The Advocate - 03 - The Advocate's Conviction

by Teresa Burrell

  The funeral service was very impersonal. There was no eulogy, and at the conclusion the priest incensed the coffin and sprinkled it with holy water. He then walked over to the woman, touched her on the forehead, and said, “God bless you, my child.” The woman stayed behind after the priest left and continued praying. JP waited for a while and then decided to go stand at the back of the church.

  The woman remained on her knees for nearly fifteen minutes longer before she finally stood up and walked toward JP. When she reached him, she looked back at the altar and said, “It was once so beautiful in here. I remember coming here as a child. I thought St. Joseph’s was the most beautiful church in the world. The candles were always glowing. There was lots of gold on a remarkable altar, and the way the sun would light up the stained glass windows all along both sides of the church just brought it to life.” She paused. “Now it’s just … another church.”

  JP opened the door for her and followed her out. He reached out his hand to shake hers. “I’m JP.”

  She reciprocated but her shake was very light; it barely squeezed his hand. “Sister Mary Agnes.”

  “Formerly Maryanne Miconi?”

  She looked surprised. “Yes, do I know you?”

  “No, but I hope you’ll give me a few minutes of your time. I know it’s not the best time to be doing this, but you may be able to save the life of a fourteen-year-old girl.” JP realized he was being a little dramatic, but the truth was that Bailey could be in danger, especially if she knew who killed Scott. “I’m a private investigator. I work for an attorney who represents a young girl who may know how your brother died.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  JP looked around. He felt very uncomfortable interrupting her grieving time. “Are you going to Scott’s gravesite?”

  “No. I’m finished here. I’ve done all I can except for my future prayers, which I will continue to say for him as I have for the past thirty years.” She looked up at JP. “Come, we can go into the hall and have a cup of tea.”

  He followed her inside. There was a little table with two glass coffee pots sitting on the burners. One held coffee, the other hot water. “They had a class in here earlier, but there won’t be another one for an hour or so,” she said. She fixed herself a cup of tea while JP poured his own coffee. Then they sat down on metal chairs in front of a folding table.

  JP began. “Sister, I really appreciate this. Again, I apologize for the timing.” He realized how uneasy he felt questioning a nun.

  “It’s okay. I can use the distraction, but somehow I don’t think I’m really going to like what I hear. It’s about Scott, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, of sorts. It’s about how and why he was murdered. I’d like you to tell me what you know about Ric Cavitt.”

  “Do you think Ric killed him?” She asked with little surprise in her voice.

  “I don’t know, but I do know they were involved in some rather unusual dealings in San Diego. And our client, the young girl I spoke of, knows more than she’s telling. Now she’s in hiding and I need to figure this out before it’s too late. And we have reason to believe a baby may be in danger as well. Can you start by telling me what the relationship was between Scott and Ric Cavitt?”

  “I hadn’t seen Scott in many years. I know he was involved with drugs and some petty criminal activities, but I didn’t know he had any contact with Ric.”

  JP thought she seemed either hesitant to explain or didn’t know where to begin. He decided to lay it out for her. “This is what I know. I know that Dr. Ric Cavitt and your brother were involved with a place the news reporters are referring to as the ‘Devil House.’ It’s a house that was filmed and provided to the media. It had a hospital bed with a circle around it in blood, albeit animal blood. A huge tree was painted on the wall along with the numbers 66. A couple of pig hearts were found on the premises. There are juvenile cases of ritual abuse popping up all over the city, and I can’t help but think Ric and Scott were involved with those cases. Our client, Bailey, has a DVD of Scott and Dr. Ric at the ‘Devil House.’ She has another disc that I have reason to believe includes others or is more incriminating, but I don’t know for sure what’s on it. Bailey, the fourteen-year-old girl is involved because her mother was living with Scott and he was supplying the mother with drugs.”

  Maryanne shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What I don’t know is just how Scott and Dr. Ric were connected or who else was involved, but I believe whatever they’re involved in all leads back to Fontana. I realize Scott was a lot younger than Ric, but I can’t shake the feeling that it had something to do with whatever happened to Ric, Rob, Craig, Barney, and you in high school.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “I know that something awful happened the first weekend of school. Something so awful it broke you and Rob up and sent you into a downhill spiral; it made you extremely worried about your little brother; it ruined your friendships; and it affected the relationship of two very close brothers.”

  Maryanne stood up, walked to the coffee pot, and poured more hot water into her cup. She returned to the table and sat down. “I’m not sure how it’ll help, but I’ll tell you what happened. I’ve never told anyone before except once in confession. They say confession is good for the soul, but when I confessed it didn’t make me feel any better. I’ve lived with this sin all my life, but perhaps this information will help that young girl and give me a little peace.”

  42

  Maryanne took a deep breath and then started her story. “They called themselves the Route 66 gang. It wasn’t really a gang, but they liked the way it sounded. There were four of them—Rob and Ric Cavitt, Craig McGill, and Barney Fife.”

  “Barney Fife?”

  “Fife wasn’t his real name. I’m not even sure Barney was. That’s what they always called him because he was tall and thin and clumsy. He was smart as a whip, but didn’t have much common sense. I’m quite sure he wouldn’t have been part of the group if he hadn’t been Craig’s cousin. He was just so odd. The four of them did everything together.”

  “Who was the leader?”

  “It’s hard to say. Rob and Craig were star quarterbacks and used to having the attention and calling the shots, but sometimes Craig would go over the line. Barney was the brains, and Ric was there because Rob wouldn’t have it any other way. Rob was the muscle. He wouldn’t back down to anyone.”

  “Even his father?” JP asked.

  “You know about that?”

  “I know his father was abusive.”

  “Rob never wanted to leave Ric behind because he knew his father would mistreat him. The older Rob got, the more he was able to defend himself, but Ric couldn’t so Rob had to do it for him.” Maryanne looked pensive. “Anyway, when I first started dating Rob he spent a lot of time with me, but he soon went back to hanging more with the Route 66 gang and I’d see him on Friday nights. We hung out at school all week and I never missed his games, but he spent the rest of the weekend with his group. He’d try to make it sound like he needed time with his buddies, but I think it was about protecting Ric.”

  “Did you ever go anywhere with the gang?”

  “A few times, but the other boys didn’t have steady girlfriends so I didn’t fit in very well. I don’t think Ric or Barney ever had a girlfriend and Craig was a player; he was with a different girl every week. So, it was fine with me. I was involved in a lot of school activities and trying to maintain an ‘A’ average.”

  “So why were you with them on that particular weekend when ‘whatever’ happened?”

  “It was the end of our first week of school. My parents were out of town for the weekend and they left Scottie with me. Rob had a scrimmage on Saturday afternoon so I took Scottie with me to watch it. He was eight years old at the time and loved to tag along with us. He thought Rob was ‘rad.’ He really looked up to him. In fact, Scottie thought all those boys were cool, and that night they treated him like their little masco
t. Craig even gave him a Route 66 sticker.”

  “So the other boys were at the scrimmage?”

  “Ric was. He sat with us. The plan was for Rob to come to my house after the game, but Craig and Barney showed up in the last quarter. Craig was angry because Rialto had lost their scrimmage. He was complaining about how his defense had let him down. He had been sacked several times and he wasn’t happy about it. Anyway, I took Scottie and left and Rob was to come along shortly. We were going to have a movie night, eat popcorn, and watch Scottie.”

  “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 ar
ound 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?”