When Your Murder Victim Won't Shut Up | Audio Drama "Speak Of The Dead"

0:05 Speaker 1: Hi, this is Winslow.

0:06 Speaker 2: This is Crimson.

0:08 Speaker 1: And if you like what we're doing, hit that like button.

0:11 Speaker 3: And if you want to hear more, subscribe.

0:27 Speaker 4: With this key, you unlock the world to your dreams. What lies beyond could be the doorway to nightmare. Come in. Welcome. I'm your host through the doorway to nightmare. Murder. The final solution. The cruel act of taking the life of another human being. For some, it comes as easily as answering a phone or turning on the radio. For others, it's It is a desperate attempt to alleviate an unbearable situation.

1:37 Speaker 5: I must have fallen asleep at my desk.

1:39 Speaker 3: No, Mr.

1:40 Speaker 6: Ward, you didn't fall asleep. You are wide awake.

1:43 Speaker 4: Ms.

1:43 Speaker 5: Malone, I'm so sorry for not getting those reports to you, but I promise.

1:48 Speaker 6: Will you shut up, Henry? Look at your hand, don't you see?

1:51 Speaker 4: Huh?

1:53 Speaker 5: What's this gun doing in my- And.

1:56 Speaker 6: Look on the floor, stupid.

1:58 Speaker 5: That's... That's... Oh, God, what have I done?

2:03 Speaker 6: Quite obviously, you have killed me.

2:10 Speaker 4: Our mystery drama, Speak of the Dead, was adapted from a short story and written by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Annie Mick and Raven Adams. I'll be back shortly with Act One.

2:29 Speaker 2: Have you heard any good books lately?

2:31 Speaker 3: You can!

2:33 Speaker 2: Find Winslow Swan's audiobooks at www.winslowswan.com today. Also on Amazon.

2:54 Speaker 4: There was a time in this country when people would work at a profession until they retired. It seems now that retirement is no longer an option. The cost of living or trying to live has spiraled to the point where most people do not have the luxury of retiring. But then, there are other ways to make money.

3:22 Speaker 5: Friday night. Six o'clock. Oh, what the hell was I thinking? How could I have thought that I could get away with murder? Well, she did deserve it. Norm Malone, CEO of the accounting firm, but so much more than that. Pretty good accountant yourself, embezzling all that money. Wait, maybe you're not dead.

3:51 Speaker 3: No, no.

3:53 Speaker 5: You are definitely dead. Strange, I didn't think that I could shoot so well, let alone directly in the forehead. The blood on the floor, that one thin line of red trickling down the end of your nose. You look so surprised. I'm sure the mortician will have a heck of a time changing that look on your face.

4:22 Speaker 4: Okay. Okay.

4:23 Speaker 5: So you are definitely dead. And I have definitely killed you. I suppose I really didn't think this thing all the way through. Now what am I supposed to do?

4:37 Speaker 6: You get rid of the body, stupid.

4:40 Speaker 5: Miss Malone?

4:40 Speaker 6: Wow, he remembers my name.

4:44 Speaker 5: But, where are you?

4:46 Speaker 6: Are you kidding? Look down on the floor. See the mess? Now, can you see me?

4:52 Speaker 4: No.

4:53 Speaker 5: Maybe I have fallen asleep and.

4:55 Speaker 6: Heck of a shot. Right into my third eye. Who knew you could shoot like that? What are you doing now?

5:04 Speaker 5: I am trying to wake myself up.

5:14 Speaker 6: Ouch. Served you right. Besides, you are not asleep. Will you look me in the eye when I'm talking to you?

5:22 Speaker 5: But those eyes. Those cold, dead, white, milky eyes. I think I may be sick.

5:31 Speaker 6: Don't you dare throw up in here. This carpet cost a fortune to import.

5:37 Speaker 5: But you're bleeding all over it.

5:39 Speaker 6: Don't change the subject.

5:41 Speaker 5: I'm truly sorry, Miss Malone.

5:43 Speaker 6: I'm truly sorry, Miss Malone. You couldn't just turn evidence over and put me in jail.

5:50 Speaker 1: Oh, no.

5:51 Speaker 6: That would have been the sensible thing to do. It was only a few million dollars. But no, you have to put a bullet in my brain.

6:00 Speaker 5: Now, just a minute. You were going to kill me first, remember?

6:05 Speaker 6: Well, of course I remember. What did you think I was going to do? Throw you a party? When I found that note that you left on my desk... I didn't really have a choice now, did I? And by the way, why did you only ask for five grand?

6:23 Speaker 5: Actually, it was $ 4, 132. 78. Damn accountants.

6:30 Speaker 6: Always have to have the figures right to the penny.

6:33 Speaker 5: That was the cost of repairs to my car that you smashed into a few months ago.

6:38 Speaker 6: Are you serious?

6:40 Speaker 5: If that weren't bad enough... It was you who made sure the insurance company would not pay it off by making it look like the whole thing was my fault.

6:49 Speaker 6: Well, it was your fault! Just shut up, or I'll... Shoot me again?

6:55 Speaker 5: It wasn't just the money.

6:58 Speaker 3: Oh, really?

6:59 Speaker 6: It's always about the money.

7:01 Speaker 5: You murdered my mother.

7:02 Speaker 6: I don't even know your mother!

7:05 Speaker 5: The money that you embezzled. One of the accounts was her entire life savings. She had no choice but to go to a nursing home. She was such a vibrant woman. But being in that place, it's what killed her. I hold you responsible for that, Miss Malone.

7:24 Speaker 6: Why couldn't you have taken care of her?

7:28 Speaker 5: Oh, no, she was too proud for that.

7:30 Speaker 6: Then why is it my fault?

7:33 Speaker 5: How many others have you killed? How many other lives have you destroyed?

7:38 Speaker 6: Only the stupid ones. Only the ones who handed me their money and the knife to stab them in the back with. Only the idiots who have no idea how the world actually works when it comes to money.

7:56 Speaker 5: You really are a cold and heartless woman.

8:00 Speaker 6: You just had to change a decimal point or two, and then I was a little bit richer. It really was quite easy, until you started poking your nose into my business.

8:13 Speaker 5: And where did it get you? Lying on the floor of my office with a bullet in your brain.

8:18 Speaker 6: Okay, genius. Now what do you plan on doing?

8:22 Speaker 5: I hadn't really given it much thought.

8:27 Speaker 6: Another brilliant deduction from Henry Ward. Okay, it's Friday night. That works in your favor.

8:35 Speaker 5: How so?

8:36 Speaker 6: Think about it, dummy. You have all weekend to clean up.

8:41 Speaker 5: Clean up?

8:41 Speaker 6: You don't really want everyone coming in Monday morning and seeing a gun on your desk and you talking to a corpse, do you? You might as well just stick your foot in a bucket of water and put your finger into a light socket. Save the state a lot of money.

8:59 Speaker 5: I'm not helping.

9:00 Speaker 6: Oh, you want my help? You do realize that I was going to kill you when I saw your little note. Not the way you did me in, but more subtle.

9:11 Speaker 3: What do you mean?

9:12 Speaker 6: I was going to force you to write a suicide note, confessing to the embezzlement, then make you jump out the window. Simple, no fuss, no embarrassing questions. You were going to be my. Fall guy.

9:28 Speaker 5: I don't believe you.

9:31 Speaker 6: Go and look on my desk. Using my vast knowledge... I already made it look like you were taking the money.

9:38 Speaker 5: You don't have it in you.

9:40 Speaker 6: Oh, but I do. I even have your pitiful five grand sitting there, along with the evidence that would have convicted you. Don't believe me? Go down to my office and see for yourself. I am not exactly going anywhere.

9:57 Speaker 4: Henry looks at the corpse lying on his office floor, blood pooling around its head. He begins to walk down to Nora's office to find out if What she has told him is true. You come back and find out what happens when I return with Act Two.

10:25 Speaker 1: You can find more episodes available at youtube.com slash see slash doorway to nightmare. Join us and see where your imagination will take you.

10:50 Speaker 4: According to the statistics, someone who commits the act of murder makes 31 mistakes, which can easily lead to their capture. Henry is now wondering if his first mistake was pulling the trigger.

11:10 Speaker 2: Satisfied?

11:11 Speaker 5: Yes, everything you said is true. The evidence, the money, everything.

11:17 Speaker 6: I told you, Henry, this is not new to me.

11:21 Speaker 3: You mean.

11:22 Speaker 6: Yes, Henry, I have killed before. I am not the amateur that you appear to be.

11:29 Speaker 5: So, now what am I supposed to do?

11:33 Speaker 6: Do I have to do all of the thinking? Don't answer that. The dumb look on your face tells me everything. I think that your first course of action would be get rid of the body!

11:47 Speaker 5: How am I supposed to do that?

11:49 Speaker 6: You could carry me downstairs, stuff me into the trunk of your car, and bury me somewhere far away.

11:57 Speaker 3: Oh, no good. Why not?

11:59 Speaker 6: Haven't been working out lately? Don't you own a van or a station wagon?

12:05 Speaker 5: Well, I did have a very nice van. But I traded it in for something smaller that got better gas mileage. A two-door sedan.

12:15 Speaker 6: Why am I not surprised?

12:18 Speaker 5: Hey, maybe I could just chuck you out the window and make it look like a suicide.

12:23 Speaker 6: Oh, yes. That is just marvelous, Henry.

12:25 Speaker 3: Fantastic. Great.

12:28 Speaker 6: And how do you explain the bullet hole in my forehead? A passing bird assassin shot me on the way down? And how, pray tell? Am I supposed to be able to write a suicide note?

12:42 Speaker 5: I would write the note. Well, type it anyway. And forge your signature.

12:48 Speaker 6: Oh, this I gotta see. Not bad, Henry.

12:53 Speaker 2: Not bad at all.

12:55 Speaker 6: You do have a way with words. For being an accountant.

12:59 Speaker 5: Now, all I have to do is sign your name.

13:02 Speaker 6: Henry, I realized that you could always make a copy of the suicide note. But don't you think it might be wise to practice my signature first?

13:12 Speaker 5: Oh, I don't know. Uh, let me try it on this paper.

13:17 Speaker 3: There.

13:18 Speaker 5: Now, how's that?

13:19 Speaker 6: You think you could bend down and let me actually see it? I can't exactly turn my head right now.

13:26 Speaker 5: Oh, I'm sorry.

13:27 Speaker 3: There. Any better?

13:29 Speaker 6: Not bad, Henry.

13:31 Speaker 3: Not bad at all.

13:32 Speaker 6: Although, I do a small loop at the end of Nora.

13:36 Speaker 1: Hmm.

13:37 Speaker 5: You mean.

13:38 Speaker 3: like.

13:40 Speaker 5: that?

13:40 Speaker 6: A little better. Of course, it really doesn't mean anything. We have already established that I can't jump.

13:48 Speaker 5: Well, perhaps you were writing a confession, not a suicide note, when, as you were standing by the window, a burglar came in and shot you. You tumbled out, and then voila.

14:02 Speaker 6: I may have underestimated you, Henry Ward. That actually sounds doable. Okay, prop me up by the window.

14:11 Speaker 5: Let me just get the window opened here first. Oh, you are a little heavier than I imagined.

14:21 Speaker 6: I'm dead. It's called dead weight. Hey, watch the hands.

14:27 Speaker 5: Why do you care now?

14:28 Speaker 6: Oh, that's just sick.

14:31 Speaker 3: There we are.

14:32 Speaker 5: It propped up against the window. All it'll take is one little push and then you drop 26 floors to the alley below.

14:39 Speaker 6: Going to make a heck of a mess? I sure hope that you don't hit someone when you land.

14:46 Speaker 5: You mean that you hope that you don't hit someone?

14:51 Speaker 6: No, Henry.

14:53 Speaker 2: I mean you.

14:55 Speaker 3: What?

14:57 Speaker 5: Miss Malone? But how did you get over there? You are dead!

15:04 Speaker 6: No, Henry, you suffer under a terrible misconception. In a few minutes, it is you who will be dead.

15:13 Speaker 4: Henry Ward looks at where he thought that he placed the corpse of his employer at the open window. As he turns around and sees her standing in his office... Very much alive, holding a gun on him, he wonders if he is losing what sanity he had. Don't you lose out before I return with Act 3.

15:48 Speaker 3: Mystery.

15:49 Speaker 2: Horror. Thriller.

15:52 Speaker 3: Suspense.

15:53 Speaker 2: Novels and short story collections from Winslow Swan, now available from Amazon.com.

16:12 Speaker 4: Henry Ward thought that he had killed his employer, Nora Malone. His plan was to simply push her out of the window, saying that she must have been shot by a would-be burglar and tumbled out from the force of the bullet. Imagine his surprise when he sees her standing in the middle of the room, holding a gun, and very much alive.

16:40 Speaker 5: But I shot you right in the head.

16:45 Speaker 6: I don't know what you are talking about. As soon as I walked in and told you that no one, absolutely no one, tries to blackmail me, You fainted dead away.

16:59 Speaker 5: This can't be real.

17:02 Speaker 6: When I found that note demanding money from me because you discovered my secret, I knew that it was you. After you passed out, I thought that I would just throw you out the window. But I needed to stick to my plan. You nearly scared the life out of me when you jumped up. But then I noticed that your eyes were closed.

17:27 Speaker 5: I must have been sleepwalking.

17:29 Speaker 6: You really helped me out. I followed you to my office, where you found the evidence that I was talking about, waiting for you to wake up. You even typed out a suicide note. Signed your own name to it.

17:45 Speaker 5: Can this be real?

17:47 Speaker 3: Oh, yes, Henry.

17:49 Speaker 6: It is very real. I'm actually a little sorry that I have to kill you. I don't think that the gun is necessary. First plan was fine. Now just stand right there, and I will give you a little push.

18:11 Speaker 5: I couldn't believe it. I closed my eyes, waiting for that fatal plunge.

18:16 Speaker 6: Just one little.

18:20 Speaker 5: Just before she reached me, I managed to step out of the way. and out the window she went. I heard the sickening thud as she hit the alley below. I looked back into the office, and I found the note. The evidence that she had so cleverly pinned on me. With just a few alterations, she was now incriminated. I found the five grand that I had asked for, and put it into my pocket and made my way down to the street. For a city as large as this, there were hardly any people out. As I passed by the alley, I thought that I heard a faint groan.

19:07 Speaker 6: Henry?

19:08 Speaker 5: Perhaps she had somehow managed to survive the fall. I hurried into the alley, and.

19:14 Speaker 6: Henry, is that you?

19:18 Speaker 5: I thought the bullet wound to the head was bad, but this?

19:22 Speaker 6: How bad is it?

19:24 Speaker 4: Well.

19:25 Speaker 5: You hit the dumpster, and it seems to have cut your body right in half. Oh, I think I may be sick.

19:33 Speaker 6: You picked a good place to do that. Who would know?

19:37 Speaker 5: Now, stop that.

19:39 Speaker 6: Where are you going?

19:41 Speaker 5: I'm going home. The number 14 bus should be here any minute.

19:45 Speaker 6: Henry, aren't you forgetting something?

19:48 Speaker 5: You tried to kill me. Instead, you went out the window.

19:52 Speaker 6: Think about it, Henry. If you can hear me, don't you think that the police will be able to as well? I can always tell them that you pushed me.

20:03 Speaker 5: No, you're dead.

20:05 Speaker 3: Am I, Henry?

20:07 Speaker 6: Am I really dead?

20:10 Speaker 5: No, you are dead.

20:12 Speaker 3: You are....

20:26 Speaker 5: Where am I?

20:28 Speaker 6: Where do you think?

20:30 Speaker 3: Ms.

20:30 Speaker 2: Malone?

20:31 Speaker 6: No, your guardian angel. Of course it's me.

20:35 Speaker 5: Where are we?

20:37 Speaker 6: In the alley, remember? I fell out the window when you.

20:42 Speaker 5: What about me?

20:43 Speaker 6: You were just hit by the number 14 bus. Hit you so hard, you came flying back into the alley and landed right next to me.

20:52 Speaker 5: So, now what do I do?

20:55 Speaker 6: I have no idea, Henry.

20:57 Speaker 3: Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!

21:06 Speaker 4: The twisted body of Henry Ward lies motionless on the street as people from the bus begin to gather around, waiting for the police to arrive. You arrive right back here when I return with a final word.

21:25 Speaker 1: If you're enjoying these stories, come over to our YouTube channel, Doorway to Nightmare.

21:34 Speaker 2: Where we add a few pics to color your imagination. See the faces behind the voices too. Come on, you know you wanna.

21:53 Speaker 4: Tonight we have presented a cautionary tale. I believe that everyone thinks of murder at least once in their life. but I also like to believe that very few of us would actually commit the act itself. At least, I would hope so. Our cast included Raven Adams and Annie Mick. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie, and the entire production was under the direction of Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tale.

22:35 Speaker 1: And you are telling me that your security system is the best?

22:39 Speaker 2: Absolutely the best, sir. It has been proven 100% effective.

22:44 Speaker 1: I've had three systems installed so far, and burglars are still able to break in. I've lost almost $ 10, 000 in valuables.

22:56 Speaker 2: Trust me, Mr.

22:57 Speaker 3: Spivey.

22:58 Speaker 2: We have installed this same system in over 300 homes and businesses. It has never failed.

23:05 Speaker 4: Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Press. This is your host, inviting you to return with us through the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the world of your terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.