The Scientology Murders. William Heffernan
it doesn’t matter what the questions are, Scientology promises that you will find the answers if you follow what they teach.”
“Do people find the answers they’re looking for?” Harry asked.
“The church tells them they have. I just don’t know if they do or not; if I did or not. But I do know there are rules, strict rules that you have to follow. And there are taboos that are simply not permitted.”
“Like homosexuality?” Harry asked.
Lilly nodded. “Yes, that’s a biggie for them. If you’re suspected of homosexual behavior you’re labeled as 1.1. You can also find yourself labeled 1.1 if you’re involved in casual heterosexual sex, or if you refuse to disconnect with your family.”
“Does everyone have to disconnect from their family?” Harry asked.
Lilly thought for a moment. “Eventually, yes, unless the family follows their child into the church. You see, the religion is for believers only, and if you’re a believer you don’t associate very much with anyone but other believers, not on a personal level. Oh, you can work with nonbelievers, if necessary. But you don’t socialize with them too much; you never talk about church matters with them, unless you think they can be converted. And in those cases, you bring in help from the church.”
“Was Mary Kate considered to be 1.1?” Vicky asked.
“I think so, and I think it might have been justified.” The words seemed to offend her as she spoke them. “Justifiable for them,” she added. “Based on what they believe.”
“Did you think Mary Kate was gay?” Vicky asked.
“I suspected that she was, yes.”
“Did she come on to you?” Harry asked. It was the question everyone had been circling around.
“I think so. Oh God, who knows? It was nothing terribly overt. But it was a definite feeling I got. Maybe it was because I knew other people who thought she was gay. I mean she was so goddamn needy. She seemed to want to be close to everyone, to be protected by everyone.” She folded her arms across her chest, creating a barrier. “You do know that everyone in Scientology is watched, right?”
“I’ve read about people being watched after they leave the church,” Harry said. “Cars supposedly parked near their homes that follow them wherever they go; same for people who write about the church, or simply go around asking too many questions.”
“Yes, there’s that,” Lilly said. “But the people inside the church are also watched. There’s a whole department that keeps track of us.”
“The office of church discipline,” Harry said.
“That’s right. When I left the church and came home there were people all over the Sponge Docks keeping track of me. Then I’d see them parked near my house. It was pretty scary being watched like that.”
“No one spoke to you?” Harry asked.
“Just one time. A woman entered the shop and asked if I was coming back to the church. That’s the way she said it: coming back to the church, as if I had defected or something. You see, they don’t let go very easily.”
“Do you still see them? Up here, I mean.”
“Every so often I see someone who looks familiar.” Lilly shrugged. “But Tarpon is a popular place for tourists, so who knows?”
“Was Mary Kate being watched?” Harry asked.
“Oh yes. And she knew it was happening. She said there was a scary-looking guy with white hair and very pale skin who watched everything she did and it really scared her. I knew who she was talking about. We used to call him ‘the albino,’ and whenever he was around everyone seemed nervous.”
* * *
Tourist activity had increased and Tony Rolf used it to get closer to the three people he was watching. He stepped inside the Hellas Bakery, bought himself a pastry, and took a table near the front window.
He knew both women Doyle was talking to—he had seen the detective’s partner on other occasions. Like Doyle, she did little to conceal the large automatic pistol she wore on her hip, leaving no doubt that she was a cop. The other woman had taken a bit longer to place. Then he remembered the great stir she had caused when some bearded Greek priest dressed in a cassock had approached her on the street right in the heart of the church’s Clearwater compound and demanded she return to her parents’ home. And she had gone with him. In an act of open betrayal she had walked away from the church.
Now what was she up to? They were undoubtedly talking to her about the woman he had been forced to kill. Had she been one of her lovers? Did she know something about him? Since she had been a member of the church it was quite possible that she knew he worked for the office of church discipline, as many members did. She might even have known from the woman herself that he had been assigned to her case. But she couldn’t have known that he was assigned to take her out to the cruise ship Freewinds for auditing. Even the O’Connell woman hadn’t known that until just before she died. But what did this Greek woman know, especially about him? And what was she telling these two cops?
He knew he had to find out, and he had to do it quickly.
* * *
He waited until the shops began to close, then took a position near a small gyro shop at one end of the Sponge Docks. From there he could drink a soda and watch the front of the Mikinos store from which Lilly should soon emerge. He had already checked the rear of the shop for a car but found none. He had called his office and learned that the home address they had for Lilly was only a few blocks away on Athens Street. She would be walking, unless someone picked her up, and if so she should be turning onto Athens Street minutes after she left the family shop. He only hoped she would be alone.
Chapter Six
It was nine twenty before Lilly left the shop. Two older women had left before her, apparently leaving Lilly to close up for the night. Tony Rolf had moved across the street and positioned himself to the right of the door as if studying items in the window display. When Lilly stepped out and turned to lock the door he rushed up behind her, placed one hand over her mouth, and used his body to push her back into the store.
She spun out of his grasp and turned to face him. A look of fury filled her face, which quickly turned to confusion and then to fear.
“You remember me?” he hissed.
Lilly looked at his hair. It was blond now and it had initially confused her. She had thought at first that the assault was a simple robbery attempt and she had been ready to fight him off, or at least to try.
“I asked if you remember me.”
“I remember you. You’re from the church. You’re the one we used to call the albino.”
“What were you telling those cops today? Did you tell them something about me?”
“I don’t know anything about you.”
“I think I spoke to you once. I think I asked you about that dyke Mary Kate. Did you tell them that?”
Anger flared over the slur, but Lilly fought to control herself. “That’s all I knew about you. That you asked about Mary Kate, and that other church members thought you were creepy.”
“But they didn’t feel that dyke was creepy, did they?”
Lilly felt another flash of anger, a rush of adrenaline that momentarily overcame her fear. “How do you know she was a dyke? Or did you just decide she was because she turned you down?”
Rolf’s eyes widened and color came to his pale complexion. “Are you suggesting I tried to initiate something sexual with her? Are you implying that I’m 1.1?” He moved forward, using his body to push her back until she was pressed against a display case.
Lilly’s