Page 72 of The Truth You Told

So, what had it been that had triggered the serial killer waiting beneath his skin?

TRANSCRIPT FROMTHE ALPHABET MANDOCUMENTARY

KATE TASHIBI:Let’s talk about Sidney Stewart.

NATHANIEL CONRAD:Oh, yes please. She was a delight. My first girl.

TASHIBI:Did something happen to make you choose her? For all your other victims, you picked them ahead of time. You learned their schedules and habits, their friends. Sidney was ...

CONRAD:Spur of the moment. Yes, you are correct. First, you have to understand, the girls, they have an aura surrounding them. It’s a golden hue, it’s difficult to explain.

TASHIBI:I think that explains it pretty well.

CONRAD:With Sidney, it was the first time I’d ever seen it. It’s beautiful, it’s transcendent almost. When they die it changes to a soft, shimmery pink before extinguishing altogether. It’s my greatest wish to see that one more time.

TASHIBI:Yeah, I think you’re sold out of luck there, buddy.

CONRAD:No. Sadly not. You have an aura, did you know? I would love to get a knife in you and watch it go pink.

TASHIBI:Cool, yeah. That’s not going to happen. Did Shay Kilkenny have an aura?

CONRAD:She did not. That’s why I didn’t kill her. There’s no pleasure in killing someone without that golden glow.

TASHIBI:All of your victims had it?

CONRAD:Yes. I had no interest in anyone who didn’t. I think ... I think that’s why women tended to like me. I had no predatory intent toward them unless they had the glow. And those girls were few and far between.

TASHIBI:How did you know, that first time that you saw the glow, that it meant you were supposed to kill the girl?

CONRAD:That’s a fascinating question, but I have no answer for you, I apologize. I just ... knew.

TASHIBI:What happened that day? Before you met Sidney.

CONRAD:Are you trying to psychoanalyze me?

TASHIBI:No, I’m trying to tell your story.

CONRAD:I don’t think you are. But the end result will be the same. So. Let me think, I was coming back from Houston. I wanted a change of scenery. I was tired of Dallas. A spot had opened up with their social services office down there.

TASHIBI:How did you feel about working for an office that protects vulnerable people when you were killing women?

CONRAD:I felt fulfilled, believe it or not. I did not have a positive experience when I went through it all after my father murdered the rest of my family.

TASHIBI:Did you not? What was that like?

TASHIBI:Mr. Conrad?

TASHIBI:All right, we can move on from that topic. Back to Dallas. You wanted to leave the city?

CONRAD:I realize now that I was searching for my girls, and they were all in Houston. But at the time I simply felt restless.

TASHIBI:I assume the interview went well since you got the job. Who did you talk with?

CONRAD:Any manner of people. I even met with some of the staff at the hospital.

TASHIBI:And who else?

CONRAD:Like I said, a number of people.

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