The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson Read Free Book Online Page B

to the children near the tree. "Have any of you kids been in that room since you brought down the Christmas boxes?" All three shook their heads. George hadn't moved from his position in the doorway. His eyes returned to Kathy.
    "George, what is it?"
    "A window is open. And the flies are back."
    Crack! Everyone in the room jumped at the loud sound that came from somewhere outside. Again came a sharp knock, and outside, Harry barked.
    "The boathouse door! It's open again!" George turned to Jimmy. "Don't leave them alone! I'll be right back!" He grabbed his parka from the hall closet and headed for the kitchen door. Kathy began to cry.
    "Kathy, what's going on?" Mrs. Conners said, her voice rising.
    "Oh, Mama! I don't know!"
    A man watched as George came out of a side door and ran toward the back of the house. He knew the door led from the kitchen because he had been at 112 Ocean
    Avenue before. He sat in a car parked in front of the Lutzes' home and observed George shut the boathouse door.
    He glanced at his watch. It was almost eleven o'clock. The man picked up the microphone of a car radio. "Zammataro. This is Gionfriddo. You can call your friend back and tell him the people in 112 Ocean Avenue are home."
    Sergeant Al Gionfriddo of the Suffolk County Police Department was doing a job this' Christmas Eve, just as he had been on the night of the DeFeo family massacre.
    7 December 25 - For the seventh night in a row, George awoke at exactly 3:15. He sat up in bed. In the winter moonlight flooding the bedroom, George saw Kathy quite clearly. She was sleeping on her stomach.
    He reached out his hand to touch her head. At that instant, Kathy woke up. As she looked wildly about, George could see the fright in her eyes. "She was shot in the head!" Kathy yelled. "She was shot in the head! I heard the explosions in my head!"
    Detective Gionfriddo would have understood what had frightened and awakened Kathy. Filing his report after the initial investigation the night of the DeFeo murders, Gionfriddo had written that Louise, the mother of the family, had been shot in the head while sleeping on her stomach. Everyone else, including her husband who was lying right beside her, bad been shot in the back while lying in the same position. This information bad been included in the material turned over to the Suffolk County prosecution team, but never released to the news media. In fact, this detail had never come out, even at Ronnie DeFeo's trial. Now, Kathy Lutz also knew how Louise DeFeo had died that night. She was in the very same bedroom.
    George held his shaken wife in his arms until she had calmed down and fallen back to sleep. Then once again, the urge to check out the boathouse came over him, and George quietly slipped from the room.
    He was almost upon Harry in his compound, when the dog awoke, springing to his feet. "Shhh, Harry. It's all right. Take it easy, boy."
    The dog settled back on his haunches and watched George test the boathouse door. It was closed and locked. Once more he reached down and reassured Harry. "It's all right, boy. Go back to sleep." George turned and started back toward the house.
    George circled around the swimming pool fence. The orb of the full moon was like a huge flashlight, lighting his way. He looked up at the house and stopped short. His heart leaped. From Missy's second floor bedroom window, George could see the little girl staring at him, her eyes following his movements. "Oh, God!" he whispered aloud. Directly behind his daughter, frighteningly visible to George, was the face of a pig! He was sure he could see little red eyes glaring at him!
    "Missy!" he yelled. The sound of his own voice broke the grip of terror on his heart and body. George ran for the house He pounded up the stairs to Missy's bedroom and turned on the light.
    She was in bed, lying on her stomach. He went to her and bent over. "Missy?" There was no answer. She was fast asleep.
    There was a creak behind him. He turned. Beside the