Episode 111: The Codex Gigas
0:01:54.3 (Theme song and intro play)
0:02:48.8
Alex: The Black Tapes Podcast is an exploration of life, belief, faith, and, occasionally, the paranormal. This season we're focusing our lens on the work of The Strand Institute and its enigmatic founder and president, Dr. Richard Strand.
Last episode, Tina Stevenson identified Coralee Strand as somebody named Lisa Graves. It turns out somebody named Lisa Graves was Coralee Strand's roommate in university. We're going to do our best to try and figure out this situation, along with what happened to Amalia in Russia. But, we're going to start with Dr. Strand and his reaction to this new information regarding his wife's disappearance.
We're telling the story of the black tapes in order, week to week. So if you haven't listened to the first few episodes, go back and start there. We'll be here when you get back.
From Pacific Northwest Stories, and Minnow Beats Whale, it's The Black Tapes Podcast. I'm Alex Reagan.
Alex: I sat down with Dr. Strand after playing him the Tina Stevenson interview.
- Alex: Well? What do you think?
- Strand: It's interesting.
- Alex: "It's interesting"?
- Strand: It sounds like she believes what she's saying.
- Alex: It certainly does.
- Strand: But...
- Alex: But?
- Strand: It is possible that she's been listening to this podcast and is simply trying to capitalize on everything.
- Alex: I don't know.
Alex: Before we continue this interview, and we will, I promise, I'd like to share something Nic found.
- Nic: Okay well, I use my frequent flyer points and went down to Lake Tahoe. I canvassed all the same areas the police did, asking about Coralee Strand.
- Alex: Any luck?
- Nic: Well 1997 was a long time ago, so the list of people who remembered her disappearance wasn't very long.
- Alex: How long?
- Nic: Two.
- Alex: Okay, that's not long (laughs).
- Nic: (laughing) No. But one of the two people was never questioned by police.
- Alex: Well that's interesting.
- Nic: Indeed.
- Alex: So who did you find?
- Nic: Well, I found a woman who was working in the gas station where Strand and Coralee stopped for gas.
- Alex: Wow, how did you find her?
- Nic: I went to the gas station and asked.
- Alex: Seriously? (laughing) That's it?
- Nic: Yeah. Well, it turns out the woman I asked actually bought the station a few years ago, she'd been working there legally since 1999.
- Alex: Legally?
- Nic: Yes. She didn't have her green card when she was working there in 1997.
- Alex: Ah, so she didn't want to talk to the police.
- Nic: That's right. Turns out the owner was protecting her when he told the police that Strand paid for the gas and that was that. Which, by this woman's account, was pretty much the truth.
- Alex: Okay, "pretty much"?
- Nic: Yeah. She wasn't willing to go on tape, but she did tell me that there was something else.
- Alex: What was it?
- Nic: Well, she told me that Strand and Coralee got into a fight.
- Alex: Really?
- Nic: Yeah, a big one apparently. A screaming fight in the parking lot.
- Alex: Well that's new information.
- Nic: Yeah.
- Alex: Anything else?
- Nic: That's it, just the fight. She said that they yelled for a few minutes, then she served the next customer. She said she couldn't remember anything else.
- Alex: Okay.
- Strand: What are you asking me?
- Alex: What were you and Coralee fighting about at that gas station?
- Strand: Her affair.
- Alex: Did she ... have affairs often?
- Strand: What?
- Alex: Well, you mentioned and affair, or you called it "an indiscretion," with Braydon Court. The guy you called a fundamentalist nutjob?
- Strand: That was different.
- Alex: How is that different?
- Strand: Brayden Court was one drunken night, the week after I met Coralee. This... other thing was systematic. Hotels, motels, secret meetings. It wasn't the same.
- Alex: I'm sorry. (pause) You were certain that she was having an affair?
- Strand: It was the most logical explanation.
- Alex: Did the fight get (pause) physical?
- Strand: (pause) No.
- Alex: What happened afterwards?
- Strand: Coralee grabbed her purse and started walking up the highway.
- Alex: You didn't follow?
- Strand: I was angry. (pause) I sat there in the parking lot for about 10 minutes. Then I left, thinking I'd find her a little ways up the highway.
- Alex: But she wasn't there.
- Strand: No. She wasn't there.
- Alex: Well...
- Strand: What?
- Alex: It's just (sighs). Well, you did tell me earlier that you went into pay and when you came back she was gone. You didn't mention a fighter or Coralee walking alone up the highway.
- Strand: I didn't have anything to do with my wife's disappearance.
Alex: Last episode I mentioned that I hadn't heard from Amalia for three weeks. Well, I still haven't heard anything. I've contacted her friends and family, and the embassy says their search is an ongoing concern, but I don't get the sense that she's a priority. The last person I spoke with there indicated he believed, based on his interviews, that Amalia was a free spirit, and that her friends suggested a history of flighty behavior. I've known Amalia for a long time, she's very responsible and I would never describe her as flighty. She is, however, as her mother told me, independent to a fault. Amalia called her mother from Russia to tell her she was moving to Russia. And her mother did indicate that Amalia had a girlfriend up north. That kind of thing isn't all that well tolerated in Russia. Her mother believed Amalia was fine, and that she'd be in touch soon. I wanted to believe her, but I couldn't but feel something wasn't right.
- Man: Hello?
- Alex: Hello, Mr. Erdman. This is Alex Reagan. Amalia put us in touch?
- Erdman: Oh hi.
- Alex: I was hoping I might be able to ask you a few questions about your former roommate, Percival Black?
Alex: Reggie Erdman was Percival Black's roommate at the University of Bath. Erdman was pursuing an undergrad in mechanical engineering when he took Black, the much older student, as a roommate. This was back in 1983.
- Alex: How long did you and Percival Black live together?
- Erdman: Uh, just over two years.
- Alex: And would you say you and he were friends?
- Erdman: I'd hesitate to use that word, but, we were certainly friendly. He was about 15 years my senior. I'd placed a note on one of the campus bulletin boards requesting a flatmate, and that's how I met Percy.
- Alex: So do you mind repeating what you told Amalia Chenkova over the phone?
- Erdman: Not at all. Percy and I had been living together about two years at this point. He basically kept to himself. He'd shut his door and play his violin and keyboard all day. Sometimes he would skip class and just keep playing.
- Alex: Did you find his behavior a bit odd?
- Erdman: Oh, well no. Creative types can be ... challenging on occasion. Now they say he's some kind of genius.
- Alex: Do you think he's a genius?
- Erdman: He's kind of a big deal, isn't he?
- Alex: True, but you didn't answer the question.
- Erdman: (sighs) They say he's a brilliant composer. I'm not a huge music fan, but his music did always have ... an effect.
- Alex: An effect.
- Erdman: It made you feel something, I can't really explain it but, it was a deep feeling inside. Like the thrumming of a string.
- Alex: You sound like you might be a bit of a music fan after all.
- Erdman: (laughing) Perhaps.
- Alex: Now, you were saying that he kept to himself.
- Erdman: Right, right. I'd invite him out again and again, but he'd never join me. And then one night, I heard the front door close. It was well after midnight so I was surprised he had come home so late. Percy wasn't into pubs or gatherings. I went out to greet him, and I realized he hadn't come home, he'd just left. For any other grown man, that's not suspicious, but for him, that was extraordinary, you know?
- Alex: Hm.
- Erdman: So I assumed he had found a lady friend, or something related to that. But then it happened again a few evenings later. And again. Always at around two or three in the morning, maybe 2:30. So one night, I was coming home after a few pints, and I saw him leaving the house. I was about a block away and he hadn't seen me, so I followed.
- Alex: You followed him?
- Erdman: I know it was a silly and obtrusive thing to do, but I was, well, under the influence of lager and extremely curious at this point. We talked for perhaps 20 minutes when he turned into the forest. If not for a clear night and an almost full moon, there was no way I would have followed him into the trees. But the moonlight and the excess of drink were all I needed. Then, 10 minutes into our excursion, I saw him walking into a field and I lost him. I couldn't find him anywhere, so I stumbled home. That was the last time I ever saw him. The next day there was a note in the mailbox from Percy, saying he was sending some people for his things. A few months later, I heard he'd joined a Russian monastery.
- Alex: Do you have any guesses as to what he might have been doing in that field, or why he went there at night?
- Erdman: Not really. But, if I were to guess, I suppose he went there to meditate, to find himself. And it looks like it worked for him. Or, of course, it could have been the witches.
- Alex: Uh sorry, the witches?
- Erdman: That field is a gathering place for our local pagans.
- Alex: Really?
- Erdman: Yes. Nothing serious occult or anything like that. Mainly it's just a lot of nude moonbathing.
- Alex: (laughs) Do a lot of people know about this field?
- Erdman: Locally, yeah. People have weddings out there on occasion.
- Alex: Is there anything else you remember about your time with Percival Black? Anything memorable or odd?
- Erdman: Um, not really. He enjoyed the company of his music and himself mostly.
Alex: I contacted the University of Bath to see if I could find out more about the pagan field Reggie had mentioned. They weren't very forthcoming, only indicating that they didn't haven anyone at their school teaching paganism. I received a call from a woman Reggie Erdman put me in touch with. Her name is Alice Kermode. She teaches architecture at the university, and is deeply versed in the local lore and history of that area of England.
- Alex: Thank you for returning my call.
- Alice: A pleasure, my dear. It's my understanding that you have an interest in learning about our Boulder Field.
- Alex: I do. I heard it has some significance for the locals.
- Alice: Oh yes, of course. Have you ever been to Bath?
- Alex: No, I'm afraid not.
- Alice: Well the, (?) are a series of fields. One of them, the one called Boulder, was supposedly a staging ground for the Battle of Badon, where King Arthur defeated the Anglo-Saxons.
- Alex: That sounds like a very historical place.
- Alice: Indeed. But there are no placards or monuments marking any of those events, just an empty field in the middle of a densely wooded area. But for some reason, has this wonderful current in the summer. A bit of a microclimate. The winds swirl in a circular pattern over the grass. I suppose that's one of the reasons it's so popular with the local pantheists.
- Alex: Yeah, I hear it's a gathering spot for pagans?
- Alice: They get their privacy and the natural beauty is beyond compare. And then there's the cave.
- Alex: Cave?
- Alice: Yes. There is a small cave in the forest at the south end of the field. Its entrance is shrouded in undergrowth, but you can still enter with a flashlight and see the dried up spring. And the petrographs.
- Alex: Petrographs?
- Alice: Cave paintings.
- Alex: Right.
- Alice: Yes, they're not nearly as elaborate as the Lascaux Caves in France, but they have a very unique enigmatic beauty.
- Alex: Any idea who created the paintings? Or who may have occupied that cave?
- Alice: My guess is that they were left by some Anglo-Saxon group who used the place to hide from the British forces. It would explain the militaristic motifs.
- Alex: The cave drawings are about war?
- Alice: Well, the characters are placed in several rows and there is a tall figure at the head. Perhaps a general or commander.
- Alex: So you think some Anglo-Saxons lived there and left those drawings?
- Alice: That's one theory. Yet the drawings themselves are unlike anything in the Anglo-Saxon style. But we're talking a span of several centuries, so we can't tell with any level of certainty. I've been told the drawings themselves seem too modern to be Anglo-Saxon. One colleague even places them in the 16th Century.
- Alex: Cave paintings from the 16th Century?
- Alice: Yes. That was my reaction too.
- Alex: You said that was one theory. What's the other one?
- Alice: It's quite possible that the paintings represent a ritual of sorts. Perhaps a sacrifice.
- Alex: A sacrifice?
- Alice: Well, because of its history and geography, Boulder Field has been home to various pagan groups. But there are local legends about one group that practiced occultism several centuries ago. Some believe those groups performed animal sacrifices in that cave. Some legends indicate that they went beyond animals.
- Alex: Human sacrifice?
- Alice: It's all quite sensational, but there is one section that could be interpreted as representing such a thing.
- Alex: Do you have any photographs of the paintings?
- Alice: In fact I do. Would you like me to send you some of them?
- Alex: I would.
- Alice: I'll have my assistant scan them and email them to you later today.
- Alex: Thank you so much, professor.
- Alice: No problem. Is there anything else, dear?
- Alex: Um, oh! Actually, there is one thing.
- Alice: I'll do my best.
- Alex: Do you know anyone who teaches in the music department at your university?
- Alice: Music?
- Alex: Yes.
- Alice: I'm sorry, but our school doesn't have a music department.
- Alex: Oh, was it dissolved recently?
- Alice: My dear, as far as I know, the University of Bath has never had a music department.
0:17:47.2
Alex: So Percival Black moved to the city of Bath in the early eighties. And this roommate, Reggie Erdman, not knowing every department at his school, simply assumed Black was what he claimed to be: a music student at the university. What happened to Percival Black that made him move away so suddenly? What had he been doing at night? It must have had something to do with that cave. I was hoping Professor Kermode's photographs would give me some kind of clue. In the meantime, I wanted to learn more about this offshoot of the Benedictines that Black belonged to, the Order of the Cenophus. And, as Amalia had mentioned, you can't find anything about them online. So I turned to somebody I knew who would know all about this mysterious monastic order.
- Strand: Never heard of them.
- Alex: Really? You've never heard of them?
- Strand: Monastic orders aren't exactly my field of study.
- Alex: (laughing) I know, but the fact that you've never even heard their name is a bit shocking to me.
- Strand: You'd be surprised how many secret monastic orders there are in the world. Which branch are they associated with?
- Alex: Uh, they used to be a part of the Benedictine Order.
- Strand: Where did you say they originated?
- Alex: I didn't. But they seem to have some chapters in Europe. I know they have one in Mordovia where Black is, and one in Bulgaria.
- Strand: I know several people who study religious history. Maybe one of them knows something.
- Alex: I'd really appreciate it.
Alex: Apparently, Dr. Strand knows a lot of people studying religious history. About an hour later, I received this call.
- Man: Richard tells me you have an interest in the Order of the Cenophus?
Alex: That's Dr. Rufus Carmichael. He teaches and writes about Benedictine history at Cambridge.
- Alex: Apparently, you're the only person who knows anything about this... Order of the Cenophus.
- Carmichael: Well, I don't know what Richard's told you, but don't get your hopes up. I only know a little, and the little I know comes from sources that still need to be authenticated.
- Alex: I'll settle for anything at this point.
- Carmichael: Alright. Well, you're familiar with the Benedictine Order?
- Alex: By name only.
- Carmichael: Well, the Order was founded by St. Benedict of Nursia back in the 6th Century. It grew quickly, and by the time the 9th Century rolled around, the Benedictines were the predominant monastic order in western Europe. Each abbey was autonomous, so no two Benedictine monasteries are exactly alike. But, celibacy, prayer, work, and study are hallmarks of the order. Simple, quiet lives devoted to God. Basically all the things you think about when you think about monks.
- Alex: Except with black robes instead of brown.
- Carmichael: Right. Now we get to the apocryphal stuff.
- Alex: Oh boy!
- Carmichael: (laughs) You'll like this. So, there was this one Benedictine monk in the 13th Century named Herman. He was a member of the monastery in Podlažice in the Czech Republic. He apparently committed a sin so atrocious that the brothers condemned him to be walled up alive with in the monastery.
- Alex: That's awful.
- Carmichael: Yes, well. Herman thought so too. So he begged for his life and started throwing out promises in exchange for mercy. And one of these promises was that he'd inscribe a text so beautiful that God himself would come down and bless their monastery.
- Alex: And they went for it?
- Carmichael: Well, he was apparently quite a talented artist. So they gave him a chance. They imprisoned him and gave him one year to reproduce the bible.
- Alex: And how long did it normally taken them to make a bible?
- Carmichael: Oh, much longer than a year. Closer to 20.
- Alex: wow.
- Carmichael: Yes. So, legend has it that as soon as Herman began his project, he understood he was way in over his head. He prayed to God every night for assistance, but received no answer. Finally, the night before his text was due, he succumbed to temptation and prayed to Satan instead. He asked the devil to help him complete the bible, in exchange for his soul.
- Alex: He asked Satan to help write the bible? That seems unlikely.
- Carmichael: Yes it does, doesn't it? But legend has it that it worked.
- Alex: What do you mean?
- Carmichael: He completed that bible. It's around today. You can look it up online.
- Alex: Really?
- Carmichael: Yes. It's called The Codex Gigas. You should Google it. I'll stay on the line.
- Alex: You don't mind?
- Carmichael: Not at all.
- Alex: Okay, great. (pause) Oh, wow. There's a huge drawing of the devil in it.
- Carmichael: (laughing) Quite something, yes?
- Alex: Yeah, that's... something.
Alex: I was looking at an image of the devil. It was almost cartoonish, but very scary cartoonish. With a green face, long talons, red horns, and what looked like two tongues or snakes coming out of its mouth. It took up the entire page.
- Carmichael: Legend has it that part of Herman's deal with Satan was that he had to include his picture in the middle of the bible.
- Alex: But, why would the monks allow this? They must have been outraged.
- Carmichael: That's one of the mysteries of the Codex Gigas. Herman was punished for sinning, and then to atone for those sins, he produced a bible with a huge portrait of Satan in it. You'd think they'd bury him alive at this point! But they didn't. This actually became the Abbott's favorite book. Today, the Codex Gigas often goes by another name. The Devil's Bible.
- Alex: Okay. So it's got a really scary picture of Satan in it and a scary name. Is there anything else?
- Carmichael: Well, the really interesting part is not what's in the Codex Gigas, but what's missing.
- Alex: Uh, what do you mean?
- Carmichael: Well, the Codex Gigas is not really the whole bible, but several select books of the Latin bible. It also contains other historical texts, including a list of all the brothers in the monastery at Podlažice. But there's one section that was ripped out.
- Alex: Which section is that?
- Carmichael: The section containing the rules of the Benedictine Order.
- Alex: Maybe it was damaged during its history?
- Carmichael: Possible. But the evidence indicates that these pages were carefully ripped out, not damaged. It's clear that someone did not want these rules in the Codex.
- Alex: So where does the Order of the Cenophus come in?
- Carmichael: Well, Herman had a very young apprentice named Soběslav. He was apparently deeply devoted to his master. Legend has it Soběslav tore out the pages.
- Alex: And why would he do that?
- Carmichael: Well, the implication is that he was bitter at his superiors for treating his master so poorly. Soběslav blamed the order, forcing Herman into selling his soul to the devil. The monastery's reputation wasn't enhanced by the fact that a few years later, they ran into some financial troubles and sold the Codex Gigas.
- Alex: They sold it?
- Carmichael: Yes. And it enraged a lot of the brothers at Podlažice. Most scholars agree that it was most likely Soběslav who tore out the pages containing the rules of the Benedictine Order, and that he did it to jeopardize the sale of the Codex.
- Alex: But this is all pure speculation, right?
- Carmichael: With some historical evidence, scant as it may be. When Herman died a few months after the sale, Soběslav set to work producing a new version of the Codex Gigas from memory. They say his anger consumed him, and he poured that anger into his own version of the Codex Gigas. It seems Soběslav's new Codex was the foundation upon which a new order was built, and it was named after Soběslav's text: The Cenophus.
- Alex: I don't suppose you have a copy of that lying around?
- Carmichael: Well, aside from the scant few documents citing its existence, there's no evidence to suggest the Cenophus ever existed at all.
- Alex: Have you ever heard of the Monastery at Glushka? It apparently belongs to the Order of the Cenophus.
- Carmichael: The place the had the seance?
- Alex: That's right.
- Carmichael: I wouldn't trust anyone claiming to have video from inside that monastery. There's no way they would let an outsider inside their walls.
- Alex: I interviewed the woman who led that seance, she claimed it's authentic.
- Carmichael: Well, the great thing about the Order of the Cenophus is that they never say anything in public. So I could have claimed to have an all access pass into one of their monasteries and tell the world I wrote the Cenophus myself, and there'd be no way to disprove my claim.
- Alex: She suspects that the monastery in Bulgaria is involved in demon worship, or something like that.
- Carmichael: Yes, and I bet she sells a lot of books.
- Alex: Right. So, you think it's not real?
- Carmichael: It's about as real as that video of the falling body.
- Alex: Sorry, falling body?
- Carmichael: You've done some research into Glushka?
- Alex: Heh, clearly not enough.
- Carmichael: Well, there's this video that made the rounds back in the early '90s. An American couple were visiting the Glushka Monastery. The wife was videotaping her husband with the monastery in the background. At one point, behind the husband, you see this body falling from one of the upper windows. They focus on the spot where the body should have landed, but, there was nothing there.
- Alex: You wouldn't happen to have a copy of that video, would you?
- Carmichael: (pause) Actually, due to my field of study, I get that video emailed to me every few years by someone asking if I've seen it. I'm sure it's still in my email folder. Would you like me to forward it to you?
- Alex: Yes, please.
- Husband: You starting?
- Wife: It's on.
- Husband: What do you want me to do?
- Wife: Tell us where we are!
- Husband: You know where we are.
- Wife: Not me, the camera!
- Husband: Your sister's the only one who's gonna see this.
Alex: A middle-aged man stands at a viewpoint. The sun's setting on the horizon off camera, so it's a bit dark.
- Husband: So. We're here at Gishka.
- Wife: Glushka!
- Husband: Glishka, Glushka. We're not in Kansas, is the point.
- Wife: And, what's behind you Gordon?
- Gordon: Well, if you're blind, and happen to be watching this video, that there's a monastery.
- Wife: Tell us about it?
- Gordon: So it's old. It's got walls. And it's tall. Um, it's not open to visit.
- Wife: Oh my god!
Alex: And there, from the top window, at least five stories up, it looks like a person falls from the tower. It's in silhouette because of the lighting, but the strange thing is...
- Wife: Oh my god!
- (tape rewinding)
- Wife: Oh my god!
- Gordon: Jesus.
- Wife: Oh god!
- Gordon: You sure you saw someone fall?
- Wife: There's nothing there!
- Gordon: Show me the video.
Alex: The camera zoomed in on the spot where the body should have landed. But all we see is an empty field.
- Strand: I remember that video. It's ended up in my mail more than a few times.
Alex: I called Dr. Strand to share my findings.
- Alex: I thought you said you'd never heard of the Order of the Cenophus.
- Strand: And I hadn't. That video was sent with a different title, something like uh, "Ghost Suicide at Monastery." I get videos like this all the time.
- Alex: And did you disprove it?
- Strand: I didn't have to. Other paranormal researchers had already pointed out how it was faked.
- Alex: How did they fake that?
- Strand: From the time we see a body fall out of the window, to the time that the couple actually reach the place where the body should have landed, provided plenty of time for someone to remove any evidence of a dummy being thrown from the window.
- Alex: That didn't look like a dummy. It looked like a woman.
- Strand: Did you actually see a woman? Or did you see an outline of a woman?
- Alex: Well. It was dark, so.
- Strand: Exactly.
Alex: Again, Strand had a point. And again, I found myself slightly frustrated by his overwhelming confidence in his conclusions. But I realized it had less to do with Strand himself, and more to do with my own desire to believe I was onto something. So, I was left with an ancient monastic order founded on a book called the Cenophus, that may or may not exist. A book that's, allegedly, a darker version of The Devil's Bible, written by a monk who was furious at the Benedictine Order. I told Strand what I'd learned from his friend at Cambridge.
- Strand: Have you ever read HP Lovecraft?
- Alex: Uh, no. I don't read horror.
- Strand: Well, he often cites something called the Necronomicon. It's a grimoire, a book of spells that he made up and referenced in his own stories. He claims someone called the Mad Arab wrote it. People started to believe that the Necronomicon and the Mad Arab were real, even though they read about them in a piece of fiction. They even started asking for the Necronomicon at libraries, even though it didn't exist. It got so bad that Lovecraft actually had to release a statement saying he had made it all up.
- Alex: So, you think that's what's going on with the Cenophus? That it doesn't exist?
- Strand: The point is, no matter what it was, it'll probably remain a mystery. For all we know, those monks are quietly praying, doing their studies using a regular, plain old bible. While outside their walls, people believe they're practicing devil worship.
- Alex: Yeah. Maybe.
Alex: We'll return to the Order of the Cenophus in a moment. But first, we're headed back to Lake Tahoe to speak with Tina Stevenson.
- Alex: Hi, Tina. Thanks again for taking the time to speak with us.
- Tina: No problem.
- Alex: I just wanted to check in to see if you were able to dig up any other information on Coralee Strand? The woman you know as Lisa Graves?
- Tina: Nothing new on this end. Like I told you earlier, she was always really friendly. She came in once a month for years. She rented the box sometime in the '90s. Our books from that time period didn't survive the years though, I'm afraid.
- Alex: Mmm. I'd really appreciate it if you could remember anything else.
- Tina: Yeah, I'll let you know.
- Alex: Great, thank you.
Alex: We took the Lisa Graves/Coralee Strand story to the police. And they made a note, but it was definitely not a priority. At all. We're going to keep pulling at that thread. It feels too important not to. Speaking of threads, we've received a lot of tips and theories about what happened to Coralee Strand.
- Alex: So, what's going on?
- Nic: Okay, well. As you know, we get a lot of listener mail.
- Alex: Which is great.
- Nic: Which is awesome, yes. But, some of the messages are a little ... out there.
- Alex: Like how out there?
- Nic: Well, lately we've been getting messages from somebody named Carl Jenkins, he claims he's a friend of Travis Collinwood.
- Alex: Why does that name sound familiar?
- Nic: Well, Travis Collinwood was Strand's assistant all those years ago?
- Alex: Right, right. The guy obsessed with the Unsound.
- Nic: That's him.
- Alex: Travis Collinwood died, right? Within a year of hearing the Unsound?
- Nic: That's right, yeah.
- Alex: Okay, so. What does this...
- Nic: Carl Jenkins.
- Alex: Carl. So what does Carl Jenkins want?
- Nic: Well, he claims he has information about Travis's death and Dr. Strand is connected to that death somehow. He wants to meet. Apparently he's in Seattle.
- Alex: Okay, what do you think?
- Nic: Well. He said he's only willing to share details with you, in person.
- Alex: Oh.
- Nic: Yeah. I've set up a meeting, if that's cool.
- Alex: Okay.
- Nic: It's a public place. I'll meet him outside first to make sure everything's cool.
- Alex: Okay, well, that sounds good to me.
- Nic: There is one more thing.
- Alex: Mmhm?
- Nic: He wants Strand to come along as well.
- (cafe chatter and dishes clinking)
- Strand: Why are you still recording? You're wasting tape, he's not coming.
- Alex: Richard, it's digital. It's unlimited.
- Strand: Oh.
- (cafe chatter)
- Strand: How much longer would you like to wait?
- Alex: Five minutes? Maybe ten? We have to wait for Nic anyways, he's on the phone.
- Strand: Certainly.
- (phone buzzing)
- Strand: Oh, excuse me. It's the university, I have to take this.
- Alex: Sure.
- (cafe chatter and dishes clinking)
- Alex: Uh, I'm sorry. That seat's taken.
- Man: Is it?
- Alex: Yes.
- Man: Are you recording this?
- Alex: I'm sorry, who are you? Carl?
- Carl: I'm sorry I'm late.
- Alex: Almost an hour!
- Carl: As I said, I'm sorry.
- Alex: (sighs) Okay.
Alex: He was tall and, if it wasn't for a hint of... strangeness behind the eyes, I'd have to say, he was really great looking. I mean, extremely great looking. Like, Daniel Craig meets Jamie Dornan with just enough young Colin Firth to keep it interesting. This guy sitting down across from me at that moment, was definitely interesting.
- Carl: You're here with Richard Strand.
- Alex: And my producer, they're just out front.
- (cafe chatter)
- Alex: So, what is it you wanted to tell me about Travis Collinwood? I understand he died shortly after leaving the Strand Institute?
- Carl: You have quite an imagination, Alex.
- Alex: I'm sorry? (rustling) Uh, what are you doing? Dr. Strand is not finished with that coffee.
- Carl: It's okay.
- Alex: Where are you going!?
- Carl: Goodbye.
- Alex: Hello!
- (cafe chatter)
- Nic: So, we should get going.]
- Alex: Um, you guys just missed Carl. And let me just say, for the record, he is not what I expected.
- Strand: What?
- Nic: Really?
- Alex: He just left.
- Strand: That's impossible.
- Alex: Well it's true. He was weird, but he was here. I don't think he's coming back.
- Strand: Alex. I just got off the phone with Carl Jenkins. He was sitting in my office at the university. Someone called and told him I had a job for him. He's never heard of the Black Tapes Podcast.
- Alex: What? Are you sure?
- Strand: I'm sure.
- Alex: I don't know...
- Nic: If he's at Strand's office, who were you talking to?
- Alex: I... He said his name was Carl. I think? Maybe I just assumed that.
Alex: At this point, Nic pulled up Carl Jenkins's Facebook page and showed me a photo. He was a young Jonah Hill-looking kid, with horned rim glasses. The complete opposite of the man I was just speaking with.
- Nic: Um, was this the guy?
- Alex: That is most definitely not the guy.
- Strand: Are you sure?
- Alex: Pretty sure. The guy who was just here could only be described as ... ridiculously hot.
- Strand: Only.
- Alex: Your guys looks like some kind of bearded C3P0. The man who just left was more like... sexy James Bond. Scary, sexy James Bond.
- Strand: Okay.
- Nic: What did uh, scary sexy James Bond say?
- Alex: (laughing) He didn't say much. I recorded everything, though.
- Nic: Cool.
- Alex: He did choose his words carefully. He asked about Dr. Strand. He actually took Strand's coffee before he got up and left through that side door.
- Nic: He took Strand's coffee?
- Alex: Yeah.
- Nic: That's weird.
- Alex: I know.
- Nic: Um. Okay, uh. What now?
- Alex: Well, now I'd like to find out what the hell scary sexy James Bond was doing here, and why?
Alex: We're still looking into what happened at that coffee shop. We'll keep you posted on any developments there.
But for now, we're headed to England. I finally received and email from Professor Alice Kermode. It had two attachments. I opened them with my producer, Nic.
- Nic: They look like finger paintings.
- Alex: Well, huge creepy finger paintings.
- Nic: One person's creepy finger painting is another's Modigliani.
- Alex: (laughing) Okay. Is that a saying?
- Nic: That's right.
- Alex: (laughing) Okay.
Alex: We were looking at what appeared to be hundreds of black shapes, barely more than stylized stick figures. They were arranged in rows.
- Alex: Can you zoom in on that?
- Nic: Yeah... (clicking)
- Alex: Hm, Professor Kermode said it could be a painting of a sacred ritual?
- Nic: Sure, the Strange Standing Around in Rows ritual. It kind of reminds me of those photos you see at the Nuremberg Rallies, all the bodies in ordered rows? It's very creepy.
- Alex: It does look a little bit militaristic.
- Nic: And that would make this guy (mouse clicking) the Scary Shadow Leader.
- Alex: I don't like the looks of him.
- Nic: No.
Alex: Nic zoomed in one figure at the head of the masses of bodies. This one was tall, maybe five times taller than the others. Its arms were incredibly long, and raised above its head.
- Alex: I wonder what he's doing.
- Nic: Well, whatever it is, it's pretty scary looking.
- Alex: Open up the next one.
- Nic: (mouse clicking) Where'd it go, let's see. Okay. This is further down the cave.
- Alex: Yeah, it looks like it.
Alex: This new section, which was further along the cave wall, featured several of these black shapes in a circle around a tall central figure, whose arms were held wide like Jesus on the cross. And, again, the one in the center was much taller than the others.
- Nic: So, the tall guy is, do you think he's the same one from the first photo?
- Alex: I dunno.
- Nic: Let's zoom in on Mr. Tall. (mouse clicking) That's weird.
- Alex: Oh my god. Is that... ?
Alex: When Nic zoomed in on the tall figure, we could see what looked like a face drawn on its head. But with one major difference. Its mouth was where the eyes should be, and its eyes were where the mouth should be.
- Alex: It was upside down.
- Strand: Interesting.
Alex: I called Dr. Strand immediately to tell him what we'd found.
- Strand: Could you forward the photographs to me?
- Alex: Of course.
- Strand: Thank you.
- Alex: So, you've never heard of these drawings or caves before?
- Strand: This is the first time I've seen these particular images. Cave paintings don't normally fall into the paranormal category I'm afraid.
- Alex: Right. But, an upside down face is pretty interesting, all things considered. Isn't it?
- Strand: Very interesting. But, you're not suggesting a connection.
- Alex: I have to ask. Your black tapes. (pause) They're not just a random collection of unsolvable videos, are they? (long pause) Dr. Strand?
- Strand: Yes.
- Alex: Are the black tapes all connected?
Alex: I suddenly felt as if a curtain had been opened to a room I had never been allowed to see. And I was unsure how to feel. Angry? Betrayed? Confused? Dr. Strand answers my questions, and the black tapes mystery widens, in our final episode of season one.
I'm Alex Reagan.
It's The Black Tapes Podcast. We'll be back again in two weeks.
Alex: Black Tapes Podcast is a Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale production, recorded in Seattle and Vancouver. Produced by Nic Silver, mixed and engineered by Alan Williams and Samantha Paulson. Edited by Nic Silver and Alex Reagan. Associate producer Robert Romero Jr. Executive producers Paul Bae and Terry Miles.