Shirley Harris interview

Sunday, May 24, 2020 – 11:40 a.m.

After filing the report on the discovery of the body of Zoe Chase, Detectives Armstrong and Murphy were notified of Incident #002583-24E-2020, which was potentially relevant to their investigation.

After reviewing the Incident Report, Detective Armstrong proceeded to the scene of Incident #002583-24E-2020, the B-Quick convenience store on Highway 7 East, to speak to store employee Shirley Harris.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Shirley Harris

Detective Armstrong: For the record, ma'am, could you please state your name and address?

Shirley Harris: Shirley Harris, 218 Highway 334, Oxford.

Detective Armstrong: You spoke to Officer Winters this morning about the wallet you found. If you would, just tell me how you happened to find the wallet, as best you can remember it.

Shirley Harris: Like I told the other man, I was emptying the trash like always, and I saw this wallet sittin' on the top of the trash in that can over yonder. That's not somethin' I run across too much, so I figured somethin' was wrong about it. Is that why you're here? Something bad happen?

Detective Armstrong: What made you think something was wrong?

Shirley Harris: Well, that's not something I see too regular, a wallet sittin' in the trash like that. I looked inside to see who it belonged to, in case someone threw it away on accident. I noticed right off there wasn't no money or charge cards or nothin' like that inside, and that didn't seem right.

Detective Armstrong: Did you find any contact information in the wallet?

Shirley Harris: There was a driver's license in there, but I thought it was too early to be callin' someone about losin' their wallet, so I just called y'all. I reckon when someone loses their wallet or gets it stolen, sooner or later, they tell y'all about it, so whose ever it was could get it back eventually if y'all had it.

Detective Armstrong: So you found the wallet and then you called us, right?

Shirley Harris: That's right.

Detective Armstrong: You didn't take anything out of it yourself? Maybe some kind of reward for finding it or something?

Shirley Harris: No, I did not. Just 'cuz I work in a convenience store instead of some fancy office don't mean I'm a thief.

Detective Armstrong: I wasn't trying to imply that, ma'am. Just making sure what happened.

Shirley Harris: Yeah, sure.

Detective Armstrong: And what time was this that you found the wallet? Do you remember?

Shirley Harris: I 'spect it was maybe five, ten after 6:00 this mornin'. I come in a little bit before 6:00, like always, to open up, so by the time I got to them trash cans outside, it musta been five or ten after.

Detective Armstrong: Do you always look inside a trash can before you empty it?

Shirley Harris: Naw. Just happened that wallet caught my eye. It's not the kind of thing that's usually in there, so it just caught my eye, I reckon.

Detective Armstrong: And what made you contact the Sheriff's Department about it?

Shirley Harris: Like I said, there wasn't no money or charge cards in there, and that just struck me as suspicious. We're real security conscious here—have to be in this line of work—so I'm trained to call y'all whenever I run across somethin' that don't seem right.

Detective Armstrong: What time did y'all close last night?

Shirley Harris: They always close up right at 11:00 on the dot.

Detective Armstrong: You didn't work last night?

Shirley Harris: I don't work the night shift, but Rhonda—she's the one who does work at night—she never stays a minute past 11:00. Runs customers outta the store and everything if she has to. Her husband don't like it if she's late, so she makes sure she never is.

Detective Armstrong: I see. This Rhonda, you know her last name?

Shirley Harris: Rhonda Lamb, married to Tommy, not Gordon.

Detective Armstrong: Okay. Did you notice anything else unusual this morning when you came in? Any cars in the parking lot, other trash around, anything like that?

Shirley Harris: No, not a thing. Everything looked pretty regular to me.

Detective Armstrong: Was anyone else here this morning?

Shirley Harris: No, I open up by myself in the mornings. The manager, Mr. Talbot—you met him inside—he comes in about 11:00 in the morning and works through the end of my shift and the beginning of Rhonda's.

Detective Armstrong: What about customers? Anybody in first thing this morning?

Shirley Harris: Not till after I found the wallet if that's what you're getting at.

Detective Armstrong: Okay. Do y'all have security cameras here?

Shirley Harris: We got 'em, but the recording part hasn't worked in I don't know when. I expect that's what you're interested in.

Detective Armstrong: It doesn't work?

Shirley Harris: The cameras work fine. We can see the live feed while we're working, but it don't record anything anymore. Been like that for weeks. Owner's too cheap to fix it, I reckon.

Detective Armstrong: I see. Is there anything else you can think of you need to tell me about?

Shirley Harris: Can't think of anything.

Detective Armstrong: Well, if you do, you just give me a call over at the sheriff's department.

Shirley Harris: Will do.

Detective Armstrong: Thank you for your time.

Interview ended – 11:52 a.m.