Chapter 3: Deadly Rage

get it. I pocketed some evidence and was slow handing it over, But it's not like the Hollow Falls p D have a sterling track record when it comes to doing actual detective work. I was just trying to right now. I'm all about that chill playlist, gigantic tub of ice cream, and no more visions of primsible blocks face. I wanna,

I wanna give us? Are you away? Bad day made way worse day Friday, as I was, nothing wakes you up faster than finding your aboila on the verge of a full on freak out on the front steps, a gift wrapped box full of dead crow at her feet and a note, always a note. It read Tig, I see you. It was a warning, but I won't let the lit Killer take away another person I care about. I'm Tig Torres and this is lethal lit Hollow Falls is reeling, and this podcast is the only thing giving

me life. Right now, the lit Killer has claimed two new victims, class mate Tony del Canto and Hollow Falls High Principal Ronald Block. On top of that, the cops rated the talent offices, grabbed the Antbeth tapes and my laptop. Shout out to town snitch Ella for that last bit. In the wake of Block's murder, school has been closed for days. But if this town is known for anything, it's for pretending nothing ever happened. But there's no way

I'll ever be able to unsee that. I know I talk a good game, but being up close, smelling the blood and seeing people you knew just a few hours before they were murdered, it does something to you. But we have to keep on right. Oh and an update on a Boila. That dead Bird gave her quite a scare, but I was able to talk her down. No thoughts yet on what the dead chrow means, while it did was make me think of Henry the stuffed mascot block kept on his desk. But Aboila's okay, and that's all

that matters. Luckily, the next gift to show up at our door was much more welcome. Hey, got your message. I thought i'd stop by to bring you and unexpected tours embrace. I'll take that. Sorry. I tend to attack hug when I'm nervous. I guess seeing a boiler totally flip bothered me more than I thought. I don't mind. And is she okay? Yeah, she's fine or she will be. So this wasn't just a wellness check on you and your grandma. I also have some good news aside from

the you not being in jails. Witch right, That Levison really saved me. But I think that one cop Lahane was already about to let me go. Unexpected humanity from the Hollow falls p d Well, that's not all either, check it. He also gave me back all your gear esus Solly way to bury the lead. That's awesome. Free to hug me again. I accept physical gratitude. Maybe later there's more so. When they gave me your pile of stuff, it felt different, like there was something new in there. New.

Check this out. I remember you having one of these old school recorders before, did you? Ali was half right. I did Amazon prime myself a new retro style recorder for listening to my aunt Beth's tapes. But this wasn't it. This one was much much older. In fact, it looked identical to my aunt Beths t There's a tape in here? Did the Hall of Falls p d Or our new buddy, Detective Lahyne slipped this bit of evidence in with my gear to give us a clue, a lead he couldn't

follow up on because technically the lip killer case was closed. Okay, time for some more lip killer specifics. The o G victims were spread out over a year, referencing a bookshelf forth of English lip classics from Dracula to the Crucible. Each murder was set up to evoke specific lay scenes from these books. The first victim was Suzanne Overmeyer. She was an orphan and eked out a high school diploma before starting a glamorous career as a gas station cashier.

On December eighteen, two thousand and seven, she goes missing. A few days later, her body is found with a gunshot to the back of the head. But no one, especially not the cops, could figure out why someone would hurt a nameless nobody, So the case went ice cold until my aunt Beth started working it for the Hollow Falls Ledger and and Once and Met. George shoots Lenny in the head to spare him from the wrath of Curly's men in the lottery. The losers get stoned to death.

The note was left in a collection of short stories by Shirley Jackson, So the killer is trying to connect literary death with actual ones. I've got his m O, so now I can start figuring out who this lunatic is. I should start back and talk to Steiner too. You mentioned getting some insight from lebon Stead. Wait what Steiner we knew about? But Lemonson, let's list this out right now. We've got two bodies, more tapes, a town losing its mind,

and four teenagers trying to figure it out. It's like the plot of a new Netflix series, or the perfect time to circle the wagons and pool our info. Luckily, the school had been reopened, so we could get back to our h Q at the talent, A dead crow and another note. Yeah, it was messed up. Your Grandma's safe, so it's all good now. Okay, God, you feel so tense, Come here, relax, we'll figure this out. Thanks. Love a good show, Mance. I totally ship you guys. Come on

hashtag Tolly. Can we focus on the case now. I don't know about you, guys, but I'd like to survive the next couple of days. Right back to Biz. I'm gonna go hit the library. There's got to be some link between the principal Tony and all the old school that killing Max. I'm not too suddenly not feeling the vibe in here. Has she pissed at me not to pile on? But I'm gone to all right, Max, I'll catch a wickwin later. I know who I have to hit up next. See you in a bit, okay, sure later.

I thought Sam Steiner was the only person who worked closely with my aunt while she was investigating the lip killer, but it turns out she was also confiding and someone I'd already heard a lot about. It's nice to finally meet to in person. Take thanks for a meeting with me, Mr Levinson, appreciate it. Of course. I have great respect for what you're doing, even if it is distracting my staff from their deadlines. You knew my aunt path when she was a student here. Yes, of course I knew Beth.

She was brilliant. I remember most of my students. Sometimes it feels like the entire town of Hollow Falls has walked through my class from at one point in time. I knew her partner at the Ledger to Steinway Steiner. He was a bit squirrely, but seemed like a nice enough man. This is Harry Levinson, longtime Hollow Falls High Talent adviser and American history teacher. He's been here forever. Beth was a sharp student and became a diligent reporter.

It's always been a source of pride when any of my staff at the Talent go on to careers as professional journalists. Do you think she was the lit killer? I'd like to think she wasn't. Certainly she's not a murderer. I know that for a fact. I agree. But while they were two different, separate people, it became a dance almost. What do you mean I'm gonna say this. Let me be blunt. Your aunt was obsessed with the case. It

was all she did. So when she died, it was almost too easy for the cops the town really to pin it on her. She was studying her target, doing her research and being thorough. You know you remind me of her. I'm sure a lot of people in town also see the resemblance. What do you think Beth would do if she was still here? M hmm. I suppose Beth's strength was it picking out the improbable in the

mundane through sheer determination. She'd work every angle and retrace the same steps as the police until she found the evidence gold she was searching for. Max tells me, you found that note in your principal blocks body but nothing else. Was Levinson just playing the role of newspaper advisor getting me to dig deeper, think harder. Or had I really been sloppy in my observations of the crime scenes. Maybe instead of analyzing the murders, I should have been trying

to get into my aunt's head. I'm starting to see what theol killer is thinking, but that knowledge isn't sitting well with me. It's like when you're in the dark for too long, your eyes adapt, your brain starts making excuses for what you're seeing. But do I want that? Do I want to understand the mind of a killer. Most of the victims Overmyer del Canto and Wozniak, I'll come back to Home of falls Hiving. In addition to being a coach, del Canto was one of the Remedial

Learning Track instructors and over Myron Wasniak. The Dracula death scene victim were in those classes. So there's obviously something there. But what It's technically still a crime scene, which means it will be locked up pretty tight. But all the evidence has been collected, so I figured I could slip in, take a sweep for anything I might have missed in and out. Okay, there you are. I've been texting you.

Are you going on a covert mission somewhere? No, just I think I might have missed something at Principal Blocks crime scene. I need to swing back and check it out for real. You can't catch everything. Take Yeah, but the niece of the great Beth Torres should be better than that. I think you're already pretty great. Come here, Ali, I huh that is also pretty great. So um ah, you were looking for me? What? Oh? Yeah, I just wanted to well if it isn't Hollow Fall's newest NERD

pairing what's your couple name? Mr and Mrs Murder? What do you want ella back to tamper with our investigation some more? Listen, you want to be Lauren Duca. You're not fooling anyone. We've noticed that it's no coincidence that the people who cross you, like my Tony and poor Principal Block, end up dead. What did you find your serial killer aunt's diary and now you're following it word for word? Step off of her. This has nothing to do with you. So direct your venom somewhere else. Okay,

you haven't seen venom yet? Why toy YouTube us watch your backs. Me and all the eleenators are onto you. What the hell is an elevator? Something tells me we're lucky. We're done now. So you were on your way to Blocks office. Yeah, just to do a cursory sweep, No, bigie, Can I come with you? Um? Sure? Okay, you know what. Let's do this proper. Let's meet outside his office window ten o'clock. Dark clothes, I can't see anything. Couldn't we at least turn on our flashlights? No way? Blocks office

is a crime scene. That door is bolted shut. We can't just waltz in there like it's nothing. Message received, but again, can't see anything. We can use our flashlights once we're inside. About that, How are we supposed to get in there with this hope? We would sink it's just breaking an energy. It's a B and E with or without the crowbar, sweetie, But this could get us into some serious So be a good boy and keep an eye out. Yea good? Got it? Okay? No alarm? Good,

no broken glo. Sure, I mean I figured there wouldn't be. It's just a principal's office, right, give me a boost. Principal Blocks office was surprisingly tidy, considering we had to do a lot of tiptoeing to avoid disturbing any of the marked off areas. But it wasn't long before we found something I'd missed the first time. Filed between textbooks on a small shelf behind blocks desk. There's your copy of Crime and Punishment. Yeah, quick, but Crime and Punishment

doesn't usually come wrapped around another book. The dust jacket is right, but it's covering something else. The outsiders see Hinton's big claim to face stay gold. Pony Boy. Wasn't that a movie like from the eighties? It was a book first about two rival games in the sixties that were at odds with each other. Look, there's a page folded end of course, a highlighted passage. Get smart and nothing can touch you. What do you think that means? I'm not sure. I need to think on this more.

I should go to you should probably go home. Take I'm I'm not trying to adult you, but your grandma did just have a major scare and it's late. You are not doing anything else tonight by yourself. I know, I will. I'm just thinking, do I have to drag you there? You wish? But you're right. Let's hey, what are you doing? I was just going in for another Oh? Was that okay? No? I mean yes, Wait did you hear that someone's coming? Damn pie? But yeah, it seems

like this is becoming a habit. Hiding blocks office, kissing us kissing. But let's get out of here before we get spotted. Sounds good and give that vigilante mind of yours arrest. Good night, Mrs Murpher, I'm gonna get I totally planned on going straight home, but on the way there I ran into Max. He had some pretty big news, like case changing news. Huh, Okay, got it, say it

again for the recording. Yeah, all right. So I was in the library and I started thinking about how nice and like super meditative it wasn't there, and it really gave me time to reflect on all my life choices like last good Max, Fine, No, fine, okay, Okay. So back in the day when the O. G. Lit killer murders were happening, or like in the aftermath, some people in town were still a hundred percent obsessed, and I'm sure it was just a way for the town to

deal with like creating a psychopath, you know. So one of the ways in which they process was by meeting face to face and talking about it and coming up with theories. One of their more popular ones was that your aunt Beth didn't do it. Finally, someone here gets it. Well, there's more. This one group they called themselves the Murder of Crows. Hey, did you know that a group of crows is actually yes, it's called a murder Come on, spill. So what did this group did? Right, Smarty? So they

met so often they basically made it all official. We're talking regular meeting times. Places probably had their own little like creeper membership cards with a it's not that creepy. A lot of people are interested in true crime, and you know, like shill girl, no one's trashing your obsession. So obvious. It was hard to nail down exactly who was involved in these meetings since there weren't like any murder minutes being taken. But I did manage to dig

up a list of members. That's great, what was in it? The first names I found were Tony Delcanto Jr. Principal Block are two new victims and this gets good. Levinson hollow Falls, his favor Hermit Sam Steiner, Miranda Pile, the town librarian, Mayor high Smith, Charlie Potchoda, the guy that runs the piano bar down near the crossing, and even our baby detective Paul la Hayes. So wait when did these meetings take place? Over years? But like not everyone

was around for the first meeting. Tony would have been too young to be a founder, but he joined a few years in lane. Since he's a new biad, hollow Falls came late to the party too. That means, holy crap, Max. This could be a roadmap to who the future victims are and if they were questioning whether Aunt Beth was the lip killer. It could mean that the real killer is clearing the decks of anyone trying to derail his frame. Job could be that, or who are suspects? Might be? Yes, Max,

look at how good you are at this? I accept a plause. Thank you. I'm giving you all the snaps? So how'd you get the list? Can you believe they tried to hide it in an old live journal post one of the members had anonymously posted it. But Obbos, it couldn't hide from me. Look at you putting those inst stocking skills to work. Okay, so now use Phil tell me about blocks office. What did you and only

snag besides each other? We found a copy of Crime and Punishment, which seemed out of place since all the other books were manuals or textbooks. I get this. It wasn't Crime and Punishment. It was just the book cover for Crime and Punishment. There was another book underneath the Outsiders. It's all about a huge rumble between two team gangs and a vacant lot. Hollow Falls is ripe with big, empty old things. But one lot in particular comes to mind and has a direct connection to our very own

Mayor Highsmith. Okay, but did you guys also make out Max, So that's a solid yes, and also tell me everything. I don't kiss until don't even try to lie to me about smooches. Okay, So, with this new info, should we text Ella? I mean, I'm no fan of her drama, but letting her know her pops could be next is the right thing to do. Right, it's too soon. I promise we'll alert her if we get any kind of whiff her dad is in danger. But like you said, for all we know, the people on this list could

be suspects too. Then what do you want to do? Fingers Cross, Let's go home and watch Killing Eve. M Al's been talking to anyone with a pulse about all the good stuff her dad is doing as mayor, especially all the areas he's going to clean up to bring in some new business. Those are some high profile things that might be irresistible to our killer. So if we use that to narrow down our list of vacant lots, Nope, nope, no, no, no, Please don't say it. I draw the line of clowns.

Max is reacting negatively because he knows I'm referring to the largest of hollow falls. Vacant lots. The abandoned fairgrounds, which once how Grand's Amusement and water park. The name is the best part of the place, which was made up of basic rides and sad kittie pools. The park shut down during the lip Killers Year of blood. It had already been on shaky financial ground, but once the murders started, the few remaining patrons bailed. Still, for kids

living in Hollow Falls, it was all they had. When it went broke, the town got that much sadder. The fair grounds are also the focus of the mayor's first major renovation project. Eldridge high Smith was elected on a platform that included reducing the crime rate, improving education, and my kid, you not bringing more tourism to Hollow Falls. Hazeo for three so far. So the easy fix is to remodel the area that would get him the most

press target acquired. You're not seriously considering this in this late at night bravery and moderation tig. You don't have to come, but I'm going to check it out. There might be evidence we can use to catch him before we find another corpse. Look, I am all for preventing bloody murder, but if you're a student of horror cinema like me. A gay guy and a latina would probably be the first to die. Right, Maybe we should wait

until we have a straight white system. Okay, So I'm here at the old Fairgrounds with Max and we're trying to figure out where to start. Max care to elaborate for the listeners? Well, we're just getting into the hall of mirrors. I don't know how you talk me into this place? Is something? I don't know how they're expecting to clean all this up. Everything is covered with rust, bird poop and apparently dirty underwear. Gross, Still zero sign of what? What was that mask? Let's hear the cricklet

of me? You? Okay, these mirrors just broke. Take where to go? Are you carrying this mask? Where are you? I can't see you? It's truths dark here, can't see my hand. We need to stay again? How is that? Who's there to take? I take schools behind me? Is that yours? What are you? Oh? My dear dear? She generally gave herself very good and things, although she very seldom fall lonely. Yeah, hey, this is when what you

just heard. Those recordings were sent to me from Tig's phone by Holy crap, it must have been from the person who attack them. And now Tig is missing and Max Max is dead. Lane just stopped by to delivering the news. Whoever did this, whoever is out there with Max's blood on your hands, you better watch your back, you bastard. We may not have a lot to go on, but I don't give up. I told you to go straight home. Tig, just hang on. We're coming for you

and Max. On the next episode of Lethal litt it's when leave a message or whatever. I'm not the boss of you. It's me. It's I don't know how long I asked, but I need to tell you this before he finds me. You need to know it. Iinhorn's Epic Productions and I Heart Radio present Legal Lit, a tag tourist mystery created an executive produced by Heather Einhorn and Adam STAFFARONI written, created, and executive produced by Alex the

Girl and Monica Gallagher. Was directed by J. B. Block, produced via Rupe, Senna, Kayla, Chris Peterson and Sammy Smallens. Art by Rebecca Mock, Creative direction and designed by Ryan McCann, with performances by Rebecca Silaire, J B. Block, Matt Gumley, Paul Guide, Jennifer Giles, Rachel Orum Land, Alba Ponsteleone, Shelley Shnoy,

Luke Slattery and Keel Artino. Post production supervisor Michael sinter Nicholas, Recording engineer and dialog editor Michael Schneider, Mixer Michael sinter Nicholas, sound designer Justin Kohler, composer Jerry Faber, Creative consultant Monique Chavez, studio manager Clark Chang, Production coordination Gail Artina and Laura Martin.

Production assistant Rachel Slotsky and Francesca Collo. Recorded at n y V Post in New York City, featuring the song's Jupiter performed by Donna Missel courtesy of Harvest Record under license from Universal Music Enterprises. And Guardian Alien performed by Dana Williams. Written by Dana Williams s C. S A C and Aaron Fenning s E. S A C. Courtesy of The Royalty Network, Inc. On behalf of Smith's songs Ask Cap Captus Pallace s C s A C and

Dana Williams Letha litt A take. Torre's Mystery is a production by Ironhorn's Epic Productions for I Heart Radio had to take Torres dot com to share theories, discover new evidence, and follow case updates. For more information, visit Einhorn's Epic Productions dot com.