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

Chapter 28: The Interrogation (Fragment 7)

Chapter 28: The Interrogation (Fragment 7)

February 20, 2014, 7:54 PM
Case #: 124.678.21-001
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTION OF POLICE INTERVIEW

~~START PAGE 6~~

INTERROGATOR: Does the name Blair Duncan mean anything to you?

THORN: It does now.

INTERROGATOR: Have you and Blair Duncan ever met before today?

THORN: Not that I know of.

INTERROGATION: Have you ever, at any time, been in communication with Blair Duncan?

THORN: No.

INTERROGATOR: Were you and Blair Duncan acting together?

THORN: No, of course not. That's what I've been trying to tell you. Stop wasting time talking to me, and go talk to that Blair person.

INTERROGATOR:We're talking to everyone involved. We're just trying to disentangle the truth from the fiction here.

THORN: OK, well, I had no idea that Blair Duncan even existed before today.

INTERROGATOR: Do you have any idea what may have led this individual to show up in Midland?

THORN: Presumably because of the whole thing with the meet-and-greet.

INTERROGATOR: Tell us about the "thing with the meet-and-greet," as you put it.

THORN: It was supposed to happen right after sound check.

INTERROGATOR: Back up a few steps for me, if you don't mind. Let me see if I have my facts correct. You were scheduled to perform a private concert tonight at the Trail Dust Honky Tonk Saloon for a corporate sponsor. BioZorb Pharmaceuticals. Is that correct?

THORN: Well, basically.

INTERROGATOR: Basically?

THORN: Yes, that's correct.

INTERROGATOR: Were you going to correct something? Go ahead.

THORN: I mean, just that BioZorb Pharmaceuticals is a crock of shit. You know that, right?

INTERROGATOR: By all means, enlighten us.

THORN: There is no BioZorb Pharmaceuticals. No such company. It's just a name my manager made up.

INTERROGATOR: Your manager?

THORN: I wanted to make a tour stop in Midland, so we kind of rigged it to look like some company hired me to do a private show.

INTERROGATOR: You and your manager rigged it?

THORN: Just so my label wouldn't get their panties in a bunch.

INTERROGATOR: So BioZorb Pharmaceuticals was a shell company set up by your business manager, Maury Gilman, under direction from you?

THORN: Don't tell me now that's illegal. It's not, is it? Listen, I paid my private performance fee out of my own pocket. Half a million dollars for an hour-long set.

INTERROGATOR: Let me make sure I have this right. You paid your record label half a million dollars of your own money in order to come play a show in Midland, Texas for a non-existent company?

THORN: Yes.

INTERROGATOR: You must really have a thing for Midland.

THORN: No. I have a thing for Tessa.

INTERROGATOR: You set the whole thing up as a ruse to meet Tessa Hart.

THORN: Come on, man. A ruse? It was supposed to be a grand romantic gesture.