Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five

Transcript of police interview with Tyler Martinson

" T yler, how long have you known Liam Cass?"

"Forever. Like, first grade."

"And you used to be friends?"

"Best friends, actually. I was always going to his house, or he'd go to my house. We used to be really tight."

"And what was your opinion of him at that time?"

"Well, he was my best friend. So obviously, I liked him. He was cool. But he had a dark side, if you know what I mean."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, he was really good at manipulating people to get what he wanted. Especially teachers. He could blow off his homework and he would never get in trouble. I couldn't get away with anything ."

"And what did the other students think of him?"

"They liked him too. Especially the girls. They were all, like, in love with him. It was really annoying. But Liam just thought it was funny."

"Were you jealous of him?"

"Me? No. I mean, I wasn't interested in girls back then. Now it's more annoying. They all still love him. He's like Ted Bundy. Wasn't he that serial killer women liked so much?"

"You mentioned he would manipulate other people. How did he do that?"

"So here's an example. In fourth grade, we had this roly-poly farm in our classroom. Liam got this idea to dump the farm on the floor and smash all the worms. That was his idea of fun stuff to do. And I went along with it because… I don't know. I thought it was fun too, I guess. Anyway, there was this other kid in the class named Michael. Nobody liked Michael because he was gross and fat and picked his nose. But Liam invited him to come with us, and Michael was so happy. But it was all a trick, you know? Because the only reason Liam wanted him to come was so Michael would get blamed for what we did. And it worked. Liam told the teacher Michael did it alone, and she believed him. And Michael didn't even rat us out, probably because he was hoping we'd still be friends with him after. But we weren't."

"Did you feel bad about it?"

"No. I mean, not at the time. But looking back, yeah, it was a shitty thing to do to Michael. But it was Liam's idea."

"At what point did you stop being friends with Liam?"

"Um, that would probably be sixth grade."

"Was there a particular reason?"

"Hell yeah. So Liam came to my house, and he had this little chipmunk trapped in a piece of Tupperware. He poked a couple of holes in it so the animal could breathe. And he told me he wanted to cut off the air and watch the chipmunk through the glass as it suffocated."

"…"

"Yeah, exactly. I was freaked out, and I told him I didn't want to do it. He tried to convince me, but I refused and told him he was a weirdo. Finally, he got angry and left."

"Did you tell anyone about it?"

"I told my mom because I wanted to make sure he didn't come over again."

"What did she say?"

"She didn't look that surprised. She just told me to stay away from him."

"You mentioned before you had another interaction with Liam that was very unsettling for you."

"Yeah. That was last year."

"What happened?"

"Okay, so Liam's sister—you know, Hannah—she's a huge pain in the ass. She got all pissed off at me for some reason, and I guess she told him about it. So he felt like he had to avenge her or something. Even though I didn't even do anything wrong."

"What did he do?"

"So there was this stray cat that used to hang out by our house. My sister used to feed him, so he kept coming back. I didn't really care either way. I never fed the cat—I mean, that's not my responsibility, to feed a damn stray cat. And sometimes he'd be right in front of the door, so I had to kick him out of the way. Anyway. I got home from school one day and the stupid cat is in my bed. Can you imagine? I thought Emma let him inside. But then when I tried to shoo him away, he didn't move. So then I tried to pick him up to move him and…"

"Yes?"

"His insides fell out."

"…"

"Shit, I feel sick thinking about it. Somebody sliced him through the belly, and then when I picked him up… BAM, cat guts all over my bed!"

"That must have been very upsetting."

"Damn right. Oh, sorry. Am I allowed to say that?"

"Say what?"

"Damn. Because it's, like, a curse word."

"It's okay. So what did you do next? "

"I told my parents. And I told them I thought Liam did it. But they asked if I had any proof, and I didn't. So we didn't do anything. My mom just kept saying to stay away from him and his family."

"And that was your last serious interaction with Liam?"

"Yeah. Well, if you don't count me kicking his ass the other day."

"Tyler, how do you know Olivia Mercer?"

"Oh, just from around. She was in my year. And she was friends with Madison Hartman, who's dating my buddy Aidan."

"Are you friendly with her?"

"I don't know. A little."

"Did you ever ask her out on a date?"

"No…"

"Some of your friends from the football team said that you did ask her out. And she told you no."

"That's not… That's not what happened at all. Some of us were going out for burgers and I just invited her along. No big deal. And she was busy."

"Did it bother you when you saw her out with Liam?"

"Hell no. She's not even that hot. She could go out with whoever the hell she wants. Liam… half the football team, for all I care."

"So you weren't jealous? "

"What the… I thought we were talking about Liam . Liam is the crazy one."

"Tyler, how many times have you been suspended for fighting?"

"Jesus Christ, just twice. Is that a lot?"

"It's more than any of your peers."

"Yeah, but… The first time wasn't my fault. The guy stole my girlfriend. You don't do that to someone."

"But you threw the first punch."

"Yeah. I did. But—"

"And you were the one who punched Liam in the hallway first. Weren't you?"

"Fine. Yes. Look, I was mad at Liam because I thought he killed Olivia. That's the reason… I'm not crazy like he is. Yeah, we used to be friends. But after I realized what he was like, we stopped being friends. I'm not like him. And I sure as hell didn't do anything to Olivia."