The Burnt House (38 page)

O
H GOD!” LINDIE
Holmes sat back in the chair and looked at the ceiling. The tears were coming freely now, her brown eyes muddied with sadness. “I feel like I did back then…when everything came crashing down.”

“I’m hear to listen, so why don’t you start from the beginning?” Decker had several notepads. Pen poised, he said, “Tell me about yourself, Lindie.”

“Nothing to tell. I was a good kid from a nice family. It was the times.”

“Crazy times. Lots of good kids got swept away. Where’d you go to college?”

“Kentmore College in Pasadena. Do you know where that is?”

“Absolutely,” Decker stated as he wrote. “It was started by the Reverend William Coolidge Jones. It was a bastion of conservatism during very turbulent times.”

“Exactly. Most of us came from conservative homes. That’s where I met Christian Woodhouse. We started dating with the intention of
getting married. I had the wedding planned out in my mind. Then one day at a party, he met Alyssa Bright, who later added the Mapplethorpe, the pretentious twit. After he met her, things radically changed.”

“How so?”

“Alyssa was a transplant to UCLA and Berkeley. She introduced Christian to a social conscience, but mostly she introduced Christian to sex and drugs.” She shrugged. “I was in love with Christian, so I went along for the ride. He didn’t have to prod me too much. It was a hell of a lot more fun than organic chemistry.”

Decker nodded, his hand cramping as he wrote as fast as he could. He got a slight break as she finished up her third latte and asked for another.

“All the drugs and partying took its toll. Technically, we dropped out of college, but if we hadn’t left, we would have flunked out. Both Christian and Alyssa came from more money than me, but I had some savings in the bank. We pooled our resources and rented some crash pad in the East Valley. Its biggest claim to fame was that it had a lot of bedrooms. To make ends meet, we took in boarders, dropout students like us. We weren’t picky about who they were as long as they could pay the rent. In the end, there were twelve of us in the one little house. Drugs flowed, sex flowed, life was one big party.” She stared at Decker. “You’re around that age. You must know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I know exactly what you’re talking about.”

“See?” A smile through her tears. “Even cops have a past.”

Not much of one. In the early seventies, Decker was a father, a husband, and, most important, a traumatized vet, working as a beat cop in Gainesville, Florida. Still, he gave her a smile. She perked up when her fourth latte appeared. It gave her fortification.

She sipped and said, “After a while all the mindless stuff got boring, so we slipped into the next obvious stage. This was around ’73 or ’74, I guess. The Beatles and the Stones had discovered the Eastern religions. Now there was a purpose to being stoned. It led to spiritual enlightenment, but when we tried it out, something was lacking. Then
Alyssa brought in Beth and Manny. Things changed. We found our real purpose.”

“Let me back it up a moment,” Decker said. “How did Alyssa meet Beth?”

“At the coffee shop where they both worked. Alyssa invited her to one of our meditation parties. Beth and Manny happened to be somewhat religious…Catholic by birth, but they also had included many Native American customs in their worship. It led to the perfect solution. We created a service that was familiar, but now we had the cachet of including Indian lore. We were entranced. Manny and Beth joined our group. We started our own spin on meditation. Hence the birth of the Church of the Sunland.”

Decker wrote and wrote. “Okay, then what?”

“With Manny as our leader, we pulled in some new members. He gave our little group some focus and much-needed gravitas. Otherwise we were just a bunch of white American kids rejecting what we grew up with. People started coming to hear Manny speak. It was Beth’s idea to start charging money for the good of the group. She also found the storefront and that made the church a real entity. Beth and Manny used to spin the Indian tales and folklore. Beth taught us all how to cook traditional New Mexican dishes and we held all these potlucks that drew even more people. Beth also gave demonstrations in ceramics and charged for lessons. We used one of the bowls for sacramental wine, and another for an incense burner. It was all very exotic.”

“I understand.”

“Manny was the natural leader, but Beth was the creative one. She also came up with the idea of buying an organic farm to give the group some real purpose. We all thought it was a fabulous idea. This was before the hard-core organic-food craze, but a lot of hippies were into health food. We were all psyched on the idea. We finally had some goals in our pathetic lives. It was all going so well!” Lindie sighed and drank more latte. “Then Belize showed up.”

Decker nodded. “Trouble?”

“With a capital
T
.” She wiped away tears. “If Manny and Beth were exotic, Belize was the king of glamour. Belize not only had Indian blood, but he had actually served time in jail. At that time, you’ve got to remember that there were no such things as criminals, just political prisoners. This was the decade when the Indians took over Alcatraz. Native Americans were hot. Belize was hot. He caught everyone’s eye when Manny brought him in one day. Manny worshipped Belize. Their old man was sentenced to something like forty years in prison for murder. Belize took over the role as Manny’s father figure.”

“Belize took an instant liking to me. Believe it or not, I was cute when I was young. I wish I had had warts on my nose. It would have saved me a lifetime of misery.”

Yet she had stuck it out with the guy. Decker said, “He made a play for you?”

“Yes.”

“And it flattered you.”

“You have to understand, I was always second fiddle…more like third fiddle. First in the alpha female position was Beth, then Alyssa, then me, and then some of the others. All of a sudden this exotic, mysterious guy was coming on to me. Instantly, I gained a new stature.”

“What happened to Christian as your boyfriend?”

“That broke up a long time ago. He was part of the group, but we were no longer an item. It was a free-for-all.” She paused. “Do you know what happened to Christian?”

“He’s a headmaster of a very exclusive private school back east.”

She rolled her eyes. “Talk about a sellout.”

“Maybe he felt he could serve best by educating young minds,” Decker said.

“Maybe he fell into the job because that’s what his father did. Christian used to deride his dad because he received all these expensive birthday and holiday gifts. Now he’s doing the same thing. I use the word ‘hypocrite’, but look at me. Soccer mom complete with the brownies and the SUV.”

“You’re raising your children in a wholesome environment. What’s wrong with that?”

She gave him a tearful smile. “Thanks.”

Decker said, “When you say that it was a free-for-all, I assume you mean all the partying?”

“Of course.”

“What about Beth and Manny. Did they get into the partying?”

Her eyes looked past the physical walls that she gazed upon. “For some reason, I remember the two of them as being kind of spiritual. I know they smoked a lot of weed, that I can remember really well. But I don’t recall them fucking around a lot. Beth and Manny took their roles as leaders pretty seriously. I remember Manny being more into drugs and food than sex.”

Consistent with what Alyssa Bright Mapplethorpe had told Marge. “How long was Belize with the church before things went wrong?”

“He was never really with the church, which is amazing.” She blew out air. “In roughly two weeks’ time, Belize managed to ruin all of our careful planning and hard work.”

“What happened?”

“The man was a goat…insatiable…some things never change.” She blotted tears. “I guess I didn’t satisfy him. Or maybe I just wasn’t around. He was living with Beth and Manny and Manny wasn’t always around. Beth was a beautiful girl.”

Decker thought a moment. “He made a pass at Beth?”

“Truly incredible, huh? Why I didn’t leave him years ago…I’m such an idiot!”

“People get caught in situations,” Decker said.

Lindie let out a small laugh. “You do a great job at playing ‘good cop.’ If I weren’t so distraught, I’d probably fall for you.”

Decker smiled. “I take it Beth told Manny about Belize’s pass?”

“She did. Manny was forgiving of his brother’s roving eye, but Beth wasn’t. She insisted that Belize move out and get his own place. Belize didn’t want to move out. He didn’t want to have to pay rent, he wasn’t paying for food, mostly he was lazy. And he really resented Beth telling
him what to do. The two of them began to argue constantly. Manny tried to keep peace but it was useless. It was inevitable that things would come to a head.”

Decker nodded. “Tell me about it. I need to hear your side of the story.”

Her eyes moistened. “I don’t know what happened because I wasn’t there.”

“So tell me what you do know.”

Her tears had returned. “Something went awry…horribly out of control. Belize told me that he…he and Beth were arguing…” She started to pant. “That the argument got very heated…that Beth wouldn’t quit…that things escalated. They got physical. There was pushing and shoving and the next thing he knew…”

She took in a quick breath and forced it out.

“He told me that Beth had hit her head on the wall. He told me that I needed to come over and help him clean up the mess.”

“Mess?”

“That’s what I asked him. What mess?” She blinked repeatedly to rid her eyes of all the tears—like bailing out a sinking ship. Her voice was barely audible. “He
begged
me to come over. I never heard such desperation. Of course how well did I know him? Something like three weeks?”

“Did you go over to the apartment?”

She nodded slowly. “It was horrible…horrific. I didn’t know people had that much blood inside of them.”

“Describe the scene to me.”

“Blood was…everywhere. On the walls, on the floor, on the ceiling.” She regarded Decker with a trembling lip. “I think I threw up. It was sickening. It was the most…I had nightmares for years. I still have them. That’s why I remember everything so clearly.”

“Poor you,” Decker said, and meant it.

She started sobbing. “Thank you for saying that.”

Decker let her weep openly until her breathing had slowed to an acceptable rate. Then he said, “The scene wasn’t what you expected.”

“I don’t know what I expected. All I knew is that something horrible had happened. What I should have done was run like hell, drive back to my parents’ house, and call the police. Instead, I…” Her voice trailed off.

Decker said, “Who was at the apartment when you got there?”

“By the time I arrived, Manny and Beth were gone. Belize was making some pathetic attempt to scrub down the walls.”

“Did you ask him what happened?”

“No…not at that time. I couldn’t speak. I was in a state of shock and Belize was shaken to the core. He pleaded with me to help him clean up the mess. I took a rag and started wiping the blood from the walls. It was nauseating. The smell of fresh blood and knowing that something real bad happened. My punishment for all the hell I put my parents through.”

“You can’t blame yourself for someone else’s crime, Lindie.”

Again, she started crying. “I should have seen it coming! I should have left. I should have insisted that Belize leave! I should have, I should have, I should have.”

Decker had no words of solace. He waited a few moments then continued. “Did Manny return to the apartment?”

A long, suffering sigh. “He came back about four hours later. By then, Belize and I managed to clean most of it up…but it still reeked.”

She swallowed hard.

“Manny told us the apartment wasn’t clean enough. He said it needed to be spotless before we left. He also said that he needed to pack up his belongings and Beth’s as well. His plan was to wait until morning and make it look like he and Beth disappeared with the church funds. He said that he’d take out the money first thing in the morning and then we’d all take off together.”

“And what did Belize say to that?”

“Belize did whatever Manny told him to do.”

“I thought it was Manny who adored Belize.”

“Suddenly the roles reversed and Manny was telling us what to do. He was the only one who was thinking that night…preternaturally
calm, actually. Maybe it was nerves. Mostly, I remember that he was very pissed at Belize. Unforgivingly so.”

“How could you tell?”

“Belize was constantly trying to talk to him and Manny didn’t answer. Finally Manny told Belize to shut the fuck up. Manny was always kind of a nice guy…seeing him like that, I was terrified. I don’t know who killed Beth; either one could have done it. Of course, I was way too petrified to ask.”

Decker was battling off a terrible hand cramp. “Tell me what happened next.”

Lindie kept shaking her head, trying to rid herself of the dreadful images. “We spent the entire night cleaning the place up. By morning, you could have eaten off the floor, it was that clean. As soon as the bank opened, Manny took out his own money that he had saved with Beth plus the church’s savings. We piled into Manny’s truck and headed for Vegas. We drove the entire six hours in total silence.”

She blew out air.

“I stayed in the hotel room, terrified, panicked, horrified, catatonic…waiting for the other shoe to drop. Manny and Belize spent the entire week gambling and getting drunk. Both men were constantly in bad moods and several times I had to lock myself in the bathroom to avoid being a punching bag. Mostly, it was Manny. He was acting like a wild man. Then…”

She turned away from Decker. Her profile showed tears running down her cheeks.”

“This is so hard.” Another swallow. “Toward the end of the week…around two in the morning, Belize came back to the hotel in a panic. He ordered me to pack the bags…that we had to leave. I was so scared and numb, I just mindlessly obeyed. I was constantly afraid that the police were going to arrest us. I thought they had finally caught up. In a way, I was relieved. But that wasn’t what happened at all.”