LOUD 5 SECOND BEEP
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Okay Laura, we’re recording now. But we haven’t started just yet. No one here wants to rush you and no one is going too. You’re really brave for doing this so early on. You have my thanks and promise that I will do my best to get you the closure you so deserve. Are you still feeling up to this?
6 SECOND PAUSE
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Laura has indicated yes by nodding her head.
Thank you. Now have you ever been interviewed by Police or been recorded on tape before?
<<Laura>>
…No…
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Okay that’s fine. Basically this room may appear like a comfortable living room but it is in fact a Police Interview room designed specifically to put you at ease and make you as comfortable as possible. However there are several cameras and microphones in here to record everything we see and do. Sometimes actions speak louder than words, and because you are so important it is vital we understand everything you may consciously or unconsciously be saying.
Now I’m going to be asking you a lot of questions. I won’t lie, they may start innocent enough but they will get very difficult to answer. They will be invasive and sometimes be graphic. We need to know everything. If you ever need to stop, just say and we’ll pause the interview.
Okay?
<<Laura>>
Yes…
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Okay, I have to say the formal bits now. Afterwards you should forget we’re even recording – it’ll just be a conversation between all of us…
… The time 1641 hours and the date is Saturday twenty-fifth of July in the two thousand and twenty-third year of Our Lord on the Dienstadi Calendar, the two thousand and fifteenth year of our Lord on traditional calendars. I have unsealed two DVD discs and inserted them into the recording machine and set said machine to record. This interview is being recorded. The investigation reference number is 77292/22. This is the interview of Laura, twenty-four year old female, true name secret as mentioned earlier to protect her privacy.
I’m 77291193 Staff Sergeant Narville of Seventy-Seven Section First Investigation Company, Royal Military Police – Special Investigation Branch.
<<Sgt Newcombe (SIB)>>
I am Sergeant Newcombe of the same unit, here as Second Service policeman.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Present also is Laura as the victim in case 77292/22; Miss Wheeler, true name secret, as Laura’s next of kin and in charge of Laura’s immediate welfare; and a Special Agent from the Free Republic of Lamoni’s sister agency to the SIB, attached to Seventy-Seven Section for the purposes of this interview due to the location of the incident.
I am conducting this Achieve Best Evidence (ABE) interview in regards to the mass murder of civilians in a village, code-named Area Kilo, of which Laura is a survivor and key witness. The interview is being conducted within Camp CITADEL Military Police Station, on the Lamoni owned side of Former Indras, Omega.
Laura, although this is a police interview I must stress that you are not under arrest by local law enforcement or detained by either the Stevidian or Lamonian military. Should you say something incriminating I will caution you and then continue the interview.
The time is 1643 hours. Do you wish to start the interview?
6 SECOND PAUSE
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Laura has indicated yes by nodding her head.
Okay, described to me in as much detail as possible everything that happened between 1900 hours, seven o’clock, to the point where you were discovered by rescue teams in your house?
20 SECOND PAUSE
<<Laura>>
Err…. I’ll try. [Faint sobbing] Err… we’d just sat down in front of the television. We, I mean my mum, dad and two sisters. We’d just had dinner and wanted to watch television again. It was just a normal Thursday to be honest. I’d finished college for the day and just wanted to get home and spend time with the family. We were watching some chat show but I can’t remember paying too much attention to it. All they talk about is the civil war in Holy Panooly and then the troubles we have here… with the division. Dad get’s really wound… I mean… [sobs] I mean he… he did get… ah… [sobbing].
10 SECOND PAUSE
<<Laura>>
My family didn’t like watching the television much the past few weeks. It was also bad news or some crisis. The region isn’t safe. We weren’t safe... We always sit down for the chat show because sometimes they don’t talk about the civil war or the division, or the regional war. [Sobs] But now the Holy Empire is here to replace the peacekeeping people, well that’s all people are talking about… We just want some normality.
We then talked a little about it all; it’s all we ever seem to talk about these days… I mean… oh.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
I understood what you meant. I know you haven’t had it easy. I won’t pretend that I understand what you’re going through. But I can try to imagine. Just let the words come. You might find it helps. Speaking about them in the present tense may seem strange and upsetting but it puts you back in that scene… in the past… it helps our investigation. Don’t feel bad for remembering them like there are still living, thinking of them like that now can help me do them justice.
<<Laura>>
Okay… well, yeah, that’s all we talk about these days. The country isn’t in great shape you see. There’s a lot of tension this close to the border with the north. So, yeah, we almost always end up talking about all the bad in the world. Will it ever change? Will things get better? Y’know, stuff like that. It would always bring the worst out of dad. Never a fan of this Imperialism and ‘interstate intervention’ as the TV always says. It would rile him up enough these days to make him drink a little more than usual.
We went to bed early but I stayed up a little later in my bedroom. I’m sorta seeing this boy from college and we’ve been talking a lot. So I text him every night, helps me forget about the problems we all face.
<<Sgt Newcombe (SIB)>>
What’s his name, Laura?
<<Laura>>
… Shaun… Oh! God, I don’t think he knows! [Panicked sobbing]
<<Miss Wheeler>>
We’ll phone him right away, love.
<<Laura>>
He must think I’m dead! The village must’ve been on the news! [Crying]
2 MINUTE COMMOTION – INDIVIDUAL WORD CONSTRUCTIONS CANNOT BE ATTRIBUTED TO CORRECT PERSONS. CONSULT STATEMENTS OF EVIDENCE
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Miss Wheeler has left the interview to telephone Laura’s current partner to appraise him of all details relating to the welfare of the victim.
<<Laura>>
I can’t believe after all this time I forgot about him, forgot to tell you. I hate myself and he’ll hate me!
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
I’m sure he’ll understand. You’ve been through something incredibly traumatic and you are trying to contend with it all. No one will hold a lapse of memory against you.
So… you were texting Shaun?
<<Laura>>
Yeah, just casually y’know… nothing… y’know… err anyway. Yeah, we talked for a bit, until about eleven o’clock. I told him I wanted to get to sleep, I had a long day at college and the next day was going to be long too. I wanted to be fresh.
I had a shower and went to bed straight after…
15 SECOND PAUSE
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
How long did it take you to get to sleep do you think?
<<Laura>>
I heard my alarm clock beep once for the hour at one point. So at least an hour.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Anyone come into your room?
<<Laura>>
No. I wasn’t disturbed… until…
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
What was the weather like?
<<Laura>>
What was the weather like? Why?
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
It’s important to us.
<<Laura>>
Erm… hot. Well… yeah hot but humid as well. Apart of the reason I couldn’t sleep. It’s a tropical country and it keeps getting humid this time of year.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Wind?
<<Laura>>
I guess a little. My curtains were waving. Don’t ask me which direction, I don’t remember.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
[Chuckling] That’s fine, it all helps.
DOOR OPENS THEN CLOSES
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Miss Wheeler has entered the room.
<<Miss Wheeler>>
It’s all in hand darling… he’s as relieved as you’d expect.
20 SECOND PAUSE
<<Laura>>
[Sobbing]
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Tell me about how you were woken up Laura. As detailed as possible.
<<Laura>>
I heard a loud crack. Just one at first, like a branch snapping off a large tree but the noise seemed louder. Like it was amplified somehow. I thought for a second there might have been a storm and the trees were falling down or something. I heard roaring like wind blowing really strong and under it was thumping. Again, I thought it was a storm, the wind buffeting on my window but then as I lay there it sounded more like a helicopter. It didn’t think it was incredibly strange at first, being so close to the border we see helicopters all the time. But they never land in our village.
That’s when the whole village was deafened by these cracks. It rippled, but not in a pattern, just random loud snapping noises. Then there were whooshes, explosions… shouting. Men shouting, lots of noise. It was a massive commotion.
<<Sgt Newcombe>>
How did you feel at that moment in time?
<<Laura>>
Scared. Like, really scared. I knew then that there was shooting but I didn’t know who it was. If it was police or someone – you know, like those police chase things and the criminal is being shot at by the cops. I thought it would just go away. I heard my sisters start to scream and mum shouting. I couldn’t hear dad… I just stayed still. I couldn’t move really, I didn’t want to. I just curled up in my bed and waited for it to finish.
But I couldn’t just it out, there was just so much shooting and bangs outside. There were a lot of flashes of light coming from outside. My curtains had opened you see… from the wind. I ran to my window to close it and then my curtains…
20 SECOND PAUSE
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Laura…
10 SECOND PAUSE
<<Laura>>
[Sobbing]
<<Sgt Narville (SIB)>>
Laura… what did you see?
<<Laura>>
[Sobbing]… … b… [Sobbing] … [Sobbing] … bodies… dead bodies. My, my, my neighbours… they… my friends… everywhere. I saw fire, and men with guns. Just shooting people. My people, my neighbours and friends.
10 SECOND PAUSE
<<Laura>>
[Long sigh] … Okay… okay… yes… err… just, oh… just horrible. [Crying] I saw soldiers, definitely soldiers. They were going into houses in small… err… groups. They’d shoot at the houses… they’re made of wood you see. And, yeah, they’d shoot the house all over quickly then go to one of the doors. I saw them at my next door neighbour’s house, they kicked the door in… then after a second I saw lots of bright flashes…shooting…and… oh… [Sobs] the screaming. It was, horrib… I can’t forget. There were screams from inside. Screams outside. I saw people outside, not soldiers but villagers… they were just shot. The soldiers just shot them, they…just shot at them. They fell on the floor and didn’t move. I saw one move after, a soldier fired more bullets into … oh no …
40 SECOND PAUSE – CRYING. SUBJECT PERMITTED A MOMENT.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
I’m really sorry Laura, but I must ask you to keep describing what you saw, what you heard. What you and other people did.
<<Laura>>
A soldier below saw me. He pointed and shouted. He fired at me as I stood at the window. He… ah… he, um, missed… but the bullet broken the glass and I screamed. Dad must’ve heard because he ran in. Told me to hide under the bed. Said I’d be safe there because… well… be… oh I can’t remember why he told me to. It was so chaotic, didn’t understand what was happening. Dad left my room; I could still hear my sisters crying.
Then there was banging downstairs. Like, really loud. I heard the door break downstairs. Like it had fallen off the hinges or something. Dad said something loudly, but I couldn’t hear. Then… [Crying – pronounced] Then it happened…
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
What happened, Laura?
<<Laura>>
[Crying – pronounced]The soldiers… they killed my family.
[Crying] They shot bullets. They [Inaudible] them.
They were shooting all of them… my mum… my dad… my… oh no… [crying] … they killed my little sisters…[sobbing].
There were lots of bangs, really big ones – then there was a really bright flash, it sorta lingered – it didn’t go away and I couldn’t hear anything, only high pitch ringing. Then I heard shouting… after a few seconds. A soldier, he said “Over there! There!” That’s when I heard mum screaming… screaming “No! Stop!” Then… [sobs] … oohh … [sobs] then shooting… then crying. From my sist… they… um… [sobs] they then, err, fired again. I… didn’t hear them again.
5 SECOND PAUSE
<<Laura>>
Then they came in my room. They fired bullets but missed the bed. There were torches on and… they saw me… they must’ve heard me crying. He said “Found you!” loudly and dragged me from the bed. I just started screaming, kicking and screaming. He said the word…err “unlucky” sorta sly. Like chuckling. And he… lowered his gun… he then… he then…
20 SECOND PAUSE
<<Laura>>
I can’t. No, I can’t… [Crying]
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Laura… we have to know. Sorry… Laura, did he have sexual intercourse with you? Did he rape you?
<<Miss Wheeler>>
Staff Sergeant, please!
<<Sgt Newcombe (SIB)>>
I’m sorry ma’am but we have to know everything.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Laura… did he force you to do any sexual act?
<<Laura>>
… … … No…
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Did he make you consent, make you agree, to perform or engage in any sexual act?
<<Laura>>
… [Sobs] … … No. Nothing. Nothing like that at all.
He lowered his gun, then another soldier stuck his head into the room. Said something like “Come on!” and his name. I can’t remember his name, but then something like “the enemy is coming.”
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
The enemy?
<<Laura>>
Yes, “the enemy is coming”.
I'd definitely remember that guy if I saw him again... I don't think I'll ever forget him.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Then what?
<<Laura>>
The soldier ignored me… they just ran away. To the helicopters I think. I waited for a few minutes. I was too scared to leave my room. I could hear the helicopters outside but it was quieter, like they were in the air… That’s when the whole house exploded. It was just one loud bang and then it all collapsed. I must… I must’ve banged my head or something – a I can’t remember anything until I woke up in hospital.
2 MINUTE PAUSE
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Okay Laura, I know this is hard enough as it is without me making it anymore difficult. But how did the soldier’s talk?
<<Laura>>
I’m sure they were all speaking English.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Good.
Now, people say I’m very well spoken. They call it Received Pronunciation in Stevid, the people who have more of an accent or dialect call it ‘posh’. I want you to describe, if you can, how the soldiers in your room spoke.
<<Laura>>
Oh dear… I’m not very good with this sort of thing… They didn’t speak in a posh voice. They were shouting.
<<Sgt Narville (SIB)>>
Shouting brings out accents more, you should hear a the difference in the Scottish or German accents when their going from calm to shouting. Very obvious. Did these soldiers have a specific accent, anything obvious?
<<Laura>>
One or two, maybe; outside one or two had a Yankee sort of voice. I really can’t remember. I wasn’t really paying attention to how they sound.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
I understand, and I won’t force you. But perhaps I can help you.
For the benefit of those listening and or watching this interview I am going to play to Laura a recording entitled Exhibit JJN/131 through 137– Voice Recording One to Voice Recording Six.
Laura I’m going to play a series of voice recordings from different people, very different people. It’s difficult to describe why without sitting here for the next hour discussing the case file, but it may help discover the nationality of the persons involved. Accents are broadly similar across a country, dialects are far more difficult. To people in the know they can tell the difference between regional accents in several counties and still tell you from which country comes which accent. Anything you say after these recordings could be critically important. Try you hardest to remember.
Playing the recordings now.
RECORDING JJN/131:
"If ye would wait a moment I'll see if he's ready fer ye." [English, common]
RECORDING JJN/132:
“If you wait a moment I’ll see if he is ready for you.” [English, middle-received pro]
RECORDING JJN/133:
“If ya wait a moment I’ll see if he’s ready for ya.” [American English – broad – possibly east to mid east]
RECORDING JJN/134:
“If you wait a moment I’ll see if he’s ready for you.” [American English – business like - received]
RECORDING JJN/135:
“If you wait a moment I’ll see if he’s ready for you.” [Australian, clipped – middle/generic]
RECORDING JJN/136:
“If you wait a moment I’ll see if he’s ready for you.” [South African – distinct but generic]
RECORDING JJN/137
“If you wait a moment I’ll see if he’s ready for you.” [American clipped – possible Spanish dialect]
15 SECOND PAUSE
<<Laura>>
Ha… definitely not the first. Not really the second… that almost sounds like you… err… Newcombe. If anything it sounds like the third one… but those Yankee sounding ones are all the same really. To me anyway.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Thank you.
[Leans to Sgt Newcombe]
Not exactly concrete evidence, we’ll need to investigate further into it but it could rule out Morridane involvement.
<<Sgt Newcombe>>
Umm hum.
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
For the benefit of those watching and listening to this interview I am producing exhibits JJN/433 through to JNN/478. Various photographs of military equipment. See file for further details.
Laura I’ll let you look at these images and leave out the ones that you recognise the soldiers wearing or carrying.
5 MINUTE PAUSE
<<Laura>>
There…
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
For the benefit of those listening and watching, Laura has pointed out several images depicting military kit and equipment as worn and used by Morridane military personnel.
Okay Laura, I think that will be all from me for now. But this case is just beginning; as we progress we’ll more than likely have to speak to you again. I’ve put you through enough already so we’ll call it a day. Although I’m sure the Lamonian Special Agent will have questions of his own for you – that will be recorded separately.
Okay?
<<Laura>>
[Crying]
<<SSgt Narville (SIB)>>
Laura has indicated ‘Yes’ with a nod of the head.
You’ve been very brave Laura. I’m sorry we’ve had to do it like this with a fake name and get you to remember those horrible things, but we will get to the bottom of this.
Okay. The time is ….1722 hrs and I am about to terminate this ABE interview, however I or another member of Service Police, Lamonian Military Police or local police may wish to speak to you at a later date. The time is 1723 hrs and I am switching off the recording equipment.
INTERVIEW TERMINATED AT 1723 HRS 25 JUL 2022/2015