Tuesday, May 1, 2001 - 11:30 a.m.

This witness was interviewed when the Sheriff's Department discovered that she had been traveling with the victim, Achim Michaelis. The interview was conducted in the witness's motel room and was recorded on a portable tape recorder with the witness's knowledge and consent.

TA = Detective T. Armstrong

SM = Detective S. Murphy

AM = Arlene Melton

SM: Please state your name and address for the record.

AM: Arlene Martha Melton. I live at 1088 North Avenue in Atlanta. Of course, here I'm staying at this motel but I don't know the address...

SM: For the record, the witness's temporary local address is the Ole Miss Motel at 1517 University Avenue.

AM: I used to live in Macon... nice place...

SM: Macon, Georgia? Do you maintain an address there in Macon?

AM: Oh no ma'am... I was just saying...

SM: All right, well, we have several questions about your traveling companion, Mr. Achim Michaelis. How did you come to know him?

AM: Through Wenzel. Wenzel Hitzig... we met at the Blue Peacock in Atlanta where I work. I have an act with ostrich feathers and such...Wenzel really liked it. We really hit it off.

TA: So you're a... dancer?

AM: Yes, an exotic dancer.

SM: Do you remember when you met Mr. Hitzig, what date?

AM: Well, I'd say about two months ago. It wasn't really warm out yet, but it wasn't cold either.

SM: And when did you meet Mr. Michaelis? That same night?

AM: It was the next day at breakfast. Wenzel just thought I was so beautiful... It's a curse I tell you, men only ever notice my looks... Anyways, he was looking for a model for his game? He and Mike are doing this mystery game and they needed a female superhero and Wenzel said I was it.

SM: Who is Mike?

AM: Oh, that's Wenzel's friend, the one you've been talking about? The guy who got killed? I can't pronounce his name. I just call him Mike.

SM: I see. So, you met Mike and he agreed that you should be a part of this game he was working on with Mr. Hitzig?

AM: Oh yes!

SM: And what exactly did they want you to do?

AM: Oh, pose for pictures and do some video stuff. They were going to work all that into the game somehow, but I don't know how all that stuff works.

SM: Then what? Did you continue your work at the Blue Peacock? Pose for pictures during the day?

AM: Yeah. I mean, I don't pose for them every day and they can't pay me enough right now for me to quit my job, but yeah. That's pretty much how it is.

SM: And you've been doing this since you met Mr. Hitzig and Mr. Michaelis sometime in March?

AM: Right.

TA: So what are you doing in Oxford?

AM: Part of the game is that it takes place in these sort of famous places, you know where famous writers are from...

SM: Like Rowan Oak, for example?

AM: Yes ma'am, exactly. So we had to go on the road and take pictures and such at all these places. That's how we got here. To take the pictures and all.

SM: And you arrived when?

AM: Thursday night.

SM: Do you know why Mr. Michaelis was at Rowan Oak on Monday morning? Was it to take these photographs?

AM: Yes, I expect so.

SM: He went alone? You didn't accompany him?

AM: I don't know if he went alone. I didn't go. I needed my beauty sleep and then I had a date for breakfast.

TA: Do you know who Mike might have gone with?

AM: I don't know... maybe Wenzel... When I went out to breakfast, I didn't see either of them. When I got back, Wenzel was here and he was in a bad mood so I just stayed away from him.

SM: What time was it when you went to breakfast and what time did you return here to the motel?

AM: I left about nine o'clock. I got back about ten, ten-thirty.

TA: Do you know why Wenzel was in a bad mood when you got back?

AM: I don't know. I think maybe he had a fight with Mike.

SM: What makes you think they had a fight?

AM: They fought a lot. Nothing too serious ever really, but still they argued a lot.

SM: What would they fight about?

AM: Probably about Wenzel spending too much money.

TA: And Mike didn't like that?

AM: Mike kind of had a thing about it. I guess they had limited funds...

SM: You were being paid for your part in the game though, right?

AM: A little pocket money is all and room and board while we're on the road, of course. I was going to get the big money when the game made it big and we had all the merchandising contracts signed and the Internet interactive game going and such.

SM: I see. I'm curious, how old are you?

AM: I'm legal, if that's what you mean. I'm twenty-three.

SM: Mr. Michaelis and Mr. Hitzig seem a good deal older than you.

AM: I like older men.

SM: Were you or are you having a sexual relationship with either Mr. Michaelis or Mr. Hitzig?

AM: I'm not sure if that's any of your business.

SM: One of your traveling companions has been brutally murdered. I think just about everything is our business at this point. Were you having a sexual relationship with Mr. Michaelis?

AM: Sometimes.

SM: Did Mr. Hitzig know?

AM: Well, I didn't tell him, if that's what you mean.

SM: Were you also sleeping with Mr. Hitzig?

AM: Sometimes.

SM: And you didn't tell Mr. Michaelis about that either, right?

AM: A girl has to have insurance policies sometimes. I was just making sure I wasn't going to be left out in the cold, y'know what I mean?

SM: Yes, I'm afraid I do. Can you think of anyone who would have a grudge against Mr. Michaelis that might do something like this?

AM: Are you kidding? Of course not!

TA: Is there anyone who might resent his relationship with you and want revenge on him?

AM: No! Like who?

TA: Like Wenzel?

AM: No way. He would never kill Mike.

TA: What about someone else from your past? Someone you met through your job maybe?

AM: No. There's no one.

SM: Okay, Ms. Melton. I'm sure we'll be talking to you again. Don't leave town, okay?

AM: Well, we can't stay here forever, you know.

SM: We'll let you know when it's okay for you to leave. You have a good day now.

End interview 12:04 p.m