THE INTERROGATION
(FRAGMENT 11)
December 31, 2016, 9:17 p.m.
Case #: 124.678.21–001
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTION OF POLICE INTERVIEW
—START PAGE 11—
| HART: | Oh God, I’m going to be sick. |
| INVESTIGATOR: | Tessa, you showed tremendous presence of mind tonight. You should be very proud of how you handled yourself. |
| HART: | But it was all my fault. I brought the whole thing on myself. |
| INVESTIGATOR: | Listen to me, Tessa. I hear that kind of nonsense all the time from victims. It’s absolutely not true. |
| HART: | Yes, it is true! I invited him here! Don’t you understand? I DM’ed with him for months! |
| INVESTIGATOR: | No, Tessa— |
| HART: | Months and months! It never even occurred to me that it was him. |
| INVESTIGATOR: | Tessa, the individual you’ve been talking to on Twitter was not the suspect. |
| HART: | Yes, it was! I’m sure now. I’m sure it was him! |
| INVESTIGATOR: | Oh, I don’t doubt that Blair Duncan was the individual who stalked you in New Orleans. He was enrolled in the same summer program, for photography. We found numerous pictures of you on his cell phone camera roll. We’ve got him dead to rights on unlawful surveillance and abduction charges. He should be going to prison for a long time. |
| HART: | But you just said— |
| INVESTIGATOR 2: | I don’t think she knows who she was talking to, Chuck. |
| INVESTIGATOR: | She didn’t see him at the scene? |
| INVESTIGATOR 2: | I believe the responding officers already had Ms. Hart in the squad car when he arrived. He followed them back to the station in his own vehicle. |
| HART: | No, no. He came with us in Dr. Regan’s car. He didn’t have a vehicle. |
| INVESTIGATOR: | No, Tessa, I’m not referring to Blair Duncan. He was arrested at the scene. |
| HART: | Wait. Then who are you talking about? |
| INVESTIGATOR: | Tessa, the person you’ve been chatting with on Twitter was not Blair Duncan. We believe that Mr. Duncan began following your Twitter account at some point during the time that he was stalking you. He was still following you when you left New Orleans and changed your username from @TessaHart to @TessaHeartsEric. He changed his own username at one point to @TheRealEricT and tweeted at you repeatedly in an attempt to engage you in conversation. |
| HART: | I remember that. That weird Eric Thorn impersonator account. I muted it. That was him? |
| INVESTIGATOR: | From what we can gather, he became frustrated when you didn’t follow him back and then even more enraged when he saw you followed @EricThornSucks. However, he was not the owner of the @EricThornSucks account. |
| HART: | But he knew everything we talked about. He knew so many details. |
| INVESTIGATOR: | We believe he became aware of your private messages with @EricThornSucks in September. If you recall, on September 20 at 11:25 p.m., @EricThornSucks tweeted publicly, and I quote: “@TessaHeartsEric I swear I’m not a bad guy. Talk to me? Please?” You then exchanged a few more public tweets, culminating with another tweet from @EricThornSucks stating, and I quote: “@TessaHeartsEric what happened? Follow me back so we can DM.” |
| HART: | And then I followed him. |
| INVESTIGATOR: | That public exchange apparently alerted Mr. Duncan to your ongoing private correspondence with @EricThornSucks. Mr. Duncan then hacked into the @EricThornSucks account. |
| HART: | But wait. Then why…why didn’t he just hack my account to begin with? |
| INVESTIGATOR: | He was able to guess the password on the @EricThornSucks account. You know, you should really have a talk with your boyfriend about cybersecurity. You would think someone in his position would know better— |
| HART: | What are you talking about? What boyfriend? Do you mean Scott? |
| INVESTIGATOR: | I apologize. He described your relationship as romantic in nature. |
| HART: | Who? Blair? He’s delusional! |
| INVESTIGATOR: | No, I’m sorry. I meant— |
| HART: | I’m so confused. You’re telling me there’s actually a Taylor. A real Taylor? You’ve actually talked to him? |
| INVESTIGATOR: | He’s here in the station. Who do you think alerted the authorities tonight? In fact, we owe him one for intercepting Blair Duncan fleeing the scene. Roughed him up pretty good, probably more than necessary, but— |
| HART: | Wait. He’s still here? Right now? He’s here in the station? |
| INVESTIGATOR: | Yes. He gave us a lengthy statement. He’s anxious to speak with you. |
| HART: | Is his name really Taylor? |
| INVESTIGATOR: | No. |
| INVESTIGATOR 2: | Chuck, go easy. She’s had a long day already. |
| INVESTIGATOR: | Well, this should be interesting. |
| HART: | What? What should be interesting? |
| INVESTIGATOR: | Tessa, would you like us to bring him in here to meet you? |
| HART: | Yes! |
| INVESTIGATOR: | OK. I’ll go get him. But, Tessa, I think you’d better sit down. |
—END OF TRANSCRIPT—