Tuesday, August 15, 2000 - 11:00 a.m.

The witness is a private investigator. In response to the detectives' request, she came in to the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department for an interview.

TA = Detective T. Armstrong

PT = Pam Thompson

TA: Good to see you again, Pam. Thank you for coming in today. For the record, would you state your name and address, please?

PT: Pamela Thompson, 209 Price Street, Oxford.

TA: And your occupation?

PT: I own a private investigations firm.

TA: What type of investigations do you typically conduct?

PT: The usual stuff. Extra-marital affairs, insurance fraud, research for divorce cases, some professional investigations. Oh, and background checks for employers.

TA: I understand that your business requires a certain amount of confidentiality to your clients. So, as we discussed on the phone, here's a subpoena that instructs you to hand over and discuss any materials you have regarding your investigation of Blake Stillwater. As I'm sure you're aware, this subpoena legally requires you to discuss all details of your investigation with us, so your client can't blame you.

PT: That's very kind of you to provide me with an excuse, Detective.

TA: Well, you know we try to help around here, Pam. So, you know the drill... spill it.

PT: I was hired by Eugenia Stillwater. She said that she wanted me to check around and see if her husband was cheating on her.

TA: Hell, any waitress in town could have told her that.

PT: I'm sure that Blake has quite a reputation. But, she wanted more details than just gossip from the Square.

TA: And what did you find out?

PT: He was sleeping with Wendy Holloway.

TA: That simple?

PT: Yeah, there's not much more to it than that. It seems she was helping him research his new book-

TA: I'm sure she was.

PT: No, really. She was providing technical details and editorial duties for his new novel. It appears that the new opus deals with the internet or computers or something. And she was helping out. He paid her for her services and I believe that she legitimately was providing professional advice.

TA: So where did the affair come in?

PT: I'm not sure. I don't know if they got personally involved after they started working together or if the affair started and then he hired her. I never could find out.

TA: What kind of dirt did you dig up?

PT: Well, I just gave you copies of my files, so you can read the details for yourself. But they usually worked a bit, talked about computer stuff, and then had sex. That was pretty par for the course. He would go over, they would talk a while, eventually end up groping each other, go to bed, and then he would shower and drive home to his wife.

TA: Any chance that you're mistaken? Maybe it was all professional?

PT: No way. Look at the pictures. That ain't professional.

TA: Yeah, I figured that. Just wanted to see what your reaction would be. So, how did the wife take it?

PT: It's weird. She seemed so cool throughout the process. I gave her weekly reports and she always seemed very calm. I think she knew all along, so what I found wasn't a shock. It was only confirming what she already knew. But then when I gave her the final report, and she saw the pictures, you could see her blood boiling. She seemed like she was going to explode. One second, she would be crying and all sad, then the next she'd be mad as hell. A couple of times I felt like I should hug her or something, but then I was afraid she would hit me or something.

TA: Did you ever meet the son, Philip Stillwater? Was he ever present when you met with the wife?

PT: No, I never met him. She always came to my office to get the reports and she was always alone. I never went to their house and she'd asked me not to call her there unless it was urgent.

TA: Did anything urgent ever come up?

PT: Are you kidding? What could be urgent in this kind of case? "Hello, Mrs. Stillwater? Your husband is having sex with the other woman right now. Hurry on over if you want to see it"? I don't think so.

TA: So everyone in town says Blake's had a ton of affairs. Do you know if she hired a PI to investigate any of the others?

PT: No, I don't. Although I doubt it. I'm not really sure what was different this time. I can't really tell you why, but I just had this feeling like this one might have been more serious. Maybe it had gone on for a longer amount of time. I don't know why I feel that way, but I just got the impression that she thought this woman might be more of a threat. Like it wasn't just a fling with some bimbo.

TA: I see. Well, look Pam, I don't want to take any more of your time. Why don't we wrap this up? I'll look through your files and if I need anything, I'll call you.

PT: Okay. Good luck with the investigation.

End interview 11:19 a.m.