When Donnie moved out, I stripped the sheets from the sofa and tried to decide what to do in my empty nest. I had brought my book up to date, the police would no longer communicate with us, and Mike seemed either to be playing his hand close to his chest or to have lost interest in the case. Betty Muench had predicted that there would come a time when Mike “would seem to quit,” but would “share his information with another” who would carry on the investigation undercover. I decided that, since he was firmly convinced that the Vietnamese had shot Kait, he probably had felt morally obligated to share his information with the defense attorneys.
Since I was still unable to generate enough energy to write fiction, I decided to do some reading. I had deliberately been steering clear of books about psychic phenomena, because I had wanted a chance to think things through on my own. By now, however, I had found some beliefs that felt right to me and was curious to find out if there were others who were on the same wavelength.
Skeptical about anything that could not be backed up by documented research, I chose books by doctors and psychiatrists. Among these authorities were Dr. Kenneth Ring, author of Life at Death and Heading Toward Omega; Dr. Raymond A. Moody, Jr., author of Life After Life, Reflections on Life After Life, and The Light Beyond; Dr. Roger Woolger, author of Other Lives, Other Selves; and Drs. Bruce Greyson and Charles Flynn, coeditors of The Near-Death Experience.
Of particular interest to me was Full Circle, a book by a woman named Barbara Harris, who described her own dramatic near-death experience following an accident when, paralyzed and comatose in her hospital bed, she had felt herself leave her body to float near the ceiling and gaze into the tunnel of death. She did return to her body and recover from her injuries, but this powerful experience had transformed her life and led her into years of research on near-death pheonomena.
In her book Barbara described her mentor, Dr. William Roll, project director for the Psychical Research Foundation, a parapsychology institute that served as a scientific and educational research center to investigate the possibility of continuation of consciousness after the death of the physical body. Her story inspired me to write Dr. Roll myself, telling him about the communication we felt we’d had with Kait and about the foreshadowing of future events that had appeared in my books. I told him I was interested in learning more about such things and would appreciate any guidance he could give me as to where to find it.
The more I thought about the subject, the more I wondered how many other people there were out there who had the same sort of abilities Betty Muench did. The easiest way to find such people would be to research an article on the subject, and since I owed Woman’s Day another story, I queried them to see if they would be interested in an article about psychic detectives. My editor gave me a go-ahead on condition that the accomplishments of the psychics were documented and that they had used their abilities to be of service to others.
Wanting to be sure that the subjects of my article were reputable, I phoned the American Society for Psychical Research in New York. They suggested I get in touch with a parapsychologist at the Department of Sociology at Eastern Michigan University, who had coauthored The Blue Sense, the definitive book on the application of psychic detective techniques in modern crime detection.
“Dr. Marcello Truzzi is a skeptic about people who claim psychic abilities,” they told me. “Anybody he refers you to is bound to be good.”
“Marcello Truzzi!” I exclaimed. “I went to school with a boy with that name!”
“I think he grew up in Florida—”
“It was in Sarasota, back in the days when it was winter quarters for Ringling Brothers Circus! My father did the photography for the circus, and Marcello’s father was the juggler!”
I wrote to Marcello—Hello across the years and miles! I have a favor to ask you—and crossed my fingers that he would remember me and respond.
That night I went to bed early, as I usually did in those days of emotional fatigue, but was so worn out, I had trouble falling asleep.
“Can’t you just solve this thing?” I asked Kait wearily. “Damn it, you got us into this mess, so get us out of it!”
My anger dissolved and was immediately replaced by pain, as raw and overwhelming as on the night of the shooting.
“I didn’t mean that,” I whispered. “I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean it. All I want is to hold my baby in my arms again.”
I buried my face in my pillow and cried myself to sleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but I awoke in the night and found that Don had come to bed and was sleeping so heavily, he must have been there for hours.
“I want to hold my baby,” I whispered, and something wonderful happened. I lifted my arms and felt them close around the chubby body of a three-year-old. The child was positioned as though I had her on my lap facing outward with her back pressed against my chest. Although I knew that I had to be dreaming, I wasn’t asleep; I was keenly aware of every aspect of my physical surroundings. The shifting current of air from the fan on the window ledge. The warmth radiating from Don’s body. The radio of a car in the street beneath our window, spouting country-western music.
I gingerly pulled up the child’s pajama top and felt the smooth, damp skin of her chest, rhythmically rising and falling beneath the palm of my hand. I lowered my hand and slid it under the elastic waistband, gently caressing the familiar round belly. I was under no illusion that the body was physical; Kait was dead, and her corpse lay rotting in the cemetery. Yet this was the gift I had asked for; in sensation, if not actuality, I was holding my baby.
After a while I said, “Thank you,” and released her to God.
It was an experience that was never to happen again.
At the end of August, Mike mailed us a copy of an interview the police had conducted with Dung on July 9, 1990, the day after Mike’s exposé of the investigation had appeared in the Albuquerque Journal.
He enclosed a note that said, I’ve been trying to run down the rumor that Dung was stabbed as a warning to keep his mouth shut. Apparently it began with An Le, who told a girl named MaryBeth, who split to California earlier this year. I’ve got several other assignments to work on now, but I’ll try to keep track of the case and pass on anything I get. Take care!
When Don and I read the transcript of Dung’s interrogation, it was hardly the sharply focused interview we had come to expect from scenes in the movies:
INTERVIEW WITH DETECTIVE S. GALLEGOS AND DUNG NGUYEN 07-09-90
[This transcript has been slightly condensed in the interest of space. The first page and a half were devoted to obtaining Dung’s name, address, birth date, and place of employment, which was information that was already in the police report. Then:]
GALLEGOS: Now, the reason why I’m talking to you is I want to ask you some questions about some things that have happened such as traffic accidents and some people in California, okay?
NGUYEN: Okay.
GALLEGOS: Now, first of all, were you involved in any traffic accidents in California?
NGUYEN: Yes. [Since Dung had previously denied any knowledge of the car-wreck scam, there had obviously been an unrecorded conversation during which he was confronted with the accident reports.] GALLEGOS: How many?
NGUYEN: Two.
GALLEGOS: Okay. Was Kaitlyn Arquette with you during any of these accidents?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Was she in the car with you?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Okay. The two of you, you and Kaitlyn, went to California together some time ago. Is that correct? On a vacation? To Disneyland and that sort of thing?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Okay. Was that when you got into one of the accidents?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Okay. Was she with you then in the car?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Who was with you when you got into this accident?
NGUYEN: Myself.
GALLEGOS: Just by yourself?
&nb
sp; NGUYEN: Yeah.
GALLEGOS: Are you sure about that?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Did you receive any money from that accident?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: How much?
GGUYEN: One thousand five hundred.
GALLEGOS: One thousand five hundred. Was that for that accident?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Were you paid in cash or check or how were you paid?
NGUYEN: When I go with Kait they write me a check, and we deposit it in her bank account.
GALLEGOS: Tell me about these accidents. Were they staged accidents? Were they something that was planned?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Okay. Who planned these accidents?
NGUYEN: This guy.
GALLEGOS: Okay, you gave me a card some time ago from a guy. He was a paralegal out in California—Westminster Avenue, California—and the business card is a Bao Tran. Is this the individual who planned these accidents?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Okay, and it says “Law Office of Minh Nguyen Duy.” Who’s that?
NGUYEN: I don’t know.
GALLEGOS: Do you know who that is?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Okay, so Bao Tran is the person who staged these accidents?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Both accidents?
NGUYEN: Yeah, um … yes.
GALLEGOS: Okay. Tell me about the first accident. Uh, you went out to California and you got into this accident?
NGUYEN: We got there and we rent a car.
GALLEGOS: You and who?
NGUYEN: Me and An Le.
[This line of interview continued for two more pages with no new information surfacing as Gallegos asked questions to which he already had the answers.]
GALLEGOS: Was anyone hurt during this [the first] accident?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: So, let’s get to the second accident, then. The second accident is when you were out there in California with Kait. Was she with you in the car when you got into this accident?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Who was with you?
NGUYEN: By myself.
GALLEGOS: Okay. Did Bao Tran set this accident up also?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Okay. How much money did you receive for this accident?
NGUYEN: One thousand five hundred.
GALLEGOS: One thousand five hundred. Okay, Bao Tran wrote you a check, is that correct?
NGUYEN: Yeah.
GALLEGOS: Okay, where was Kaitlyn Arquette at the time that this accident happened?
NGUYEN: She in a motel that we rented.
GALLEGOS: Okay. Did Kaitlyn know that you were going to get into this accident?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: What did she say because of this?
NGUYEN: She told me she gets nervous, but just so I’m not hurt. After I wreck and I come back I told her everything is fine now.
GALLEGOS: Okay, when did you receive the money? Did you receive the money right after the accident? … Did he mail you a check?
NGUYEN: NO, because the first thing, we wreck the car and we spend a whole week in California, visit a long time, and just, he gave us some extra cash that we borrowed him and we go to Disneyland, we go to Newport Beach. … And when we get back, we get back to rest, we write out the check.
GALLEGOS: Did you ever introduce Kaitlyn to Bao Tran?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Was there any problems between the two of them?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Okay. Once you told Kaitlyn about these accidents, did she mention it anymore after that when you guys got back to Albuquerque? When the two of you argued or got into any kind of argument, did she ever threaten to tell on you about these accidents to the police?
NGUYEN: No, we totally forgot about it.
GALLEGOS: Did you tell Bao Tran up in California that you told Kaitlyn Arquette about the accidents? Did he know that she had knowledge of these accidents and how they were planned?
NGUYEN: Does he know?
GALLEGOS: Yeah, did he know?
NGUYEN: He didn’t ask. I don’t know.
GALLEGOS: Did he ask if she knew?
NGUYEN: Um-um.
GALLEGOS: Did you tell him that she knew?
NGUYEN: No, but I think he knew that I told her.
GALLEGOS: You think he knew that you told her?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Did he know this after the accidents or before?
NGUYEN: He, I mean he told her too.
GALLEGOS: He told her also?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: So Bao Tran told Kaitlyn also?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Okay, was there any problem with that? Did Bao Tran ever mention to you that he did not trust Kaitlyn? Did he ever tell you that he felt that Kaitlyn was going to tell anybody because of what was going on with these accidents?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: How about An Le, did he know that Kaitlyn knew?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: How did he feel about that?
NGUYEN: He didn’t say anything about it. I think he’s fine.
[The next section of the interview consisted of a series of questions about how the car was rented, how long they kept it, and—again—whether Kait was in the car at the time of the wreck. Finally, another subject was raised.]
GALLEGOS: To your knowledge, did Bao Tran or anybody else in California who stages these accidents, do they know that Kaitlyn Arquette was killed?
NGUYEN: In California?
GALLEGOS: Yes.
NGUYEN: By the time Kait and [inaudible] after that we went home and Khanh and An were staying around my apartment.
GALLEGOS: This was the night she was shot?
NGUYEN: Yes. And I heard An make a phone call when I go upstair.
GALLEGOS: You heard Khanh?
NGUYEN: An.
GALLEGOS: An?
NGUYEN: To make phone call to the guy Bao Tran.
GALLEGOS: Bao Tran? What exactly did he say while he was on the phone with Bao Tran?
NGUYEN: He told him he can’t go over California, and he told Bao Tran what happened to Kait. He say Kait got shot, but we don’t know who it is and he stay, I mean, he can’t go now, he had to stay with us, with me around with me.
GALLEGOS: DO you know when this phone call was made?
NGUYEN: When he called, like that time I heard?
GALLEGOS: Yeah. Was it the next day, day after, two days after, do you remember?
NGUYEN: I really don’t know but ….
GALLEGOS: Was it night?
NGUYEN: The day.
GALLEGOS: It was during the daytime?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Morning, afternoon?
NGUYEN: Afternoon, during the afternoon or night. I really don’t remember.
GALLEGOS: So it was at night or in the afternoon?
NGUYEN: Night.
GALLEGOS: Nighttime. You don’t remember the time, do you?
NGUYEN: I’m not very sure on that.
[We wondered if that was what was meant by “leading a witness.” The summary in the file might legitimately have read: “Although unsure about the time, Nguyen told investigator he heard An Le make the phone call at night.”
The interview terminated with Gallegos asking Dung if Kait had ever threatened to go to the authorities and whether he thought his friends in California were responsible for her death. Dung answered no to both questions.]
GALLEGOS: Why do you think Mrs. Arquette thinks that the Vietnamese have something to do with her death?
[Good Lord! I thought. This is setting me up for the next bullet!]
NGUYEN: Because, um … she think we did something like that [inaudible] I mean what happened to Kait that we deserve [sic] from car wreck.
GALLEGOS: She thinks because of what you guys did in the wreck that Kaitlyn was killed?
>
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Um, to your knowledge, there’s nothing that would say that anyone in California’s responsible for Kaitlyn’s death?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Are you sure?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Since Kaitlyn’s death, have you been back to California?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Have you talked to Bao Tran?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Is he a close friend of yours?
NGUYEN: He’s like An’s cousin. I just know him, but he’s really a nice guy.
GALLEGOS: Is this pretty common in California? These types of accidents? Does this happen quite often that you know of?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: Has Bao Tran ever done this before with other people that you know of besides you and An?
NGUYEN: I don’t know.
GALLEGOS: So the two times that you were in California Bao Tran set up the accidents? These are the only accidents you know of?
NGUYEN: Yeah.
GALLEGOS: Are those the only accidents that you know of that Bao Tran set up?
NGUYEN: Yes.
GALLEGOS: Okay. I’ll ask you one more time. To your knowledge do the accidents or the Vietnamese or Bao Tran in California have anything to do with Kaitlyn’s death?
NGUYEN: No.
GALLEGOS: This statement will conclude. The time is eleven thirty-five A.M.
END OF INTERVIEW
In the district attorney’s office, seven months later, when Dung was quizzed about the content of this interview, he stated to Miguel Garcia’s defense attorneys, Joe Riggs and Michael Davis, and to Deputy District Attorney Susan Riedel, that he knew of up to twenty people from Albuquerque who had been imported by Bao Tran to stage wrecks in California.
He also said once the tape recorder was turned off, that Gallegos had advised him to sue me for “saying bad things’ about him.