Interview Room B – Transcript Excerpt
Recorded statement, 02:17 hrs – 02:59 hrs.
What follows is a transcript.
It was filed, archived, redacted – and only later discovered.
Read carefully.
Case No.: 42/19-B
Location: City Police Department, Interview Room B
Date/Time: 12.03.2019 – 02:17 hrs
Present:
Detective Michael Harlow (Lead Investigator)
Officer Daniel Reyes (Secondary Investigator)
Subject [Redacted]
Defence Counsel [Redacted] (silent observer)
Status: Subject informed of rights under Criminal Procedure Code, Section 232.
Recording: Audio and video.
02:17 hrs – Interview commenced
HARLOW: State your full name for the record.
SUBJECT: [Redacted].
HARLOW: You are aware of why you’ve been brought in?
SUBJECT: No.
HARLOW: You’ve been connected to the events on March 11th. Where were you that evening?
SUBJECT: At home.
REYES: Alone?
SUBJECT: Yes. Watching TV.
HARLOW: [pause] That doesn’t match the information we have.
SUBJECT: [inaudible]
REYES: What were you watching?
SUBJECT: [inaudible] Can’t remember.
HARLOW: How convenient.
[02:19:42] - 5 seconds silence recorded.
02:25 hrs – Silence recorded
REYES: And you remained at home the entire evening?
SUBJECT: Yes.
HARLOW: [pressing] No phone calls, no visitors, nothing?
SUBJECT: Nothing.
[3 seconds silence recorded]
SUBJECT: You were never going to believe me.
REYES: [notes something – not subject’s words]
HARLOW: [exhales sharply] So you expect us to believe you were just sitting there alone, doing nothing.
SUBJECT: [looks up briefly] I wasn’t there. But you were.
HARLOW: [snaps] What did you say?
SUBJECT: [inaudible]
[02:21:05] - Interview interrupted briefly while subject requested water. Recording continued.
HARLOW: You’ve repeated the same answer six times. It’s not convincing.
SUBJECT: [quiet] It’s the truth.
HARLOW: [raises voice] Truth doesn’t change when I push. Yours does.
SUBJECT: [slight smile] I don’t feel pushed.
02:33 hrs – Access code discussion
[02:33:14] - Paper shuffling audible.
REYES: Let’s clarify something. Who had access to the entry code for the building?
SUBJECT: Not me.
HARLOW: [cuts in, too quickly] Anyone. Officers, staff, neighbors - it wasn’t restricted.
[Silence – 14 seconds.]
SUBJECT: [quietly] Some doors don’t open for everyone, Detective.
[4 seconds silence recorded]
SUBJECT: You’d know that better than me.
REYES: [notes something, no comment]
02:42 hrs – Entry log introduced
[[02:42:09] - File opened.
SUBJECT: [almost to himself] Even a handle keeps record.
REYES: The entry log shows a print lifted from the door handle at 22:45.
HARLOW: Contamination. Everyone touches doors. Nothing solid.
REYES: It was verified twice.
HARLOW: Doesn’t matter. Forensics make mistakes.
SUBJECT: [quietly] Prints don’t lie. People do.
HARLOW: [overlapping] This doesn’t prove anything -
REYES: [overlapping] It’s consistent with the timeline.
[02:44:57] - Overlapping voices, indistinct.
02:47 hrs – Timeline discrepancy
REYES: Timeline indicates entry at 22:45. Fingerprint recovered from door handle.
HARLOW: [to Reyes] That’s - [inaudible].
REYES: Repeat that, please.
HARLOW: I said, that can’t be correct.
SUBJECT: [faint laugh] I told you. I don’t belong here.
HARLOW: [raises voice] Quiet. You answer when I ask.
REYES: The sample matches profile 14627-B. Badge number consistent. That’s on record.
[Overlapping voices - indistinct.]
02:54 hrs – CCTV evidence produced
HARLOW: This is a mistake. Files get mislabelled. Prints get contaminated. Everyone here knows that.
REYES: We ran tests on the samples four times. Same result.
SUBJECT: [leans back] Told you.
REYES: [opens file] CCTV entry log. 22:45. Stairwell camera.
HARLOW: And?
REYES: [slides photograph] [pause] The timestamp is clear. Uniform, badge visible.
HARLOW: [voice lower] That’s grainy. Could be anyone.
REYES: The number matches. The frame confirms.
HARLOW: [shouting] Someone planted that.
SUBJECT: Or maybe you just walked where you shouldn’t.
02:59 hrs – Interview concluded
HARLOW: [exhales sharply] You’re spinning fiction here. I’ve been on this case since the beginning.
REYES: Which gave you access. Knowledge of the gaps.
HARLOW: That’s ridiculous.
SUBJECT: [quietly] Is it?
[02:56:38] - Audible thud. Chair kicked over. Harlow pacing.
HARLOW: [shouting] This is fabricated. Every piece of it. You’re framing me.
REYES: We don’t need to. The evidence is enough.
HARLOW: [voice cracking] No… no, I didn’t -
REYES: You didn’t what?
[Silence - 7 seconds.]
HARLOW: [low] …I didn’t mean for it to happen.
[Long silence - 12 seconds.]
SUBJECT: And yet it did.
[Chair scraping audible.]
REYES: For the record, subject Harlow has acknowledged involvement.
HARLOW: [louder] Off the record! That was off the record!
REYES: There is no “off the record.” This is recorded.
[Recorder beeps. File marker added.]
HARLOW: [breathing heavily] You set me up. Both of you.
SUBJECT: You set yourself up. We just waited.
[Folder closing audible.]
End of recording
[02:59:14] — End of recording. File archived under Case No. 42/19-B.
Interview concluded at 02:59 hrs.
Recording stopped.
Signatures:
• __________________ (Detective Michael Harlow)
• __________________ (Officer Daniel Reyes)
• __________________ (Subject [Redacted])
• __________________ (Defence Counsel [Redacted])
Note: Transcript prepared for internal review, March 13th, 2019.
Portions redacted under Section 7 of the Public Records Act.
Casefile ends here. The Arkive continues below.
I love reading dialogue, and writing it can be very difficult for most writers, but i found this thoroughly enjoyable. It's putting our characters into a 3D world and thinking like them, acting like them in a different space is complex and difficult, I so enjoyed this.
Really enjoyed the dialogue - thanks!