"Was Ms. Ross also a member of this group?"
"Oh my goodness, no, she was much too energetic for that. She loved active sports, tennis, jogging, volleyball and the like. I was the more sedentary one."
"When did you begin to develop a relationship with Mr. Carson?"
"We began going out for coffee after our group adjourned for the evening, then he invited me to dinner and then we began dating. Herbert was such a kind soul, a perfect gentleman or so I thought until ..."
"Please, Ms. Phillips, let us continue."
(sighs) "I'm sorry. He was just so ..."
"And how long did your relationship continue with Mr. Carson?"
"Over nine months, we did all sorts of wonderful things together, I remember this one time we went to this lovely little B&B down the coast towards Kingsport ..."
"May I infer from that the two of you were intimate?"
(sighs) "Yes we were. You must think I'm some sort of ..."
"Ms. Phillips, let's stay on subject, please."
"Oh, very well."
"Now, when did you first introduce Ms. Ross to Mr. Carson?"
"About two months ago. She invited us to dinner at her place and I was excited for her to meet him. We had been keeping our relationship a bit of a secret, you know, what with his ex-wife trying to get more money from him and ..."
(coughs) "Ms. Phillips, were Ms. Ross and Mr. Carson friendly towards one another?"
"Oh my, yes, they hit it off almost immediately. I was pleased that Cynthia liked him and she thought we made such a cute couple. After a while, the three of us began doing things together and I was so happy being with the two people who meant so much to me."
"When did you first learn that Ms. Ross and Mr. Carson were seeing each other without you?"
"They were rather up front about it actually. They told me that they had begun playing tennis together on weekends and I didn't mind at first. Then they were jogging together in the mornings, and then he offered to teach her golf ... (sighs) I was so naïve ..."
"Let's discuss something else for a moment. You mentioned earlier that you were praying on the night of Ms. Ross' disappearance and that you were performing a ritual to summon ... The Great Old Ones?"
"Yes, yes of course ... The Great Old Ones ... oh my, yes, I first learned of them when our literary study group began reading some first-hand accounts of strange occurrences here in Arkham over the centuries and several times a book of arcane lore called the Necronomicon was mentioned as possibly relating to the cause of these occurrences; I was strangely fascinated."
"And you continued your studies of this book?"
"Most certainly, they keep it locked away in the Antiquities Section of the Miskatonic University Library and only a select few are allowed to view it. Fortunately, I knew one of the Assistant Librarians who allowed me to peruse it at length, including many sections that were supposed to be sealed ... she even let me take notes which are usually forbidden, but Alicia is such a lovely person, so kind and sweet and loving and so delicate ..."
"And from this book you determined you could possibly seek assistance from these Great Old Ones?"
"Oh yes, if you make the proper ritual sacrifices of animals such as cats; only black ones, mind, or dogs, black dogs, and a black sheep if you can find one; I never could, and then you pray to them and they will grant your every wish ..."
"What sort of assistance were you seeking, Ms. Phillips?"
"I ... needed their strength, their power ... I have never been very strong ... they promised to help me if I would ..."
"Let us back track for a moment to the time when you discovered that Ms. Ross and Mr. Carson were a couple."
"A couple, indeed, (laughs) it was after my literary club meeting that I decided to stop by Herbert's apartment since he wasn't at the meeting and I thought he might be ill. When I arrived there the door was ajar, so I went in because I thought something must be wrong and then I heard ... I heard ..." (sound of interviewee crying)
"Would you like to pause for a minute, Ms. Phillips?"
"No, no (sniffles) I'll be fine, it's just ... the things they were doing, they were like animals in rut, I couldn't help but watch ... they never saw me, oh no, I made sure of that ... I mean I was horrified ...he'd never done those things to me, not that I would have let him, you know, and she was enjoying it and asking for more. Then she began doing things to him too, for instance she wore a harness and she bent him over and ... (sobs) He liked it and ..."
"Ms. Phillips, please try to control yourself ..."
"They never saw me (sharp intake of breath) ... I watched, though, I watched as they did horrible things to each other until I couldn't take any more ... then I ran and ran and ran ... and then I was in the forest ... it was dark and cool and I was comforted ... I knelt down to cry and to worship them ... the Great Old Ones ... I begged them to help me ... to punish those two for what they'd done to me ... to help me get my revenge ... then they appeared in all their glory ... they told me what I must do to bring them to me ... they promised me ..."
"Yes, yes, now let's focus, Ms. Phillips. Once you discovered that Ms. Ross and Mr. Carson were being intimate what did you do next?"
"I was stunned at first, I mean she was my best friend and he was my lover and now they were ... I had always secretly envied her, you know, I mean, she was prettier and more shapely than I, her hair was such a pretty shade of blonde, her lips were so full and her hands so soft ... (sighs) I ... I hated them for what they had done to me, to our relationship, I felt betrayed, abandoned, but I said nothing, oh no, I acted like nothing was wrong ... they were so bold and actually began flirting in front of me ... they thought I didn't know ... (sighs) ... silly old Henrietta ... I wanted to punish them for what they'd done, what they were doing ... (raises voice) ... I was determined to make them suffer, oh yes, make them suffer the torment of a hundred Hells ..."
"Mr. Phillips, control yourself, please."
"I'm sorry; it's just that I was so angry..."
"We have a statement here from the Library Director at Miskatonic University. In it he states that the records show you visited the Antiquities Room a total of eleven times from the period August fifteenth to November tenth..."
