I Guess You Had To Be There
[CLICK]
MARTIN
Sorry again that the Archivist isn’t actually in today, um… but I should be… absolutely fine to take your statement if it, um, if that’s okay with you?
LYNNE
Er… yeah.
MARTIN
O-kay.
Um. Are you, are you comfortable?
LYNNE
Yeah.
MARTIN
Right. Right.
[THROAT CLEARING]
Statement of Lynne Hammond, er, recorded 2nd of May 2017, regarding…
Uh, what, what’s this one about?
LYNNE
I saw a ghost.
MARTIN
O-kay.. Regarding a… a ghost. Statement begins.
LYNNE
…
Sorry. What happens now?
MARTIN
Oh, er… [nervous chuckle] Well, I mean, you, you tell us what happened.
LYNNE
Well, yeah, I did. I saw a ghost.
MARTIN
Er, no, I mean, I mean, you, sort of, tell the story of –
LYNNE
Yeah. The story is: I saw a ghost.
MARTIN
Okay. But what, what was it like? How did it make you, er, feel?
LYNNE
Erm… it was… scary and it made me feel… scared.
I’m sorry. Am I doing this wrong?
MARTIN
Ah… no, no, no, it’s okay. Erm… Let’s, let’s try this again. Try this again…
When did you first see this ghost?
LYNNE
Oh… god. Erm… about a year ago.
MARTIN
Anything more specific than that?
LYNNE
Er, I mean it’s been a while. I can’t really remember –
MARTIN
Er… okay, okay. Er, where? Where, where did you see the ghost?
LYNNE
Uh, my old flat.
MARTIN
Okay, okay, great. Which … where’s that?
LYNNE
Clapton.
MARTIN
Clapton. Clapton, okay. And, erm, what, what were you doing when you saw the, when you saw the ghost?
LYNNE
Well, I was asleep.
MARTIN
…
You –
LYNNE
Well, I mean –
MARTIN
…saw a ghost when you were asleep?
LYNNE
No, no, obviously I woke up.
MARTIN
Right, right.
LYNNE
And… ghost.
MARTIN
Right. Erm…
LYNNE
Well, first it was, like… a burning smell.
MARTIN
Oh! Okay, okay. So… Did this happen a lot?
LYNNE
Yeah, yeah. A few nights.
MARTIN
Okay, right, so, like you’re, you’d wake up in the night, and you’d smell burning, and… what did you do?
LYNNE
Well… I first checked that my house wasn’t on fire.
MARTIN
Yeah… And then?
LYNNE
Go back to sleep.
MARTIN
And when it happened again, you would…?
LYNNE
Well, after a few times I realised, my house wasn’t on fire, so I’d just go straight back to sleep.
MARTIN
O-kay.
What, what happened the first time you saw the ghost?
LYNNE
I mean… [sigh] she was there…
MARTIN
Oh, it’s a ‘she’. Okay, okay. So describe the ghost to me. It’s, it’s a woman? A girl? A…
LYNNE
Yeah, yeah. A young woman.
MARTIN
And, and what was she doing?
LYNNE
I mean, she was on fire.
MARTIN
…
O-kay.
Erm, so, so she’s on fire. So what did you do? You’ve, you, you, you’re waking up in the night, and you’re seeing a… a woman is on fire in your flat, so you…?
LYNNE
I mean… what can you do? She wouldn’t be there for long.
MARTIN
Okay. Er… so, you didn’t call the police or…?
LYNNE
[Snorts] Well, no. I mean, it sounds a bit crazy, doesn’t it?
MARTIN
Okay, so…. So what is it that, sort of, made you… erm… [sighs]
Why are you here?
LYNNE
My friend told me that, y’know, this is where you report stuff like that, so…
MARTIN
O-kay.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
[MOUTH SOUNDS WHILE SETTING UP RECORDER]
TIM
[Sounding tired] Right, so… tape’s on.
Who are you?
‘SMITH’
Er… I’m, um, I’m ‘Smith’.
TIM
Just ‘Smith’?
‘SMITH’
Um, ‘John’… ‘John Smith’. [Elongates vowels] ‘John Smith’.
TIM
Your name’s ‘John Smith’?
‘SMITH’
‘John Smith’.
TIM
[Very softly] Right, okay, good.
And… [heavy sigh] why are you here, ‘Smith’?
‘SMITH’
Er… well, um, I’m, I’m here coz, er… coz I have something to report. I’m, um, I’m worried.
TIM
Shouldn’t you be going to the police potentially?
‘SMITH’
Ah, I don’t think they can help with this. Um…
TIM
Right. And so… what, what brings you here? What do you need help with?
‘SMITH’
Well, I’ve, um, I’ve… er, I’ve seen some things.
TIM
Right.
‘SMITH’
I think, er, I’ve, I’ve heard, er, er, your, your, er, your field… Found a few web pages, er… long time ago.
TIM
And can we talk about why it is specifically that you’re here, Mr. Smith.
‘SMITH’
Sure, sure.
Um, so, so you know Aldwych Tube station?
TIM
I do.
‘SMITH’
Um, it’s not, it’s not a Tube station any more, obviously, it’s abandoned now. Um, but I was, I was there with, er, an, an associate, er, we’ll call him… ‘Jeremy’…
TIM
Right.
Good.
‘SMITH’
And, er… we, we broke into the, the Tube station –
[TIM SIGHS]
– ‘coz we wanted to, have a, have a look around, ‘coz y’know –
TIM
What drove you to break into a Tube station, Mr. Smith?
‘SMITH’
Well… It’s… It’s part of, part of London’s history, y’know. It’s public transport, it’s interesting.
TIM
And you wanted to see the interesting things?
‘SMITH’
Yeah. I mean, y’know, there’s still trains running though at the platform level but there’s no… there’s no, the station isn’t running any more, it’s been abandoned. So much of the things there are all in original condition. Like they’ve still got the original adverts up and things like that.
TIM
Right… okay.
‘SMITH’
From when they shut it down. ‘coz they’ve never been removed.
TIM
But why specifically there Mr. ‘Smith’?
‘SMITH’
Oh, well, I mean, we had, we had some ideas about what, what might be down there. Y’know, it’s not, not just the, not just the, y’know, the public transport stuff and the adverts. We thought… might be something a little bit, a little bit more… I dunno, something, something worth investigating.
Um. We were down there, in the tunnels, and… and then the torches went out. And I think… [sniffs] I think they took him.
TIM
“They”?
‘SMITH’
Yeah, them. Them.
TIM
Okay. And who are they?
‘SMITH’
Well, I mean, you, you must know? I mean, like, this is the Magnus Institute. I mean, like, you know this stuff, right? You know, the people who are down in the tunnels, y’know…
TIM
What people are down in the tunnels, Mr. ‘Smith’?
‘SMITH’
The Government.
TIM
[Sighs] The Government?
‘SMITH’
Yeah, yeah, the Government.
TIM
Wonderful.
‘SMITH’
They’re down… they’ve got, they’ve got a holding facility down there. It’s a secret holding facility.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
BASIRA
Right. Statement of… Robin Lennox?
ROBIN
Well… my friends call me Rob, well, some of, some of my friends call me Rob. Er… a lot of my friends, I guess some of them call me Robin. You can call me… er, if it makes it easier for you, then, yeah, that’s –
BASIRA
May 20th 2017. About a stone circle, I think. That’s what you said?
ROBIN
Erm, so it started, it started on, er, a day, when me and, er, me and Jackie, we were walking – Jackie’s my dog.
BASIRA
Okay –
ROBIN
We were, we were walking down the South Downs, which is what we normally do, er, before we go visit my mother for a, for a roast. Um. We were walking down and, er –
Are you much of a dog person?
BASIRA
What day was it?
ROBIN
Um, so, this… when would this have been, now? Now, this was about, about two weeks ago, so what would, would, where are we now? Um, that would put it at, maybe, maybe the 6th, I think.
BASIRA
Okay.
ROBIN
Perhaps… So, so, me and Jackie were walking down, down our usual trail, down the South Downs, and, er, in Lewes, er, which, er, like I said, is where my mother lives. Um, so were walking, walking along just – er, Jackie just loves to run off the lash and just run, scour around the fields and –
BASIRA
Okay. So you were walking, a couple of weeks ago –
ROBIN
Er, that’s right, yes.
BASIRA
– it was about noon –
ROBIN
In the South Downs, yes.
BASIRA
– yes, in the South Downs.
ROBIN
And… off in the distance, something just caught my, something just caught my eye, and I, I have pretty good eyesight. I, er, I had them… had, had an eye test a few days ago –
BASIRA
Yes.
ROBIN
Y’know, one of those free ones that you get, you go along just for the sake of it –
BASIRA
What… What did you see?
ROBIN
Okay, right, so, I, I thought to myself that, that stone circle, that wasn’t there before. At least, I thought it was a cir- a stone circle. So, so, me and Jackie went off to investigate – Jackie’s quite a curious dog. Um, it’s quite a normal thing for Jack, er, Jack Russell terriers to be curious animals –
BASIRA
So you went to investigate that?
ROBIN
Right, yes. So, so, we, we were, we were walking towards this, er, this, what I thought was a stone circle. So, I was, sort of, walking towards it, and I, I really noticed it got, it got quite a lot chillier. So it was quite a sunny day –
BASIRA
Okay.
ROBIN
– erm, I hadn’t, I hadn’t taken a jacket. Y’know when you sort of look out the window and you’re like ‘Today’s a jacket day’ –
BASIRA
[Desperately trying to get him on track] So you thought… you saw this stone circle?
ROBIN
Oh yes, yeah.
BASIRA
Started walking towards it?
ROBIN
That’s right.
BASIRA
And then…?
ROBIN
Okay, so, so, yeah, it’s like I said, it was definitely, definitely a bit, definitely a bit chillier. Um, I don’t think there was any wind or anything that day, but it, yeah, just sort of, as I was walking towards it, felt, felt the chill. And I felt Jackie, sort of, start to walk closer to me. She started to run off a lot less, as if she sort of – I don’t know, maybe I just sort of noticed th- y’know when you sort of get a feeling for what mood a dog’s in, um, when you sort of spend a lot of time around them –
BASIRA
So, what about this stone circle?
ROBIN
Oh, the stone circle. So, so, I got closer, and I realised that, although I hadn’t seen, I hadn’t seen the stone circle before, but the, the, sort of texture of the rocks and, maybe a bit of, er, I dunno, they looked quite old. They, they definitely looked like they had been there for a long time, but that they, but I recall them definitely not being there, ‘cause, ‘cause, I’ve taken that route maybe five or six or… [mumbles] a few times now. When was the first time I took that route? I think that was with –
BASIRA
So you don’t remember seeing this before, but the rocks looked old?
ROBIN
Let me start again.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
MELANIE
Alright then. Statement of… Brian… er… ‘Fentinson’?
BRIAN1
Oh, um, it’s, it’s, it’s… it’s Fin-Finlinson.
MELANIE
Ah, right, sorry. That’s the… the handwriting here.
So. Statement regarding…
BRIAN
Sp-Spiders. B-B-But, I mean, lot, a lot of spiders!
MELANIE
Ah. Good. A spider one.
BRIAN
What?
MELANIE
Date: May 26th. And, er, go on… ah, let’s, let’s get this over with.
BRIAN
[Confused] Is… Look, is everything okay?
MELANIE
[Sighs] Yes. Yes, it’s, it’s fine. Sorry, I just, I just don’t hold out a lot of hope for… coherence.
BRIAN
What?
MELANIE
Our Archivist is on leave.
BRIAN
I don’t really. Look. I don’t really like staying in one place too long.
MELANIE
Fine. Statement begins.
BRIAN
Oh, um, I…
MELANIE
That means get started.
BRIAN
Oh, um, so… The spiders, they’re just, they’re all over my flat. Hundreds of spiders, and it’s freaky, like they just don’t act like spiders. And they’re leaving, like, web all over, all over my stuff, like on the sofa, and on like, on like, the microwave. Like, that’s weird, right? It’s not how spiders normally are.
MELANIE
[Interjecting] So… let’s, let’s, let’s, er, take this from a bit earlier. When did this start? When was the first “weird” spider?
BRIAN
A couple months? Nah, maybe a bit longer. Like, it, it started gradually, I guess. Like, y’know, I don’t like spiders, and sometimes, sure, there’s one in the bathroom, a little web or something, but that’s normal. And I just, y’know, asked a friend to deal with it or something. And, and then… Suddenly there were more spiders! Like the corner of every room. And it’s freaky ‘cause there’s, like, different types of spider. And different…
MELANIE 2
Right.
BRIAN
And they don’t normally, like, gather in groups of different species. It’s different species of spider, isn’t it?
MELANIE
[Stuttering somewhat] I-I-I-I’m not familiar…
BRIAN
I feel like they’re watching me!
MELANIE
What do you mean? Are they looking… at you?
BRIAN
They, they, they sort of move when I move. And, like, when I, when I go into a different room, I feel like there’s a, there’s a flow of spiders to the same room, or – But they don’t let me touch them, or, or, if I try and whack ‘em with a newspaper, they don’t let me get near!
MELANIE
Right.
BRIAN
And then… and the weirdest thing was when I asked an exterminator to come and look at the problem. They all disappeared! It’s like the first time I’d been, there’d been no spiders in weeks. And then suddenly, as soon as he leaves, they all come back! It’s like suddenly they’re there again!
MELANIE
[Trying to interrupt] Was… was… was that maybe the first time there had been another… person… looking at, at your flat?
BRIAN
Um. Well, I mean, I guess so? But no, ‘cause like –
MELANIE
Trying to pick this apart…
BRIAN
– I haven’t, haven’t invited someone to come over ‘cause there’s spiders and webs everywhere. But like – but there’s – I mean –
MELANIE
And the webbing…?
BRIAN
– Just think it’s the other day, they webbed, they webbed my bedroom door shut. I mean, that’s weird, right? Like, enough spiders leave enough web to seal the door. And they trapped me in there with the, all those spiders. That’s not normal, right?! That’s freaky! That’s supernatural!
MELANIE
But –
BRIAN
That’s what you guys do, isn’t it?
MELANIE
It does sound unusual…
BRIAN
Like, the supernatural, right?
MELANIE
Um… I mean, we’re, we’re an investigative… unit, but we’re…
BRIAN
I just wanted some help! Like, I heard you guys like… I thought if you know about the supernatural, maybe you could help me deal with this!
MELANIE
I… really wish that was the case.
BRIAN
[Distressed] Oh god!
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
LYNNE
Yeah, and then… she… er, reached out to me.
MARTIN
Oh, okay. Okay, right, so she reached out, um, and then… what, what happened? She reached out to you, so what did you do?
LYNNE
Er… Well, not a lot.
MARTIN
Right.
Um, and, and then she just… disappeared like normal?
LYNNE
I mean… she burned me a bit.
MARTIN
Oh! Oh wow! Okay, er, like, are you okay? Did you –
LYNNE
Oh.
MARTIN
Was there, was there a lot of damage? Are you – Is there…?
LYNNE
No, no, no. It’s… er, just, just a few hairs. My right arm. I mean they, they’ve grown back.
MARTIN
Like, like a few hairs? So then…
And then she disappeared and you…?
LYNNE
I went back to sleep.
[MARTIN GATHERS HIMSELF WITH A LONG INTAKE OF BREATH]
MARTIN
Right. Erm…
And, well, then what happened? So, y’know, y’know, you’ve been burned by this, mys-mysterious ghost, so what did you do?
LYNNE
I mean, I moved out.
MARTIN
And nothing… nothing since then?
LYNNE
Well, no. I’ve, I’ve moved.
MARTIN
Right.
Erm, I’m – I don’t suppose you’ve looked into the, the history of the building, or anything?
LYNNE
Why?
MARTIN
O-kay. Erm… Statement ends. I guess. Er… okay, yeah, great, um.
LYNNE
Cool.
MARTIN
Thanks so much for coming. Really appreciate it.
Erm, yeah, if you… yeah, if you head out, um, by the way that you came in, there’s a woman at the front desk, she’ll take your details down…
LYNNE
Great.
MARTIN
…and then we might, y’know, might be in contact about it in the future if we, if we do any follow up, and need, need to talk to you about any specifics again, but… that probably won’t…
LYNNE
Oh. You, you got everything then, yeah? That’s…
MARTIN
Erm… Yeah. Yeah. Y’know what, yeah. I think, I think that’s basically it, y’know. Th-Thanks so much for coming in, though. We do appreciate it.
LYNNE
Cool.
I know. Cool.
…
Er…
MARTIN
S-Sorry, is there, there is something else that, um…?
LYNNE
No, I just, just thought that maybe you would…
MARTIN
Er…
LYNNE
I mean, do I get… a… piece of paper or something?
To…
MARTIN
No, no, it’s fine. It’s, it’s, it’s fine.
LYNNE
…say that I’ve done it?
MARTIN
We, we, we keep an internal record.
LYNNE
I mean, do I… Is there, like… an invoice or something? I…
MARTIN
[Confused] In…? An… invoice?
For…?
LYNNE
I mean, just, just, my friend Gav said that, y’know, you guys… you need stories, and you need people to come forward, so…
MARTIN
Yeah, yeah…
LYNNE
And you… kind of…
You pay up people for their ghost stories, so…
MARTIN
Oh! Er, ah… [Nervous chuckle] I, I think there might be a bit of a, er, er, mis-miscommunication here –
LYNNE
Oh!
Oh, right, okay.
MARTIN
Yeah. Yeah… We don’t actually, um… er, we don’t pay for, pay for statements.
LYNNE
Right.
MARTIN
This is, this is more, a, er, documenting process than… er, we don’t use these for, um, for stuff outside of –
LYNNE
Okay.
MARTIN
– r-r-records.
Ahh. I’m really sorry. Er…
LYNNE
Oh. I mean, I mean, that’s why I –
Er, no, y’know, okay, but that’s fine.
[MOMENTS OF EMBARRASSED MUMBLINGS]
MARTIN
Er…
Um…
Y’know what… Sorry. Um. Let’s see what I’ve got…
[MOURNFUL SOUNDS OF MARTIN’S LOOSE CHANGE]
I mean, I’ve got… I mean… get a coffee, I…
LYNNE
Y’know what? You’re, you’re alright.
MARTIN
No, no, please, please? I…
LYNNE
Oh, alright.
MARTIN
Y’know, er…
LYNNE
Thanks, thanks.
MARTIN
…like, like a macchiato, or…
LYNNE
Mm.
MARTIN
I mean, maybe not that much.
LYNNE
Okay, so, um… just the way out…
[TRANSFER OF COINS]
MARTIN
Yeah.
LYNNE
…the way I came in?
MARTIN
Yeah, please. If that’s… yeah.
[DOOR OPENS & CLOSES]
[MARTIN SIGHS WEARILY]
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
TIM
[Wearily] Mr. Smith…
‘SMITH’
[Irate] Look, Jeremy, is somewhere, under London, right now, having… bioweapons tested on him! Yeah! Like, and I know that, 100% certain, coz it’s a fact!
TIM
I think you might possibly be looking for a different agency…
‘SMITH’
Well, I, I think so! I came here, because I have uncovered, like, a massive government conspiracy, yeah. And what are you doing? You’re like… you’re what? Just frowning at me sceptically.
TIM
It’s possible you should take that to someone else, Mr. Smith.
‘SMITH’
Well! Well probably! Probably I should do that!
Coz that’s a fat lot of use you are! Mendacists! You’re rubbish!
[TIM SIGHS HEAVILY, OBSCURING MR. SMITH’S PARTING WORDS]
TIM
Statement ends.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
ROBIN
Yeah, people have always said to me that Jack Russells can be difficult dogs, but I’ve always found that, that, as long as you, sort of, treat them right, and, you know, give them lots of treats, and it’s, it’s really quite –
BASIRA
[Getting exasperated] So you were in the spiral, and you heard an old man crying?
ROBIN
As I was meandering around, and you know when you hear, you, you hear someone crying, but you, you, but you definitely sort of say that’s, that’s… that’s, there’s an age in that voice. Like it sounded… like, if you, have you heard many old men crying?
BASIRA
[Sharply interjects] So you were following…?
ROBIN
Yes, that’s right. So, you know how, sort of, at places like Hampton Court, where they’ve got those little hedge mazes, and rather than, sort of, bounding straight into the middle of them, where you can just sort of walk over all the hedges, you have to, you have to, sort of, follow it through, er, I’ve, it sort of put in me in mind of that. As, er, as I sort of imagine myself in… exploring that maze –
BASIRA
So you followed the maze?
ROBIN
So I followed the, so I, yeah, so I followed the spiral, the spiral round and, er, I could definitely hear this sort of old man crying. And it d-d– It was definitely an old man, ‘cause it really reminded me of, er, this old chap I met once on a train, er, going, going to Liverpool. Er, he was, he was –
BASIRA
Mmmm, so… So what happened?
ROBIN
So, so… as I was going round, and, and hearing this old man, erm, I suddenly, suddenly realised that I was going to be late for… I was going to be late for my mum’s dinner that she had planned, er –
BASIRA
You… But… didn’t you say it was, it was about noon?
ROBIN
Well, that was the funny thing. So, you see, I, I looked at my watch, and I realised that six hours had gone by.
BASIRA
Six… Six hours?!
ROBIN
Yes, that’s right. So, er, at that point, I, I left.
BASIRA
…
I’m sorry?
ROBIN
Yes, so I would, I would have been late for dinner, so…
BASIRA
So you left?
ROBIN
So I got out of the spiral, and went to dinner.
BASIRA
…
[BAFFLED VOCALISATIONS]
Statement ends… I suppose.
ROBIN
Is, is, is that all you need from me?
BASIRA
[Emphatically] Yep.
ROBIN
Are you sure?
BASIRA
Yep!
ROBIN
You don’t, you don’t need anything –
BASIRA
Absolutely!
ROBIN
You want any more details –
BASIRA
Nope! Thank you, Mr. Lennox.
ROBIN
Okay.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
BRIAN
[Highly anguished] …and I just, I dunno what to do anymore! I think they were following me. I think they followed me here! I saw a spider in the basement outside. And, and the webbing, it just… it had this webbing, the sticky kind… and I just… I don’t know how I can keep… I just need… This is the first time I’ve been in a room where I haven’t seen a spider –
MELANIE (BACKGROUND) 3
I…
Please, just…
There’s, there’s tea there.
Okay. Right. Yes.
Okay, breathe.
Yeah… well…
Drink, drink the tea.
BRIAN
– and maybe this is safe –
MELANIE
[Laughingly strangled] No-o-o-o-o. No.
BRIAN
– or maybe they’re outside. I just don’t know!
MELANIE
It’s really…
BRIAN
I don’t know how else –
MELANIE
It’s really not safe.
BRIAN
[Wheezing distressedly] – carry on!
MELANIE
I’ll, I’ll get you some biscuits. I’ll get you, I’ll get you, I’ll get you… something… Just breathe!
Breathe for me…
[BRIAN TAKES SOME CALMING DEEP BREATHS]
Okay, yes.
Good. Good.
[DOOR OPENS & CLOSES AS BRIAN CONTINUES TO BREATHE DEEPLY]
BRIAN
Sorry. I know I shouldn’t…
I guess that’s… that’s everything. I, I just don’t…
Oh.
[CHAIR SCRAPING ON FLOOR]
[Calling out] H-Hello?
Sorry. Did I…?
I don’t, don’t know…
[MORE CHAIR SCRAPING]
Should I just… go?
Hello?
[VERY SHARP SQUEAL OF DISTORTION]
PETER
Excuse me?
BRIAN
[Taken aback] Woah.
PETER
Do you work here?
BRIAN
Oh, er… no, I… Hi.
PETER
I’m looking for Elias Bouchard? He runs this Institute. I do have an appointment.
BRIAN
I don’t, um… I’m, I’m sorry. I was just, um… but everyone… just went.
Sorry. B-Brian. B-Brian Finlinson.
PETER
[Brightly] Peter Lukas. Lovely to meet you, Brian.
Now. Am I to understand you don’t work here?
BRIAN
No… I was just, um… making a statement, or, or whatever. Um…
PETER
That’s probably for the best. Elias can be quite… ‘protective’ of his people. Never really understood why. I mean, in the end, the only person that you really have is yourself.
Wouldn’t you agree, Brian?
BRIAN
[Thoroughly confused] I don’t… What?
PETER
Well. Plenty of time to make your mind up, I’m, I’m sure.
Now… If you’ll excuse me, like I said, I have an appointment to get to. You are sure you don’t know where Elias Bouchard’s office is?
BRIAN
No.
I’m, I’m sorry.
PETER
Not to worry. I’m sure I can find it.
And I’m sure you need some time to get used to your new situation.
BRIAN
[Softly] What?
PETER
Good luck Brian.
[VERY SHARP SQUEAL OF DISTORTION]
BRIAN
Yeah… Thanks… Uh… I – Oh.
Hello?
H-Hello?
[CLICK]
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Transcriber’s Note: Brian is a lot more ‘angsty’ and stammers more than can be realistically captured in this transcript. ↩
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Transcriber’s Note: Throughout Brian’s statement, Melanie repeatedly makes general noises of agreement or acknowledgement. ↩
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Transcriber’s Note: Melanie and Brian’s speech occur somewhat concurrently, as she tries to get him to calm down. ↩