Monday, February 2, 2004 -- 10:30 AM

The witness, Sam Tuttle, is a 41-year-old white male and ex-sponsor of Barbara Dubois. The interview was conducted at his place of business, Tuttle Confections, at 927 Whirlpool drive. Detectives Ted Armstrong and Sam Murphy of the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department conducted the interview, which was recorded on a portable tape recorder with the witness's knowledge and consent.

SM: For the record, could you please state your name and address?

ST: My name is Sam Tuttle. I live at 902 Cleveland avenue.

SM: You sponsored Barbara Dubois through most of her pageants. Why not this one?

ST: Her mother fired me last year. Susan said she found a better sponsorship deal elsewhere.

SM: That must have hurt, seeing as how you'd brought Barbara along from almost the very beginning.

ST: It was a painful break because I'd become part of the family -- Barbara's Uncle Sam.

TA: How much business do you figure you lost when the Dubois family fired you?

ST: It's always difficult to determine the effectiveness of advertising. Maybe my involvement in the pageants sold a ton of chocolates and maybe it only cost me money. In the end, I was in it for something else.

SM: And what was that?

ST: Barbara. I can't believe she's gone. She was a great kid. By sponsoring her, I got to watch her grow up. I got to be there. She was always so proud whenever she mastered a new skill. Couldn't wait to show me.

TA: And then you were cut off.

ST: That was Susan for you. What, did Platinum Chocolates offer to throw in an extra ten a week? Offer to license Barbara's likeness to produce chocolate beauty pills? Except for Marty, her coach, I was probably Barbara's best friend in the world, but that wouldn't matter to Susan.

SM: You were at the pageant the night of the murder?

ST: Susan could restrict access, but she couldn't stop me from attending public events.

SM: Restrict access?

ST: Susan didn't want me around Barbara. Susan thought it would send a mixed message, complicate the arrangement with Platinum. This Christmas was the first in seventeen years that I didn't spend at their home.

TA: Are you sure it was Susan who fired you? Maybe Barbara was behind the decision. Maybe she thought it was time to go in a new direction.

ST: Barbara wasn't like that. She never took the pageants seriously, never took herself seriously. Barbara got to dress up, perform a little, play the star, but she never thought she was a star. She was just having fun.

SM: Even though there was a new sponsor, you provided chocolates to the finalists. Susan must not have liked that.

ST: She made it possible. I never would have presented Tuttle Confections to the contestants while I was sponsoring Barbara. That wouldn't have been right. This time there wasn't any conflict of interest. I talked to Allie Lamar about the possibility and she loved the idea.

TA: Instead of sponsoring a contestant, you sponsored the pageant.

ST: In a small way.

SM: And that sponsorship gave you access again.

ST: I got to wear a plastic nametag to dinner which identified me as a pageant sponsor.

TA: What time did you leave the convention center that night?

ST: Very late. It's hard to explain the buzz. Barbara was a finalist, not that I was surprised, and I couldn't have been more proud if she was my own daughter. I may have been on the outside, but even walking the empty halls by myself kept that feeling of excitement alive.

SM: When was the last time you saw Barbara?

ST: At dinner. I ignored Susan's evil eye and shook Barbara's hand.

TA: Did you see anybody while you were out walking the halls?

ST: I probably passed everybody. There's nothing like the last night of a pageant. Tomorrow, people will be heading home, focused on how to improve for next time, but on Friday the bubble hadn't burst yet. Everybody is nuts.

SM: Did anyone seem more nuts than usual?

ST: These are pageant people. You ever see that comedy where the mothers of the contestants tried to sabotage each other? It could have been a documentary. The kids, for the most part, they're normal. It's the people around them that are warped.

SM: You'd be describing yourself as well?

ST: I paid for the privilege of raising someone's daughter. Does that sound normal? Allie was the one I felt sorry for. This was all new to her and she looked as though she'd been attacked by those alleged lab rats of hers. I watch too many movies.

TA: What else did you see that night?

ST: I saw a bubble getting ready to burst.

SM: Thanks for your time, Mr. Tuttle. We'll be in touch.

Interview ends -- 10:49 AM