OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT
SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1989—WINDALE, PA
EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY OF INCIDENT OCCURRING JUNE 16, 1989
INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY COLONEL AUDREY S. HIGGINS
INTERVIEWEE: MR. CHARLES BENCROFT—STUDENT, WINDALE HIGH SCHOOL—*ON SITE WHEN INCIDENT OCCURRED*
BENCROFT: Why did you close the roads into town?
COL. HIGGINS: You’re awfully spry for someone with a shattered leg, Charlie. It is Charlie, right?
BENCROFT: Only to my friends.
HIGGINS: Uh-huh. And you’re aware of what’s happening with one of those friends in particular?
BENCROFT: I know Kimberly’s missing. My mom’s husband told me.
HIGGINS: Mr. Landry?
BENCROFT: Yes.
HIGGINS: Whoever runs your local paper makes quick work of big news.
BENCROFT: If you didn’t want anyone to know, maybe you should keep a tighter leash on your people.
HIGGINS: Hmmmm. I very much doubt that it’s my people I have to worry about, Mr. Bencroft. Windale, for as quaint and quiet as it may appear to be, seems like a very gossipy place to live. Would you say that’s true?
BENCROFT: I don’t know what to tell you. Mostly I think we’re just not fond of people who shut down our roads and take over our town.
HIGGINS: Nobody’s here to take over your town, Charlie. There was an accident. A terrible one. And now there’s a missing person, who happens to be one of your closest friends. We’re here to figure out what happened to her.
BENCROFT: Let me guess. The more cooperative I am, the faster that happens.
HIGGINS: Precisely.
BENCROFT: Can I make one request?
HIGGINS: That depends on what the request is.
BENCROFT: Can you make sure my mom gets let back into town?
HIGGINS: Ah. She got stuck on the outside when the lockdown went into place?
BENCROFT: Something like that. I’m not even sure what the lockdown is for.
HIGGINS: It’s for the protection of government property that might have been on board that plane when it crashed. And unfortunately, the lockdown cannot be lifted until we’ve taken inventory of the crash site.
BENCROFT: Inventory of what? The plane blew up. On top of us. Trust me, if there was anything valuable on board, it’s in a bunch of pieces out on Dagger Hill right now.
HIGGINS: Charlie, I understand you’re upset about your mother. The best I can do is send somebody out to make sure she’s okay, which I’m sure she is. The person you should be most concerned about right now is Kimberly.
BENCROFT: I … guess. I mean, yes. Yes, of course. Kimberly is missing, maybe even hurt. I’ll do whatever I can to help find her.
HIGGINS: Good. You can start by telling me about the man you kids saw parachuting into town.
BENCROFT: Oh. Shit. That’s right. I … I only caught a glimpse of him just before … everything. But it was a green parachute, so I guess maybe it was one of the pilots jumping before the crash?
HIGGINS: You didn’t make out any other details? A description of the man, maybe? Or which part of town he was descending toward?
BENCROFT: He was too far away and too high up to make out anything specific. Nobody else in town saw him?
HIGGINS: Let’s move on. After the crash, before you were rescued, did you see or hear anything out of the ordinary?
BENCROFT: Something that might help us figure out where Kimberly is, you mean?
HIGGINS: Of course.
BENCROFT: No. A bunch of debris snapped my leg apart, which hurts like an absolute motherfucker, by the way. I blacked out.
HIGGINS: I see.
BENCROFT: I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful. Will you keep us updated on what’s happening with Kim?
HIGGINS: As best we can, yes. There are a lot of variables to juggle with this, so some information might be delayed.
BENCROFT: Okay …
HIGGINS: One more thing, Charlie. You’ve spent a lot of time with Ms. Gutierrez, correct?
BENCROFT: Yeah, we’ve been best friends since we were kids. Or … younger kids. Whatever.
HIGGINS: What do you know about Sonya’s relationship with her father? How close are they?
BENCROFT: Super close. They’re even nerdier than I am.
HIGGINS: Would you say they’re close enough that Dr. Gutierrez might be compelled to share certain kinds of information with his daughter? Things related to work, perhaps?
BENCROFT: I … don’t know. Dr. G has always been really secretive about his job. Keeps everything locked up in his office at their house. Why? Does this have something to do with TerraCorp?
HIGGINS: Thank you for your time, Charlie. I wish you a speedy recovery.