The Ghost

by H. Berkeley Rourke

  Sherry, crying, sobbing, leaking from her nose, her eyes, her mouth, could do nothing but breathe and emote. She felt as though she was being crushed by the weight of the entire situation. My God, how could Marilyn be dead? My God how could those fucking cops have beaten me up? Christ all we wanted to do was report a rape and get Marilyn some help. She sobbed out those words again and again. Jeanne decided she could get nothing from Sherry then and left, saying to Sherry, "I am going to come back later. I hope you feel better by then. I need your help badly."

  Scalian University, though not titled as a sectarian school, emphasized Roman Catholicism amongst its students. It offered classes designed to teach the "catechisms" to those of the uninitiated and offered Roman Catholic history classes as well.Though there was no "requirement" an entrant be Roman Catholic by religion it was understood among the students it was indeed a "Catholic" school.

  The president, all the members of the regents of the foundation endowing the university, all the administrative staff and officers were members of the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the professors of the university were also Catholics. There were no ubiquitous priests or nuns. None of the professors were priests. But no one attending there had any doubt about the religious affiliation of the university.

  The university was widely known as a conservative bastion politically. It was also known to most women who applied there it was an extremely conservative school in respect to dating practices. It had a dress code it enforced rigidly. No short shorts or skirts were allowed in classes. No deep V looks at the breasts were permitted. The practices of the various fraternities and sororities which were permitted status on the campus were very tightly controlled.

  Drinking parties were frowned on. Loud, raucous frat parties were not permitted. They would result in many being taken to the campus police station to be admonished if not placed in holding cells overnight.Punishment for a variety of rules enforced by the administration could result in fines, enforced physical activities like laps around the football field or even suspension for a semester. The ultimate form of punishment, of course, was expulsion.

  Jim Whalen, just a lieutenant in the Campus Police Department, called his boss right away after sending Jason off with thetwo women. Jim started to think he had done the wrong thing but decided it was too late to change course. He told his boss, the Chief of the Campus Police Department, Wayne Reckers, he had sent the girls to St. Thomas Hospital and asked what else he should do. Wayne gave him the name of an administrative VP who was supposed to be contacted in any case of rape.

  The chief, as Jim was calling the VP, was calling the president of the university to report the rape and seek further instructions. The president was not happy about being awakened from a sound sleep and made his unrest clear by saying, "What the hell is so important you had to call me this early?"

  "We have had an incident last evening Mr. President. Another rape has been alleged. The girl and her friend were treated rather badly by a sergeant at the station and the two of them are on their way to the emergency room at St. Thomas's Hospital in Phoenix as we speak. I thought you should know."

  "How many other people are aware of this situation?" the president asked.

  "My Lieutenant, Jim Whalen, myself of course, a patrol officer, Jason Montague and the sergeant. But the sergeant has left the office after throwing his badge and gun at the lieutenant and walking out of the station. We have no idea where he is. He apparently 'maced' and beat the hell out of one of the girls and left another who had been raped sit in a cell to bleed while she was cuffed up. Apparently one of them started to call him names because he was less than sympathetic to the notion of the one girl being raped. He overreacted and now it might break wide open."

  The president thought for a moment and then said, "No one else learns of this at all, other than my administrative staff, am I perfectly clear?"

  "Yes sir."

  "I have a friend at St. Thomas’ Hospital who will help us. Shut this thing down; I don't care what else happens tonight, shut it down."

  The president called on his administrative assistant and asked, "Where does the girl who allegedly was raped live?"

  "The Antonia Dormitory sir. I took the liberty of looking at her records. I thought you might be wanting to know something more about her."

  "What kind of student is she?"

  "She has all A's but for one class in which she made a B in the first semester. I have not contacted her professors to see how she is doing at the moment."

  "Do check it out later this morning. Right now I want you to go to her dorm with Wayne Reckers and his Lieutenant Jim Whalen. Go to her dorm room. I want a complete search of the room done in a very careful way so it will not be known you were there. Go now. I cannot tell you what to look for but if it were me I would look for any evidence of a rape or partying, any drugs, anything showing she might have been drinking for example. Do not let the dorm mother go into the room with you. She is to remain out of the picture except as to any information she may have about the girl. Let Jim Whalen talk to her while you and Wayne do the search. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Yes sir. Your name will not be mentioned. This is an honor code situation as far as anyone will know. We will take things slowly and carefully, believe me."

  The president of the University, from a long family of academics, from a long succession of men who were deeply involved in the administration of universities, was deeply disturbed by the situation he encountered. He knew many rapes had occurred on the campus and this was just the most recent. His campus police had not been able to develop any sense of who was doing these horribly violent acts. He would make sure the reputation of Scalian would not be besmirched by this series of events. He would see that the University was protected at all costs. He had prior experience with doing the same thing. He did not want to think about his prior experiences. It was too early in the morning.

  After talking to his administrative V.P. he called the hospital. He knew many of the staff there extremely well. One of those he knew personally was in charge of the trauma center at the moment. Manny Freeman answered his call right away, saying, "I thought I might be hearing from you tonight Jeff."

  "Why did you think so Manny?"

  "We had a young girl die here tonight Jeff. We were told she had been raped. It is clear she was beaten and it is clear from the vaginal bleeding she was probably raped as well. But what killed her we are not quite sure of yet. She is in our autopsy suite as we speak. I had to get one of my post docs out of bed to do the examination on her right away. Wait a minute Jeff. I think my assistant who attended the autopsy is calling me on my cell. Let me call you back in a few."

  As Jefferson Wells waited for the call back from Manny Freeman he received a call from his V.P., James Preston. James told him the dorm mother had kept notes indicating the girl appeared to be drunk. The notes indicated when the girl staggered into the dorm and up the stairs, bouncing off both walls she looked like she was drunk. James also told the president the only evidence of rape which could be found in the room of the two girls was a blood soiled pair of panties and shorts discarded in the bathroom of the dorm room. Wells told Preston to have the shorts and any other clothing laying on the floor of the bathroom, or which appeared to be bloodied, taken and destroyed. Preston accomplished those things following the phone conversation between he and the president.

  Jim Whalen was asked by Preston to take care of the clothing. Jason Montague had arrived back from the hospital. He was the lowest man on the totem pole in the group at the scene. He took the clothing and discarded it in dumpsters off campus as he was ordered. Jason was well aware of the wrong he was doing in discarding the clothing. He knew the clothing might contain evidence. He didn't think anyone would find out what he was doing. He followed orders. It was a simple matter to him. He did what he was told and there was an end to the entire matter.

  When Manny Freeman called Jefferson Wells back it was with very bad news. Freeman said, after g
reeting Jeff, "The girl died of a heart tamponade of sorts.It appears she has been beaten very severely, probably kicked in the ribs area and a rib was broken, or maybe she fell. The rib impinged on an artery to a slight degree and compressed against the artery.The artery leaked into the pleural space around the left lung and heart. The blood was what stopped her heart, the blood and shock, were the most likely causes of death."

  Jeff described how the girl had been held in the Campus Police Department for an indeterminate period of time. He told Manny he was worried the detention might have contributed to the bleeding to such a degree the girl could never have survived. "What will happen to the notes of the doctor who performed the autopsy Manny?" was the initial question asked by Jefferson Wells, and then he asked as a follow up question, "Will there be an autopsy report prepared?"

  "Yes, there will be an autopsy report done. The usual conclusion as a result of an autopsy in this kind of case according to the post doc would be a finding of homicide as the manner of death and blunt force trauma the cause of death. But in conversation with the autopsy doc a few minutes ago she told me that she could not be certain the girl was beaten. It appeared to the doc the girl might even have suffered from a fall down a flight of stairs for example. The doc and I agreed the manner of death, therefore, is inconclusive and will be stated as such in the report. There will be no speculation on what caused the injuries she suffered."

  "Was the girl drinking?", Jeff asked.

  "There were no signs of alcohol as a contributor to the circumstances but the doc said it didn't necessarily mean she was not under the influence of some kind of drug. So the doc sent a sample of her blood to the Arizona State Highway Patrol Labs for analysis as to contents of any forms of drug."

  "How long will it take for the results of the blood testing to be done Manny?"

  "The doc says she does not know. She said to me the backlog of testing there is substantial and it might take at least a month if no pressure is put on the lab to finish the tests."

  "Who would be the most likely to pressure the lab normally, Manny?"

  "Well the conclusion of the post doc was if a homicide was involved it would be the police department. But without any indication of foul play they will be likely to let this one go pretty fast."

  "Has the police department sent anyone to check up on this girl yet Manny?"

  "Not of which I am aware but it could have changed in the last few minutes while we have been talking. I will look into it and see what is going on there if anything."

  "Please keep me informed if you will my old friend. By the way how is your golf game coming along since we were able to arrange for you to have a membership at Phoenix Country Club?"

  Manny replied he had just been about to thank Jeff for the membership and said "I think I am ready for you Jeff. And I would love to have you come over and play a round with me soon."

  Jeff said to Manny in concluding the conversation, "Can I count on you to help me with the press on this thing Manny? Since there is no real evidence which is not equivocal as to foul play can I ask you to say so to the press?"

  "Sure, Jeff, I'll be happy to tell them there was no foul play if asked and I will see to it the death of the girl is announced as an equivocal death without sufficient evidence to warrant a finding of homicide. Since it is what the autopsy report will say no one will be able to say differently. Sure Jeff, I will make sure it comes out as we have discussed."

  "Okay then Manny, I will try to get a time arranged for next week for a game. And we will have our usual Nassau bet on I guess?"

  "Careful Jeff, my game is improving. You might want to lower the value of the bet a little to see whether I am that much better."

  "Oh hell Manny I can take you no matter. We will keep it at the usual $100.00 Nassau." The third rape of Marilyn and the second of Sherry continued.

  Chapter 2

  The Investigation Begins

  Late in the afternoon of the first day after the rape of Marilyn Cummings, the girl's body was turned over by the hospital to her parents. They had been notified of her death by the hospital family services. She was taken to one of the city's finest funeral homes right away. A service for her was set for some days down the road on a Sunday evening. She was buried on Monday morning, five days after being raped and beaten, in the Greenlawn Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix, a beautiful final resting place for a beautiful young girl whose life ended tragically, and far too soon.

  The obituary in the Phoenix newspapers was brief. It did not mention the horrors of Marilyn being brutally beaten and raped. It did not mention an autopsy had been done on her. The autopsy findings were not completely typed and placed into the hospital records until nearly two weeks after Marilyn was buried. When Jeanne de Leon asked about an autopsy she was sent to the office of Manny Freeman. He met with her in the morning a day or so after speaking with Jefferson Wells. She asked if an autopsy had been done. He said there had been an autopsy but the findings were not released yet. She asked what the findings indicated and he told her it was an inconclusive result. She was confused because her friend Nan Germanne had made it sound as though the girl was nearly killed by being beaten by a cop.

  When Jeanne left Manny's office she went directly to see Sherry in the ward room Sherry was still occupying at St. Thomas' Hospital. Sherry was much better, though still angry toward cops. At least she was not crying constantly. When Jeanne asked her what had happened Sherry described the entire situation in detail. Jeanne was taken aback by many of the comments Sherry made.

  What Sherry related was so terribly critical of the Campus Police it shocked Jeanne. But Sherry said, in part of the discussion they were having, "Here, here are the keys to my dorm room. I give you permission to go there and search the room if you want. Marilyn's shorts and her panties are still laying on the floor of the room, covered in blood.The place is a mess but go, please go and get her stuff if it will help you."

  Jeanne de Leon had a reputation with Phoenix P.D. of being something of a bulldog in investigations. She was thorough, quick and facile. She was, before moving into the homicide division at the insistence of her Captain, Will Atherton, a sex crimes investigator. Jeanne's older sister, Ramona, had been brutally raped and killed. Jeanne saw sex crimes investigation as a way to help make up for the wrong done to her sister. But when homicide was offered to her she could not pass up the opportunity.

  Jeanne de Leon was one of the first women in the Phoenix P.D. to be of Latina, in part, background. Her father had been born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Her father had crossed the border without documents and had worked in many capacities in the U.S. He finally found his lifetime position working on a country club golf course in North Scottsdale, Arizona as a maintenance man. In his job at the country club he made good money. They liked him there. He applied for and received citizenship in the U.S. Jeanne’s mother was born and raised in an Irish Catholic family which had come to Arizona from the Boston area in the 1950's. Jeanne’s mother and father met in church, courted for many months and married young. Jeanne's complexion told of her Latina background. Ramona, on the other hand, had been almost albino in coloration. Both Jeanne and Ramona possessed a fiery spirit. In part her spirit was what made her a bulldog as an investigator.

  Leaving the hospital Jeanne did exactly as Sherry had suggested and did it right away, in fact. She drove straight from the hospital to the Scalian University Campus. Since it was an open campus and she was going into a dorm room with the permission of the occupant she felt no need to warn the Campus Police or anyone else she was coming. She did not. She went directly to Sherry and Marilyn’s room and opened the door with the key Sherry had given her.

  Jeanne expected to see a bit of a mess. Actually the room was super clean. Nothing was on the floor. There were no bloody clothes anywhere. In fact, there was no blood anywhere. But it had been there. She could smell it. She could also smell the disinfectant which had been used to clean the place. As she was just about to leave she was b
ecoming highly pissed off. A cover up had been initiated and it was plainly evident to her.

  The first anyone knew of her being there was when the dorm mother happened to walk by the open door to Sherry and Marilyn's room as Jeanne searched through it."What the hell are you doing,” demanded the dorm mother.

  Jeanne replied, showing her badge, "I am conducting a search with the consent of one of the occupants. You know Sherry I take it."

  "What of it?"

  "What happened to Marilyn Cummings, her roommate, the other night?"

  "Nothing I am aware of."

  "You mean to say you don't know she was raped?"

  "No one has told me Marilyn was raped, and I saw her early the next morning. She did not look like she was anything but drunk frankly.""What made you think the girl had been drinking?"

  "She was staggering all over the place. She banged off the walls of the staircase several times as she went up the stairs. I even made a note of it in my log because I thought she was drunk."

  "Are you aware she is dead?"

  The house mother's hand came to her mouth, she inhaled a huge breath, said "No," and ran off down the stairs toward her office. Jeanne followed her.

  "Who has been in the girl's room since the night you saw her staggering in here," Jeanne said to the house mother, following her into the office and home combination which was furnished for the use of the woman.

  "Why, no one but the police; I mean no one has been in there."

  "What police lady and don't lie to me or I will arrest you for hindering a prosecution and take your sorry ass to jail in a hot heartbeat. In fact, I would love to cuff your fat ass up, so go ahead and lie to me one more time." Jeanne took a pair of handcuffs off her belt from behind her back, menacingly, as she said those words.