Interviewed: Robert Brigham Jr.
Interviewer: Agent Laura Dunnings, UIU
Foreword: Due to the discovery of Fontaine’s remains, the UIU wished to conduct an interview in accordance with Brigham having become an FBI homicide suspect. Two Foundation operatives were present during the interrogation.
<Begin Log>
Agent Dunnings: Mr Brigham?
Robert Brigham Jr.: Junior.
Agent Dunnings: So, Mr Brigham, to cut to the chase: We're almost certain you abducted Grace Fontaine.
Robert Brigham Jr.: Well I’m not gonna, like, deny it or anything; I mean, you found her skull sitting on my mantelpiece like it was granny’s fine china.
Agent Dunnings: I've only mentioned abduction. You do understand, Mr Brigham, that your statement constitutes a confession to murder?
Robert Brigham Jr.: I understand completely.
Agent Dunnings: And, while we're at it, you want to tell me why you kept the skull?
Robert Brigham Jr.: It's like a… like a trophy, I guess. A little something to remember my endeavour by. I polished her all clean - that's to buff the bad spirits right out, so they say.
Agent Dunnings: They?
Robert Brigham Jr.: Occultists. Magic people. They've got stories… bad things happening to people who abuse their guidance. Karma, you might call it. And I guess this is it.
Brigham gesticulates at the room.
Agent Dunnings: Just so we're clear — you're talking about the texts we found in your apartment, correct?
Robert Brigham Jr.: Ah, the spellbooks?
Agent Dunnings: Officially, we prefer the phrase “thaumic literature”. But go on.
Robert Brigham Jr.: Well, I’ve dabbled. Just another of my peculiar hobbies.
Agent Dunnings: You’ve dabbled?
Robert Brigham Jr.: I’m no wizard, ma’am. I couldn’t tell you any thermic… thermal… whatever you wanna call spells off the top of my head. Ain't no use without my books.
Agent Dunnings: When you say about people who "abuse" this… magic — were you engaging in thaumic practices when you murdered Grace Fontaine?
Robert Brigham Jr.: I might have… whispered a sweet something or two into her ear. Something to get her to calm down. She was scared shitless - kicking, screaming, all the way back from North Lawn in the back of my car. Screaming for someone to save her, to find her, "don't hurt me!" and all that-
Agent Dunnings: And did it work? The spell, or whatever you want to call it?
Robert Brigham Jr.: I mean, I told you I’m not a wizard. She quit squealing, yeah, but kept squirming. Like her mind was somewhere else. That’s why I had to… had to hit her with the…
Agent Dunnings: So that’s how she died? You hit her with… what, exactly?
Robert Brigham Jr.: A shovel, I think. Keep one in my truck in case of a Chicago winter. I weren't going to kill her right away. Might not have killed her at all, in fact, but desperate times call for desperate—
Agent Dunnings: So where’s the rest of her, then? What did you do with the body?
Robert Brigham Jr.: Between my little ornament and what your buddy pulled outta the fridge, you got her.
Agent Dunnings: No, the rest of her.
Robert Brigham Jr.: I broke her down. Teeny-tiny little pieces. I been putting bits of her out with my trash every garbage day. Good luck combing the landfills if you wanted to, like, stitch her back together or something.
Agent Dunnings: And you didn't think to… get rid of these so-called karmic spirits from what was left of the body?
Robert Brigham Jr.: Polishing bone's one thing, ma'am, but the best I could do with the other… stuff was dice her up and sneak her out. Thought it was done and dusted until you came knocking at my door. And, I'll tell you — if I'd not been brought in, I'd have done it all over again.
The room is silent for a moment while Agent Dunnings and the observing Foundation personnel take notes.
Agent Dunnings: Thank you, Mr Brigham. I think that’s enough for now, but I’ll be speaking to you again soon.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: Brigham was charged with the first-degree murder of Grace Fontaine. Occult literature recovered from Brigham's home corroborates the suggestion that an incantation was performed during Fontaine’s abduction with the intention of "calming" his target. Thaumaturgical experts believe that this particular incantation was capable of inducing a side effect not mentioned in the texts, in which the affected victim instead expresses fear and panic through the transmission of ontokinetic energy.