Dance With The Devil

Barbara Bentley had told all her friends that someday her prince would come and he had, only he turned out to be a retired navy admiral and he was asking her to marry. 

Barbara: We talked about having maybe a church wedding at the base.  And having the swords crossed and walking out of the church under the swords.

But Barbara's fiancee, Rear Admiral John Perry, had another idea. He wanted to get married right away, down in Tijuana -- it would be cheaper, for one.  So Barbara changed mental scenery and envisioned a quaint Mexican chapel lit with candles but once they got down south-of-the-border she realized her groom had cooked up something else.

Barbara:  We start driving.  And all of a sudden now we're back into the poor part of town.  And pull up to this dilapidated storefront.  And it was a justice of the peace.

Dennis Murphy: What does the bride think about that?

Barbara: The bride was a little disappointed.  (laugh) You know, it was like, oh, my god.  What is going on here?

Dennis Murphy: You're getting married in shantytown, huh?

Barbara: Yeah. 

Dennis Murphy: Kiss the bride?

Barbara: Very stiffly.

There hadn't even been time to buy rings to slip on each other's fingers during the dismal, fluorescent-lit quickie service.  But Barbara tried to keep smiling through the ceremony and party afterwards. Later at their fancy hotel it got better, a gilded suite befitting a two-star admiral and his wife. The new Mrs. John Perry posed in a bride's white negligee.

But in the everyday reality of back home something was amiss, and it had to do with John's family, those talented and wealthy people he'd proudly described to Barbara: his astronaut son, his musician daughter, his sister, and most of all his reclusive grandmother, the matriarch and key to the Perry family fortune. 

Funny -- Barbara had always heard a lot about them - but never FROM them ....almost as if they were shunning her.  What kind of people would do that?  John's answer was like a slap.

Barbara: Because I was a gold digger.

Dennis Murphy: So what did you think about that?

Barbara: It hurt me that they wouldn't want to meet me.  Because i knew i was a nice person, and i wasn't a gold digger.

It didn't matter what they thought, John said, because neither of them would see the Perry millions any time soon because he was considered the black sheep of the family.  A black sheep, Barbara realized, who still spent like a wealthy heir.  There was their honeymoon trip to Hawaii, when they wandered into an art gallery featuring paintings by Barbara's childhood fave from TV, the comic Red Skelton.

Barbara: We get involved with one $75,000 painting and one--

Dennis Murphy: How much?

Barbara: Seventy-five thousand dollars and one--

Dennis Murphy: I thought you were having trouble makin' the mortgage notes?

Barbara: Right, but, john had this story where the company that he was now consulting with, that they could lease these paintings until he would get the money from his grandmother.

The art purchase came with an invitation to meet the famous entertainer himself -- and to this day the experience was one of the highlights of Barbara's life.  But it wasn't long before the proverbial honeymoon was over.  For one, there'd been the slight issue of John's arrest for theft the month before their move.

Barbara: He says, "Well, I have some bad news.  I was arrested today, and I owe $4,000 for these four Remington Rand typewriters.

John said it was all a big misunderstanding, and that he'd worked out a deal with the authorities:  the whole matter could be disposed of for $8-thousand dollars.  But where would they get money like that?  Why from Barbara's big house. They'd tack an additional loan onto the mortgage.  John would co-sign the papers, eventually becoming co-owner of the property. 

The house turned out to be perfect for entertaining friends and family. Pool parties, barbecues.  A photo album full of rich memories, and John at the center, a model husband:

John: The puppy hopes your birthday will be fun!

Playing ball with Barbara's nephew, pampering their beloved dogs, making dinner, giving romantic backrubs in the hot tub.

But even the happy times could no longer sugarcoat the harsh reality: John and Barbara were up to their eyeballs in debt, the piles of bills, taller than ever.  And the Perrys -- and their fortune -- were sounding more and more to Barbara like make-believe.

Barbara: There was always this kind of a consternation and dangling.  "Okay, we're gonna meet the family--"

Dennis Murphy: "We're gonna meet them tomorrow for dinner," or "they're coming over for coffee."  And it never happened, huh?

Barbara: No, never happened.

Barbara could only hold out hope that John's inheritance would one day come through.  But she had no doubt about one thing: John was his father's son, top military brass through and through.

Through the years Barbara and her friends had grown accustomed to the perks that came with John Perry's rank ... the special luncheons, private tours and roped-off areas that his Navy status allowed them access to.  Like during Fleet Week in San Francisco, when - thanks to John - their group was whisked to the exclusive VIP seating area.

Toni: How we got to sit there, I do not know.  (laughter) But, I have never seen so much navy brass in all my life.

Time and time again, Barbara had seen doors open for her husband, thanks to his military I.D.  A document that, in typical John Perry fashion, was shrouded in mystery. 

Barbara: It was not his picture.  And it was not his name.  But he would open that, and flash it, and we would have immediate entrance into any naval facility.

Dennis Murphy: What did he say when you said, "what's this thing?  That's not your photo, it's not your name."

Barbara: He said, "that's something that's very-- it's like a C.I.A. thing, you know.  And just don't ask about it but you saw it works."

Dennis Murphy: Secret world, but it works! It works!

John always had a plausible answer for everything which made Barbara feel foolish for even asking.  But now five years into their relationship, her trust in him was slowly eroding.  They were at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, to visit Admiral Perry's grave.  Yet John seemed to be having trouble finding his father's headstone.

Barbara: I'm thinking to myself, "Is this another time when I'm not gonna see the family?"  And eventually he said, "I think that's it." And sure enough, there's the grave of Rear Admiral Perry.  I thought to myself, "Well, at least I met somebody in the family, he just happens to be dead."

And a year later Barbara gratefully took it as more proof when John Perry told her he had a big surprise.

Barbara: He says, "Oh, oh!  There's something that came in the mail today that I want to show you." He goes out and he comes back in with this bag and he dumps out all these little boxes onto the couch. 

Teary-eyed, John opened up each box and showed Barbara his war medals: the Navy Cross, the Purple Heart.  The Distinguished Service Medal.  And finally ...

Barbara: The last one that he opened up was the congressional medal of honor.  Very impressive.

Barbara would soon learn that those medals were part of a dangerous and secret game John Perry was playing and wives weren't invited.

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