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

Chapter 41: Internal Affairs

Chapter 41: Internal Affairs

U.S DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Interview Date: 02-22-14
Interview Conducted by: SA Ronald B. Peterson

TRANSCRIPTION OF WITNESS INTERVIEW

INTERROGATOR: Lieutenant Foster, please take a seat. Thank you for joining me here today.

FOSTER: Happy to be of service, Ron.

INTERROGATOR: Before we get started, I'd like to extend a formal word of thanks on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for your department's cooperation in this matter. The excerpted interrogation transcripts that you turned over to us have proven quite helpful.

FOSTER: Good. We highlighted the relevant sections for you. We're happy to provide the complete transcripts if you need more.

INTERROGATOR: I'm hoping you can shed more light with this conversation. As you know, you are being interviewed today as one of the last known people to speak with both the main suspect and the victim in our case. This interview is being recorded.

FOSTER: I understand.

INTERROGATOR: For the record, I'm Special Agent Ronald Peterson with the FBI San Antonio Field Office. Today is February 22, 2014. Could you please state your name, date of birth, and occupation for the record.

FOSTER: Lieutenant Charles Foster. Date of birth December 29, 1965. I'm an investigator with the Midland, Texas Police Department.

INTERROGATOR: Thanks, Chuck. You were the lead investigator conducting your department's inquiry into the Blair Duncan/Tessa Hart stalking case. Is that correct?

FOSTER: Yes.

INTERROGATOR: As part of your investigation, you interrogated both Tessa Hart and Eric Thorn?

FOSTER: Correct.

INTERROGATOR: Could you describe for me the last time you saw Mr. Thorn?

FOSTER: After the interrogations. I put him in a room with Ms. Hart.

INTERROGATOR: Here in the police station?

FOSTER: Yes, in one of the interrogation rooms. It was consensual. They both expressed a desire to speak to one another. We happened to record video footage of their interaction from behind the two-way partition, but unfortunately no audio. I sent you a copy of the tape.

INTERROGATOR: I reviewed it. Quite an eyeful. Can you provide any insight into Ms. Hart's state of mind that might have led her to strike Mr. Thorn across the face?

FOSTER: I couldn't say. Not with any certainty.

INTERROGATOR: Can you speculate?

FOSTER: At the time of the incident, I put it down to shock. She didn't realize that she'd been talking to him online. Thorn had concealed his identity.

INTERROGATOR: Did Mr. Thorn at any time give you reason to believe he might be fearful of Tessa Hart?

FOSTER: No, but he appeared paranoid in general. He was clearly concerned about a fan becoming violent. He spoke at some length about the Dorian Cromwell murder case, and his concern that a deluded fan might attempt a copycat crime.

INTERROGATOR: A fan, but not Tessa Hart in particular?

FOSTER: No. That's the thing. It was such a strange dynamic. He didn't see Ms. Hart as a fan. He came across a bit delusional himself. To hear him talk, the two of them were in a mutual relationship. He viewed her as his girlfriend. And yet when I interviewed her, she had no idea the person she'd been talking to was him.