Follow Me Back (complete first draft of the published book)

Chapter 12: The Interrogation (Fragment 3)

Chapter 12: The Interrogation (Fragment 3)

February 20, 2014, 7:42 PM
Case #: 124.678.21-001
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTION OF POLICE INTERVIEW
~~START PAGE 4~~

INVESTIGATOR:  Mr. Thorn, do you deny setting up a social media account under a false name on August 12, 2013?

THORN: Is that a crime? Am I being charged with something?

INVESTIGATOR: At this point in time, you're being interviewed as a witness.

THORN: I should probably call a lawyer.

INVESTIGATOR: You're free to do that at any time. I can only tell you that it will delay our investigation.

THORN: What about Tessa? Is she here right now? You have her here, right?

INVESTIGATOR: I'm not at liberty to say anything further until we take your complete statement.

THORN: I don't know what to do. Shit. I didn't mean any harm. You have to understand that. I know it seems sketchy, but I never meant it to go that far. It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. People set up fake accounts like that all the time. I never meant to keep it. I was just going to tweet one thing and then deactivate. It was just a prank, really. I mean, that can't be a crime. MTV had a whole show called Punk'd for God's sake! Ashton Kutcher faked all kinds of shit. He, like, faked people's deaths! Didn't he? Way worse than some Twitter account. That was before the Catfish show though. I don't know. Is that illegal now?

INVESTIGATOR: So you did in fact create the Twitter account with username @EricThornSucks on August 12, 2013?

THORN: Huh? Oh right. Yes.

INVESTIGATOR: And you did not deactivate it or transfer it to another account owner at any point?

THORN: No. But I only used it to talk to her.

INVESTIGATOR: To talk to Tessa Hart?

THORN: Right. We stayed up all night that first night, DM'ing each other. We just connected really fast. I know it sounds crazy. I can get lonely sometimes. I'm on the road all the time, and it's hard to know who to trust. I don't have a lot of friends. And the Dorian Cromwell thing had me really messed up. It was just a safe way for me to be able to confide in someone, you know?

INVESTIGATOR: You confided specific details of your personal life to Ms. Hart using this Twitter account?

THORN: Yeah. I mean, I-I kind of-distorted it a little.

INVESTIGATOR: Can you be more specific, please?

THORN: Well, you saw the messages. She thought my name was Taylor. I told her I was stuck in a contract for a job I hated, but I didn't tell her what kind of job. I kind of made it sound like I was a traveling salesman or something. That's what she assumed anyway, and I didn't correct her. And I told her someone else in the same job had been stalked and killed recently, but I didn't say-you know. I didn't say it was a Dorian.

INVESTIGATOR: Anything else?

THORN: I mean-probably. It was just the details though. The emotions were real. That's what I'm trying to say. I had to change certain details to protect myself, but the feelings were true. It wasn't a lie. None of it was a lie. Do you know what I mean?

INVESTIGATOR: Eric, did you lead Ms. Hart to believe that you were female?

THORN: No! I didn't know she thought that. I honestly didn't know. It didn't even occur to me. It was an honest mistake. I didn't realize what would happen. By the time I realized, it was too late.

~~END PAGE 4 OF TRANSCRIPT~~

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