Friday, April 14, 2000 - 4:45 p.m.

In response to a request for an interview, Corinna Morgan came in to the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department. Ms. Morgan was not in custody and did not wish to have an attorney present during the interview.

SM = Det. Sam Murphy
TA = Det. Ted Armstrong
CM = Corinna Morgan

SM: Thank you for coming in, Ms. Morgan. Would you please state your name and address for the record?

CM: Corinna Morgan.106 Nelson Circle.

TA: Ms. Morgan, do you know why we asked you to come in?

CM: Probably because of what happened to Trudi.

TA: Trudi?

CM: Trudi Rose, my former boss.

SM: Ms. Morgan, when did you stop working at Cupid's Couples?

CM: In February.

SM: Why did you leave?

CM: I was asked to leave because of a misunderstanding.

TA: A misunderstanding?

CM: Yes. Something about some missing files. But I never took them.

SM: What did the files contain?

CM: Information about some of the people Trudi dealt with, people she tried to match together. Personal information about their incomes, their personal histories, and so forth.

SM: Customers at Cupid's Couples?

CM: Clients. We were always told to call them clients.

TA: And you say you didn't take these files?

CM: Of course not. But they sure thought I did, and I couldn't convince them I didn't. I worked there for a long time and they just threw me out in the street.

SM: Mrs. Rose fired you?

CM: No. Kelly. Kelly Clinton. She does all the hiring and firing and business side of things. Trudi is the... was, I guess, the pretty face of the business, the people person. But Kelly just came up one day and told me to leave because some files were missing. She said, if I didn't leave, she would call the police. She said she had found client files in my briefcase. I asked her why she was looking in my briefcase and she said that she was looking for a pencil.

TA: For a pencil?

CM: Yes. I thought it was a pretty stupid excuse, but she pulled the files out of my briefcase in front of Trudi, and then they both said that I should leave.

SM: So you left?

CM: Yes. What else could I do?

TA: If you didn't believe Ms. Clinton was looking for a pencil, how do you think she came to be looking in your briefcase?

CM: Honestly?

TA: Yes.

CM: I think Dana did it.

SM: What do you mean Dana did it?

CM: I mean I think she's the one who put the files in my briefcase and then told Kelly to look in there. It's the only explanation.

TA: Why would she do that?

CM: She was after my job from day one and even more so after she graduated. She was only part-time, but she wanted to be full-time and she seemed to think it was my fault they didn't promote her or increase her hours or whatever. She was always trying to make me look bad, like I didn't know what I was doing.

SM: What would she do to make you look bad?

CM: You name it. Anything she could think of. Like Trudi would ask me to pull a client file for her and I would go to the file cabinet and it just wouldn't be there. Then a few minutes later, Dana would come waltzing up with the file, claiming it had been misfiled. But there's no way. I'm very good at what I do and I'm familiar with all 26 letters of the alphabet. I don't misfile things.

SM: Was Dana there when Ms. Clinton confronted you about the files in your briefcase?

CM: No. She was there earlier, but she was conveniently gone by then.

TA: It sounds like you don't like Dana Pomeroy much.

CM: No, I don't.

SM: Did you happen to notice the personal habits of your employers when you worked at Cupid's Couples? What they liked to eat and drink, for instance?

CM: You mean about Trudi liking sweet stuff?

TA: What makes that come to mind?

CM: Well, it's the only thing I can think of that would be noticeable. Everything else was pretty standard. I mean, they drink coffee mostly, like in a lot of offices. But Trudi had a real taste for sweets; we always had them around. And there's that whole powdered sugar thing.

TA: What powdered sugar thing?

CM: She really, really liked it. We always had to keep it in the office. She said it tasted good and made things look pretty. It was a big thing with her.

SM: Do you know anything about Mrs. Rose's death?

CM: Just what I read in the paper, that she was probably poisoned.

TA: Were you involved in any way with that, Ms. Morgan?

CM: Are you kidding?

TA: No. Were you?

CM: Absolutely not. I would never do anything to hurt Trudi. Besides, I was working.

SM: Where do you work?

CM: Cedars Restaurant on College Hill Road.

SM: Were you working there on Monday, April 3rd?

CM: Yes. I worked from nine until four in the afternoon.

TA: What do you do at the restaurant?

CM: I'm a day waitress, Tuesday through Saturday.

TA: That's kind of a big change from what you did at Cupid's Couples.

CM: Yes, it is. But I haven't found anything else yet, and I've got bills to pay.

SM: Do you know of anyone who would want to get rid of Mrs. Rose?

CM: Other than Dana?

SM: You think Dana would want to get rid of Mrs. Rose?

CM: How do I know? She's a conniving little... person. She got rid of me and took my job. If she wanted to get promoted after that, I guess the next one in line would be Trudi.

SM: I see. Can you think of anyone else who might want to get rid of Mrs. Rose?

CM: No. She was always nice to me. She even argued with Kelly for me to stay at first, but Kelly wouldn't hear anything about it. She just said I had to leave, so I did.

SM: What about her husband?

CM: Bobby Joe? No way. I don't think so. They had a great relationship, all things considered.

SM: What do you mean "all things considered"?

CM: Well, they both work a lot. Sometimes it was hard for them to spend time together.

TA: Was this something they argued about?

CM: I guess, sometimes. It was really none of my business, you know?

TA: But you did hear them argue on occasion?

CM: Well... Bobby Joe hardly ever came to the office, so it's not like I heard anything in person. But I guess I did hear her talking to him on the phone sometimes... and I guess she did get upset sometimes, but it was never serious.

TA: How do you know it wasn't serious?

CM: Well, in the final analysis, I guess I don't know for sure either way. But she was never upset for very long. And a lot of times he would call her back not too long after a conversation like that and she'd be all smiles again after she talked to him. They really loved each other. He must be devastated now.

SM: Ms. Morgan, did you ever see anything unusual around the office? Any strange visitors or telephone calls?

CM: No. Some of the clients were kind of strange, but I think they were just lonely. Nothing ever creepy strange, just lonely people. They helped a lot of people too, Cupid's Couples. And Trudi especially. I can't imagine anyone that would be that mad at them.

SM: No one ever threatened Mrs. Rose or Ms. Clinton?

CM: The whole Ken Edwards lawsuit was a big deal, but that was handled through the courts. Trudi and Kelly always said they weren't at fault, but he was pretty mad at them anyway. But he never came in the office again after he was set up with Natasha that I can remember. Not while I was still working there anyway.

SM: No enemies?

CM: Not that I know of.

TA: The Natasha you mentioned in relation to Ken Edwards is Natasha Van Moore?

CM: Yes.

TA: She was your predecessor at Cupid's Couples, right?

CM: Yes, but I didn't steal her job. She left because she wanted to. She wanted to start her own business, which she did.

TA: So she left Cupid's Couples on good terms?

CM: Yes. In fact, she even stayed longer than she originally wanted to, until I was finished at Ole Miss and could work full-time.

TA: That was nice of her.

CM: I thought so. If she'd insisted on leaving earlier, they would've had to hire someone else and I wouldn't have had a job lined up after graduation.

TA: So you got along well with Ms. Van Moore?

CM: Sure. I'm not a difficult person in general. Only when people are deceitful and backstabbing... but Natasha and I got along fine.

TA: That new business she wanted to start, was that Good Graces? The business she has now?

CM: Yes.

TA: And are you still friendly with her?

CM: Well, we say hi when we run into each other. Sometimes we catch up on what's new if we have time. I'd say we're still friendly.

TA: Have you applied for a job with Good Graces?

CM: What?

TA: Have you tried to get a job working for her since you left Cupid's Couples? Since the two of you are still friendly?

CM: Um... no. I'm not really into that.

TA: Not into what?

CM: You know, what she does.

TA: Giving etiquette lessons?

CM: Yeah. That. It's not really my thing.

SM: Thank you for coming in, Ms. Morgan. If you have the time now, we'd like you to make a statement detailing your job responsibilities at Cupid's Couples and the circumstances surrounding your departure. Would that be okay?

CM: I do have plans later. It won't take too long, will it?

SM: It shouldn't. Probably not more than an hour.

CM: Fine.

SM: Thank you. We do appreciate it. We'll be in touch with you if we need anything else.

CM: Okay.

End interview: 5:23 p.m.