Friday, March, 2000 - 6:03 p.m.

The witness, Ms. Jessica Durham, was asked to come into the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Office for a second interview to answer a few follow up questions regarding the weekend of January 15, 2000. She gave consent for the Sheriff's Department Crime Lab to examine her vehicle for possible evidence related to the Beauchamp homicide and collect said evidence for testing.

SM = Det. Sam Murphy
JD = Jessica Durham

SM: Please state your name and address for the record.

JD: Jessica Anne Durham, 116 Thacker Loop, Oxford.

SM: Ms. Durham, thank you for coming back for a second interview. There are only a few more questions, and I'll try to make it quick.

JD: It's all right, ma'am. I don't mind. Will you have my car very long?

SM: Our technicians are pretty efficient. I am reasonably sure we can returned the car to you by Monday. I hope that doesn't inconvenience you too much?

JD: No, not too bad. Jed will drive me wherever I need to go this weekend I guess. But like I said, I just know you won't find anything more damning then some petrified McDonald's fries...

SM: Let the record reflect that Ms. Durham has consented to have our criminalists examine her vehicle for possible evidence in the Beauchamp homicide and to gather and process same.

JD: You really think my car could have evidence?

SM: Your vehicle matched the description of an eye witness. I would be remiss in my duty if I didn't have it examined - if only to dismiss it as a possibility.

JD: Oh, I see... so other vehicles are being checked...

SM: Okay, moving right along... my records indicate that you spoke to Ms. Webster four times on January 15th. I'd like to go over each call.

JD: Yes ma'am.

SM: The first call you originated to Ms. Webster's home phone at 11:30 a.m., correct?

JD: Yes. I called her to see if I could borrow her truck to move. I told you all this the first time we talked...

SM: According to the phone records you talked for 23 minutes. You must have talked about something other than borrowing Ms. Webster's truck. What else did you talk about?

JD: Oh I don't know. You know, chit chat. I asked how she was and all. She said a little depressed, you know over Dev - still carrying a torch for him I guess. She asked my advice about it.

SM: What did she ask you, exactly?

JD: She asked if she should leave. "What would you do if you were me, Jess? Would you stick it out or would you just get the hell out?" That's how she put it.

SM: And what was your answer?

JD: I think I said something like, "hang in there, it'll get better." I felt bad for her, you know, but I really didn't want to talk about that. I wasn't really comfortable talking about her and Dev personally. So, I think I told her a joke. Then I asked her if she'd been to the shoe sale down at JC Penny - they had a half off sale. Then I asked her, could I borrow the truck.

SM: What do you think she meant? When she asked you if she should get the hell out?

JD: I don't know and I didn't ask either.

SM: Why not?

JD: Like I said, I didn't feel comfortable discussing her and Dev - their relationship - with her. He was a friend of mine too, didn't like being put in the middle. Besides, that stuff is personal, you know what I mean?

SM: Yes, I understand, but let me put it another way. Do you think when she said "get the hell out" do you think she meant her job, the restaurant, having any type of relationship with Mr. Beauchamp, or town? Did she mean, should she just leave town?

JD: Oh... That's a good point. I didn't really think of it. But it could be she meant getting out of town. When she and Dev first split, she talked a lot about just leaving Oxford and finding a new place. "Clean slate" is how she put it.

SM: Okay. Good. Incidentally, do you remember the last time you had your car cleaned?

JD: No, I can't. I guess I ought to be ashamed to admit that. I keep meaning to get it down to the car wash...

SM: Please don't apologize, in this case it may work in our favor. And really, I can't remember the last time I had my car washed either. I see there are vinyl floor mats in your car. Have you always had vinyl floor mats?

JD: Yes ma'am. I kept thinking I would get around to getting the nice ones, but you know how it is, always something more important to spend your money on.

SM: Yes, I do. Okay, the next two calls you made to Ms. Webster on the 15th were both 2 minutes long, one at approximately 8 p.m. and then again at about 9 p.m.

JD: Yes ma'am. See, at first we thought we would only need the truck for one day. Boy were we wrong! So I called her to ask if it was okay if we kept it another day, but I just left a message because I got the voice mail. Then about an hour later, I asked Jed to try her again and he got the voice mail and left another message.

SM: So at about 10 p.m. Ms. Webster called you back?

JD: Exactly right. She asked how it was going and I told her we were just not making the progress we expected and so on. She was just a doll and said not to worry, that we could keep the truck as long as we needed.

SM: So that's why you didn't return the truck until Monday morning?

JD: Well, we didn't finish until about 2 a.m. Sunday night, I mean Monday morning... well you know what I mean. And we sure weren't going to go knocking on her door at that time. And of course, we didn't even know at that time what had happened to Dev and all... Anyway, I guess I didn't even hear about it until Monday late in the morning. I was so tired, I didn't bother with the paper or the morning news that day. Anyway...

SM: Did Ms. Webster tell you where she had driven your car over that weekend?

JD: No. Like I said, Jed actually did the swap with her and he isn't one much for chit chat. He just took it over, found an envelope taped on the door with the keys inside, then got in my car and drove it to the shop.

SM: Ms. Webster didn't answer the door?

JD: No. Well, the last time we talked, we said we didn't know just when we would be by, but probably Monday morning. She said she might just leave the keys for us because she might be sleeping...

SM: I see.

JD: That's not so unusual, people do that all the time. Anyway, it made sense to us.

SM: Did you happen to notice how many miles Ms. Webster put on your car over that weekend?

JD: Jed said it was less than 20 miles. Less than we put on her truck.

SM: When you got the car back, did you notice anything about it that was unusual? Any stains or smells that weren't there when you lent it to her?

JD: I don't think so.... well, just one little thing. I found a cigarette butt in the ashtray. But like I told you before, I found out later that she started smoking again. So I doubt it means anything... right?

SM: Okay. Well, thank you very much for coming in again. My office will call you just as soon as we're finished with your vehicle. The Sheriff's Department really appreciates your cooperation, Ms. Durham.

JD: You're welcome, ma'am. Any time. Good bye.

End interview: 6:33 p.m.