The Seventh Messenger

by Carol Costa

  “They"ll all be brought into court if necessary,” George Nichols told them as he looked at Evelyn"s list. “Lenore will not be alone. This is not just a few incidents of rape but a long string of immoral and illegal behavior.”

  *** Within two weeks, George Nichols had confiscated the colony"s records and developed his case against Benjamin and the House of David. The story drew nation-wide attention. Newspapers reported that the State of Michigan was prosecuting Benjamin Franklin Purnell for rape and sexual activity with minors. The State was also filing charges against the House of David colony as a whole alleging that the organization was a menace to public morals and should be dissolved.

  Remembering the unrest Michael Mills" arrest and trial had caused, Benjamin had guards posted at the front and back doors to Diamond House.

  The match-making operation had resulted in a number of marriages between current and former members of the Inner Circle with single men in the colony. The couples were all married at the Berrien County courthouse to ensure that there were public records of the unions.

  Like the Flying Rollers" scandal, the pending legal action and the publicity caused many of the House of David members to leave the colony. Some of the first to pack up and leave the colony were Adolph and Ruth Warren. One day they were living on the farm and the next they were gone. No one knew if they had left because they supported Evelyn"s actions or because they were embarrassed by them.

  Frank Melicher was one of the first to come to Jacob and demand that the funds he had contributed to the commonwealth treasury be returned to him. Melicher warned that he would go to the authorities and offer testimony against Benjamin if his money was not returned to him.

  When the matter was discussed with Benjamin, he agreed to give Melicher the funds he requested on one condition: Melicher was to marry Celia and take her far away from the colony. Celia posed a great threat to Benjamin. Since she had been a member of the Inner Circle longer than any of the other girls it was feared that she could be put on the witness stand by Nichols and do irreparable damage to Benjamin"s case.

  Celia would not testify willingly. The woman"s loyalty to Benjamin had been quickly determined by William Barnard, but she had been in the colony since she was a child and knew nothing of the ways of the outside world, much less, the workings of the justice system. She was terrified at the prospect of appearing in court.

  Since Frank still needed someone to help him care for his children, and since the children were very attached to Celia, he agreed to Benjamin"s condition.

  Mary wondered how Celia felt about marrying Melicher, but never had the opportunity to ask her. Celia and Frank were married and on their way out of town the day after he received a refund of his money. Personal belongings were packed and stored in the car Melicher had brought to the colony with him. Most of the furnishings were left in the house to be sold or used by other members of the colony. It was agreed that no one should know where Mr. and Mrs. Melicher and the children were going.

  In the months leading up to the trial, the amusement park continued to operate profitably. In fact, the scandal seemed to draw more people than ever to the House of David Park.

  Those colonists who remained with the House of David had to shoulder more responsibility and work harder to make up for those who left, but to an outside observer things still seemed to run smoothly.

  The baseball players had already earned a reputation as a team to be respected. They won more games than they lost and never failed to give baseball fans the fun and excitement they had come to expect at home and on the road.

  Two of the players, Walter “Dutch” Faust and Dwight “Zeke” Bauschke were known throughout the leagues as the Diamond Cutters. The name was bestowed on them because of their ability to make double plays. People were amazed when they learned that neither man had played baseball before joining the House of David colony.

  The ongoing success of the House of David enterprises was vitally important to Mary. It meant that the House of David treasury remained solvent and was able to meet the needs of the colonists as well as pay the mounting legal bills.

  While their financial assets remained intact, the strain of the scandal was taking its toll on Benjamin"s physical assets. His health seemed to deteriorate with each passing day.

  A few nights before the trial was to begin, Mary was in her sitting room with her Bible, trying to find passages that would help her cope with the troubles that had beset them. The park was closed and the baseball games had ended until spring. Mary tried to keep good thoughts, but if the colony were dissolved by the State it could be the end for both attractions.

  The door to her suite opened and Mary glanced up to see Benjamin standing on the threshold. Although she did not greet him or invite him to enter, Benjamin closed the door and walked slowly over to the sofa. He sat down and was seized by a coughing fit, one of the symptoms of the illness that had claimed his strength and confined him to his quarters the last few months.

  When he stopped coughing, he attempted to smile at his wife. “You"re looking well, Mary,” he said.

  “You"re not,” she replied without malice.

  Benjamin began coughing again. Mary poured him a glass of water from the pitcher on her table and carried it over to him.

  He managed to take a sip and his coughing fit subsided.

  “Thank you,” he said in a hoarse voice.

  Mary returned to her chair and observed him from across the room before she spoke. Benjamin"s physical deterioration had made him a mere shadow of the man he once was. “I remember the first time I saw you, Benjamin. You were standing in the middle of the road reciting passages from this book,” she touched the Bible that now lay on the table. “If only you had believed your own teachings.”

  Her words angered him. “I am the Seventh Messenger of God. I will lead my people into the Millennium. It is at hand.” “So is your trial.”

  “The mouth of the wicked and deceitful have opened against me. They have surrounded me with words of hatred and fought against me without just cause. In return for my love, they are my accusers.”

  “Psalms, Chapter 109, verses 2 and 3,” Mary said. “You can recite this book backwards and forwards, Benjamin, but will it impress the court? I think not.”

  “You are my wife. I turn to you for comfort and you mock me.”

  Mary sighed and shook her head. “What is it you want?” she asked.

  “You must sit beside me in court. You must show the world that we are united now as we have always been.”

  “We have been together for many years, but I don"t think we"ve ever been truly united.”

  Ben"s anger triggered another coughing spell. He sipped more water and managed to get it under control again. “You would risk losing all that you have? All that I have built for you?” he asked bitterly.

  Mary smiled and got up from her chair. She walked over to the balcony doors that were closed against the winter winds, but uncovered by draperies. Ben watched her without comment. Finally, she turned around and faced him again.

  “For many years I have lived with hatred, and it has eaten away at my strength, like the illness that robs you of yours,” she told him. “No, I will not risk losing what I have. Like you, I am too old and weak to go on without the comforts I have grown used to. I will sit beside you, Benjamin. I will tell the court of your good works, and try to save us from your stupidity.” Benjamin struggled to his feet. His face was clouded with anger, but he was too ill to argue with her. “Then, I bid you good-night,” he said as he walked towards the door.

  After he had gone, Mary returned to her chair and picked up her Bible again. “I will help you save the kingdom, Benjamin,” she said softly to herself. “Because after your death, it will all belong to me.” She opened the Bible and read a passage from it aloud to herself. “For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me dwell in darkness, like those who have long been dead.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-
SIX

  T

  he trial of Benjamin Purnell attracted hundreds of people. When they arrived at the courthouse, with William, Barnard, Benjamin, Mary, Jacob, Silas and Cora, they had to be escorted by uniformed officers. Even with the officers to help, they had to fight and push their way through the crowds that were gathered outside because the courtroom was already filled. People tried to grab them and many shouted insults and profanities at them as they passed by.

  The courtroom was buzzing with the low voices of the spectators. Newspaper reporters were seated near the front with pads and pencils ready to record the day"s events and cameras flashed as the House of David group hurried down the aisle to their seats.

  Benjamin was seated at the defense table with his attorney and one of Barnard"s assistants, a young man with red hair that struck straight up from his head. Mary looked at him and thought maybe he"d had an electrical shock of some kind. He was introduced to them as Jackson Fuller.

  The row of chairs behind the defense table had been reserved for Benjamin"s supporters and Mary was seated on a hard wooden bench between Silas and Jacob, directly behind her husband.

  The three people who accompanied them to court seemed steadfast in their belief in Benjamin. Mary had a great affection for these people who had been with them for so many years. At the same time, she couldn"t help but be amazed at the depth of their loyalty. Jacob, especially, knew what had transpired on the Star of Bethlehem with the girls from the Inner Circle, but he refused to speak of it. William Barnard had warned Silas, Cora, and Jacob that they could be called as witnesses. As Benjamin"s wife, Mary could not be asked to testify against her husband, but the others were fair game for the prosecution.

  “Nichols is no fool,” Barnard told them, trying to ease their anxiety at the prospect of being called as witnesses for the State. “He knows that you would not speak ill of Benjamin regardless of how long he keeps you in the witness chair. It is unlikely that he will call you to the stand for the prosecution, but you will be testifying for the defense and at that time, he will have the opportunity to cross-examine you and try to discredit your testimony.”

  Mary had nodded in agreement, wondering if Barnard knew that she often stopped herself from shouting to the world that her husband was a fake, a user, a sexual deviant who preyed on young girls, and only kept quiet to prevent more damage to the colony.

  Evelyn did not appear to be in the courtroom, but Nathan Sullivan was and when she looked at him, Mary could see the unmasked hatred on his face.

  Martha Sullivan had left the colony and was reportedly living in Indiana again with relatives. Lenore and Alice remained in Benton Harbor with their father. Evelyn and Naomi were also in Benton Harbor living in the same rooming house that Nathan and his daughters occupied. Mary had heard that all of them were under the protective custody of the State of Michigan that was paying their expenses.

  Evelyn"s separation from the colony meant that she was without support. However, Mary wondered if Evelyn"s friend, Frank Melicher, had not given her money before he left Benton Harbor. Although Frank seemed angered by having his comfortable life at the House of David disrupted, he may have secretly supported Evelyn"s campaign to destroy Benjamin.

  The Judge entered and rapped his gavel sharply on the bench. Mary jumped at the sound and turned her attention to him as he introduced himself and explained how the proceedings were to take place.

  “I am Judge Harold Finley,” he began. “The State of Michigan has filed a suit against the House of David as organized by Benjamin Franklin Purnell charging that is a menace to public morals, and should be dissolved. Separate charges have been filed against Mr. Purnell that will also be heard in this courtroom. My ruling will be based on the evidence and the testimony presented here. I am instructing the State Prosecutor, George Nichols, and the attorney for Benjamin Purnell and The House of David, William Barnard, to present their cases in an orderly manner and I am requesting the spectators and the members of the press to conduct themselves with proper decorum at all times. Mr. Nichols, you may begin.”

  Nichols stood up, seeming to unwind his lanky frame from his chair. He was dressed in a white suit with a starched white shirt that buttoned high on his neck. With his fair coloring he presented a stark pale image.

  “The State calls Miss Hazel Morgan,” Nichols announced. Mary and Jacob looked at each other. Hazel Morgan and her family had left the House of David shortly after Hazel became a part of the Inner Circle almost ten years ago. There was no way Nichols could have known about Hazel unless she had come forward herself after reading about the scandal in the paper or unless Evelyn Warren and had given Nichols her name. The thought that Evelyn had been gathering information to use against Benjamin for the last ten years was a chilling, but likely possibility.

  Hazel was a sweet-looking girl with straight brown hair that hung to her waist, dark eyes and a round face. She was dressed in a pale yellow dress that seemed too light for a winter day in Michigan.

  After a few preliminary questions about her name and age, Nichols asked Hazel about her experience with Benjamin and the Inner Circle.

  “I was only fourteen when I became part of the Inner Circle. Benjamin came to my room one night and talked to me about the scriptures. After a while, he told me that he was going to purify my blood.”

  “And exactly how was this blood purification done?” Hazel"s face flushed and she looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap. Then, she squared her thin shoulders and looked up. “He made me take off my clothes and he had sex with me. I was so scared, I didn"t know what to do, so I just let him do it. I thought if I didn"t, my family would be expelled from the colony.”

  “How long were you a member of the Inner Circle?” Nichols asked.

  “Only a few days. I didn"t have a daddy. He died before I was born, but I told my mama what happened with Benjamin and she packed us up, my two brothers and me, and took us away. She said if my daddy had been alive, he would have shot Benjamin.”

  Hazel"s words caused a ripple of noise to move through the courtroom and Judge Finley rapped his gavel and called for order.

  Nathan looked over at the defense table where Benjamin would have been slumped in the chair, if Jackson Fuller didn"t have a firm hold on Benjamin"s arm keeping the defendant upright. Once again, Mary noticed the way Nathan was looking at Ben and knew that he was wishing he had choked the life out of him the night he broke into the Diamond House.

  Hazel was excused and escorted out of the courtroom. Nichols called another name that was familiar to Mary and another girl took the stand.

  “I cried and begged him to stop,” she testified. “And he did, but the next night he was back again. He would preach scripture to me and stroke my hair. Finally, after three nights I gave in.”

  “And how old were you then?” Nichols asked.

  “I was thirteen,” the girl answered.

  As the morning wore on, Nichols called more girls to the stand to testify. Their stories were all the same, just related a little differently depending on the witness.

  “He had sex with the girls in his Inner Circle all the time. Sometimes he would have two or three of us together and take turns with us,” one young lady told the court.

  Still another said, “Some of the girls got pregnant, and they were sent away to have their babies. Benjamin always said he sent them on a mission to gather converts, but then they just never came back.”

  Mary had held onto the hope that the trial wouldn"t be as bad as she feared. Now sitting there listening to these young women describe Benjamin"s activities, she felt nauseous and faint. Evelyn Warren had not been bluffing when she said she would destroy Benjamin and the House of David. Despite Jackson Fuller"s efforts, Benjamin was now slumped in his chair, often coughing so much, the Judge instructed the witness to stop talking until the defendant"s spell had passed.

  At noon, the Judge announced that there would be a recess until two that afternoon. He left the bench and everyone sta
rted to file out of the courtroom.

  William Barnard told his client and his small entourage of supporters that his office was just next door to the courthouse and he was having food sent in for them. Barnard"s assistant excused himself. When he let go of Benjamin, he slumped down further in the chair. Jacob and Silas jumped up and hurried to assist Benjamin to his feet. As Mary and Cora walked behind the men, Mary thought that her husband was a pitiful sight, moving so slowly that the women had to keep stopping to avoid bumping into him.

  Barnard led the group out the side door of the courthouse and across a narrow walkway to his office. It enabled them to avoid the crowds outside the main entrance to the court. Although she could not see them, Mary could hear the angry cries that were coming from the crowd and was relieved that she did not have to face them.

  They ate their meal in silence. It consisted of a tomato salad, brown bread, and ice cream. The food helped the empty nauseous feeling Mary had experienced in the courthouse.

  Benjamin looked ghastly, his face was drained of color and he was having more and more frequent coughing spells. Mary urged him to eat, but he refused the nourishment.

  “Perhaps I should tell the Judge that you are too ill to continue today,” Barnard suggested.

  Benjamin shook his head. “I will continue,” he said firmly.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Barnard,” Silas said when he had finished his food. “I am wondering why you did not challenge any of the witnesses that Nichols put on the stand.”

  “I did not want to question them further and have them repeat their allegations again. Besides, all of them appeared to be rather fragile and questioning them further may have resulted in the shedding of tears at the least, and out and out hysterics at the most. Their words were damaging enough without adding more emotion to their stories. When it is our turn, we will present witnesses to counteract their testimony.”

  “What about Evelyn Warren?” Mary asked. “She is anything but fragile.”

  “Yes, I know that and I will cross-examine her and try to show the court that the influence she exercised over the girls prompted them to lie or exaggerate their experiences with Benjamin.”