S2 E11: Where The Heart Lies

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Get out of there. This whole place is coming down. No time. There's no time. The bubble, it won't hold. You have to go. Goodbye, Ray. That's me. Hey! I was there too. Yes, yes. Obviously you were there as well. Man, those were some good old days. What do you say? Should we tell them? Fine, I suppose. But I won't enjoy it. You can't make me. Yay!

Ahem. Welcome to Mike and Ray's fantastical adventure. This is Dr. Jonathan Spacer, popping in to give you a general note about the show. What you're about to hear may disturb you. Ray and Mike's brains were a little scrambled in the bubble explosion, and as such I wouldn't really trust the recounting of anything that happened at the Springfield facility. That being said...

Prior to moving on, Ray led me to a series of recordings that he made while he was working there. It reads, This is the true and completely serious retelling of the events leading up to the last day. Welcome to Mike and Ray's fantastical adventure. Episode 1. I don't... I don't know what to do with this information. Mike and Ray's Fantastical Adventure. A lighter look at the Springfield Corp experiments. Available now at patreon.com slash howidied.

Kate? Kate? Stay with me! It's so cold. I know. Here, come closer. You have to make it out of here. Don't talk like that. We'll both be rescued soon. I love you. Don't you say that to me right now. Why not? Because that's like saying goodbye. I'm not losing you. It might be. Better to die than what's going to happen to us. Neither of us is going to die. It's just a threat. He doesn't mean it. Please tell me you love me.

Not until we're home. I'm getting so sleepy. Stay awake, please. Wake up. Tell me a story. Someplace warm. Come here. You have to sit up. So, who's going first? Audio Media presents How I Died

Gotta say, I'm glad to get away from the hospital for a day. Perfect timing, honestly. You're glad someone's dead? No, not... You're officially unsuspended, right? Yeah. Good. You almost seem happy about that. Professionally, I'm glad for this case. And personally? Personally, meh. I thought me being suspended was exactly what you wanted. A change in your attitude is what I wanted.

And would you say that's happened? A bit, yeah. Oh. I don't know if it's the therapy helping or if you're just taking your anger on Dr. Kim, but... I'd say it's because we're finally on the same page. Getting there. Uh... Guys, did you forget I'm in the back? Of course not. We can never forget you, Mendez. Good, because it was getting a little too heavy in here. Enough with the touchy-feely stuff. Agreed.

One more thing. Do you think I would survive if I barrel rolled out of here right now? Probably, but you'd be pretty badly injured. I wanted to apologize. To who? To you. Holy crap. Let me get a video of this rare occasion. Shut up. This is real. That's it. I must have jumped out of the car and died. Spacer, I forgive you. You forgive me for what?

For everything. For being a general fuck-up. Gee, thanks. I knew it was too good to be true. I mean it. When you got shot, I was bitter and I took it out on you. You were bitter because I got shot? I see where this is going. I... Damn it. Mendez, bring him up to speed. Is this about the case today? How are these two things related at all? A few months before you got shot, Fran and I found some new information about a case.

A few women in town have been going missing. We had no evidence until we got an invite to the Skewer Steakhouse. We're headed there now. Right. Well, the day you were shot, Fran went to talk to the owner and got the... Evidence we need it? Oh, God. I'm going to throw up just thinking about it. What was it? I had a bag of puke that may have contained traces of human. Human what? That's it. Just... human. Oh, gross. Why? How? Oh, yeah. Here it comes. I'm gonna need some air. It doesn't matter how.

But I was bringing it to your lab the day of the attack. The day I got shot? Yeah. I was right down the hallway when I heard the shot. You were that close? Yep. Why didn't you ever tell me? Look. As much as I can't stand you sometimes, it's not like I wanted you to get hurt. Oh my god. You were there. You came into the lab after I stabbed Curtis, didn't you?

Guys... I stopped the bleeding on your wound until the response team made it down. You... No, hey, you... Why didn't you ever tell me? Because I was pissed off at you. Why? I dropped the sample and left it to save you. You blamed me for that. I was angry. It was a lot to handle, and it doesn't need to make sense to you. I can't believe this all this time.

And the trail went cold. Until recently. What happened recently? Two more women went missing. But we gotta warn, and today is the day we take this fucker down. My head is reeling. Well, get it back in the game.

We're here. Um, okay. Is it cleared out? Oh, Sheriff Fran. I had a feeling this was your doing. Who is that guy? Just keep going. And who is this? The VIP? You, don't move. Good luck finding anything, Dr. Spacer.

He knows my name. It's his thing. Don't worry about it. Where are we going? The kitchen. And I'm looking for evidence in here. This place is huge. There's crevices and cracks everywhere. Just gives you more chances to find something. Blood. Hair. Semen. Semen. Blood. You do know people cut themselves in kitchens, right?

I'm sure there's going to be traces of blood, but I'm not going to be able to tell who is who. Who were these missing girls? Amber Volakis, 22. Kate Geller, 20. Do we know anything about them? We do. Care to share? Fran said you do better with the particles and not the people. Particulates. And information about the victims can help me find what I'm looking for. If you know about someone, you can find their blood. Oi, did you bring the bags?

Bag away. Kitchen knives we can collect and test. Got him. I'm going to do some scrapings off the grill just in case. So you do narrate everything. I'm just... telling you what I'm collecting in case it might be helpful. Not when I don't know what half of the things you say mean. You don't know what scrapings from the grill are? You know what I mean. Come closer so I can drop these in the bag.

Is it the whole human meat thing that weirds you out? Man, this entire situation weirds me out. You weird me out. Being here weirds me out. I weird you out. You've... Got a reputation. I'm not going to stab you. You're the one with the knives. That's a different reputation. So what is it then? Talking to yourself while you look at bodies?

It's called dictation. It's completely normal for taking autopsy notes. I'm sure it is. But you gotta realize how creepy it seems when we come to drop off paperwork and shit, and you're standing over a dead guy mumbling to yourself in the dark. You have a weird perception of what I do. Shouldn't you be more used to this stuff? How long have you been with the Sheriff's Department? Hey, I can deal with a lot. But people eating people is where I draw the line.

And doctors doing their jobs, apparently. Here. This floor tile has a stain on it that's lighting up from the luminol. Blood? I can't determine that with just luminol. Reacts to a bunch of different bodily fluids and some other strange things. I told you there was semen. Your worldview worries me. Same. Your worldview worries you too? And why don't you... I was kidding.

Saying yours worried me. Gotcha. Maybe I'll just go back to narrating what I find. Have you seen any good movies lately? Now you're just talking to fill the space, huh? There's better things to talk about. Crowley tell you about the body that went missing from the morgue. It's the one we found in the woods. Actually, I think the theater on Elm closed up.

If this makes you so uncomfortable, why didn't Crowley come in and you stay back with the cannibal? Actually, I think I just answered my own question. She wanted to be the one to put Vincenzo in handcuffs. That's the owner's name? Yeah. Stupid name for a bad guy, huh? I don't know. I didn't know there was a good name for a criminal. Sure there is. Like what? Skeletor. That's not a real name. The villain from He-Man? You remember He-Man, right?

I've heard of it. It's still not a real name. Uh, Ted Bundy. You only think that because he was a serial killer. Nah, I don't trust anyone named Ted. So, Ted is a good villain name? Yes. I found a small spatter pattern on the wall here. Can you grab the razor blade out of my bag? Sure. Who was that kid that killed people with his dad in the 90s? He had an interesting name.

Caster Gray. You answered that very quickly. It's my job to know these things. Why are you backing up? No reason. Oh, come on now. I'm kidding. You get how anything out of context can be viewed as creepy? Nope. Still not coming down into the lab. I'm not seeing anything else, really. This kitchen is very clean for a restaurant this big.

There's almost never anyone in here. I'd be surprised if they really use this kitchen much. So it's just a front for cannibalism? That doesn't seem like a lucrative business model. Human trafficking. We're not actually sure if he eats all of the victims himself or... Just an unlucky few. Depending on where these women got shipped out to, being killed and eaten might have been better. And this is why no one likes coming into the lab with you. Where do we look next?

There's a fridge and a freezer in the back, along with the dish room. We know for a fact that Vincenzo served human on these plates, so maybe you'll get something from there. Industrial dishwashers usually have a trap that catches the food scraps so they don't go down the same drain as the water. Why do you know that? I actually worked in restaurants through college. Somehow I can't picture your tableside manner.

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Oh, God. Hello. What? You don't see... A police officer! Are you here to rescue me? See what? Yeah. The meat hooks. Then why the hell did you say hello? Like, hello evidence. Right. They're probably covered in it. Vincenzo might have strung up the victims back here. Jesus, you think so?

It's possible. We'll need a gurney or a body bag to transport them. I'm on it. You gonna be alright on your own for a minute? Yeah, I'll be fine. Be right back. Wait! Who are you? You're not dressed like an officer! I'm sorry about that. My name is John. I'm a doctor working with the police on the crime scene here. What's your name? Amber. Why did he ignore me? I don't think he could see you. Why not?

How long have you been in here? I don't know. Are you here to save me? Do you know how long it's been since you've seen another person? I see them every day. They come in here and don't look at me. They keep me in here alone now. You weren't always alone in here? No, I... I was with my friend Kate. Kate Geller? Yes. Did you find her? We haven't.

You're the first one we found. But we were looking for both of you. Do you know what happened? Can I stand now? Oh, of course. You're safe. Can you get up? It feels... Weird. Take your time. Can you help me up? I can't. Are you working with them? Who is them? Mr. Vincenzo and the chef. No, we're here to stop them.

So I'm... free to go? Amber, I don't know how to tell you this, but... Talking to yourself already, huh? You must have found something. I did. Can you ask me the rest of these questions down at the sheriff's department? I don't want to be here anymore. Just a second. What's up? Trying to get a good picture of what happened here. Did you bring your camera? Yeah, but that's not the type of...

picture I was talking about. Did you find any evidence in here? Nothing concrete yet. I'll start taking down the hooks. If the two women were kept in here, where would they have been kept? Hanging from the hooks? Disgusting. No, we just hid behind the boxes in the back. It blocked part of the air vent. If you were freezing, you'd want to block the airflow as much as possible. There's a vent on the left wall. Exactly. It would have been back here.

Leave me behind these. What is going on? Please, just... I don't know how else to say this, but you're sure that Amber and Kate are dead. What? I'm not dead! I'm right here! Damn it. You're taking this harder than I thought you would. Fran said you didn't really seem to care about the victims. Just the evidence. Can you just tell me what happened? Jeez.

You try to build a rapport with a guy and it's gone as soon as shit gets real. Fine. Volakis was reported missing over a week ago. We went to look for her. We discovered her roommate, Kate, was also missing. Both employees of Vincenzo's circle. At the restaurant? I worked here. Kate was... Prostitution. This place was just a front. And when things got out of hand...

We discovered that Vincenzo partook in some darker forms of human trafficking. It was because of the drugs. I was trying to help her quit, but she couldn't. Live victims, or...? They have an online store for delivering gourmet raw steaks across the country. Jesus. What does that mean? What are you telling me? You think the Skewer Steakhouse is shipping human meat to other cannibals? Exactly. This goes wider than we ever thought. Oh my god. I'm gonna be sick.

I'm so sorry. For what? For what happened to them. They can't hear you, but I get it. This is the worst case I've ever worked on. John! John! Tell me what's going on! Why are you both ignoring me now? Amber. And Kate. We'll figure out where they were both killed and... Vincenzo will pay. You sound like Fran. Am I dead? You are. I wish I was more like Fran. He can't see me because I'm dead.

But you can see me. You're trying to talk to me without him realizing. Yeah. You wish I was more like Fran? I can't believe this. I have so many questions. I'm sorry. I have a bunch of questions about what happened here. I'm trying to find evidence to help these missing women, and you're over here thinking about Crowley? Like you haven't. Is this guy a good cop? I'm dead and he's making jokes. Can we please get back to work?

This consumes at least half of my workday. Somehow I believe that. I found a fiber. Looks like some purple article of clothing. Kate is wearing purple. Or she was. One of the victims? If she's dead too, shouldn't her ghost be here? That is a great question. I wonder what happened to the person wearing purple. It could even be a victim from before.

How many others were there? How many victims were there? Known? Five. But there could be more we don't know about. Oh my god. Does that mean my body was... What are the odds of either of them still being alive? I was just going to ask you the same thing. You're not finding anything? Kate always knew she was going to die early. She has some rare genetic disorder that...

made her want to live life to the fullest. We were best friends growing up. When she found out, she sort of spiraled. She got into drugs and that led to worse. I was only working at this damn restaurant to still be near her. I wanted to be there if she ever wanted to change or get clean. She could have had a better life with what she had left.

I'm seeing some specks of blood here and there, but if this was really used to store meat of any kind, I can't even be sure it's human. I need some sort of evidence to tell me the story of what happened here. Is that how it usually works? Ideally. How did you end up here? What happened to you when you did? Where did Kate go? And Amber, right? Right. Amber, too. She came here to tell Vincenzo that she was done.

I think. Or at least I hope so. We had just gotten into a fight about it and she stormed off. I thought she was going to go score, but she didn't go to the chef. She came here to confront Vin himself. And then what happened here? Find something? By the time I came inside, she was already in here. The chef saw me and grabbed me too. We were in here for a few days and...

She started detoxing. I tried to be strong. I tried to be so brave for her. I didn't want her to see me scared. But then, I was taken out of the room. By the time I got back, Kate wouldn't wake up. I saw her breathing for a bit, and I tried to shake her or move her, but I couldn't. It was like I couldn't touch her. And I'm just now realizing that it was because I'm dead. Because I'm a ghost. I was a ghost then, and she froze, or her brain disease finally got her... something.

And all she wanted me to do was tell her that I loved her before she died. And I didn't. I came back and I tried, though. I screamed it at the top of my lungs and she couldn't hear me because I was already dead. What disease? Huh? Just thinking out loud. There are a handful of diseases that are carried through human meat. They present themselves after prolonged cannibalism.

If any of those diseases were present in any of these victims, you'd see them in Vincenzo or even more widespread in the cannibal network he was shipping to. Wow. Something like HIV or hepatitis? Kate didn't have hepatitis, you ass! No, this can all be cooked out. It's... Cooked out? Jesus. I gotta get out of this meat locker, man. Keep it together. I'm talking about rare prion disease transferred through the proteins.

I'm gonna hurl. What did she have? I don't remember. Some acronym. Not HIV. How uncommon are these diseases? Very. So the odds? I don't like odds. Think. Think. I don't know! Kuru? What? It was something genetic! Do you have medical histories for both victims? There was very little on either of them. How about relatives? We didn't check. Kate's dad died in his 50s. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. CDJ? Gesundheit? That sounds familiar. I need to get back to the hospital and check medical records.

If Kate's dad had genetic CDJ, she may have had it as well. And that can be transferred through her meat. Through her brain. Jesus Christ. Okay. Yep. We're gonna be sick.

Let's get you out of here. You go on ahead. I'll gather this stuff. Okay. Another officer will drive you back. I'm heading into the precinct with Crowley and our guest of honor if we're done here. You'll let me know about the medical records? Of course. Thanks, Doc. Watch that hook. Is that it? I think so. Are you going to leave me here? Amber, I'm so sorry about what happened with you and Kate. There's just... That's a yes. If you want, I can stay and talk. No, it's okay.

I'm gonna go look for Kate. I guess we're both trying to solve this in different ways. My way is hoping she's still alive. She won't be able to see you if she is. But I'll see her. I hope you find her. And if you do, come find me. How I Died is an audio media original production created and written by Vince Dijani, directed and edited by Chroma Sikora and mixing by Eric Howell. The How I Died theme song was created by Silent Mike. Starring me as John Spacer.

Shana Waring as Sheriff Crowley. David Dixon as Curtis. Luis Bermudez as Eric Mendez. Vin Vox as Dr. Kim. And Caitlin Roberts as Amelia. This episode featured guest performances from Dallas McKenzie as Amber Villakis. Abby Michaels as Kate Geller, and Curtis Montalbano as Vincenzo. Thanks so much for listening, and until next episode, try not to die.

You might think you know fairy tales, and you might think that they are cute and sweet and boring. But the real grim fairy tales were not cute at all. They were very dark, and they were often very grim. on Grim Grimmer Grimmest. We tell a grim fairy tale to a bunch of kids. Perfect for car rides or screen-free entertainment, Grim Grimmer Grimmest activates kids' imaginations and instigates fun conversations.

because fairy tales speak to all of us at a very deep, primal level, and they raise interesting topics and questions that are worth chewing over together as a family. Every episode is rated grim, Grimmer or Grimmest. So you, your kids, your whole family can choose what is the right level of grim for you. Though if you're listening with grandma, she's just gonna go for Grimmest. Trust me on this one. Tune in to Grim, Grimmer, Grimmest and our new season.

Available now. Alright girls, this is the place. We'll get everything loaded over to the boat and we'll lock up the truck. Don't leave anything behind. Is that it? That's where we're going? Yeah, that's it. Seal Skin Rock. Return to the mysteries in Don't Mind, Sealskin Rock. Subscribe now to catch the premiere, and we'll see you on the rock.