Interrogation 'montage'

I'm now rapidly approaching a scene where my three main characters are going to be interrogated by another party one by one (to make sure their stories match) and I'm not sure how to approach it.

I don't want to gloss over this event, because I'd like to use it to reveal a few bits of information that should interest the reader, however, showing it from each character's POV would be too long and repetitive. If this was a movie, I think it would work best if it was a montage of the interrogator asking a question and only one of the characters answering it (preferably the one with the most interesting answer), but I'm uncertain how I'd do that in a book without making it too confusing.

Do you have any tips about this, or maybe point me towards a story that already does something like that? I don't think I've encountered one.

 

I can't say I have a good idea for this, but if I were to attempt this, I think I'd start by writing out each character's interrogation seperately and then try to mash them together.
If that doesn't work (which I estimate it won't), maybe see if it works when you do just one scene and then have the interrogator remark here and there that a story does or doesn't match up. Still, I think having the three sperate scenes handy for reference might be beneficial. Of course, if you're like me, you don't wanna waste time writing stuff you know you're not gonna use...

Most of the writing I do is putting the movie I see in my head down on paper and most of the time the movie doesn't translate well to written word, though.

 

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

I tried to grab an animated gif for that, but the internet doesn't work like it used to anymore. Can't figure out how to do it now, at least without some time spent in research.

But a montage would be a brief group of individual shots that get across the idea of more time going by, sort of an abbreviated glimpse of many things happening. In writing it can be done like this:

The torture commenced. We each had our turn strapped into that oil-dark wooden chair with the electrodes fitted in place and got intimately introduced to the pliers and other less familiar tools, all of which were stained with the blood of former victims.

Or something like that. I pulled back into distant tell mode so it doesn't feel too shockingly real, and used the collective we each to depersonalize it a bit. It gives the impression of a montage, the reader can imagine a series of scenes passing by rapidly. And in these kinds of situations, you want to let the reader do the work in their imagination—just suggest and let them create the imagery. That's usually far more powerful than anything you could present in all its gory detail.

 

Sorry, I should've explained it a bit better. What I meant is the interrogator asks a question, one character answers it, then he asks another question and a different one answers it, implying that he's asking all of them the same questions but they all answer them individually. We see just one of the answers, though. It's still possible this isn't a montage, though. Maybe a different word would be better.

Anyway, your solution works and I have considered it, but I actually do want to show some of the details, because they're new information for the reader.

 

That does sound like a montage.

 

This is a short story I wrote a few years ago about an interrogation, it may give you some insight into the process. My family is full of law enforcement and I have long been fascinated with the process and have read a lot of books on the topic, that were meant for law enforcement only. If nothing else, it may just make you smile it will give you a little more insight into what you are looking for.


You will get this, the rest of the world will not. 687 words
By Bob Brown. 687 words. Mild language... A product of a 8 mile run and forgetting my iPod.

Pete looked like he wanted to jump through the one-way mirror and strangle the guy.

“Look at him sitting there… the smug little shit.” Pete clenched his fists when he said it."

“He is guilty of something, nothing he said, adds up,” there was no hiding the frustration in his voice."

I try to be the reasonable one, I am the good cop today. Pete, is the bad cop, he is a natural in the role. He was dead right about one thing, Sam’s story did not add up… it didn’t match the facts.

“Hey, let’s go over the facts again, we might have missed something. No powder residue, no criminal record, he checks negative for blood splatter, no motive. He is the only witness to the murder. He passed the lie detector test with flying colors. Yet none of his statements add up."

We watch Sam through the mirror. He seems calm… maybe too calm to be a killer… unless he’s crazy. Sam had unbuttoned a couple of buttons on his shirt. He is sweating and looks a little un-comfortable. Slightly overweight and in his early 40s. He is pale in complexion, and could pass for a David Berkowitz look alike.

Pete is fidgeting and doesn’t want to get out of character, “Let’s get back in there and lean on him a little.” A small smile crosses his lips.

When we enter the room, Sam tenses up. I can tell he is nervous because he has curled up the toes of his feet; we are trained to notice such things.

Pete doesn’t waste any time, “You do drugs, don’t you Sam?”

“Whatdaya mean,” he stammered.

Pete pounced on him, “You know what I mean asshole!”

In a calm and reassuring voice, I tell Sam, “We’re homicide we don’t give a shit if you do drugs, we only want to know about the murder. We’ll find out one way or another; we can get a court order if we have to, just tell us the truth.”

“Ok… Ok, yeah I smoke a little weed, I take Prozac, but I have a prescription.”

Pete jumped right on him, “So you were depressed and that’s why you killed her.” It wasn't a question but an accusation.

Sam was startled, “No… no, nothing like that at all, I had nothing to do with it!”

I do my best to calm Sam down, “Sam, lets read your statement again. I think you’re just a witness, Pete, on the other hand is sure you did it.”

Sam’s body collapses into the steel chair like someone has let the air out of him.

"These are your words… this is your statement, correct?" Sam managed a feeble nod.

It was a warm evening; the sun was just setting. You could feel the change in the night air. She was bathed in the glow from the setting sun, it highlighted her beauty. She had long flowing hair that moved with the wind. He appeared out of nowhere. His shirt billowed in the wind, the fabric strained against his muscles. It must have been a lover’s quarrel, words were exchanged from a mystical foreign land. I saw a glimmer of light reflect off the gun, before seeing the blast light up the sky from the shot. She let out a gasp and melted into the sidewalk.

“That’s what you saw Sam?”

He did not have time to answer, someone was knocking on the door to the interview room.

Tommy, a first year detective entered. “He’s not your guy! A security camera caught the whole thing on tape. It shows some gang member trying to grab the crack whore’s money… she fought… he shot her."

“You’re free to go Sam,” I say it, thankful deep down, that he was not involved.

Pete, was not so quick to step out of his role as the bad cop, “Tell me asshole, how did you managed to see what you saw, when all we had was gangbanger and some crack head in a robbery, gone bad?"

Sam cocked his head, with a wry little smile he said, “Didn’t I tell you? I’m a writer.”

 

@RMBROWN Thank you, this is very nice.

 

Thank you all for the advice. Now that I have gotten to this scene, I decided to go in a different direction after I realized one of the characters would not be very cooperative and would instead argue with the interrogator in an attempt to get information out of them. Which gives me a good opportunity to inform the reader more about the interrogating party. So I'm going to portray it from just this character's POV.