Episode 210: Welcome To The Machine
ALEX: From Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale, it's season two of The Black Tapes Podcast. I'm Alex Reagan.
This season, we're continuing our exploration of the Strand Institute's enigmatic president and founder, Dr. Richard Strand. We're telling the story of the black tapes in order, every two weeks. So if you haven't listened to the first few episodes, go back and start there. We'll be here when you get back.
There's a lot to parse from our last episode. The mysterious Sammie's worried message, the familiar symbol in Coralee's ring, and the Brothers of the Mount. But first, last week, Simon Reese mentioned Thomas Warren's name in association with something he referred to as “the machine.” “John” was the pseudonym used by the man who assisted in the exorcism of Jessica Wheldon, and whose own exorcism involved men in dark suits, and a large machine by his head. Nic and I were at our office, trying to fit the pieces together.
ALEX: I'm sitting here with “Kelly Miller.” That's not his or her real name.
ALEX: So, the mysterious Thomas Warren did appear to be connected to “John”'s exorcism machine. Nic tracked down a bunch of stories related to lab machinery as it pertained to paranormal research. It was mainly a bunch of EVP and EDI stuff, typical ghost hunting stuff. Ambient temperature sensors, electromagnetic field stuff, static sensing pools. But there was something in one of the stories Nic dug up that interested Strand. I'll let him explain.
ALEX: And there it was, the symbol. The same symbol from the latest batch of cave paintings. The same symbol that had been engraved into Coralee's ring. It was stamped onto the back of a large machine. A large... exorcism machine. It was small, stamped into a plate similar to a serial number setup. It was located just above the door to the back of the machine, where a technician was demonstrating an advanced soldering technique in a series of photographs. That symbol appearing on that machine was definitely interesting, but we've been unable to dig up anything else related to those machines. Of course, we're going to keep digging.
I'd been bugging Strand to let me look through his father's things for weeks. Finally, he agreed to let me look around while he was back in Chicago, looking into something. I believe it was something related to Coralee, but he wasn't willing to go into detail. I thought about pressing him for more information about his trip, but he WAS letting me snoop around his father's house in his absence. In the end, I decided not to push my luck.
I drove over to Dr. Strand's house, formerly Howard Strand's house. Down in the basement, in the area I believe I've described as a kind of bunker, I met Strand's assistant, Ruby. She was going to help me go through some material, but she had to leave early for an appointment. She was kind enough to assemble a stack of Howard Strand's books and journals. There wasn't much, but there was enough to keep me busy for a few days.
There was a lot of research into mythology and anthropology. Some behavioral studies involving a couple of tribes untouched by civilization. But I didn't find anything related to anything that felt like it might be related to the Black Tapes. Until I uncovered the letters.
Full disclosure: I didn't find the letters in the pile of stuff Ruby had assembled for me. I found them behind a picture. A picture I dropped. I'd picked it up because it looked similar to the creepy painting from that hotel room in Victoria. A vicious, snarling beast, ensnared by men, this one was some sort of giant squid. As it was being stabbed by dozens of huge spears, it was smashing through the hull of a boat. Men fell off the sides, bleeding, their faces twisted in agony. It was awful.
I'd picked it up to check for any strange book code, but when I flipped it over, I cut my finger on the exposed old point of a razor thin nail, and dropped it with a smash. Falling through the tissue-thin, yellow paper on the back were a few letters tied together with string. The letters were old. They were typed, unsigned, and undated, but appeared to be from some time in the 70's or 80's.
It looked like Howard Strand had been communicating with someone in Istanbul. There was no "to" or "from," but both the stamp and postmark were Turkish. Richard was mentioned in all three letters, and on one of them, in what looked to be Howard Strand's handwriting, there was a fourteen digit number.
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ALEX: In the letters, whoever was writing Howard about Richard was mostly concerned with mundane things, like room and board and travel. However, there was mention of preparing the boy for "the mantle of the dragon," and there was a stamp on the letter. It was the familiar winged figure from Sumerian mythology. It was Tiamat.
It's become clear to us that the new intern is a bigger fan of the show than we'd initially imagined. She told us she was a fan during her interview, of course, but we didn't realize the scope of her... fandom until very recently.
ALEX: Here's that clip, from the very first episode of The Black Tapes.
[Phone ringing]
ALEX: That's Arianna Asadi. She's a paranormal researcher based in Washington, D.C., and has written several books on the topic of historical hauntings, including a best-seller on famous haunted locations called “The Geography of Spirits.” I watched a few clips of her interviews online, and I have to admit, I was smitten. She was smart, beautiful. Her bearing reminded me of Amal Clooney, U.N. Attorney, and wife to actor, George Clooney.
ALEX: I opened Arianna's sound file. Here's that recording.
[Once again, Alex plays creepy ass apocalypse music full of atonal descending notes.]
ALEX: And here's the second file, the recording of the elevator.
[Sounds like basically like if your washing machine machine's spin cycle also functioned as a portal to a hell dimension.]
ALEX: It sounds a lot like the Unsound.
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ALEX: Wesley Coates. The boy who found the body of Bobby Mames, by Red Bank Creek, just outside Summerville in 1976. Now in his late 40's, he's a project manager with a geotechnical firm, and lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He gave me his permission to record our conversation.
ALEX: It's the Black Tapes. I'm Alex Reagan. We'll be back again in two weeks.
The Black Tapes Podcast is a Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale production, recorded in Seattle and Vancouver. Produced, mixed, and engineered by by Nic Silver. Edited by Nic Silver and Alex Reagan. Executive producers Paul Bae and Terry Miles. If you enjoy The Black Tapes, you'll love our sister show, Tanis. You can listen to Tanis at Itunes.com/tanis or tanispodcast.com. Thank you so much for listening to The Black Tapes.
This season, we're continuing our exploration of the Strand Institute's enigmatic president and founder, Dr. Richard Strand. We're telling the story of the black tapes in order, every two weeks. So if you haven't listened to the first few episodes, go back and start there. We'll be here when you get back.
There's a lot to parse from our last episode. The mysterious Sammie's worried message, the familiar symbol in Coralee's ring, and the Brothers of the Mount. But first, last week, Simon Reese mentioned Thomas Warren's name in association with something he referred to as “the machine.” “John” was the pseudonym used by the man who assisted in the exorcism of Jessica Wheldon, and whose own exorcism involved men in dark suits, and a large machine by his head. Nic and I were at our office, trying to fit the pieces together.
- NIC: So, I spoke with “John,” and I was able to gather a few names connected to that experiment.
- ALEX: “Experiment.” That's a kind descriptor for what happened in that room.
- NIC: Well, it turns out that one of the men involved in booking the facility where the exorcism took place was consulting for a company called Luciternica Resources.
- ALEX: Okay.
- NIC: Luciternica is a subsidiary of a numbered company whose majority shareholder is--
- ALEX: Daiva Corporation.
- NIC: Yes.
- ALEX: So-- what does the numbered company do?
- NIC: Well, they don't really do much of anything, except act as a kind of holding or shell company for corporations like Luciternica.
- ALEX: And what about Luciternica?
- NIC: Well, they do all kinds of unrelated-to-our-investigation things, but they do have a robotics lab that manufactures complex and rare machinery.
- ALEX: Okay.
- NIC: Prototypes, one-offs mainly, and they do produce certain items in bulk.
- ALEX: Like, maybe, creepy exorcism machines?
- NIC: Not exactly. More like Pachinko machines?
- ALEX: Pachinko machines?
- NIC: Yeah, they're a kind of Japanese pinball machine used for fun, and of course, gambling. We had one when I was a kid. My sister and I loved it.
- ALEX: Nice. But I'm guessing you found more than just Pachinko machines.
- NIC: You guessed correctly. I found Thomas Warren.
- ALEX: What?
- NIC: Yeah. He's on the board of directors.
- ALEX: Oh, interesting.
- NIC: Even more interesting? He took possession of the most recent batch of Pachinko machines personally, two weeks before “John”'s exorcism.
- ALEX: Huh.
- NIC: Yet even more interesting: there haven't been any more deliveries from Luciternica to the United States since that one.
- ALEX: And before that?
- NIC: Before that, there were three US deliveries, every one of them directly to Thomas Warren.
- ALEX: Do you have an address for Warren?
- NIC: It was an office in downtown San Francisco that's currently a hair salon.
- ALEX: Okay, well, we need to find out if those were Pachinko machines.
- NIC: Well, I think I may have found somebody who can help us with that.
- ALEX: Who?
- NIC: They're not willing to allow us to air their voice unless we disguise it.
- ALEX: So, let's do it.
- NIC: Okay.
ALEX: I'm sitting here with “Kelly Miller.” That's not his or her real name.
- ALEX: Hi, Kelly. How are you?
- KELLY: Fine, thank you.
- ALEX: Could you tell our listeners a little bit about your work for Luciternica Resources?
- KELLY: Sure. There's not much to tell, I'm afraid. My company did deliveries.
- ALEX: As I understand it, you work for a security company.
- KELLY: Yes.
- ALEX: So, what were you doing delivering Pachinko machines?
- KELLY: We weren't.
- ALEX: How do you mean?
- KELLY: We delivered papers, packages. We were basically overpaid couriers.
- ALEX: So, no machines?
- KELLY: No. No Pachinko machines. But we did deliver... other things.
- ALEX: The purchase orders we were able to dig up indicated that the only items delivered to Thomas Warren's address were Pachinko machines.
- KELLY: I'd never actually seen a Pachinko machine until you showed me a picture.
- ALEX: Okay. I'm gonna pull up an image captured from a video. It's an exorcism.
- KELLY: Okay.
- ALEX: Do you recognize that machine?
- KELLY: Yes.
- ALEX: And you delivered it to that room?
- KELLY: Yes. We didn't realize it was a machine until we opened it.
- ALEX: Could you describe it for our listeners?
- KELLY: Well, it looked like a prop from a science fiction movie. There were nodes and wires and everything.
- ALEX: Anything else?
- KELLY: Not really. It was your basic large, weird lookin' machine.
- ALEX: Who was there, in that room when you delivered it?
- KELLY: Three older men in suits. And a girl.
- ALEX: Could you describe the girl?
- KELLY: Sure. She was... well. She looked like an unfortunate.
- ALEX: I'm sorry, an unfortunate?
- KELLY: You know, like a homeless, or a drug addict.
- ALEX: Right. Okay. So, you delivered the machine, and then you left?
- KELLY: Yes, but...
- ALEX: But what?
- KELLY: But I forgot to get a signature, so we had to go back.
- ALEX: Back to that room?
- KELLY: Yes, we were almost in Oakland. But if we didn't get a signature, we didn't get paid.
- ALEX: So, you drove all the way back?
- KELLY: Yes.
- ALEX: And, when you got back to that room, there was something happening, wasn't there?
- KELLY: Yes.
- ALEX: Could you describe what you saw? For our listeners?
- KELLY: Well, it was hard to make out at first, on account of it was so dark.
- ALEX: Right.
- KELLY: They'd attached the machine to that girl, the one who was waiting around.
- ALEX: The one who looked like an unfortunate?
- KELLY: Yes.
- ALEX: Okay, what else?
- KELLY: She was stretching out. I... I don't know how to describe it, but she was hooked up to that machine, and her eyes and limbs... she was trying to scream, but they had a wooden bar in her mouth. Wired in somehow. Her wrists and ankles snapped and turned at unnatural angles. The sound of them snapping was so loud and sharp it created a ringing in my ears. The whole scene... it just looked so unreal, like a... like a movie, you know? But it wasn't a movie. It was real. And the sound-- that sound was what forced me to run.
- ALEX: You left the room?
- KELLY: I ran. No signature, no nothin'. I ran as fast as I could and drove as far as I could away from that room.
- ALEX: Did the men in suits see you there?
- KELLY: Those men in suits were facing away from the door, trying really hard to hold her down. She was stretching, trying to move. It felt like she was trying to move... out.
- ALEX: Out?
- KELLY: Out of this world.
ALEX: So, the mysterious Thomas Warren did appear to be connected to “John”'s exorcism machine. Nic tracked down a bunch of stories related to lab machinery as it pertained to paranormal research. It was mainly a bunch of EVP and EDI stuff, typical ghost hunting stuff. Ambient temperature sensors, electromagnetic field stuff, static sensing pools. But there was something in one of the stories Nic dug up that interested Strand. I'll let him explain.
- STRAND: One of the articles Nic sent me, one concerned with a so-called “Human Electromagnetic Field Enhancer” led me to something interesting.
- ALEX: Does that really work?
- STRAND: Electromagnetic field enhancement?
- ALEX: Yes.
- STRAND: Don't be ridiculous. Of course not.
- ALEX: Oh. Ok. So... what did you find?
- STRAND: Ruby and I dug through everything related to that material, including the company that registered the domain connected to that article.
- ALEX: And...?
- STRAND: And, following that company led Ruby to another site, which was linked to yet another related website. It was there that she found a blog related to advanced soldering.
- ALEX: Soldering?
- STRAND: They were proud of a large project they'd recently completed.
- ALEX: What was it?
- STRAND: It was this.
ALEX: And there it was, the symbol. The same symbol from the latest batch of cave paintings. The same symbol that had been engraved into Coralee's ring. It was stamped onto the back of a large machine. A large... exorcism machine. It was small, stamped into a plate similar to a serial number setup. It was located just above the door to the back of the machine, where a technician was demonstrating an advanced soldering technique in a series of photographs. That symbol appearing on that machine was definitely interesting, but we've been unable to dig up anything else related to those machines. Of course, we're going to keep digging.
I'd been bugging Strand to let me look through his father's things for weeks. Finally, he agreed to let me look around while he was back in Chicago, looking into something. I believe it was something related to Coralee, but he wasn't willing to go into detail. I thought about pressing him for more information about his trip, but he WAS letting me snoop around his father's house in his absence. In the end, I decided not to push my luck.
I drove over to Dr. Strand's house, formerly Howard Strand's house. Down in the basement, in the area I believe I've described as a kind of bunker, I met Strand's assistant, Ruby. She was going to help me go through some material, but she had to leave early for an appointment. She was kind enough to assemble a stack of Howard Strand's books and journals. There wasn't much, but there was enough to keep me busy for a few days.
There was a lot of research into mythology and anthropology. Some behavioral studies involving a couple of tribes untouched by civilization. But I didn't find anything related to anything that felt like it might be related to the Black Tapes. Until I uncovered the letters.
Full disclosure: I didn't find the letters in the pile of stuff Ruby had assembled for me. I found them behind a picture. A picture I dropped. I'd picked it up because it looked similar to the creepy painting from that hotel room in Victoria. A vicious, snarling beast, ensnared by men, this one was some sort of giant squid. As it was being stabbed by dozens of huge spears, it was smashing through the hull of a boat. Men fell off the sides, bleeding, their faces twisted in agony. It was awful.
I'd picked it up to check for any strange book code, but when I flipped it over, I cut my finger on the exposed old point of a razor thin nail, and dropped it with a smash. Falling through the tissue-thin, yellow paper on the back were a few letters tied together with string. The letters were old. They were typed, unsigned, and undated, but appeared to be from some time in the 70's or 80's.
It looked like Howard Strand had been communicating with someone in Istanbul. There was no "to" or "from," but both the stamp and postmark were Turkish. Richard was mentioned in all three letters, and on one of them, in what looked to be Howard Strand's handwriting, there was a fourteen digit number.
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- ALEX: These letters read like Howard was prepping his son to go off to boarding school.
- NIC: Right. If by boarding school you mean, "sinister, dragon-worshiping cult."
- ALEX: Why would Howard Strand be communicating with these Tiamat people?
- NIC: Well, it tracks with Cheryl's stories about Howard bringing Richard special, weird presents.
- ALEX: Yeah... Should I call Cheryl?
- NIC: I think maybe you should talk to Strand first? I'll bet he had no idea those letters were there.
- ALEX: Yeah.
ALEX: In the letters, whoever was writing Howard about Richard was mostly concerned with mundane things, like room and board and travel. However, there was mention of preparing the boy for "the mantle of the dragon," and there was a stamp on the letter. It was the familiar winged figure from Sumerian mythology. It was Tiamat.
It's become clear to us that the new intern is a bigger fan of the show than we'd initially imagined. She told us she was a fan during her interview, of course, but we didn't realize the scope of her... fandom until very recently.
- INTERN: Okay, so, I went back to season one, just for fun. The very first episode. And there's a moment in there that's really... interesting. It's when you asked Dr. Strand about the Sagamore.
- ALEX: God, that seems like so long ago.
- INTERN: Yeah. I know, right? Anyway, you're asking Dr. Strand about the hotel, and if he debunked the cases at the Sagamore, and he pauses before saying yes.
ALEX: Here's that clip, from the very first episode of The Black Tapes.
- [Clip begins]
- ALEX: What's the Sagamore?
- STRAND: It's a hotel, a resort in New York State.
- ALEX: And did something happen there?
- STRAND: There've been numerous claims of hauntings, including lights flickering and deep rumbling sounds.
- ALEX: Were you able to debunk them?
- STRAND: (pause) Yes. (pause) (clears throat)
- [Clip ends]
- ALEX: So, you think Dr. Strand was lying?
- INTERN: Ohhhhh, I would never say that about Dr. Strand. (laughs) But I thought maybe he had reason to hide something. So, I did some research, and I came across this really cool woman who's done a lot of digging into the Sagamore. You should talk to her.
- ALEX: How did you find her?
- INTERN: Well, I was on Twitter-- I'm always on Twitter-- researching the Sagamore and Dr. Strand together, and this woman-- well, when I first came across her, she was totally throwing shade our way.
- ALEX: Okay.
- INTERN: But not at you. It was only about Dr. Strand, and about how she doesn't believe he's being honest about the Sagamore.
- ALEX: Who is she?
- INTERN: Her name is Arianna. I've already asked her if she'd talk to you. She's waiting for your call.
- ALEX: Wow. You are really... enthusiastic.
- INTERN: Uh, I'm sorry if I've overstepped. I just get so excited about all this stuff.
- ALEX: No, it's fine. Enthusiastic is good.
- INTERN: (laughs) Okay, good! At my last job, they called me “excitable.” “Enthusiastic”'s way better.
- ALEX: Okay.
[Phone ringing]
- ARIANNA: Hello?
- ALEX: Hello, Ms. Asadi?
- ARIANNA: Oh, hello, Miss Reagan.
ALEX: That's Arianna Asadi. She's a paranormal researcher based in Washington, D.C., and has written several books on the topic of historical hauntings, including a best-seller on famous haunted locations called “The Geography of Spirits.” I watched a few clips of her interviews online, and I have to admit, I was smitten. She was smart, beautiful. Her bearing reminded me of Amal Clooney, U.N. Attorney, and wife to actor, George Clooney.
- ALEX: So, I understand that you have reason to believe that Dr. Strand is withholding information about the Sagamore?
- ARIANNA: I greatly admire Dr. Strand's body of work, and his intentions to move the cultural discourse towards a more clinical view of various phenomena, but in his strides to educate, I'm afraid he often alienates his audience.
- ALEX: You think he pushes too far?
- ARIANNA: In terms of pushing people away, yes. Years ago, I offered my assistance in helping him with his backlog of cases at his Institute, and he turned it down. Do you not find it curious how he calls it an “Institute,” yet, he's the only researcher there? Huh?
- ALEX: It is curious.
- ARIANNA: Your intern mentioned that you wanted to know more about the Sagamore in particular?
- ALEX: Yes. Uh, Dr. Strand claims to have solved those cases.
- ARIANNA: I think what he means is that no one has offered definitive proof of paranormal activity at the hotel, but there is one event that nobody, not even Dr. Strand, has been able to dismiss or debunk: the case of the elevator shaft. Has he shared that one with you?
- ALEX: No, he hasn't.
- ARIANNA: Hmm! I'm not surprised.
- ALEX: Well, what happened?
- ARIANNA: Well, in November of 1985, several hotel guests reported strange sounds coming from the elevator. Some say it sounded like the whining of a sick animal. Others reported hearing a low murmur, as if a dying man were just laying on the other side of the elevator. Seven hotel guests were taken to hospital, complaining of severe headaches. And it's not believed that they were exposed to high levels of infra-sound related to the noises from the elevator shaft. But, at the time, engineers investigated the whole building and found nothing peculiar. The elevators were working as they should, and there was nothing amiss with their mechanics.
- ALEX: Did they ever find out what caused these... sounds?
- ARIANNA: They did not. The sounds continued for a week and then stopped, and never reoccured. But I have a theory. I checked the Sagamore's archives in researching one of my books, and I was granted access to their old guest books. There was one name that stood out: “John Smith.”
- ALEX: Well, there must be a million John Smiths.
- ARIANNA: That's the point. It sounded like the kind of pseudonym one would use if they want to hide their identity. So, I interviewed some former staff members, people who worked at the Sagamore in 1985. One groundskeeper clearly remembered a man who checked in just before the strange sounds began. A composer. This man was traveling through the United States, visiting from England. The groundskeeper remembered this particular guest because no one ever saw him, but he insisted that he be allowed to send his grand piano ahead of his visit to a room on the third floor. Well, the elevator was way too small, so as you can imagine, there's only one way to get a grand piano up into a third floor: through the window. But the composer insisted, and even paid for it, so a crane was used to hoist it up, and into his room. And, uh, he stayed there for a week composing, demanding that no one call his room or disturb him in any way. He refused all maid and room services. No one knows how he took his meals, because for the whole week, no one saw him leave, and no one went into his room. When he left, the crane had to come back and remove the piano. It was apparently quite expensive.
- ALEX: Did you ever learn the name of that mystery guest?
- ARIANNA: I suspect you already know his name.
- ALEX: Percival Black.
- ARIANNA: Yes.
- ALEX: How do you know?
- ARIANNA: Several staff members recall at the time that the guest was playing very unpleasant music. One maid called it “evil notes.” His playing terrified the cleaning staff. They could hear it bleeding through the floors and walls, its foul and frightening reverberations filling the corridors.
- ALEX: Did the other guests complain about the noise?
- ARIANNA: Some, but nothing came of it. And it was November, the slow season, so the hotel was nowhere near its full capacity. When the strange elevator noises began, most of the staff believed that it was due to the mysterious composer's music.
- ALEX: Well, that sounds unlikely.
- ARIANNA: True, but there was another staff member who gave a curious report. She would have been in charge of cleaning John Smith's room had he not instructed the staff to be left undisturbed. One afternoon, she was cleaning the room next door, and the piano playing began, disturbing her and making her feel nervous and anxious. And curious. So, she wanted to see the composer, and get a glimpse of the madman that everyone was gossiping about. She quietly snuck up to his door and used a reverse viewer so that she could see through the magnifying peephole into his room. There was a man staring back at her, standing right in front of the door, about a yard away, as if he knew that she was there. The piano somehow continued to play its haunting notes. She screamed and ran back to the front desk. There was only one guest checked into John Smith's room, and that man had been standing there, staring at her.
- ALEX: That sounds creepy, but unlikely, doesn't it? Like the kind of stories kids tell each other? Like a game of telephone? Where the details slowly change into something more salacious?
- ARIANNA: But you have to admit the timing is curious-- the fact that seven hotel guests were admitted to hospital that week while strange noises came from the elevator shaft and an eccentric British composer continually played haunting music while cloistered in his room.
- ALEX: Did you find any proof that Percival Black was in the US at the time?
- ARIANNA: No proof, but several rumors that he was touring the country, giving private performances for an exorbitant fee.
- ALEX: And your sources, are they--?
- ARIANNA: Are all in my book.
- ALEX: Ah. Ok. Thank you.
- ARIANNA: My pleasure. I also have something extra for you.
- ALEX: Oh! What is it?
- ARIANNA: One of the staff members secretly recorded John Smith playing the piano from outside his room. And he recorded the strange sounds coming from the elevator shaft. The quality is quite degraded, but I think you'll find it enlightening.
ALEX: I opened Arianna's sound file. Here's that recording.
[Once again, Alex plays creepy ass apocalypse music full of atonal descending notes.]
ALEX: And here's the second file, the recording of the elevator.
[Sounds like basically like if your washing machine machine's spin cycle also functioned as a portal to a hell dimension.]
ALEX: It sounds a lot like the Unsound.
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NIC: So, okay. Percival Black was staying at a hotel in upstate New York, where he composed some weird music that caused the Unsound to start playing in an elevator shaft?
ALEX: At the Sagamore.
NIC: Arianna claims he stayed at the Sagamore.
ALEX: Yes. He allegedly stayed at the Sagamore in November of 1985. That's the year he joined the Order of the Cenophus.
NIC: Right.
ALEX: Maybe it was some kind of initiation. Or, maybe he was sent to check up on other chapters?
NIC: Other chapters of...?
ALEX: Of the Order of the Cenophus?
NIC: Okay...
ALEX: And maybe the Brothers of the Mount are the American chapter of the Cenophus? And Percival Black came to keep tabs on them or pass on instructions? Or maybe... maybe... oh my god.
NIC: What?
ALEX: Simon Reese kept saying things about music, right? They were “raising a chorus of voices.” A “symphony.” He said that.
NIC: You think he meant it literally?
ALEX: What if Simon was talking about Percival Black?
NIC: Okay.
ALEX: What if all this music-- the Unsound, the Mysterium-- what if all that is used to open these portals. To let in... I don't know.
NIC: Oh, I think you know.
ALEX: I didn't want to say it.
NIC: Say, what? “Demons?”
ALEX: (jokingly) Demons.
NIC: Okay. The myth of the Mysterium indicated that this-- whatever this symphony thing is-- has to happen at a specific location at a specific time. Umm, “Axis Mundi,” I think? That was in Scriabin's journal, remember?
ALEX: Mhmmm. So, we're probably going to have to find that location.
NIC: What about those letters you found at Strand's house?
ALEX: What are you thinking?
NIC: Well, that long number?
ALEX: Yeah, I looked it up online. There was nothing.
NIC: Okay, well, I've been doing a lot of internet research lately...
ALEX: No kidding.
NIC: What if it wasn't one number, but two?
ALEX: Okay...
NIC: Two seven-digit numbers. We put a decimal after the first two digits in each number, and we type those digits into Google Earth, and... (pauses) And we get...
ALEX: A mountain?
NIC: Yeah, but not just any mountain. Mt. Ararat-- the highest summit in Turkey.
ALEX: Percival Black is planning on playing his concert to end the world on that summit? I don't think that's possible.
NIC: Yeah, I don't think so, either. Were you able to dig up anything on the people claiming that Percival Black played private concerts for them?
ALEX: Well, there are three sources, but none of them will confirm anything either on or off the record.- NIC: What do you think Percival Black was doing there, if he actually was there?
- ALEX: Uh, I don't know. Making connections? Building a chapter of the Order of the Cenophus?
- NIC: Wow.
- ALEX: Yeah, I know.
- NIC: So, what know?
- ALEX: Well... okay. Let's say Black did come here in the 80's.
- NIC: Okay.
- ALEX: And let's say he made his way all the way to the West coast, did... whatever with the Brothers of the Mount--
- NIC: Alright.
- ALEX: We'll never find out what he was doing here, because those Brothers are all dead, for all we know. So, that still leaves us nowhere.
- NIC: Right. So...
- ALEX: So... I don't know. If only Keith Dabic could talk to us from beyond the grave.
- NIC: Keith Dabic, Simon Reese, and now, maybe Percival Black returns?
- ALEX: Maybe.
- NIC: Okay. Okay, what did Strand have to say about the Sagamore?
- STRAND: Legionnaire's Disease.
- ALEX: What?
- STRAND: Those people. The guests from the Sagamore? They got sick from Legionnaire's Disease.
- ALEX: Are you sure?
- STRAND: It's inconclusive, due to the forensics available at the time and the water tower's replacement, among other things, but if you just dug a little deeper rather than taking Arianna Asadi at her word, you would have uncovered that fact.
- ALEX: What about the presence of Percival Black?
- STRAND: Alleged presence.
- ALEX: Okay, if it was simply a case of Legionnaire's Disease, why didn't you publicly refute Arianna Asadi back when you had the chance?
- STRAND: There were... certain other factors.
- ALEX: The sounds? The music?
- STRAND: Yes.
- ALEX: Okay. So. Do you think that there might be some connection between all of this... music?
- STRAND: I can't imagine.
- ALEX: (scoffs) Thanks. A lot.
- STRAND: You're welcome.
- WESLEY: Hello?
- ALEX: Hello. Wesley Coates?
- WESLEY: Speaking.
- ALEX: My name is Alex Reagan. I'm a reporter with Pacific Northwest Stories, and if you have a moment, I'd like to ask you a few questions about Bobby Mames?
ALEX: Wesley Coates. The boy who found the body of Bobby Mames, by Red Bank Creek, just outside Summerville in 1976. Now in his late 40's, he's a project manager with a geotechnical firm, and lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He gave me his permission to record our conversation.
- ALEX: So, you are the person who led the police to the body of Mames?
- WESLEY: Yes. Uh, gosh, that was, uh, so long ago.
- ALEX: Bobby Mames was your best friend?
- WESLEY: One of them, yes. It's like-- whoever lived on your street? Those were your best friends. So when Bobby went missing, our neighborhood went into lockdown. None of us were allowed outside after supper anymore, but my mom worked a lot, so I could still bike around the parks and such. And my older brother was too old to be kept home, so I followed him and his friends around when he let me.
- ALEX: That must have been quite traumatic, to lose a best friend like that.
- WESLEY: It's weird. I-- I don't think I fully understood what was going on at the time. I was probably too young to know what losing a life meant to a family, and what it can do to a small community. Like, I can't really remember what Bobby looked like anymore. I don't remember his face. But I remember what the guy who killed him looked like.
- ALEX: Gary Bishop?
- WESLEY: Yes.
- ALEX: So, how did you come to find Bobby Mames's body?
- WESLEY: Oh. Oh, I didn't find his body, I just told the police about it.
- ALEX: But the reports say you led the investigators to the exact location.
- WESLEY: I did, but I-- I didn't find him. My brother and his friends did.
- ALEX: Do you remember how they came to find Mames?
- WESLEY: Yes. This part really stuck in my head because it was so weird. My brother Wayne was hanging out at his friend's house. I remember this because I was biking around the neighborhood alone-- none of my friends were allowed out. So, I went to find my brother. They were on their way out, so they let me tag along. We rode our bikes out East along, um, the South side of the river.
- ALEX: Red Bank Creek?
- WESLEY: Yes. And we went pretty far, but-- I was so young, anything outside of our block felt pretty far. We followed this, um, little trail away from the river, and we were deep into this forested area, and everyone was following my brother's friend. It was real creepy, because I got the sense he didn't know exactly where we were going. Like, he kept saying, “I think it's this way. I think it's this way.” I mean, he said that a few times, like he was going on intuition or something. And then we ended up at this tiny stream that broke off from the main stem. And we searched the area-- well, not me, I just stood on my bike, 'cause I really didn't know what we were doing. And then my brother's friend starts yelling. And then I saw this thing just laying there, half covered in dirt, about twenty yards from the stream. It was... it was Bobby Mames. He had on a green sweater and he was laying on his front. They turned him around, but my brother made me face the other way so I wouldn't see it. And, to this day, I'm pretty grateful for that.
- ALEX: Do you remember the name of your brother's friend?
- WESLEY: Yeah, it was Richie.
- ALEX: Richie?
- WESLEY: Richard Strand.
- ALEX: Richard Strand was your older brother's friend?
- WESLEY: Yes, best friend. Since they were kids. It sounds like you know him, Richie.
- ALEX: I'm... not sure anymore.
ALEX: It's the Black Tapes. I'm Alex Reagan. We'll be back again in two weeks.
The Black Tapes Podcast is a Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale production, recorded in Seattle and Vancouver. Produced, mixed, and engineered by by Nic Silver. Edited by Nic Silver and Alex Reagan. Executive producers Paul Bae and Terry Miles. If you enjoy The Black Tapes, you'll love our sister show, Tanis. You can listen to Tanis at Itunes.com/tanis or tanispodcast.com. Thank you so much for listening to The Black Tapes.