Chapter 12: Meet Rosalva Guttierrez

February 1999

“Any luck?” asked Lou.

“Lots of interesting stuff here, but so much of it is in Spanish,” I replied.

“If you need help, let me know.” Lou began looking through periodicals, magazines, and newspapers that dealt with any cult activity, particularly that which looked like anything that our boy Francisco had been involved. We searched for hours. By the time we stopped to take a break, it was already in the late afternoon. The library would still be open until later that night. “Lou, I am starving. Look at the time!” I whispered. “Can you ask that girl if we could come back in an hour or so?

She overheard me and replied to me in English that she would be glad to hold our materials until we got back. She also asked if there were anything that she might be able to assist us with while we were away.

“Yes, you sure can. I am looking for any reference or information to these symbols.” I showed her a sketch of the symbols used on the altar at Cordero”s house.

The instant I showed her this, she backed away, and immediately changed the tone of her hospitality. Her complexion became pale as she kept shaking her head, saying that it was time for us to go. “No Senors! Please you must go! I am sorry but I cannot help you anymore! Please Senors, please go!” She was clearly frightened.

Lou and I looked at each other, knowing we had struck gold.

Lou took the lead and began to attempt to calm her down. “Please, Miss, we mean you no harm. Neither will we let any come to you. You may have the information that we are seeking. My name is Luis Martinez, and this is my friend and associate, Malcolm Harris. We are both from the United States of America. I am a police officer from Miami, Florida and Malcolm is a journalist from Miami. It is especially important that we find out about the symbols in this diagram, and we need to know all the information that you might be able to give us about this picture.” He then turned to me saying, “Show her the photo of Cordero”s altar!” We knew we had our first real lead in the case, and we were determined not to let it slip through our fingers.

Lou managed to calm the woman down. She was so frightened that she was on the verge of tears. He managed to question her regarding the symbols on the altar with some success.

“Please sir, don’t tell anyone that you have spoken with me. If I give you the information that you seek, will you leave this library and not come back?”

Lou and I agreed. It turned out that she was originally from the eastern highland region also. She had come to the university as a student and was working at the library to help pay for her education. Her family was an upper class one, whose wealth came from the coffee fields. She had seen a lot of the campesino’s culture. Many of them were Indian descendants, some full-blooded, others of mixed blood. She had seen this symbol in tattoo markings and other places. I was curious to find out about those “other places.”

“Where have you seen this symbol other than a tattoo? I research cult and cult phenomena. I have seen all kinds of tattoos and symbols in various forms of religions and cults and I never have seen anything like this.”

She said that as a little girl, sometimes she would go off to play with the plantation worker’s children. “One day, I was playing with another little girl and boy. They, too, had crept away from their house to play. We were playing in an area that was restricted to most of the people who worked for my father. I never understood what purpose this area served. I still do not, but this area had a single path that led into a very dense forest. My playmates were playing chase, and it was my turn to chase after them. They ran down this path into the forest, and I came to the end of the path, obscured from view by a thick veil of foliage. I brushed away the vines and branches, then saw a clearing. After entering the clearing, I looked for my friends, but I could not find them. In the center of the clearing was a large block of stone. It was very pretty, and it had strange carvings all over it. I walked up to it and noticed that it was very dark around the base of the stone. When I bent down to see why it was dark, my hand showed that I was standing in a pool of old blood. I knew a killing had taken place there. I was so frightened that I was out of my mind with fear. I ran away. Now, whenever I see those symbols, I become very frightened, again. I’m sorry.”