Neal Caine interview #3

Sunday, October 31, 2021 – 11:25 a.m.

Neal Caine is a member of the Yoknapatawpha Players board.

Detectives Beckwith and Magee brought him into the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department again for more questions.

Participants

• Detective P. Beckwith
• Detective J. Magee
• Neal Caine

Detective Beckwith: Mr. Caine, you are being held in connection with the death of Scott Bryant. You've been read your rights. Do you understand them?

Neal Caine: I understand them, but what's this all about? How the hell am I a suspect? I've answered all your questions and told you everything I know.

Detective Beckwith: So you're fine with us asking a few more questions?

Neal Caine: A helluva lot of good it will do you … or me. Obviously, you're screwing this case up to high heaven, Detective Beckwith. But I'll answer all the questions you got since I know I didn't do anything.

Detective Magee: If you're holding back something that could help us—

Neal Caine: See, that's the thing. I think you have the information you need already, and it says that either Scott's death was an accident or Martin did something to him. I'm not holding anything back. I've told you all of this already. At some point, you just have to realize what's in front of your face.

Detective Beckwith: I guess we're so dense we need it again.

Neal Caine: That's the truth, right there. Y'all are as dense as hell.

Detective Magee: Your name and address for the record.

Neal Caine: Here we go. You don't have this written down yet, Detective Magee? Neal Caine, 445 Turnberry Court, Oxford.

Detective Beckwith: All right, we need you to fill in the details about the big climactic battle in the "Zombie Escape" play. What do you remember about Heath getting trapped in the quarantine room of the hospital lab?

Neal Caine: The point of the lab scene seemed to be to draw blood from this zombie arm Heath had taken from the mortuary and have Anna's doctor character analyze it for some sort of cure. Anna drew blood out of the arm, and just then, Janet's nurse character pointed at Heath, saying something like, "He's been infected. We need to take action."

Detective Magee: What did Janet do next?

Neal Caine: She put on a surgical glove, grabbed Heath's arm, and escorted him to the quarantine chamber.

Detective Beckwith: What did Heath do?

Neal Caine: Nothing. He was bug-eyed but didn't say anything or fight her if that's what you mean.

Detective Magee: Did Janet lock Heath in the quarantine room?

Neal Caine: She shut the door on him. I don't know if the door even had a lock.

Detective Beckwith: Did Heath try to get out?

Neal Caine: Nope.

Detective Magee: Did you see Janet whisper through the door to him?

Neal Caine: Nope.

Detective Beckwith: Then what happened?

Neal Caine: The other group with Erv and Cherie came crashing into the lab and told all of us to go out the back because the zombies were coming. Then this siren went off, and I went out the back down into the wide part of the camp.

Detective Beckwith: A siren?

Neal Caine: I don't know. It was part of the play, I guess, to feel like the zombies had broken into the camp?

Detective Magee: Do you remember in what order the people left the lab out the back door?

Neal Caine: Not really. I was one of the first.

Detective Beckwith: How about Heath? Did you see him leave the lab?

Neal Caine: Nope.

Detective Magee: Where did you go after you left the lab?

Neal Caine: I ran behind a military vehicle and hid.

Detective Beckwith: What kind of military vehicle?

Neal Caine: Ah, a humvee or something. How would I know? I'm not a military guy.

Detective Magee: Why did you hide?

Neal Caine: Martin was screaming, "Hide, hide!" So I just did what he said.

Detective Magee: Did anyone see you hide by the humvee?

Neal Caine: Isn't that the point of hiding—so people don't see you?

Detective Beckwith: Did you ever fight off the zombies?

Neal Caine: No. I waited for a while, and then I ran toward Birdsall's character at the back of the camp.

Detective Magee: Did you go backstage at any point between the time you left the lab and the time you met Mr. Birdsall at the back of the camp?

Neal Caine: No.

Detective Beckwith: What would you say if people told us you did go backstage?

Neal Caine: That they don't know what they're talking about. That they're desperately trying to hide something about themselves by shifting your focus to me. I wasn't backstage. I didn't push a wall onto Scott. I was the one that called 911, remember?

Detective Magee: So, in your opinion, who's desperately trying to hide something?

Neal Caine: Hell if I know. Y'all are the cops here. Heath's the one who was in a position to knock down that wall. And I've already told you that everyone knows Martin Vargas went backstage right where Scott's body was found. And when he came back, he had this massive bloody club in his hand.

Detective Beckwith: So you think that Martin may have killed Scott intentionally?

Neal Caine: I'm saying it's a possibility. They didn't like each other. Maybe Martin found an opportunity to take a swing at Scott there backstage where no one could see it happen, and Heath finished him off with the wall accidentally.

Detective Magee: Did Martin have enough animosity against Scott to kill him?

Neal Caine: I don't know. Maybe Scott attacked Martin first, as a zombie in the dark. Maybe it was all self-defense. I'm not saying it happened that way, but it all fits. It's your job to figure it out, not mine. One thing I can tell you for sure. I don't know what happened because I was never backstage.

Detective Beckwith: Okay, Mr. Caine, stay right here, and we'll be back in a bit to ask you some more questions.

Neal Caine: I can't leave?

Detective Beckwith: No.

Neal Caine: How long are you gonna hold me for?

Detective Magee: Until we come back.

Neal Caine: When the hell will that be?

Detective Beckwith: When we're ready.

Interview ended – 11:44 a.m.