The Noose of Crime: Tying Up "Loose Ends" | Murder Fiction Podcast

0:01 Speaker 1: If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store.

0:05 Speaker 2: T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more. Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.

0:13 Speaker 3: It lies in wait amidst your dreams where nothing is ever how it seems. It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway to nightmare. Come in.

0:51 Speaker 4: Welcome.

0:55 Speaker 3: I'm Artemis Black. Mary Brown once wrote, Karma is the universal law of cause and effect. You reap what you sow. You get what you earn. You are what you eat. If you give love, you get love. Revenge returns itself upon the avenger.

1:25 Speaker 5: But, Lenore, we can't keep the money. It's tainted.

1:31 Speaker 4: Are you mental? Of course we can keep it. And we are going to keep it.

1:38 Speaker 5: But don't you see? It's blood money. Nothing good can come of it.

1:43 Speaker 4: Don't you give me that karma garbage. For the first time in your miserable life, you are ahead. Do you really want to just throw a quarter of a million dollars away?

2:00 Speaker 3: Our mystery drama, Loose Ends, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our stars include Raven Adams, Mick Davis, and Crimson McKenzie. I'll return shortly with Act One.

2:22 Speaker 4: It is in all of us. Waiting. Watching.

2:27 Speaker 3: Growing.

2:29 Speaker 4: Evil Within. By Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon.

2:47 Speaker 3: The Buddhist Thalka Thanda once said, Karma isn't fate, nor is it a punishment imposed on us by some external agent. We create our own karma. Karma is the result of the choices that we make every moment of every day.

3:12 Speaker 5: Almost time to close up, Lenore.

3:14 Speaker 4: Just finishing the deposit up, Chris. Another banner day for the shop.

3:23 Speaker 5: Don't worry. I'm sure the things will pick up when the tour season starts.

3:27 Speaker 4: Oh, Chris, face it. We haven't made a profit in two years. Why I ever bought this place is beyond me.

3:35 Speaker 5: The same reason that you married me. Because you love us both.

3:40 Speaker 3: No.

3:40 Speaker 4: I thought this place would be a gold mine. Boy, was I wrong. It's been nothing but a money pit.

3:51 Speaker 5: I'm sure that things will get better.

3:57 Speaker 4: Of course Chris was always saying that. But things never did. We'd been married for three years, and things were only getting worse. He didn't know it yet, but I was already making plans to leave him. Make sure the display window lights are on, Chris.

4:21 Speaker 5: I've got them.

4:24 Speaker 2: Whoever it is, We're closed!

4:29 Speaker 5: Hey, Lenore, come here, quick! Oh my god!

4:36 Speaker 4: Chris, have you lost your ever-loving mind?

4:39 Speaker 5: Quick, Lenore, lock the door!

4:47 Speaker 4: Who do you think he is?

4:48 Speaker 5: I don't know, but he's hurt. Bad. Look at the blood on his shirt.

4:55 Speaker 4: What's that package he's holding?

4:58 Speaker 5: It's okay, mister. Just let go of the package so I can see how bad you're hurt.

5:02 Speaker 6: Here, give it to me.

5:06 Speaker 4: Oh, lord. Is that what I think it is?

5:11 Speaker 5: Looks like a bullet wound. He's lost a lot of blood. Call an ambulance.

5:17 Speaker 4: He acts like he doesn't want one.

5:19 Speaker 5: Look, mister, we can't help you. You need to go to the hospital immediately.

5:25 Speaker 4: Help me get him to the back.

5:27 Speaker 5: What's going on?

5:28 Speaker 4: You can't- Just do as I say, alright?

5:35 Speaker 5: He doesn't look good at all. What are you going to do?

5:38 Speaker 4: I'm going to help him. While I'm doing that, you go and clean up the blood.

5:45 Speaker 5: But the police will want- Never mind.

5:47 Speaker 6: About the police.

5:48 Speaker 4: Just clean the dang blood up. Now! Did you get it all, Chris?

6:02 Speaker 5: Yes, but I still say that we should call. Oh, dear God.

6:07 Speaker 4: He's... he's... Yeah, about five minutes ago.

6:11 Speaker 5: And you did nothing?

6:12 Speaker 4: There wasn't anything I could do. Even if we got him to the hospital, he would have died.

6:19 Speaker 5: But you could have tried.

6:20 Speaker 4: And wasted a quarter of a million dollars?

6:24 Speaker 5: What are you talking about?

6:25 Speaker 4: The package that he was holding. I opened it. There was a little over a quarter of a million dollars. See for yourself.

6:37 Speaker 5: Lenore, we have to call the police.

6:40 Speaker 4: Yeah, and tell them what?

6:42 Speaker 5: I don't know.

6:43 Speaker 4: Now look here, Christopher Everett. For the first time since we have been married, we are ahead. Don't you understand what this money means?

6:55 Speaker 5: I understand that, but it's blood money. Besides, what are you going to do with him?

7:03 Speaker 4: You are going to help me get him into the car. Then we are going to drive down to the docks by the bay. Sharks have been pretty active the last few days. I'm sure they're hungry.

7:19 Speaker 5: Oh, God, Lenore, you can't!

7:24 Speaker 4: Can't I?

7:32 Speaker 5: But what if somebody sees us?

7:35 Speaker 4: There isn't anybody out here. Now, come on. Help me throw him in.

7:40 Speaker 7: No!

7:43 Speaker 5: He's alive. He's still alive.

7:45 Speaker 6: So what?

7:48 Speaker 4: He won't be for long.

7:50 Speaker 5: My God, Lenore, that's murder.

7:53 Speaker 4: So, it's murder. Sharks don't know that.

8:13 Speaker 5: Look at them. They're tearing him up.

8:16 Speaker 4: Come on, Chris. All of that money? You'll forget this night ever happened. And I promise I will help you forget it.

8:38 Speaker 3: The American spiritual leader Frederick Lenz once said, Karma means that through your thoughts and feelings and actions, you are generating a state of mind. That state of mind has a view. That view will cause things to happen to you or not happen to you. I'll return shortly with Act 2. Have you ever had one of Those days. You're fired. Where everything goes completely wrong. Don't you lay a finger on me!

9:18 Speaker 4: I can't stand on you!

9:19 Speaker 3: And the day keeps getting worse and worse. Hey!

9:24 Speaker 6: And if just one more thing goes wrong, it could possibly.

9:27 Speaker 3: Send you Toppling over the edge.

9:36 Speaker 6: Toppling over.

9:43 Speaker 3: The edge. A suspense thriller from Winslow Swan. Now available in paperback from Amazon.com. Sometimes you should take a step back, and then there are those times when even you could go toppling over the edge. Hang on to your sanity.

10:19 Speaker 2: Watch Circle of Mystery, Tuesday nights at 7 p.m.

10:22 Speaker 3: Eastern Daylight Time on the Doorway to Nightmare YouTube channel. There are many expressions that dictate what karma is. The most popular one, what goes around, comes around.

10:44 Speaker 4: Good morning, sir. May I be of service?

10:49 Speaker 7: Perhaps you can.

10:51 Speaker 3: You are the owner?

10:52 Speaker 4: Lenore Everett. And yes, I am.

10:56 Speaker 7: My name's O'Brien. Walter O'Brien. I'm a detective. Here's my badge.

11:04 Speaker 4: Well, Detective O'Brien, what can I do for you?

11:08 Speaker 7: Were you here last night, say, around 8 or 9?

11:13 Speaker 4: Well, we usually close around 8. Then we spend an hour counting the deposit, cleaning up, before we go home.

11:21 Speaker 7: You said we. Who else is here?

11:24 Speaker 1: Oh, that would be my husband, Chris.

11:27 Speaker 4: We own the store together.

11:28 Speaker 7: I see. So, he was with you last night?

11:32 Speaker 4: Every night. Why do you ask?

11:36 Speaker 7: You mean you don't know?

11:37 Speaker 4: Not unless you tell me.

11:40 Speaker 7: The bank down the street was robbed last night.

11:42 Speaker 4: Oh, yes! Yes! I did hear something about that on the news this morning. Did they ever catch you, did it?

11:49 Speaker 7: Not yet, which is why I'm here. I was wondering if perhaps you saw something last night.

11:54 Speaker 4: Um, not that I recall.

11:56 Speaker 7: Come off it, Mrs. Everett. Do you think I'm stupid?

12:00 Speaker 4: I really don't know what you mean, detective.

12:03 Speaker 7: What did you and your husband do with the money?

12:07 Speaker 4: What money?

12:09 Speaker 7: The quarter of a million that was stolen from the bank.

12:12 Speaker 3: Now look.

12:13 Speaker 7: I'm trying to give you a break. Talk to me now, or do it downtown.

12:20 Speaker 4: I haven't the foggiest idea what you are talking about.

12:25 Speaker 3: Oh, you are good.

12:28 Speaker 7: Well, here's my card. If you happen to think of anything, give me a call.

12:44 Speaker 5: They know. Lenore, they know.

12:47 Speaker 4: They don't know a damn thing.

12:49 Speaker 5: Then why was that detective here? I heard everything. The way you lied to him.

12:53 Speaker 4: Will you shut up? They don't know anything. Right now, we have bigger problems.

13:01 Speaker 5: Yeah, like the police snooping around?

13:03 Speaker 4: No, not that. Now we know where that money came from. The problem is, what are we going to do with it?

13:13 Speaker 5: What do you mean?

13:14 Speaker 4: Use your head, stupid. We can't go and spend it. Banks have safeguards for things like that.

13:22 Speaker 5: Why don't we just give it to the police? Maybe there's a reward or something.

13:26 Speaker 4: Don't you remember, my dear husband? I killed a man for that money. Now, just let me think. I'm going to have to do a little research.

13:40 Speaker 5: What sort of research?

13:45 Speaker 4: How to launder a quarter of a million dollars?

14:03 Speaker 7: Nice night for a walk.

14:04 Speaker 3: What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, it is.

14:07 Speaker 7: Mind if I walk beside you?

14:09 Speaker 5: I don't mind.

14:11 Speaker 7: You look like a man who has a lot on his mind.

14:15 Speaker 5: Is it that noticeable?

14:16 Speaker 6: Oh, yeah.

14:18 Speaker 7: I make my living reading people's faces. I can almost tell what they're thinking. Well, most of the time. You know, sometimes it helps to talk to someone, even a complete stranger.

14:31 Speaker 5: Well, thanks anyway, but this is something that I have to work out myself.

14:36 Speaker 7: Look, Chris, it might help if.

14:39 Speaker 5: How did you know my name is Chris?

14:42 Speaker 7: The same way that I know that you and your wife, Lenore, have a quarter of a million dollars stashed somewhere. How do you think I know that?

14:54 Speaker 5: I don't know what you are talking about.

14:56 Speaker 7: How do you think I knew where to start looking for that money? The bank was robbed. That much was in the news. What wasn't in the news was that the bank manager was working late. He had his gun and confronted the thief. He got off one shot before being shot himself. Chris, he's in critical condition. If he dies, it's murder. You and your wife could be implicated after the fact.

15:24 Speaker 5: I don't know anything.

15:25 Speaker 7: But I do. I found the blood trail and followed it down the street, right up to your shop door. Now, come on, Chris. Where's the money and where's the robber?

15:39 Speaker 5: Just leave me alone. I don't know anything. Leave me alone.

15:51 Speaker 4: He's only guessing. He doesn't have any evidence against us. So stop worrying.

16:00 Speaker 5: I can't take it anymore. It's blood money. He killed for it. You killed for it. We have to get rid of it.

16:08 Speaker 4: Will you stop your whining? I've got everything worked out. We are going on a trip. You and I.

16:17 Speaker 5: What do you mean? What sort of trip?

16:21 Speaker 4: Don't worry, darling. Lenore has everything worked out.

16:38 Speaker 5: What are we doing here? On the pier?

16:40 Speaker 4: You said it yourself. We have to get rid of the money. So, I've got all the money here in this bag.

16:49 Speaker 3: See?

16:51 Speaker 4: I've weighed it down with these rocks.

16:54 Speaker 5: You mean you're going to throw it in the ocean?

16:56 Speaker 1: I don't see what else we can do.

16:59 Speaker 4: The thief is dead. Laundering the money will only give us about half. It really isn't worth it.

17:06 Speaker 5: Oh, Lenore. Thank God. Look, I know that things have been tough, but it'll get better, I promise. We just have to.

17:18 Speaker 3: Lenore?

17:19 Speaker 4: What are.

17:20 Speaker 3: What are you.

17:20 Speaker 5: No, no, no, no. Please. Please, Lenore.

17:23 Speaker 2: Don't. Don't.

17:24 Speaker 4: No! The sharks were pretty hungry tonight. Oh, I'm sorry, Chris. I truly am. And now, now to take care of that Detective O'Brien and tie up one more loose end.

18:04 Speaker 3: George Eliot once wrote our deeds determine us as much as we determine our deeds and as evil continues to grow so does that fate which is called karma I'll return shortly with our final act the only witness to her murder cannot speak Until now. Click. A Tale of Revenge by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon. Revenge is a dish best served cold. The politician Kevin McCarty once said, For the innocent, the past may hold a reward. But for the treacherous, it's only a matter of time before the past delivers what they truly deserve.

19:34 Speaker 7: I thought you would never get home, Mrs.

19:36 Speaker 3: Everett.

19:37 Speaker 4: What the?

19:38 Speaker 6: Who's that?

19:40 Speaker 4: How did you get into my house?

19:43 Speaker 7: Oh, we detectives have our ways. Now, come on, Lenore. You don't mind if I call you.

19:49 Speaker 3: Lenore, do you?

19:50 Speaker 4: I don't suppose. Why not? Do I still have to call you detective?

19:59 Speaker 7: Walter will be fine. Now that we're on a first-name basis, let's say we talk about something.

20:05 Speaker 4: Like what?

20:06 Speaker 7: Why don't you pick a subject?

20:09 Speaker 3: Hmm.

20:10 Speaker 4: Like a quarter of a million dollars?

20:14 Speaker 7: Good girl. Let's talk about a quarter of a million dollars and where it might be at the moment.

20:22 Speaker 4: So you know, it isn't here.

20:25 Speaker 7: I've already looked around. No, it isn't here. Perhaps in your car?

20:31 Speaker 4: Quit toying with me. You know it isn't.

20:35 Speaker 7: So where is it, Lenore?

20:36 Speaker 4: And if I tell you? What then?

20:40 Speaker 7: I already saw what you did with your husband. I was watching you with binoculars. Murder, Lenore, does not become you.

20:49 Speaker 4: What makes you think that I won't kill you?

20:53 Speaker 7: Because of the gun I have. So don't try anything. Where's the money, Lenore?

21:01 Speaker 4: 50-50 split?

21:05 Speaker 7: We can talk about it. Now where is it?

21:09 Speaker 4: Down by the pier.

21:11 Speaker 7: Then let's go.

21:12 Speaker 6: I left it just under the boards, by the edge.

21:26 Speaker 7: Why don't you go in and get it, Lenore?

21:29 Speaker 4: All right. It's right here.

21:45 Speaker 7: You stupid woman. Knocked a gun out of my hand. But I don't need a gun to kill you.

21:52 Speaker 4: No. Let go. Give it to me.

21:54 Speaker 3: Let go of the case.

21:55 Speaker 4: Give me that money.

21:56 Speaker 3: Give it to me.

22:01 Speaker 6: Let go of the case.

22:03 Speaker 7: Help me.

22:04 Speaker 6: Let go.

22:05 Speaker 5: Help me, the shocks.

22:09 Speaker 6: Quick!

22:09 Speaker 4: Grab my hand!

22:10 Speaker 7: The sharks!

22:11 Speaker 4: Give me the chains!

22:26 Speaker 7: No!

22:28 Speaker 4: No! The money! My money! You stupid! Why didn't you let.

22:37 Speaker 6: Go with the cranes!

22:40 Speaker 4: My money! Gone? Gone? Gone?

23:13 Speaker 3: As Lenore watches the sharks feeding on their latest meal, she begins to cry uncontrollably. I'll return with a final word.

23:29 Speaker 1: If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store.

23:33 Speaker 2: T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more.

23:37 Speaker 1: Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.

23:54 Speaker 3: Psychologist Dr. Carmen Hara once said, Jesus said, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Karma goes a step further and dictates that what you do unto others will come back to you. I think Jesus and the Hindus really had the same idea. Think about that the next time you want to say or do something nasty to someone else. Our cast included Raven Adams, Crimson McKenzie, and Mick Davis. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tale.

24:41 Speaker 4: I just don't like it, Peter.

24:44 Speaker 3: Lisa, darling, what's wrong with it?

24:46 Speaker 4: It seems to be staring directly at me.

24:53 Speaker 3: It's only a portrait, nothing more. Just a lot of paint and pigment.

24:57 Speaker 4: But the eyes, Peter. The eyes. They seem to follow me, no matter where I stand in the room.

25:07 Speaker 6: Really?

25:07 Speaker 3: I think your imagination's running away with you.

25:11 Speaker 4: I don't care what you think, Peter. I hate it.

25:14 Speaker 7: I hate it.

25:15 Speaker 4: Do you hear me?

25:16 Speaker 7: I hate it.

25:18 Speaker 3: Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Press. This is your host, Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the Doorway to Nightmare for another adventure into the terrifying world of your imaginations. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.

25:51 Speaker 4: The butler didn't do it!