The Amityville Horror (15 page)

The two had listened to Father Mancuso's recounting of the episodes that George Lutz bad said happened at 112 Ocean Avenue, and to his own humiliating experiences, including the latest one that bad just occurred at the Rectory. They were impressed with Father Mancuso's fears that the phenomena had a demonic taint to them.

Chancellor Ryan looked up from the pad on his desk and spoke to the troubled priest. "Before we offer any suggestions on how you should handle this as a participant and as a priest, Frank, I think you should know the ground rules." Father Ryan nodded to Father Nuncio.

The other priest put down his coffee. "You seem to think that there's something demonic going on in the Lutzes' house, that the place is possessed somehow. Well, let me reassure you that first of all, places and things are never possessed. Only people." Father Nuncio stopped, reached into his jacket and withdrew several short cigars. He offered them around, but the two priests declined. He lit up, puffing and talking at the same time. "The traditional viewpoint of the Church sees the devil in a number of ways: He tries through temptation, by which he is seen to prod men toward sin in the psychological battles with which I'm sure you're familiar."

"Oh, yes," Father Mancuso nodded. "As Father Ryan mentioned, I've seen and heard many who've come to me as a psychotherapist and as a parish priest." Chancellor Ryan picked up the thread. "Then there are the so-called extraordinary activities of the devil in the world. Usually these are material things around a person that are affected; that might be what you're up against. We call it infestation. It breaks down into different categories which we'll explain in a minute."

"Obsession," Father Nuncio put in, "is the next step, in which the person is affected either internally or externally. And finally there is possession, by which the person temporarily loses control of his faculties and the devil acts in and through him."

When Father Mancuso had come to the Chancellors' office to keep his appointment, he had been somewhat embarrassed as to how to approach his problem. But he relaxed as the two priests had shown keen interest. Now with their spelling out the guidelines he must take in this kind of situation, Father Mancuso raised his hopes for deliverance from this evil.

"In investigating cases of possible diabolical interference," Chancellor Ryan went on, "we must consider the following: One, fraud and deception. Two, natural scientific causes. Three, parapsychological causes. Four, diabolical influences. And five, miracles. In this case, fraud and trickery don't seem plausible. George and Kathleen Lutz seem to be normal, balanced individuals. We think you are too. The possibilities therefore are reduced to psychological, parapsychological, or diabolical influences."

"We'll exclude the miraculous," Father Nuncio broke in, "because the Divine would not involve itself in the trivial and foolish."

"True," said Father Ryan. "Therefore the explanation would seem to include hallucination and autosuggestion-you know, like the invisible touches Kathy experienced-and when George thought he heard that marching band. But let's take the parapsychological line. Parapsychologists like Dr. Rhine, who works at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, define four main operations in the science. The first three come under the general heading of ESP-extrasensory perception. They are mental telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition, which could explain George's visions and 'picking up' information that seems to coincide with known facts about the DeFeos. The fourth parapsychological area is psychokinesis, where objects move by themselves. That would be the case with the Lutzes' ceramic lion-if it did move," he added.

Father Nuncio got up to refill his cup. "All of what we've said, Frank, is part of the suggestion we have for the Lutzes. Have them contact some investigative organization like Dr. Rhine's to come in and look at the house. They'll do extensive testing and I'm sure they can come to some conclusion short of diabolical influence."

"But what about me?" asked Father Mancuso. "What do I do?"

Chancellor Ryan cleared his throat and looked kindly at the priest. "You are not to return to that house. You can call the Lutzes and tell them what we suggested. But under no circumstances are you ever to go there again."

"I thought you said I shouldn't consider a belief in such matters as this," Father Mancuso protested.

"Yes, I did," said Father Ryan. "But you've got yourself so worked up over this affair that at the moment the best thing you can do is dissociate yourself from the Lutzes and 112 Ocean Avenue."

After breakfast, Kathy dropped the boys off at their new school, then drove over to her mother's with Missy. George was alone in the house. He had gone down to the cellar to clear the odor with two fans. But when he came down the stairs, there was no trace of any of the terrible stench that had made him vomit the day before.

He sniffed but could find nothing, even when he went directly to the secret red room. George pulled the plywood paneling back open and flashed his light about the red walls. "Damn!" he said. "It couldn't have disappeared just like that. There's got to be an air hole down here somewhere."

George was searching for that possible air vent when Father Mancuso dialed his number. After the meeting, the priest had driven back to his own apartment in the rectory intending to call George with the Chancellors' recommendations. He heard the telephone ring ten times before he finally hung up. Father Mancuso thought he'd try again later when the Lutzes came home.

George was home all right, but he never heard the telephone ring. The door to the basement was open, and usually the ringing telephone could be heard anywhere in the house.

George had no success in finding any opening where the stench could have escaped, but under the area where the front steps to the house had been constructed, he did discover something interesting. When the contractor had laid the foundation for the house at 112 Ocean Avenue, it seemed he had covered over a circular opening with a concrete lid. By squirreling around the dirt piled up against this protuberance, George accidentally loosened some of the old gravel around the base and heard it fall into water far below. He flashed his light and saw the beam hit against a wet, black shaft. "A well!" he said aloud. "That doesn't show up in the blueprints. It must have been left from the old house that was here before."

He returned to the first floor and looked at the kitchen clock. Strange, he thought, it's almost noon and I still haven't heard from Father. I'd better try him myself.

George called the Rectory. The priest picked up on the first ring. George was surprised when Father Mancuso told him he had just called and that there was no answer at the house. Then George asked Father Mancuso when he was coming, and they got down to Father Mancuso's report.

He said he'd been to see the Chancellors of his diocese and repeated their recommendation that George find an organization to conduct a scientific investigation of the house. Father Mancuso gave George the address of a Psychical Research Institute in North Carolina and suggested he get in touch with them immediately. George agreed, but pressed the priest to come to the house.

Not until many months after be and his family had fled 112 Ocean Avenue would George Lutz learn what Father Mancuso had suffered after he originally blessed their house or of his subsequent humiliations and afflictions. Therefore, when Father Mancuso again refused to come to the house, George became confused. He said be really needed him, not some ghost-chasing outfit from somewhere down South. And who, he wanted to know, was supposed to pay for all of this? But after promising to call the parapsychologists and to let Father Mancuso know the results of the investigation, George hung up.

He was still annoyed when he called Kathy at her mother's. George told her what the priest had said, but snorted that he wasn't going to bother with anything like that. But Kathy felt they should pursue the Chancellors' recommendations telling George that he should listen to what the Church suggested.

Finally George agreed, saying he would drive to his office on his Harley chopper and type out the letter to the people at Duke. He didn't tell her he also wanted to talk to Eric, the young fellow at his office who said his girl friend was a medium.

After talking to George, Father Mancuso felt a tremendous pressure lift from his shoulders. Just the fact that he had been able to share his burden with others cleared his head completely for the first time in weeks; the responsibility he had been bearing alone had been taken away by his superiors.

The priest turned to preparing his work schedule for the following week. It took him several hours-until dinner time-to finally nail down the program be wanted for his counseling and for his patients. He ordered Chinese food from a nearby restaurant in the vicinity and wolfed down the meal while reading some clients' case histories.

George rode to his office and mailed the letter to the parapsychologists, using the Chancellors' names as his reference. fie didn't really expect an immediate response to his request for an investigator, so he only put a regular stamp on the envelope instead of an airmail one. Then he telephoned Eric's girl friend, Francine.

She was terribly interested in what he had to say. Sure that she could contact whatever-or whoever-was making his and Kathy's lives miserable; she promised to come to the Lutzes' house with her boyfriend in a day or so.

Then the young woman said something that really made George's ears perk up. Out of the clear blue, she mentioned that George should look around his property for an old, abandoned, covered-up well. He didn't admit that he had already found such a place, but asked instead why she wanted him to do the searching.

Her answer shocked him: "I think," she said, "that your spirits may be coming from a well. You can cap it off, you know, but I bet if you do find a well under your house, there's a direct passage to it. And somehow, even if it's a tiny crack, that's all it takes. With that, 'it' can climb out when it wants to."

After thanking the girl and hanging up, George made a phone call to the Psychical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina, and told them of the letter he had just sent. They agreed to send a field investigator as soon as possible. In turn, George agreed to pay the field man's expenses.

Father Mancuso, too, was on the telephone once more that night. The call came after eleven and was, surprisingly, from the priest who had helped him when his car fell apart on the Van Wyck Expressway.

Both clerics recalled the harrowing events of that evening and Father Mancuso asked the other priest whether he had encountered any further trouble after his windshield wipers had gone berserk. "No," his friend said. "That is, not until a few minutes ago." Father Mancuso's heart began to beat loudly against his chest.

"Frank," the other priest continued, "I just got a peculiar phone call. I don't know who it was, but he said, 'Tell the priest not to come back.'"

"What was he talking about?" Father Mancuso asked.

"I asked that. I said, 'Who are you talking about? The voice only answered, 'The priest you helped.'"

"The priest you helped?"

"Yeah. I thought about that after he hung up and I couldn't remember anybody but you. Do you think he really means you, Frank?"

"He never told you who it was?"

"No. He just said, 'The priest'll know who it is.'

"What did he actually say?"

"He said, 'Tell the priest not to come back or he'll die!"

18 January 6 to 7 - Earlier that day, Kathy had returned from her mother's house in time to pick up Danny and Chris at their new school in Amityville. The boys were eager to tell about their teachers, schoolmates, and playground facilities. The yard had been cleared of snow and the children had been able to enjoy some activities outside. Missy, jealous at having to stay home, kept pumping her brothers about what the girls at the elementary school were like.

The whole family ate together at six-thirty. George told Kathy what he had done about Father Mancuso's suggestion, and that he had also spoken to the girl who could contact spirits. Kathy was glad that he had called the parapsychology people instead of just waiting for an answer to his letter. But she wasn't too happy about a stranger coming into her house to talk to ghosts-particularly a young girl like Francine. After they had finished dinner, Kathy told George she really wanted to return to her mother's until she felt the house was safe to live in.

George reminded her that it was ten degrees above zero outside and snow was forecast by morning. Even though East Babylon wasn't too far up the road, he didn't think she could make it from her mother's house back to Amityville in time to get the boys to school in the morning.

Danny and Chris chimed in that they wanted to stay home-they had some homework to do, and besides, their grandmother wouldn't let them watch television after eight o'clock. Kathy finally gave in to their arguments, but felt uneasy about staying in the house another night. She told George she didn't think she could sleep a wink.

Harry had been in the kitchen with them while they were eating, and Kathy had given the dog all the scraps of meat left over from dinner. Before they went to bed, George thought that Harry might be better off staying inside that night. It was bitter cold out and would only get worse if the snow fell. Harry hadn't been served his usual dry food, and George thought the dog might be more alert after having some red meat.

While the boys did their homework, Missy took Harry up to her room to play. But Harry didn't want to stay there. He was nervous and sniveling, Kathy noted, particularly after Missy had introduced Harry to her unseen friend, Jodie. Finally the little girl had to close her door to keep Harry from running out. He crawled under her bed and remained there. Finally Chris came down for him. Harry scampered out of Missy's room and, with his tail between his legs, ran up the stairs to the third floor, where he remained the rest of the night.

At twelve, when George and Kathy finally went up to bed, she went out like a light for the third night in a row, quickly falling into a deep sleep, her breathing heavy. But George, lying on his side with his back to Kathy, was wide awake, his ears alert for any signs of the marching band.