve all been sent to prison, but I think we were punished enough. I think God’s punishment for me has been the agony I’ve suffered just knowing what we did. He directed me to the convent, where I’ve been able to atone for my sins by helping others. I believe that’s what I was meant to do. If telling you helps save that young girl then I’m glad I did, even if it means I have to pay my debt to society in prison.”

JP thanked her for sharing her story. “By the way, do you know anything about a 1948 Plymouth that belonged to old man Cavitt?”

“The car Roger had in high school?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Rob always wanted that car, but his dad wouldn’t let him have it even after Roger was killed in Vietnam. But apparently he took possession of it after his dad died. Yvonne wrote that she saw Rob driving it around town the summer after I left.”

43

Bob looked over Sabre’s shoulder as she flipped through the computer screen pages of The Eagle, a local Inland Empire newspaper dated September 11, 1976. The front page carried the story with a large photo of a smashed 1976 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL.

Eighteen-year-old April Baker met an untimely death when she crashed her birthday present, a brand new Mercedes-Benz 450 SL convertible, on Highland Ave. at approximately 12:45 this morning. She had owned the car for less than six hours when it flipped over and pinned her to the ground, nearly severing her torso. Her parents presented her with the car at her birthday party at the El Rancho Verde Country Club in Rialto, Ca.

The cause of the accident is unknown, but there is no indication that another car was involved in the crash, nor was there any evidence of drugs or alcohol.

“She met an untimely death,” Bob said. “I love the way reporters always say that. What exactly is a timely death? Is that when a death is scheduled? So if someone is murdered exactly when someone plans it, does that make it timely?”

Sabre smiled. “You’re a nut.”

Bob walked around to the other side of Sabre’s desk. He picked up the hourglass and examined it.

Sabre looked at the article again. “My God, she was only eighteen years old,” Sabre said. She printed the article and placed it in the Lecy file. “But what does it all mean? And does it tie in with the ‘Devil House?’”

Just then JP walked through the doorway. He stopped and leaned against the wall. “I’ve been asking myself that same question ever since I left Fontana yesterday.”

“So, did you come up with anything?” Sabre asked.

“Maybe. I’m thinking, what could a loser like Scott Jamison have in common with a doctor? A loser like Dr. Ric Cavitt?”

“You mean other than that they’re both losers?” Bob asked. He turned the hourglass over and watched the sand start to trickle down.

“Yes, other than that?” JP said.

“They had a dreadful past in common,” Sabre said.

“Yes, and that past gave Scott the ammunition to blackmail the doctor. I assume he wanted drugs, or money to buy drugs,” JP said.

“And when he asked for too much, the doctor killed him?” Sabre said.

“Maybe,” JP said.

“But does it have anything to do with the ‘Devil House’? There was no evidence of drug activity there. What’s with the animal blood? Or sacrifices? And let’s assume Scott was blackmailing the doctor. Was it for drugs or money?”