CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
At the hospital, I locate the room of Father Nicolai and see a figure in the bed swathed in white bandages with only the eyes showing. The kids must have beat him up pretty bad. I tell the Father that I am Gene McLain of the Arizona Republic newspaper and want to talk with him about the robbery. He doesn’t seem very interested. I ask if he knew the kids. He shakes his head slowly from side to side, which I take to mean that he doesn’t. I ask how many of them entered the church. He raises a hand with three fingers. I ask if he can identify them. He slowly shakes his head again. This is going nowhere. I ask about the gold statue, trying to get some identification.
“Was it a statue of Mother Mary?” More slow movement from side to side.
