Screaming to Get Out & Other Wailings of the Damned
Page 23
HARRIS: Tell me about tonight. You stated earlier that you decided to drive by to see how your daughter was doing. Did you do this with the intention of actually paying her a visit?
HENRY: In my mind, yes...I wanted to eventually muster the nerve to knock on her door and speak to her. Apologize. The last time we spoke there were...bad words between us.
HARRIS: So two nights ago you and your wife drove to her house in Lititz. Correct?
HENRY: Yes.
HARRIS: And what did you see? Did you observe anything unusual?
HENRY: I parked across the street, three doors down. Ella Beth was...well, you see how she is tonight. She was that way two nights ago, too. Wanted to march over to Mary Beth’s and knock on the door and speak some sense into her. I talked her out of it. Persuaded her we had to take this slowly. Our first concern was to get an idea of how she was doing. So we’re sitting there in our car talking about this, and that’s when this other car pulls up across the street, almost diagonally across from us.
HARRIS: Can you describe this vehicle?
HENRY: It was a Toyota Corolla. A recent model. Very nice. It had those big wheels. You know...the kind kids like?
HARRIS: Wide rims?
HENRY: Yes.
HARRIS: Did you see the occupants?
HENRY: Not at first. Their windows were rolled up. But I could hear they were playing that rap music? The music was...well, it wasn’t that loud, but the beat...it was so deep and heavy that you could almost feel it.
HARRIS: Did you get a look at the occupants?
HENRY: Not at first. Our main focus was on the house. Ella and I watched the house and we noticed Mary Beth was home. The light was on in the living room and the dining room. Both overlook the front of the building. We couldn’t see anybody inside. The curtains were drawn over the windows, but we could tell she was there. Her car was parked at the curb outside.
HARRIS: How long did you sit in the car?
HENRY: About ten minutes.
HARRIS: Was the other car still parked across the street?
HENRY: It was. A few other cars drove by. There was a pedestrian or two. It looked...well, it seemed pretty normal.
HARRIS: You eventually did get a look at the occupants of the Toyota though, correct?
HENRY: I did. I’m not sure Ella Beth did. And I only got a look at the driver. When the car pulled away, the window came down and the driver leaned his elbow out. He didn’t look at me as the car drove past. I could tell there was a guy in the passenger seat. If there were people in the backseat, I didn’t see them.
HARRIS: But there was definitely a passenger?
HENRY: Yes, there was, but I didn’t get a good look at his face. I did get a pretty good look at the driver.
(There is a sound of paper being shuffled across the table).
HARRIS: Take a good look at the men in these photos. Do you recognize any of them?
(There are two minutes of silence on the tape)
HENRY: This one.
(A tapping sound is heard on the tape)
HENRY: I’m almost positive this is the guy that was driving the car.
HARRIS: You sure?
HENRY: Absolutely.
HARRIS: What about the other men in these photos? Have you ever seen them?
(There are twenty seconds of silence on the tape)
HENRY: No....no, I haven’t.
HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Martin. You’ve been a great help.
HENRY: I wish none of this had happened. This has upset Ella Beth so much.
HARRIS: Your wife’s relationship with your daughter has really been affected by her relationship with Victor Collins, has it?
HENRY: It has. But it has become more than that now. She and Mary Beth have grown apart in so many ways. She thinks our Mary Beth...has changed.
HARRIS: Changed how, Mr. Martin?
(There are ten seconds of silence on the tape)
HENRY: Into something that isn’t...isn’t natural...
The following is an excerpted transcription from the tape-recorded statement of murder suspect Charles Douglas (A.K.A. “Top Hat”), labeled as Suspect #1. It was taken April 9, 2010 in Interrogation Room #1 at the Lancaster City Police Department. Present are Detective Julie Mowry, Shield #E5876, and Detective Paul Harris, Shield # E8965, both from the Homicide Division.
HARRIS: Let’s get one thing straight here. Your drug test came back as inconclusive. The lab technician believes it veers very close to negative, but we’re going to run more tests to confirm it.
TOP HAT: If you think I was flying on crack, you’re whacked!
HARRIS: Can you blame us? I mean...look at your past, especially your arrest last year.
TOP HAT: I told you, I’m clean!
HARRIS: So you say. But when we look at tonight’s events, which include you hallucinating during the crime scene and then shooting at the homeowners—emptying the entire clip of a Glock 9 mm handgun...well, that speaks volumes.
TOP HAT: Wasn’t no hallucinations.
HARRIS: I don’t know, Top Hat. Sounds like they were hallucinations to me. I mean, last year you saw ghosts and zombies parade down Lime Street. Two years ago you were being chased by a giant purple bunny in downtown York and you were wearing diapers when that happened. Your rap sheet is filled with drug-related offenses, everything from being under the influence of crack and PCP, to selling the stuff.
TOP HAT: I told you I wasn’t on no shit!
MOWRY: What say we take him at his word, Detective Harris. We’ll just have him lead us through what happened, settle this whole thing right now.
HARRIS: I can abide by that. How ‘bout it, Top Hat? You willing to revisit the scene of the crime and tell us what happened?
TOP HAT: You ain’t goan make me go back there, are you?
HARRIS: There’s no need to do that unless you don’t tell us exactly what happened.
TOP HAT: I’ll tell you exactly what happened. There was some fucked up shit in that house and I ain’t never seen nothin’ like it!
MOWRY: You’ve already stated that you went to the residence with the intention of robbing the victims, that you had no intention of hurting or killing anybody. Yet when you and Dose went upstairs to hold the homeowner’s hostage, you shot them in one of the bedrooms. Why?
(There are fifteen seconds of silence on the tape)
TOP HAT: When we hit the second floor I went right for the back bedroom. That’s where the master was, and I seen the light go off when we was waitin’ outside. Dose and me, that was our strategy. He hits the first bedroom, I hit the master and hold the people there while he makes sure nobody else is upstairs, then he goes through the rooms real quick and ganks shit. So...I bust the door open and at first I don’t see shit ‘cause its dark, but I make out somebody’s in the bed, know what I’m sayin? I yell, ‘freeze mothafucka!’ That’s when I see...when I see...
(Charles Williams’s voice become shaky)
TOP HAT: ...it’s just like this big giant shape in the bed.
MOWRY: A shape?
TOP HAT: It’s like a shape. Like a blob or some shit.
HARRIS: Do you think the lack of sufficient lighting simply blurred your perception of things?
TOP HAT: Nuh uh. No way. Light was on in the hallway, and when I opened the door I could see in there. There was a fucking blob in the bed and it was...ah shit man, it sounds crazy but I swear to God it happened!
HARRIS: Just tell us. In your own words, tell us what happened.
TOP HAT: I don’t know man....maybe I need a lawyer or somethin’.
MOWRY: You think you need a lawyer?
TOP HAT: I don’t know!
(There are ten seconds of sobbing).
MOWRY: This can all be cleared up if you simply tell us your version of what happened.
TOP HAT: I don’t know man...I shot them, I know I did, but...
MOWRY: But what, Charles?
(There is more sobbing for approximately ten seconds. When Charles r
esumes his testimony, his voice verges on hysterics)
TOP HAT: ...she was a mummy...
HARRIS: She what?
(Charles’ voice becomes a frustrated yell)
TOP HAT: That white bitch! She looked dead! She was all fucked up, all shriveled up an’ shit.
HARRIS: But you saw her earlier that evening, correct? According to your friend Louis, you watched her come home earlier that evening.
TOP HAT: Fuck yeah, we seen her!
MOWRY: And how’d she look then?
TOP HAT: She looked....she looked...you must think I’m fucking insane, dog.
HARRIS: No. A lot of shit happened in a small amount of time. It was an intense moment. The mind can play tricks on you in stressful situations.
(The sound of Charles sighing on the tape)
TOP HAT: I know what I fucking saw.
HARRIS: You saw a blob. And you saw a thin woman who looked like a mummy.
TOP HAT: Yeah. It was a blob. It’s the only way I can describe it.
HARRIS: What was it doing?
TOP HAT: It was....it was like it was attached to the lady on the bed. And it was...breathing.
MOWRY: Was it under the blankets?
TOP HAT: No. The blob and the lady were on top of the sheets.
HARRIS: And the blob was breathing?
TOP HAT: It was like the whole damn thing was just moving...like there was water underneath, moving around inside of it.
HARRIS: Pulsating maybe?
TOP HAT: Yeah, like that.
HARRIS: And it was attached to the woman?
TOP HAT: It was attached to her and she was...all shriveled up and shit. It reminded me of one of those things that look like slugs that attach themselves to you and suck your blood. You know...like a leech. And it stank in there. Smelled like something dead.
MOWRY: You took this all in as you stepped into the room, correct?
TOP HAT: Yeah.
MOWRY: What happened next?
TOP HAT: I was like, ‘what the fuck is this?’ I start yellin’ and shit ‘cause I thought my mind was like, you know, playin’ tricks on me. I know I wasn’t flyin’ on any shit. I’m straight with you on that. Haven’t smoked no rock or sherms in two months. I been stayin’ away from that shit, you know I’m sayin’? This shit on the bed, this...blob creature thing, I’m thinking it’s a trick of the lights. So I go, ‘get the fuck up, you cracker ass muthafuckers, get up now!’ And I walk over and I’m about to stick the barrel of my nine in someone’s back when that shit start...what’s that word you used? Pulsating?
MOWRY: The blob started pulsating?
TOP HAT: Yeah. That shit started pulsating real fast. Like I woke it up or somethin’.
MOWRY: Then what?
TOP HAT: Freaked me right the fuck out. I almost squeezed off a shot. That’s when I saw the face.
MOWRY: Whose face?
TOP HAT: I don’t know! It was...ah fuck man, this is crazy an shit but...
MOWRY: Go ahead.
TOP HAT: It was like a face came out of the blob thing...some guy’s....I don’t know who it was. And then it...changed to another face...a woman’s face and then...
(There are several deep sighs).
HARRIS: It’s okay.
TOP HAT: The woman’s face....she...she smiled at me. Bitch looked at me and fuckin’ smiled at me!
HARRIS: She smiled at you?
TOP HAT: I know it sounds crazy, but the bitch smiled at me!
HARRIS: What kind of smile was it? Happy? Like it was all a joke?
TOP HAT: Nah, wan’t like that, dog. It was the kind of smile a ‘ho gives you when she wants to fuck you.
(There is the sound of shuffling papers)
MOWRY: I’m going to show you some pictures, Charles. I want to know what the woman looks like. Can you do that for me?
TOP HAT: Yeah. I can do that.
MOWRY: Good. Can you look at these pictures? Give them all a good look.
(There is silence for a minute)
TOP HAT (excited yet fearful tone of voice): That’s it! That’s the fuckin’ bitch right there! Fuckin’ bitch smiled at me!
HARRIS: Is that when you shot them?
TOP HAT: Yeah. I know I at least shot the blob. I saw shit spray up as I shot at it. I emptied my clip. I was...I was terrified man!
THEY WERE WAITING for Detective Harris. They stood up as he entered the lobby and Paul noticed, not for the first time, that they were a striking couple. Victor was tall, with a lean build and GQ handsome looks. Mary Beth was dressed casually in a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a white T-shirt, her shoulder-length auburn hair tied in a pony tail. Top Hat must’ve been on some powerful stuff to think she resembled an emaciated mummy. When they first arrived at the station they’d looked worried, stressed, scared. Now they simply looked tired.
“Come on back to my office,” Paul said. “And we’ll talk.”
Paul led them past the bullpen and a corridor of closed doors with frosted glass windows. The station was quiet, as it usually was this early in the morning. With the suspects now safely behind bars at Lancaster County Prison, and only a skeleton crew of officers and detectives on duty, the station seemed quiet and empty. Paul entered his office, motioned to a pair of worn chairs in front of his desk, and seated himself across from them. He slapped the case file containing the initial crime scene reports and the audiotapes of the suspect interrogations on the desk. “How are you doing?”
“Tired,” Victor answered. “But better.”
Mary Beth nodded. She looked more worn out than her boyfriend, and Paul noted the deep lines in her face. Despite the weariness etched in her face, she was a striking woman. Beautiful even.
“You’re both very lucky,” Paul resumed. “The drug test we ran on all the suspects came back negative except for Mr. Williams. It came back as inclusive, so we’re running more tests.”
“Was that why they broke into our place?” Victor asked, frowning. “Drug money?”
Paul looked at him and nodded. The moment he’d laid eyes on Mary Beth, he told himself he was going to keep what the suspects told him about shooting the blob-thing to himself. He was of the opinion Mr. Williams had hallucinated that part anyway. As for Dose, well Dose had been running on pure adrenaline fear. “It’s possible they’re part of a loose crew that have been involved in a number of home invasions across the county for the last two months. Rather than stick to the city, they’ve been venturing into the country, where people still leave their doors unlocked and still have a modicum of trust in each other. Like I said, you’re both very lucky.”
“They never killed anybody before tonight though, right?”
“No,” Paul shook his head. “They haven’t. Those shots Mr. Williams fired at you went completely wild, but two of them hit the woman who lives in the home behind yours. A Ms. Sandra Beechner. She was killed instantly.”