Page 73 of The Whispering Night
9P.M.: Floating Carnival
• Tuesday firework display on the Little Lake
CHAPTER
31
Interview with Wednesday (Winnie) Winona Wednesday
[0:00]
Jeremiah: [seated at interrogation table with open manila folder before him] Interview begins now at 6:45A.M.on Tuesday, April twenty-third. Ms. Wednesday, eyewitness accounts place you in the second-floor east gallery when the hotspot formed at [glances at notes] 11:16P.M.on Monday, April twenty-second. Is that correct?
Winnie: [stares at hands folded on table; expression is vacant] I don’t know. Probably.
Jeremiah: We also have three reports of… Open quote. A golden arrow flying across the room. Close quote. And one person said, open quote. It looked like magic. Close quote. All four reports mark you as the source of the magic.
Winnie: Okay. I wasn’t, but okay.
Jeremiah: Care to elaborate?
Winnie: Not really.
[Jeremiah takes a sip from a nearby coffee mug. Then leans back in his chair.]
[1:03]
Jeremiah: Ms. Wednesday, you’re in a lot of trouble. As I’m sure you know because we’ve done this before. [waves hand at interrogation room] Except last time,it wasn’tyoustanding accused of magic and witchcraft. It was your father—
Winnie: And you know damned well my dad was framed. That it was really the banshees who have vertical pupils, greenish skin, and claws with needle-like points.
[Jeremiah frowns. Then taps at the folder on the table.]
[1:25]
Jeremiah: I’m not sure I follow.
Winnie: [tilts forward now, visibly angry] Bullshit,Jeremiah. I know what you are and what you know. The basilisks possess hollow fangs that inject venom much like natural snakes.FUCK.
Jeremiah: Calm down, Ms. Wednesday—
Winnie:Youcalm down! I didn’t ask to be here. I, like everyone else, was trapped inside a fucking hotspot while nightmares tried to kill me. But now, somehow, it’s allmyfault.
Jeremiah: It’s not?
Winnie: Youknowit’s not, just like youknowI’m not a Diana. And youknowmy dad was never a Diana either. We’re all innocent and the examination reveals algal hair and a bulbous body—no.[She breaks off with a sob. Then crumples forward to land on her hands on the table.]
[2:06]
Jeremiah: Here’s what I know, Ms. Wednesday—
Winnie: [muffled] Call me Winnie. My name is Winnie.
Jeremiah: We found this phone in the gallery. It appears to be yours, and you have a message to Jay Friday telling him to meet you there, as well as an unsent message to Erica Thursday.
Winnie: [lifts head and audibly swallows] Have you… seen Jay?
Jeremiah: No, Ms. Wednesday. But if you’re worried about his secret, well… cat’s out of the bag. Or should I say wolf?
