Chapter Text
Interview #064
03/05/2019
Location:██████████
Time: 09:32 AM
Movement. The sound of someone shifting, followed by fabric rustling and a loud sigh.
“Do we have to do this again? It’s pointless, Jane. It never goes anywhere and you know that-”
“Please state your name and date of birth for the audio recording.”
“You know my name. We’ve done this a hundred times-”
The sound of a groan cuts off the voice, it’s accompanied by the squeak of a chair. The man’s voice is further away when he begins speaking again.
The sound of pacing accompanies his answer.
“Liu Woods. I was born on April 18th 1989. Happy?”
“Overjoyed. What is your relationship to Jeffrey Allen Woods?”
The pacing stops.
“...He’s my little brother. But you knew that, and you know all my answers, because, as I’ve said already, we’ve done this before. This is pointless-”
“How much younger than you is Jeffrey?”
“You don’t have his birthday memorised?”
“Answer the question.”
“Nine years. Nine years and eight months if you really need me to be technical.”
“And how long has it been since you last saw him?”
Silence spans around ten seconds. During this time, the pacing resumes.
“Seven years… Give or take. It’s blurry in the middle.”
“Why?”
“Why? I dunno, maybe cause I was in hospital getting my guts put back in, Jane. You would know, you were there.”
Silence again, this time much longer than the last. It’s broken by the sound of movement, a rummaging that spans several seconds and is interspersed with Liu’s muttered complaints. Something is set on a hard surface.
“Do these documents look familiar?”
“You brought my fucking medical records? Jane, what the fuck-”
“I’ll note that as a yes.”
“Yes. Obviously. They’re mine, they’re supposed to be in my… How did you-”
“Your landlady is a very sweet woman, and you leave your drawers unlocked.”
The sound of papers shuffling grows louder.
“You were stabbed… Thirteen times, is that correct?”
“Jane, you-”
“Is that correct?”
“...Yeah. Thirteen…”
“And you experienced a combination of first and second degree burns to your limbs?”
“Yeah…”
“And this has led to severe permanent disfigurement and disability?”
“That’s dramatic. My face and hands are a little fucked up, but I don’t think-”
“You have an ileostomy bag, you’re missing almost three fingers, and you can’t move the left side of your face. Take it from me, you pass the criteria for both categories with flying colours.”
A loud sigh is followed by silence once more. The sound of papers being rearranged is accompanied by a tap running. The water stops. Footsteps return. A glass is placed on a hard surface.
“Fine. Yep. I’m disabled and disfigured, what’s your point?”
“Jeffrey Allen Woods attempted to murder you on the night of August 15th 2012. I want to know why.”
“Why?”
A laugh sounds. It lasts an uncomfortably long few seconds.
“Oh my god. Why? You think I know why? You think I know and I haven’t told you after nearly a decade? Are you kidding me, Jane? Is this what this is all about? You think I’m hiding something?”
“You never told me about Jeffrey’s defense. You never told me about the Tall Man.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Liu’s voice is distant again, but now slightly raised. The pacing has resumed. There’s a flurry of movement and the scrape of a chair.
Jane’s volume has also increased. As she speaks, she begins mimicking the voice of a pubescent boy.
“You do. On record when he was fifteen in that juvie, he said, and I quote, ‘I told Liu but he doesn’t believe me. No one believes me, but he’s there. He’s always there. He’s always watching me-’”
“He was fifteen and schizophrenic.”
“He was lying. It’s an old urban legend. A Tall Man who stands in the forest in the north of the city. He was planning an insanity plea. Him and five other murderers across the state-”
“I think you should leave.”
Footsteps move towards the recording device. The sound of papers being shuffled is violent.
“He said it, a month before the murders, he said ‘He’s getting louder, he’s talking to me. He wants me to do things. Bad things. Bad things I don’t want to do.’ That is almost word for word what Toby Rogers said before he burnt his house down two years before Jeffrey did anything. He planned it in advance. Did you know that? He was planning to kill you while he cried on your shoulder. He was going to blame it on a ghost that some disabled kid came up with-”
“Get out of my house, Jane.”
“You have to listen to me, Liu. Just listen to what I’m saying-”
“No. No, I don't have to. I’m not doing this shit again, Jane… I can’t… I won’t.”
“Wait- Shit- Don’t press that-”
End of recording.