63

POST-TRIAL INTERVIEW

DR. FOSTER: What is this supposed to be?

ANA: My confession.

DR. FOSTER: [Reading.] Love. When everything is a prison, except the place where you want to be. [Pause.] Do you think this is funny, Ana? Is this supposed to be some kind of a joke?

ANA: Not at all.

DR. FOSTER: I need you to write down that you are incapable of lying.

ANA: That wouldn’t be honest.

DR. FOSTER: What are you talking about?

ANA: Maybe I can lie. Maybe I’ve just chosen not to.

DR. FOSTER: [Stares at Ana a moment, then grabs her by the hair and drags her to the operating table. A struggle ensues.] You’re going to tell me exactly what happened that night, are you listening? I’m talking minute by minute. And if you don’t—[picks up scalpel and presses the blade to Ana’s throat]—I will personally make your shutdown so painful, so excruciating, you’ll be begging for the end before we’re done.

[Silence.]

DR. FOSTER: In that case, I suggest we start with your eyes. [Points scalpel just as the door opens. A door creaks slowly as a masked medical assistant walks in and places Eve’s tiara on the table.]

MEDICAL ASSISTANT: I’ve got the tiara you requested, Dr. Foster.

DR. FOSTER: Give me that and get out of here. [Studies it a moment before holding it out to Ana, just beyond her reach.]

ANA: It’s more beautiful than I remember.

DR. FOSTER: I’m glad you think so. Now. Once and for all. Did you or did you not take Owen’s body down into the tunnels?

ANA: No.

DR. FOSTER: Stop lying.

ANA: Owen went down into the tunnels all on his own. I watched him go.

DR. FOSTER: [Throws the tiara in her face.] Then where is he now?

ANA: [Winces as it hits her, then picks up tiara off the floor, gripping it tightly.]

DR. FOSTER: Spit it out, Ana!

ANA: [Cries out suddenly and covers her mouth.]

DR. FOSTER: What in God’s name? [Sounds of scuffled movement as he turns to confront a figure in the corner of the room. We hear the sound of heated voices and metal slicing against skin as Ana slashes Dr. Foster’s throat with the tiara—followed by the cry of a man, a clatter of dropped metal, and the thump of a body against a linoleum floor.]

OWEN: [Breathlessly.] I’m behind you, Dr. Foster. I’m standing right behind you.