When I arrived at the studio, Martin did not wait until I would prepare another cup of coffee for myself. He asked me to come closer to his monitor. What he had shown to me was some security kind of footage. Black-and-white video with a viewpoint a little from above. You can’t see faces in general, and you don’t hear any sound because actually, there is no any sound. As it looked, a location was some office. That was a usual office. And footage represented some very long – as I could judge by the timeline of player – combination of some episodes of a usual office life featuring mostly two girls. As it was evident by their clothing and figures, that were the same two girls almost in every part of the footage. Their faces were not clear, but after some time they started to seem recognizable. I still was not sure that I could identify any of them if I would meet any of the two on the street, but at least in this security footage, it seems I could identify them from the others. The one was blonde, and another had a darker hair and was taller. A taller one looked to be a little more of a leader in their couple. At least, it subconsciously seemed to be so from their body language. What I thought about was whether they always use hidden cameras to watch how employees work at the office. It is one thing to watch for thieves in the supermarkets and another – to control every manager in the corporate building. And my second thought was about what the girls were doing.

And what Martin actually asked me was – What do you think they are doing? Do you see something except usual things? What I saw was that they were talking, passing to each other some papers. Sometimes the one could cast a short glance at the other. I didn’t see anything except usual things. That is probably what any two do to each other when they are familiar, and they share working space. I am not telepathic or something. So, I hardly can declare something sure looking at some people exchanging glances as part of some plot-free silent BW movie. In a silent movie with Chaplin, they at least show the words on a black screen to make a viewer know what the hell is going on. And at least in a typical silent movie, there are some jokes like someone falling after stepping on a banana skin. I saw nothing exceptional or specific, and I was puzzled about where Martin took this footage from. And what purpose he followed with this I didn’t know. Can it help to make some documentary film? Maybe that will be the first ever black-and-white silent documentary. And then it may make a revolution on the next Cannes film festival. I suppose critics will piss with the boiled liquid out of pure excitement.

And finally, after a couple of hours in which we tried to see something in this footage, Martin informed me that he made an appointment for an interview and if I don’t mind, he would like me to be present on the spot at the day. I did not mind, and so I will meet the interviewee too, in a couple of days from now.

And now I am going to sleep, so – end of a line.

Nov, 5. Susan’s Interview One. from Dictaphone Record. by Martin and Elise

Martin: What we are going to talk about is an extraordinary case. We talked about it with you on the phone yesterday. And as you remarked yourself, it is not easy to believe that all of this is quite true. And now as you agreed to talk to me not concealing any facts, I’m going to ask you once more the same question as yesterday. Are you really ready to talk about all of this?

Susan: Yes. I’m ready… Absolutely.

M.: As I told you before, if there are any reasons for it, for example, if you are afraid that someone may use this information against you somehow or if there is any personal threat to you or to someone who has a relation to you, you may decide to tell not everything. But in this case, we just need to set the limits of our talks.

S.: Well… No. I don’t think there is something… threatening. I don’t think there is something to hide from people. Absolutely so. And I didn’t commit any sort of crime in my life. I suppose… I think that if anybody on any TV show would ask me, I am ready to tell the entire story. All the true. I mean I would tell it to any open media source without any problems.

M.: Sure?

S.: It’s OK. You may just ask.

M.: And one more thing. I asked my friend to support me in this interview. Her name is Elise. What I mean, she may add some additional focus for things. Don’t you mind this?

Elise: So? Can I stay, Susan?

S.: Sure. And you may call me Sue.

M.: Then, let’s begin. First things first. And what I’m going to ask you, in the beginning, is – when and how did it all start?

S.: You mean… When did it begin?

M.: Exactly. I mean, when it was that moment when you might say you felt your life began to change. Just tell the first line of the story.

S.: Well. It all began as I suppose… when Jane appeared. When Jane appeared in my life and at our office.

M.: And who is Jane?

S.: Jane is a girl who worked with me. She is not from our town. As I know, she lived in the other city. She worked for our company for some years, and when she moved from her hometown, she got a place in our city.

M.: Can you describe her? What was she like? Tell us something about her personality.

S.: Jane – If I would try to describe her in a single word – I think I would just spell her name. Jane [soft laughter]. Well, when I saw her for the first time, my only thought was that she is a pretty woman. Maybe it is better to say that she is almost striking… beautiful. No. She is. Striking beauty. Jane is a little taller than me. And she has red hair. And she is very good-looking.

M.: What were your relations when she just appeared at your office?

S.: From the very beginning, we did well. And after a week I would say we made friends. Yes, I think we were friends on a second week after we met. We were doing some similar stuff at the office. And after the first week, uh, we always spent coffee breaks together. We mostly were chatting about different things. I found out that Jane was not only good-looking but also a lovely, smart, and well-humored person. She was a fantastic company. She was fun.

S.: And then, one day, she told me some story. I could believe it or not. As I wish. She said it was my choice to believe it or not because a story was, no matter, an interesting one. Just she kinda tells me I better do not tell it some other people, at least as a true story. She tells me that there is some funny, unusual work she has on the side. There is some Agency that does not advertise its services too much. It is some kind of private entertainment company – a nice little company. And it helps people to diversify, to widen one’s sexual life. But actually, it is nothing like an escort agency. It is just different.