Tessa H: He won’t return my calls, Taylor.
Taylor: He just said that thing about sexting and left?
Tessa H: No, I think he threw my phone at me and called me a cheating ho-bag first.
Eric squinted at his phone, trying to picture the scene. Something about it stirred a memory, and he let out a muffled gasp when he realized what it was.
Taylor: Wait a minute. I know what happened.
Tessa H: I just told you what happened.
Taylor: No, no. Hold on a sec.
He’d read it a month ago now—almost an exact description of Scott’s behavior. Of course… It was the first night he and Tessa started talking. He navigated over to Wikipedia and pulled up the entry for projection.
There it was, in the section on practical examples.
Bullying…
Blaming the victim…
Justifying infidelity…
Bingo.
Eric took a screenshot and added the image to the DM conversation.
Justifying infidelity: The cheating partner may project his own unfaithful thoughts or actions onto the innocent partner in order to justify his infidelity and assuage his own sense of guilt.
Tessa H: What is this?
Taylor: It’s projection! Maybe Scott jumped to “sexting” cuz he’s been doing a little “sexting” of his own?
Tessa H: No. No way.
Taylor: Tessa, he’s been distant with you for a while now.
Tessa H: He’s busy with school…
Taylor: Busy, my ass. I’m busy too. I still find time to talk to you.
Eric’s fingers clamped down hard on his phone. It boggled his mind how anyone could treat a girlfriend that way. Especially under the circumstances. Tessa needed someone desperately right now. She’d obviously been through some kind of trauma. Her boyfriend should’ve been first in line to offer her support.
Tessa H: He was always texting someone… God, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.
Taylor: Well, we can’t all be as sensitive and insightful as I am.
Tessa H: Spare me. You never even heard of projection before you started talking to me.
Taylor: This is true. This is why I need you to keep talking.
The conversation paused then, and Eric leaned his head against the headboard of the bed. He could sense her indecision, despite the sharpness of her tone. She needed someone, and they both knew it.
And the thing was, Eric needed her too. The past few sleepless nights had made that all too clear. He’d been coming apart at the seams without her calming influence.
Tessa H: I don’t know.
Taylor: I just want to talk. I swear, there’s nothing sinister. You help me deal with my shit. I help you deal with your shit.
Tessa H: I have to think about it.
Taylor: Tessa, please. Who else do you have to talk to now?
Tessa H: My therapist.
Taylor: But she can’t keep up with all your Eric Thorn references.
Tessa H: Are you sure you can?
Taylor: “Come on and ease this sunburn. Baby, take away my pain…”
Tessa H: Such a fanboy.
Taylor: See? We speak the same language.
Tessa H: I dunno. If I do decide to talk to you again, I need you to promise me something.
Taylor: Anything.
Tessa H: No more surprises, OK? I don’t do well with surprises. Promise me right now there’s nothing else I need to know.
Eric sucked in his breath between his teeth. No more surprises. Of all the things she could’ve asked.
But what could he say? He couldn’t refuse. She’d just get spooked and unfollow him again. And he could help her. It couldn’t be wrong if he only meant to help her.
Anyway, she didn’t need to know because she would never find out the truth. Never. Over his dead body.
With a resolute nod, he sent back his reply.
Taylor: Nothing else you need to know. I promise.
THE INTERROGATION
(FRAGMENT 5) December 31, 2016, 8:42 p.m.
Case #: 124.678.21–001
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTION OF POLICE INTERVIEW
—START PAGE 6—
INVESTIGATOR: Mr. Thorn, are you familiar with the term “catfish”?
THORN: Oh, come on.
INVESTIGATOR: It’s a yes-or-no question.
THORN: Yes. I’m obviously familiar with the term.
INVESTIGATOR: Would you care to define it for us, for the record?
THORN: No.
INVESTIGATOR: No?
THORN: It was a yes-or-no question, right?
INVESTIGATOR: That’s cute, Eric. What do you think, Terry? You think he’s getting cute with us?
THORN: I’m not… I wasn’t trying to be cute. I’m just not in the mood for stupid questions.
INVESTIGATOR: You know, Terry and I could do this all night. So if you just want to sit around and insult our intelligence—
THORN: No, no, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just a little thrown right now. There are other things I would prefer to be doing. I’m sure you understand. So could we please just cut to the chase?
INVESTIGATOR: And what other things would you prefer to be doing, Eric?
THORN: Well, I’d like to speak to Tessa, for one thing.
INVESTIGATOR: You care about her.
THORN: Of course.
INVESTIGATOR: And she cares about you?
THORN: Yes.
INVESTIGATOR: That’s sweet. Isn’t that sweet, Terry? Really heartwarming. You ever write a song about her, Eric?
THORN: What does that have to do with anything?
INVESTIGATOR: Oh, I’m just curious. I’ve got a niece. She’s about fifteen years old. Huge fan of yours.
THORN: I’d be happy to sign an autograph for her.
INVESTIGATOR: Now that’s not necessary. Just answer the question, if you don’t mind.
THORN: What was the question?
INVESTIGATOR: Did you ever write a song about Tessa Hart?
THORN: Really? I have to answer that?
INVESTIGATOR: You just put out a new single, right? What was that one called?
THORN: “Snowflake.”
INVESTIGATOR: That’s it. “Snowflake.” Pretty song. Did you write that song about Tessa?
THORN: I really don’t talk about the meanings behind my song lyrics.
INVESTIGATOR: Don’t you? I got the sense that you and Tessa talked quite a bit about the meanings behind your song lyrics.
THORN: That’s different.
INVESTIGATOR: How so?
THORN: I talked to her about things that I can’t tell other people. Personal things. She’s the only person I could talk to about a lot of stuff.
INVESTIGATOR: Because those conversations took place within the context of a private correspondence. A private relationship, you might say?
THORN: Right.
INVESTIGATOR: And there was one other way it was different too. Wasn’t there?
THORN: What do you mean?
INVESTIGATOR: I mean, she didn’t know it was you, right? She thought she was talking about your song lyrics with somebody named Taylor.
THORN: Right. Exactly.
INVESTIGATOR: “To lure someone into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona.”
THORN: Sorry, what?
INVESTIGATOR: That was a quote, actually. Let the record show that my previous statement was a quote from the Oxford English Dictionary, third edition. That was the second definition of the verb “catfish.” Did you know they put it in the dictionary?