THE INTERROGATION
(FRAGMENT 4)

December 31, 2016 9:17 p.m.

Case #: 124.678.21–001

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT OF POLICE INTERROGATION

—START PAGE 4—

HART:	Did you talk to Dr. Regan? Is she coming?
INVESTIGATOR:	We left several voice mails. Is there anyone else we can call for you in the meantime? A family member, perhaps?
HART:	No, just my therapist.
INVESTIGATOR:	What about your mother, Tessa? You said that you live with her, correct?
HART:	Yes, but she’s working. I can’t… You don’t know how she gets. She’ll kill me. She just started at the new hospital in Midland. She’s on a double shift. You don’t have to call her, do you?
INVESTIGATOR:	Only if you want us to. It’s up to you.
HART:	No. No. Just get Dr. Regan.
INVESTIGATOR:	We’re doing our best to get hold of her. You said your mother works at a hospital? She’s a doctor?
HART:	No, a phlebotomist. She just takes blood from people. You know, when they need blood tests and stuff.
INVESTIGATOR:	I see.
HART:	She doesn’t know about tonight. I didn’t want to tell her.
INVESTIGATOR:	Why was that?
HART:	She wouldn’t approve. She thinks anyone who so much as watches MTV is a Satan worshipper. She’s going to find out now, isn’t she? Oh God, she’s going to kill me. I really, really need my therapist.
INVESTIGATOR:	OK, Tessa. We’re working on it. In the meantime, can we go back to the Twitter activity we’ve been discussing? In particular the direct messages you exchanged on September 16. Now, it looks like there’s a gap starting that afternoon. Do you happen to recollect that date?
HART:	Yes.
INVESTIGATOR:	Can you explain to me what happened?
HART:	I blocked him. I was weirded out.
INVESTIGATOR:	I see. And why exactly were you “weirded out,” as you put it?
HART:	You saw. You just read it.
INVESTIGATOR:	I’d like to have you explain in your own words, if you don’t mind. Let me remind you that this interview is being recorded.
HART:	Well, I freaked because I thought he was a girl. I had a mental picture of the person I was talking to, and it was definitely not a…not a “him.” I felt like he misled me. Like he’d been flirting with me all that time, and I didn’t even realize. It was very unsettling.
INVESTIGATOR:	But you resumed communication with him a few days later? On the night of September 20?
HART:	I know. I should’ve followed my instincts.
INVESTIGATOR:	Tessa, what led you to resume communication?
HART:	Um, stupidity? Is that not a good enough reason?
INVESTIGATOR:	Were you aware that he’d been tweeting at you? We have record of a number of public tweets originating from the account @EricThornSucks, dated from September 16 to September 20. There were a total of thirteen tweets by my count, all tagging the username @TessaHeartsEric. Does that sound about right, Tessa?
HART:	I don’t know. He was blocked.
INVESTIGATOR:	You had him blocked over that entire period?
HART:	Yes.
INVESTIGATOR:	And yet on September 20 at approximately 11:31 p.m., you replied to one of his tweets?
HART:	I can’t believe I did that.
INVESTIGATOR:	Tessa, can you confirm for me that you tweeted on September 20 at 11:31 p.m., and I quote: “@EricThornSucks thanks for ruining my life.”
HART:	I never should’ve unblocked him.
INVESTIGATOR:	Can you confirm it for the record, Tessa?
HART:	What? Yes. I tweeted that.
INVESTIGATOR:	And what exactly did you mean?
HART:	That’s hilarious actually, come to think of it: “Thanks for ruining my life.”
INVESTIGATOR:	Tessa? You mean you were joking when you said that?
HART:	No, I wasn’t joking. I just mean I didn’t even know the half of it. I had no idea how true that would turn out to be.