Read The Church of Dead Girls Online
Authors: Stephen Dobyns
M
onday morning, October 16, Chuck Hawley arrived for work at City Hall at five-thirty. It was still dark and he could see stars. The police department has a side entrance to the building and as Chuck approached it he saw a cardboard boxâa Budweiser beer case, actuallyâresting on the step in front of the door. Chuck couldn't open the door without moving the box, so he picked it up. People later said this was brave of him because it might have been a bomb, but my cousin is not an imaginative man and the idea of the box's containing a bomb did not occur to him. He said the box was light. He took it inside.
Josh Riley was on duty, or rather he was snoozing at his desk with his forehead on the blotter next to several Baby Ruth candy bar wrappers. Chuck put the box on the table and opened it. Neatly folded inside was a blue sweater, a white blouse, a pair of jeans, girl's underwear, white socks, a pair of Adidas sneakers, and a red backpack. Chuck began to open the backpack and then didn't. Instead he telephoned Ryan Tavich, who, at twenty minutes to six, was still asleep.
Ryan answered on the third ring and heard Chuck's excited voice on the other end of the line. “Someone just returned Sharon Malloy's clothes to us.”
Ten minutes later, Ryan entered police headquarters, beating Chief Schmidt by five minutes. Captain Percy had to drive from Potterville and arrived at five past six.
Patty McClosky, Chief Schmidt's secretary, heard about the clothes and the backpack when she got to work at eight-fifteen, though by that time the box and its contents had been sent to the state police lab in Ithaca. Just after she poured herself a first cup of coffee, she called her friend Denise Clark.
“All the clothes were washed, ironed, and folded,” she said, “even the socks and underwear.”
At nine o'clock Frieda Kraus called Franklin from the office as he was leaving the house.
“Chuck Hawley found a box with all of Sharon's clothes right outside City Hall this morning. Denise Clark just told me.”
Franklin must have wondered how Denise Clark was privy to such information. Then he called Ryan Tavich.
“It's true,” said Ryan, “but I can't say anything about it right now.”
Within the hour the police received calls from the Utica, Syracuse, and Albany newspapers, as well as four TV stations. Channel 9 in Syracuse sent down a crew and they parked their white van in front of City Hall at ten o'clock. At noon Chief Schmidt announced a news conference for three that afternoon.
Because of the response, the news conference was held in the city council's chambers on the second floor of City Hall rather than in Chief Schmidt's office. There was some difficulty about protocol since Captain Percy was in charge of the case. On the other hand, the box had been left on Chief Schmidt's doorstep and so Percy suggested that Schmidt take the city council president's seat. Percy sat on his right along with one of his lieutenants, Peter Marcos, a photogenic young man who had been brought down from Albany. Next to Marcos were Ryan Tavich and Dr. Malloy. The mayor, Bernie Kowalski, was on the other side of Chief Schmidt.
More than fifty journalists were present from newspapers, TV, radio, magazines, and the wire services. The
New York Times
and the
New York Post
both had a reporter. Franklin managed to squeeze his way to the front. The floor was covered with cables from the TV crews. Franklin had expected to see the box itself but there was no sign of it. He felt glad about that. He thought of the blue sweater that Paula had given to Sadie as a peace token and how Sadie had given it to Sharon. Franklin hadn't wanted to see the sweater again.
Chief Schmidt began by making a formal statement to the effect that Sharon Malloy's clothes had been found in a box outside the door of police headquarters at five-thirty that morning by a police sergeant. They had been identified by Sharon Malloy's family and sent to the state police lab in Ithaca.
“Is there any idea who put them there?” asked a reporter.
“Not at this time.”
“When were they put there?”
“Sometime between three-thirty and five-thirty this morning,” said Chief Schmidt. “They were blocking the door and the last person using the door had left at three-thirty.”
“Were there any bloodstains on the clothes?”
“No.”
“Were there any stains of any kind?”
“The clothes had been washed, ironed, and folded. They appear to have been washed several times.”
“So there might have been stains on the clothes which had been washed off.”
“That's possible,” said Chief Schmidt.
“Was there a note or anything of that sort?”
“Nothing,” said Percy.
Dr. Malloy sat at the table looking down at its surface. It was a heavy oak table, as old as City Hall itself, and had a rich golden color. Someone lit a cigarette and Percy announced there would be no smoking. The TV lights and cameras were placed at the sides of the room. News photographers crept to the front to snap pictures of the chief of police and Dr. Malloy.
“Was there anyone in police headquarters when the clothes were left outside?”
“An officer was on duty.”
“Did he hear anything?”
“No,” said Chief Schmidt.
“So whoever left the box might have come on foot?”
“Quite possibly.”
“Does this mean the man who left it was a local person?”
Captain Percy interrupted. “We have no evidence to suggest whether the box was left by a man or a woman.”
“Then the person, man or woman, is a local person?”
Captain Percy stood up and placed his hands on the table. “We've no evidence that the person responsible for Miss Malloy's disappearance and the person who returned the box are the same.”
“But isn't it likely?”
“We have no evidence to that effect.”
“Do you think Sharon Malloy is still alive?”
“We hope so,” said Chief Schmidt, “but we don't know one way or the other.”
“What was in the backpack?”
“Sharon's schoolbooks, notebooks, and school supplies.”
“Will the return of the clothes change the nature of the investigation?”
“How do you mean?” asked Chief Schmidt.
“Doesn't it raise the possibility that whoever did it is a local person?”
Captain Percy spoke again, “We have never assumed one way or the other that if Miss Malloy was abducted it was either done by a local person or by someone from out of town.”
“What do you mean âif she was abducted'?” asked a reporter.
“We have no positive evidence that she was in fact abducted. We only know she is missing.”
“Are you suggesting she returned the clothes herself?”
Someone laughed in the back of the room and Captain Percy looked in that direction but his face betrayed no emotion.
“I'm saying we don't know one way or the other,” said Percy.
“Has Sharon's family heard from her or from anyone else in regard to her?”
“No,” answered Chief Schmidt. Percy sat back down.
“Do you think she might be dead?”
“We have no evidence one way or another.”
“Why do you think the clothes were returned?” asked Franklin.
“We have no idea,” said Captain Percy.
“Does it seem like a taunt?”
“I can't comment on that,” said Captain Percy. “We have no evidence one way or another.”
“What effect does the return of the clothes have on Daniel Layman's confession?”
Chief Schmidt glanced over at Percy. “That investigation is ongoing and I am unable to comment upon it at this time.”
“Did Layman say that he had removed the girl's clothes?”
“I can't comment on that.”
“Do you think someone returned the clothes,” asked Franklin, “as a way of indicating that Daniel Layman had no involvement in the matter?”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you have an opinion?” asked someone from Channel 9. Several other reporters laughed.
Captain Percy stood up again. “We are in the business of acquiring and trying to understand a body of information. We don't know why someone returned the clothes. We don't know if the person who did it had anything to do with the abduction or even if there was an abduction. We don't know if the return of the clothes had anything to do with Daniel Layman one way or the other. We don't know if this means it was a local crime or not.”
Percy wasn't being entirely truthful. When he heard about the return of the clothes, he began shifting assignments and put ten men back on the case. All day they had been questioning people who lived in the vicinity of City Hall to learn if they had seen anything. And the fact that Aaron McNeal lived only two blocks away was not ignored. Percy had acquired a search warrant that morning and lab men from Ithaca had gone over every inch of Aaron's apartment. Aaron had not protested. He had taken a chair and laptop computer into the hall and continued his work as if the police hadn't been there.
“He looked right through us,” said Chuck Hawley. “It made me want to smack him.” Chuck had glanced over Aaron's shoulder at the small monitor and had seen nothing but numbers. This had also bothered him. “It wasn't even words,” he said.
The activities of the members of the IIR and Houari Chihani the previous night had also been investigated. Percy wanted to get a search warrant to go through Chihani's house, but Chief Schmidt felt it would be pointless. These talks took place in Schmidt's office but they were overheard by Patty McClosky and others. By the time of the press conference, the nature of these talks, mostly in a garbled form, were known to dozens of people. The main point, not lost on anyone, was that Chihani and the IIR were still under suspicion.
“The police searched Aaron McNeal's apartment this morning,” said a reporter. “Was anything found to incriminate him?”
“I'm not at liberty to say,” said Chief Schmidt.
Chuck Hawley had said, “They were hoping they'd at least find some pot. Then they could use some muscle on him. But he was totally clean.”
“So the members of the IIR are still suspects?”
“It is mistaken to call them suspects,” said Schmidt. “At this point no one is a suspect and no one is not a suspect.”
“Could Herbst have driven over from Troy with the clothes?”
“I'm not at liberty to say.”
Actually no evidence existed that Oscar had left his house.
“What about the kid who went home to Kingstonâcould he have driven over?”
“I'm not at liberty to say.”
The reporter meant Jason Irving, who also had been home all night. But the IIR members who still lived in Aurelius didn't have perfect alibis. Barry's mother swore he had been home but the police didn't take that as positive proof. As Chuck told me, “Any of those kids could have ducked out for five minutes and brought the box to City Hall. Even the fat one. I mean, who's around then? You could have done it yourself.”
“Would it be possible to wash all trace of blood out of the clothes?” asked a reporter.
“I don't believe so,” said Schmidt.
“No, it would not,” said Percy.
“So what conclusions do you draw from this?”
“That there was no blood on the clothes,” said Percy.
Someone laughed.
“What about other bodily fluids?” asked a reporter. “Could all trace of sperm be removed from the clothes?”
“There we're on shakier ground,” said Schmidt.
“You mean it could be?”
“That's what I've been told.”
“So you're saying that no trace of sperm was found on the clothes.”
“That is correct.”
“Was anything found on the clothes?”
“Just the usual wear and tear.”
“Were the clothes torn in anyway?”
“No, I didn't mean that.”
“So if Sharon Malloy was killed, she was killed either in a way not to draw blood or she was killed while not wearing the clothes.”
This was asked by a reporter from Utica. By this point the press conference had come down to the level of Twenty Questions and no one really thought about the flesh-and-blood Sharon Malloy anymore. Dr. Malloy neither spoke nor even looked up at the reporters. He held the edge of the table with both hands and sat slightly forward in his chair, not resting against the back. His brother, Donald, was at the rear of the room. His brother-in-law, Paul Leimbach, had arrived late and stood by the door. The room was hot from the TV lights. It was nearly four o'clock.
“We have no knowledge of what happened to Sharon Malloy,” said Chief Schmidt.
“So it is possible that she was raped?” asked a reporter.
This was when Dr. Malloy blew up. “Don't you realize you are talking about a child? A fourteen-year-old girl? Do you know how wonderful she is? Of course whoever stole her lives here. He lives right here in this town!”
There was a jabber of reporters asking Dr. Malloy if he knew who it was. Photographers pushed to the front to take pictures. People got to their feet. Ryan put his arm around the doctor's shoulder and tried to lead him away from the table and out the back door. Dr. Malloy had begun to weep and kept wiping his eyes brusquely with the back of his hand. His brother shoved through the crowd toward the front of the room.
“How dare you ask if she's been raped!” shouted Dr. Malloy.
Chief Schmidt motioned to Ryan. “Get him out of here.”
Donald Malloy reached the council table. “Sure it was someone in town,” he shouted. “Someone took her. Someone stole her! Someone's got to be punished for it!”
“Who is it?” people kept asking.
Chief Schmidt found a gavel and he banged it on the table. “Unless you return to your seats, I'll clear the room.”
“We'll find the person,” said Donald. “The Friends of Sharon Malloy is now offering $50,000 for any information as to Sharon's whereabouts and $100,000 for her safe return.”