The Numbers Game: The Enigmatic Number 3- Part 3
Number 3’s aligned like stars in a constellation. In this case, looking into the Gestalt, they are certainly no heavenly bodies. So many people with so many Number 3’s! Of course, the characters in the Saga are really sharing the Number 3. And what an unlikely number it is! An interesting observation can be made. What is that? I have discussed the Number 3, Lester’s Number 3. 21 days! And on October 5th, the countdown starts. Sylvia has disappeared. Maybe not imprisoned in Gertrude’s dirty old basement. Not kicked out of Gertrude’s house. Not locked in the upstairs bedroom to keep her from walking the streets. She is not lost, but not wandering around somewhere after being driven off and forced out of the car- sorry Randy. She’s not in lock up- sorry Ricky and Randy. And Ricky turned down the $1,000 offer, apparently, and the whole Ellenberger’s Park plan was cancelled. But she’s not at school anymore, and the school is concerned. Rightly so. Lester’s Number 3 is…well, there’s no doubt that Lester had an odd affinity for the Number 3. These exchanges are interesting:
Q. Where did you go?
A. To Mrs. Baniszewski's.
Q. It was after dark - do you know what date that was?
A. It must have bean around the 2nd or 3rd of July.
Q. You got up the next morning before anybody else?
A. If I recollect right, that is what I done.
Q. Do you remember what date that was?
A. Around the 3rd, I believe, of July.
Q. What did you do when you got back there the 3rd of July?
MR. BOWMAN: We object.
THE COURT: Objection sustained.
Q. Mr. Likens, did you have a conversation with Mrs. Wright when you arrived back there July 3?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. State what you said and what she said?
MR. BOWMAN: We object.
Q. What day did you say that was Sylvia and Jenny stayed there with Mrs. Wright the first time?
A. As far as I can recollect about the 3rd of July.
Q. When you and your wife left this city, July 3 to join the carnival, where was your daughter Diane living?
A. I don't know.
How interesting is our chronology! Sylvia is found dead on October 26th, exactly 3 weeks after October 5th. So our Saga begins with a 3, and then ends with a 3. However, other things begin with a 3:
A. That is back pretty far. Well, I went in service June 3, 1944.
Q. June 3, 1944 you went to service. Where did you go?
A. I went to the navy, sir.
June 3rd, July 3rd, 3 weeks to October 25th. Going back into the Likens’ family history:
Q. Would you pronounce the name?
A. Yensel - with a Y.
Q. How long did Sylvia live with her?
A. I can't say for sure. It would be around three or four months.
What about July 3rd? Sylvia and Jenny are not where they were supposed to be:
A. They said "Mommy is in jail" and I said, "In jail" so I run in the car run down to see if I could find her and evidently she had already been out or was getting out. I missed her someway and went back to the house a couple of times or three looking for her.
It is well known that Lester, and Betty for that matter, made no effort whatsoever to determine just what kind of environment it was in which they were dumping their children:
Q. How many children did you know she had?
A. She had a baby and one ten and one eleven and one daughter three - three evidently.
Q. You only knew her by the name of Mrs. Wright?
A. Yes, sir.
Gertrude wishes! We know the number of Baniszewski children was more than…3! So Lester didn’t know about the two boys. For all he really knew, there could have been 3 boys, 4 boys, 5 teenage boys, 4 boys and a juvenile delinquent boy. The point? I would think that any father of teenage girls who was looking for someone with whom to leave them, the males in the household would be worth checking out. The possibility of sexual assault and abuse should have weighed heavily on the minds of Lester and Betty. Neither had anyway of assessing this threat if they made no real attempt to find out how many sons Gertrude had, whether those sons had male friends who be around the house (Ricky, Randy), and whether any older girls had a boyfriend who might hang around the house (Coy). Did Gertrude have any male friends who visited the house? Maybe a drunk? Maybe someone on parole? Gertrude had 3 children? Denny, Shirley? And why is it that Lester can’t count?
- A baby
- A ten year old
- An eleven year old
- And one daughter
In my mind, that is 4 children, not 3. Lester can’t count? Or is the Number 3 so important that it trumps the real number of things? No! Four- evidently four….wait…I almost forgot! I like the Number 3 so much that four must become three, so Three- evidently three!
What about a minor character in the Gestalt? Well, a minor one as far as we know, but like everything else in the Saga, things aren’t always as they seem. And what an amazing minor character! One might think that the Likens saga couldn’t possibly have anymore notes than it did. A Gang of Boys note, Gertrude’s note, the letter, an almost-written letter when Gertrude found out from the Mysterious Front Door Woman that a girl named Sylvia Likens was a prostitute who had been with her husband. But decades later, another Likens note appeared! It was on a clipboard, and ready for the police. It would explain the writer’s current situation to law enforcement, just like the Gang of Boys note did. And while waiting for the culmination in the latest installment in the Likens’ Gestalt, she ate pie and oranges and drank rainwater from a cup? This will be discussed in another essay. But it would appear very much to be the case that the eldest daughter, Dianna Shoemaker, was not on good terms with her parents.
Q. When you and your wife left this city, July 3 to join the carnival, where was your daughter Diane living?
A. I don't know.
Q. Was she living with her husband then?
A. I don't know, she did not contact us too much.
Q. I asked was she living with her husband then?
A. I don't know.
Q. She lived within a block of 3850 East New York?
A. I don't know. I did not know she lived there.
What about Betty?
Q. You did not know where she was living July in 1965?
A. No, I did not.
That’s strange, Betty. Why? Betty knew where her parents lived, and was even found at her parents’ house by Lester. I wonder if Dianna’s grandparents knew where she lived? What did Lester know about his eldest daughter?
Q. You have a daughter named Diane Shoemaker?
A. Yes.
Q. She is older and is married?
A. Yes, she has been married three or four years.
The Number 3 again. Maybe it’s Dianna’s Number 3. Maybe not. But are there any more Lester Likens Number 3’s?
Q. What was the address there, do you know?
A. Well, it was about 2200, about East State and Washington - 2000 on the north side of the street.
Q. How long did you live there?
A. About three months.
Q. How long did you work for Prestolite Battery?
A. Not too long, about three months, four maybe.
Q. Did you ever live any place longer than three months?
A. Yes, sir.
Perhaps the attorney began to wonder about all these Number 3’s. But what about the night Sylvia died?
A. I immediately got dressed and took a taxi to the fairgrounds to get a guy that worked for me to get a car and he run me to the airport. I missed the plane by two minutes. I had to wait there three hours, till 5:00 before I could get a plane home.
What about payments?
A. As far as I can remember, when I come back from Brownstown I give her $20.00. A couple or three days later - we had another fair with another party. I wanted to try and save money. I went back two or three days later and give $40.00 more. I said "We are going to be up in Wisconsin and I will just pay you $40.00 now and I won't have to pay till I get back".
Q. When did you give her $40.00?
A. Two or three days after I got back from Brownstown. I left the 5th and got back the 13th, whatever Sunday was. I gave it to her the following Wednesday, the 16th of July.
And:
Q. Was that the first payment?
A. Yes, sir, it was.
Q. Alright, that is three payments, July 8, $20.00 and July 12 or 13, $40.00. When was the next?
Once again, there appears to be a problem with counting. July 8th, July 12th, July 13th..wait..July 12th or July 13th…so that’s really two payments. Perhaps this isn’t surprising, when 4 children become 3 children. Of course, Number 3’s appear all over the place, and are just numbers after all. However, what about “three weeks”?
Q. Now, sir, after you went to Saginaw, when did you next see the children?
A. After the Indiana State Fair, three weeks.
And:
Q. When did you next see them, sir?
A. After September, the last of September, you mean?
Q. Whenever the next time was you saw them?
A. Well, you see we came back from Michigan after three weeks and then we was home and I bought a lunch-stand of my own. We went to see them frequently.
At the time of the trial, what about Lester’s employment?
Q. Where are you working?
A. I am not at present, I am what you call laid up till the fairs start up north in approximately three weeks or a month.
What about the most important Number 3? What about the 3 weeks extending from October 5th to October 26th? Lester was in Florida:
Q. I thought you said you had a fair concession stand in Florida?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How long did you have that?
A. We was there approximately three weeks. We were not at one fair three weeks. We went to one fair that was not too good and we did not work.
And now for the important exchange, and the most important of Lester’s Number 3’s:
Q. Did you ever have a conversation with the defendant here relative to you taking your daughter away from her home on October 5 there?
A. In what respect?
Q. Any respect?
A. You mean did I ask her if I was going to take her away? I don't understand.
Q. Did you have any conversation with the defendant here relative to your taking your daughter away from her home, yes or no, did you?
A. No, not that I know of.
Q. Did you have?
A. She knew I was going to return within three weeks. I told her - my kids and her both.
Q. You told Mrs. Baniszewski you would be coming back in three weeks?
A. Yes, sir, I did, yes, sir.
Q. That would make it the 26th for you to come back, would it?
A. Well, I did not mean it in exact words because I had to wait till the fair was over, which would have been three or four days longer, actually.
Notice what happened. Lester clearly said “within three weeks”. The attorney asked him to repeat this. So- “Yes, sir, I did, yes, sir.” Ok, but then the attorney suddenly emphasized that that meant that Lester would have been back on October 26th. How many times have I emphasized the most bizarre of facts! What? That Sylvia died on the day that Lester said he would return. Lester thought for a moment. This was a problem. “Well, I did not mean it in exact words.” Now we have an even more bizarre situation than before. Initially:
- Lester said he’d be back in 3 weeks
- Sylvia died exactly 3 weeks later
That is a coincidence…or is it? I think it wasn’t, not at all. But after backing off the reference to 3 weeks, we have even more, potential coincidence:
- Lester said he’d be back in 3 weeks
- Lester did not mean 3 weeks precisely
- Sylvia died precisely 3 week later
So what can be said about all these Number 3’s? The Number 3 appears everywhere in life, so many of them found in Lester Likens’ testimony probably mean nothing? I’m not convinced. What about Betty?
Q. Where were you at in September when school opened in 1965?
A. We was at the State Fair here for two or three weeks.
Q. Where at?
A. At the State Fair. We had a layover here at least three weeks. Then we went to Saginaw, Michigan.
But I found this very interesting:
Q. Were you the mother of Sylvia Likens?
A. Yes, I was.
Q. When was she born?
A. January 3, 1949.
Another beginning and another Number 3! Let's continue:
- June 3- Lester joins the Navy
- January 3- Sylvia is born
- July 3- Sylvia and Jenny are at Gertrude’s house
- 3 or 4 months- Sylvia lives with Mrs. Yensel
- 3 months- the Likens live at East Street and Washington
- 3 or 4 months- Lester works at Prestolite Battery
- 3 months- did Lester live anywhere longer than that?
- 2 or 3 times- Lester goes back to look for Betty after he was told that his wife hand been arrested
- 3 weeks- Lester saw his daughters after Saginaw
- 2 or 3 days- after Brownstone, Lester paid Gertrude
- 3 or 4 years- Dianna has been married
- 3- the number of Gertrude’s 4 children
- 3- the number of 2 payments
- 3 or 4 weeks- Lester unemployed while he waits for fairs up north to start
An impressive number of 3’s! Perhaps the most astounding Number 3’s:
- 3rd- of January, Sylvia’s birth day
- 3rd- of July, Sylvia found at Gertrude’s house
- 3rd- week from October 5th, Lester to return and see Sylvia
- 3rd- the third week from October 5th, Sylvia dies
The Number 3 is an enigmatic number indeed! But what about Jenny? She was a Likens too. Does Jenny have a Number 3? Oh, yes she does!
- 2-3 times- Coy hit Sylvia five days before she died
- 2-3 times- Gertrude pushed Sylvia down the stairs
- 3-4 times- Gertrude pushed Sylvia down the stairs
- 3-4 times: Jenny saw Gertrude burn Sylvia
- 3-4 times: Jenny’s visits to General Hospital
- 2-3: the number of spoons
- 2-3 blocks from Ellenberger Park- Dianna worked at Al Greens
- 2-3 houses down from Gertrude’s house is 3838 East New York Street
- 3 feet tall- the height of John’s 2 foot tall police dog
- 3-4 minutes: Sylvia’s head is held under the faucet in the kitchen
- 3-4 minutes: Jenny is in the bathroom while Sylvia was put in the tub
- 3-4 months: the Likens lived in California
- 3-4 weeks: Sylvia attended school
- 3-4 weeks (maybe 5): Jenny in school
- 2-3 nights: Benny stayed at Gertrude’s house
Relative to the day Sylvia died:
- 3-4 days: Sylvia is forced to write the Gang of Boys note
- 3-4 days: Johnny hit Sylvia
- 3-4 days: Sylvia makes a prophetic statement about her impending death
- 3-4 days: Pepsi bottle incident
- 3-4 days: Johnny took Sylvia to an alley
- 3-4 days: Gertrude treats Sylvia’s wounds
- 3-4 days: Gertrude announces the intention to kill and dump Sylvia
- 3-4 days: attorney asks if Sylvia was hit on the head with a paddle
- 3-4 days: Jenny noticed wounds on Sylvia
- 2-3 days: alternative dating of the Pepsi bottle incident
- 2-3 days: Jenny saw bruises on Sylvia
- 2-3 days: attorney asks if someone had bathed Sylvia
- 3 nights: Sylvia is gagged in the basement
- 3 weeks: Jenny visited Darlene’s house
- 3-4 weeks: a strange meeting took place about the kids getting along better, Mrs. MacGuire and her little children present
- 3-4 weeks: Johnny hits Sylvia
- 2-3 weeks: attorney asks if Sylvia took food from the refrigerator
If Lester had an affinity for the Number 3, how much more did his daughter Jenny! Of course, the Number 3 which started the whole Numbers Game exercise is not Lester’s Number 3; Gertrude’s Number 3; Jenny’s Number 3; or even Sylvia’s Number 3. Of course, it is readily apparent that Jenny has crammed an incredible amount of action in the last 3-4 days before Sylvia died. In fact, far too much to have anything realistic about it. When did this happen? 3-4 days. When did that happen? 3-4 days. What about this other thing? 3-…Fooled you! 2-3 days. Now it’s time to move on to the last and final part of the essay. Perhaps there’s a meaning for the strange, enigmatic Number 3 after all.