Cody Brown interview #2

Wednesday, July 19, 2023 – 9:45 a.m.

Cody Brown is Katy's younger brother.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy re-interviewed him at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department. His parents gave the detectives permission to speak to him alone.

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Cody Brown

Detective Armstrong: Thank you for talking with us again, Cody. Could we start with your name and address?

Cody Brown: My name is Cody Brown, and I live at 202 Williams Avenue.

Detective Murphy: How are you holding up, Cody? It must be a lot to deal with losing your sister like that.

Cody Brown: I'm doing okay. It's strange. I was always "Katy's little brother" or "Katy's shadow," but now I'm not even that. You two are, like, the only people who really listen to me.

Detective Murphy: That's what we're here for. I'm sure you've heard that we've been talking to Katy's friends, other kids at school, people like that.

Cody Brown: Yeah.

Detective Murphy: You know all those people, too, right?

Cody Brown: Yeah.

Detective Murphy: That's good because we're hoping that you can share your knowledge about them with us. Maybe you can tell us something that didn't come out when we spoke with them.

Cody Brown: Okay, I guess.

Detective Armstrong: Last time we talked, you mentioned that Sherry Guyton and Katy had issues, so we talked to her. You were right that she didn't like Katy much.

Cody Brown: Do you think Sherry—?

Detective Murphy: Think Sherry what?

Cody Brown: Katy said that ever since Sherry got hurt, she was always "accidentally" hitting Katy in the shins with her cane. Maybe Sherry found another use for that thing.

Detective Murphy: You know them both. Does that seem likely to you?

Cody Brown: Sure. Doesn't it to you? I mean, Sherry has a motive. That's what you're looking for, right?

Detective Armstrong: Can you think of anybody else who had a motive? Maybe acted strange recently?

Cody Brown: Well, my parents are weirder than ever. Is that what you mean?

Detective Armstrong: Weird how?

Cody Brown: Dad's been walking around in a daze like he's lost the love of his life, and Mom's … well, Mom's always been in her own world, so that's nothing new, but she's more out of it than ever. She probably doesn't even notice how he's acting.

Detective Armstrong: Does she notice how you've been handling all of this?

Cody Brown: Now, that would be weird. But it doesn't matter. I've been mostly hanging out with my grandmother anyway.

Detective Murphy: Cody, we heard a story about Jennifer Adams we want to ask you about. Do you know anything about Katy slapping Jennifer across the face?

Cody Brown: I don't know. I think maybe Katy was just blowing that whole incident out of proportion. You know, trying to make herself look like a hero.

Detective Murphy: Why would Katy want to do that?

Cody Brown: She always liked to let people know when they were doing the wrong thing so they could do better next time.

Detective Murphy: Was Jennifer doing the wrong thing?

Cody Brown: I guess. I wasn't there.

Detective Murphy: From what we hear, Jennifer was saying things about you when Katy slapped her.

Cody Brown: That's what they told people, but it was probably something else.

Detective Murphy: Why would they lie?

Cody Brown: I don't know, but Jennifer and Hugh and all them mostly just act like I don't exist, so I don't know why they'd be talking about me at all.

Detective Murphy: So what do you think the slap was really about, then?

Cody Brown: I don't know. They were probably fighting about the stupid captain thing again.

Detective Murphy: Did they fight about that a lot?

Cody Brown: Sometimes. Yeah. Usually, Jennifer just made faces behind Katy's back or questioned Katy's choices about routines and stuff, trying to make it seem like Katy didn't know what she was doing.

Detective Murphy: Did you ever say anything to Jennifer about it?

Cody Brown: Are you crazy? No.

Detective Murphy: Did anyone else ever say anything?

Cody Brown: Hugh did sometimes because, you know, his thing for Katy, but you don't want to cross Jennifer because then she might turn on you instead, so sometimes he played along with Jennifer.

Detective Murphy: You don't like Hugh?

Cody Brown: He's okay, I guess. I just don't get him.

Detective Murphy: What do you mean?

Cody Brown: Have you ever seen Hugh cheer? He's a fantastic athlete. So why doesn't he try out for football or basketball or baseball? He could be king of the jocks.

Detective Murphy: Maybe he doesn't want to play any of those sports. Maybe he prefers cheerleading.

Cody Brown: Yeah. Like I said, I just don't get him.

Detective Armstrong: Cody, there was a name that came up during our investigation. Do you know Paula Kruse?

Cody Brown: Oh, wow. I didn't even think of her.

Detective Armstrong: What do you mean?

Cody Brown: You want strange? Paula's strange. She's, like, weirdly obsessed with Tim, and when he and Katy started going out, Paula was always hanging around acting weird. I always thought she had it in for Katy. Tim is such a jerk.

Detective Armstrong: How was Paula acting weird?

Cody Brown: She just did weird stuff. I caught her hanging around next to Katy's locker a few times. She about jumped out of her skin when she saw me watching her.

Detective Armstrong: What was she doing?

Cody Brown: I don't know. I couldn't see, but she acted all guilty when she saw me.

Detective Armstrong: Did she say anything?

Cody Brown: No, she just ran away.

Detective Armstrong: Another name that came up was Wanda Martin. Do you know her?

Cody Brown: Not really. Doesn't she play basketball or something?

Detective Armstrong: Volleyball. But the school doesn't have a volleyball team anymore.

Cody Brown: Oh, yeah. She doesn't like cheerleaders very much.

Detective Armstrong: Did she have reason to dislike the cheerleaders or Katy specifically?

Cody Brown: I don't know. People don't always need a reason.

Detective Armstrong: Did Katy ever talk about Wanda?

Cody Brown: Not to me, but you might want to ask Mr. Roberts.

Detective Armstrong: Why's that?

Cody Brown: Back around the end of the school year, Katy heard about the volleyball team and said she was going to talk to him about it. She didn't think it was fair.

Detective Armstrong: What did she think the vice principal could do about it?

Cody Brown: I don't know. She wasn't talking to me. I just overheard what she said to someone on the phone.

Detective Armstrong: Any idea who it was?

Cody Brown: No, sorry.

Detective Murphy: Did Katy ever talk to you about her job at the library?

Cody Brown: Only to say she was going there, or she got her paycheck. Stupid things people did. That kind of stuff.

Detective Murphy: Did she like working there?

Cody Brown: As much as anybody likes a job, I guess. I know she wasn't working as much lately. She said she was spending too much time there, but maybe she just wanted to get away from her boss.

Detective Murphy: Why would she want to do that?

Cody Brown: Have you met him?

Detective Murphy: Yes.

Cody Brown: He's just weird. That's all. He was always showing up places where Katy was and acting like it was all a big coincidence. Yeah, right.

Detective Muphy: What kind of places?

Cody Brown: You know, when she was getting coffee or at the movie theater, stuff like that. He came to the football games. He's such a big football fan that he was always trying to get Katy to talk to him instead of watching the game. But if she ever did go over to say hi, he'd just stare at her. I told you, he's just weird.

Detective Murphy: Did Katy think he was weird too?

Cody Brown: Yeah. She was too nice to ever say that, but I could tell.

Detective Murphy: How?

Cody Brown: She'd send his calls to voicemail, stuff like that. Are we about done? I should get back.

Detective Armstrong: It seems like you noticed a lot of weird people in Katy's life.

Cody Brown: Yeah. People are weird. It is what it is.

Detective Armstrong: Okay. Thanks for talking to us again, Cody. We really appreciate your help.

Interview ended — 10:14 a.m.