Episode 203: Hush Little Baby
(Intro song)
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.
(Theme music)
0:02:10.5
Alex: I'm working on relaxation and keeping sleep notes. And I'm trying to remain optimistic, but (takes a deep breath) my lack of sleep has become an issue, and I'm starting to make poor decisions. Right now they're small poor decisions, tiny errors in a day filled with myriad other bigger choices, but I'm genuinely afraid of them worsening. And soon. I'm beginning to understand how people come to see visions. Things out of the corner of their eye. I was driving the other day and stopped at a red light, and I swear I saw someone standing to my left, just outside the car door. I spun in a shock of adrenaline, but (pause) there was no one there.
It reminded me of all the letters we've received from listeners. Stories about how they were listening to our podcast, often at work in their office, alone. And how they started thinking that they were hearing things. Shuffling, or skittering around the back of the room. Or maybe they're driving home alone in their car, late at night. And they hear something stir in the back seat. Or just the slightest bump coming from the trunk. Or maybe they're walking home alone at night, and they hear the echo of footsteps behind them. Is someone following? At a distance?
I get it. Too much work. Stress. Lack of sleep. These can all lead to our minds playing tricks. I know, I can hear his voice in my head. "Apophenia." But, it feels so real, so... possible. Strand would say that working on the black tapes doesn't help, and I'm sure he'd be right, but (pause) I've started seeing shadows where there are none. And... hearing sounds when there should be only silence. I now understand how you can be alone in a car, or in an office, or in your home, and be genuinely that you're really alone. In these moments, there are no guarantees that ghosts don't exist. In these moments, we don't have Dr. Strand's calm assurance. All we have are our minds and our senses. And if we can't trust those things, our world becomes less secure. Less safe. Less... mundane.
0:06:36.9
Alex: Having Amalia staying with me has had a bit of a stabilizing effect. Just the thing to counteract the... craziness. Due to the sensitivity surrounding a few of the things she was working on, she's asked me not to reveal too much about her lack of communication while in Russia. I can say, however, that she had to lie low for a few months before she made her way out of St. Petersburg. And she assured me her falling off the radar had nothing to do with Percival Black or Keith Dabic. I'm going to press her for more information soon, but, she seems a bit... different. Not quite herself. I'm afraid the serious questions are going to have to wait until she gets settled.
We recently received a voice message at the Pacific Northwest Stories studio.
Alex: Wendy Hochman sent over the file before our meeting. I'm going to play it for you now.
Alex: We sent the sound file to our now-resident expert in sonic weirdness, structural acoustician Michael Pullman. We'll hear from Dr. Pullman soon, but first Wendy Hochman has a bit more to tell us.
Alex: Wendy handed me a photo. It was a symbol. A symbol I'd seen before.
Alex: It was a pentagram. In two concentric circles. With some strange symbols around it. The same symbols we'd seen in that cabin in Northern California, where Sebastian was found. The same symbol we'd seen in Simon Reese's room. The same ones under Katie Yi's bed.
0:16:33.6
Alex: Nic called me into the studio. He said it was important.
Alex: Nic told me that Strand had been there for hours. And that he had every intern in the building working on a variety of research tasks. He tried to get Nic and Paul, one of our executive producers, to impersonate a detective and track some license plates. That's when Nic called me. Strand was looking... he appeared... unraveled. Like he was slowly coming apart at the seams. I sat down and he told me what he was looking for.
Alex: Strand pulled up a photo. It was a small statue, some kind of dragon thing. Gray. It had many heads and... it was terrifying. Much worse than that demon statue that oepns the exorcist. And that statute gave me nightmares for... well, for a long time.
Alex: Strand, whether he knew it or not, was quoting Stephanie Dalley directly, from her book Myths from Mesopotamia (Oxford University Press, 1987). The myth of Tiamat was fascinating. I fell pretty far down the rabbit hole of Sumerian and Babylonian mythology. Which was helpful, because Strand was down there with me. Way, way down.
Alex: The rest of the interview went on like that for a while. She didn't seem to know anything specific about the sound or the symbol.
0:26:17.8
Alex: Nic was right. I made some of the edits he suggested, and we both agreed we were headed back in the right direction. I had another conversation with our recurring guest and friend of Pacific Northwest Stories, Dr. Michael Pullman from the University of Washington Physics Department.
Alex: I guess it did sound a bit like something calling out. Like cats do in alleys late at night when they're tired of being alone and desire company. I was thinking about Strand, how he was doing, what he must be going through, when Nic called.
Alex: We left a number of messages with Wendy Hochman sharing our concerns about her housekeeper. But so far we haven't received a response. I called Wendy's office, and they reported that she'd been absent for two days. Thanks to the power of social media, I was able to contact her sister who said that no one had been able to reach either Wendy or her husband for some time. She'd filed a missing person's report and the police had started questioning those close to the Hochmans.
Alex: I decided to pay a visit to a certain housekeeper. Nic insisted on accompanying me, in case things went sideways.
Alex: We could only see a little because of the light coming in from the hall. The apartment looked like it had been torn apart, like in the movies. Ransacked. Furniture was overturned, drawers opened, broken glass covered the kitchen floor. And there was a buzzing, a deep electrical sound. In the dim light that came through the hall, we could see that one of the walls looked like it had been painted black. Which was strange, considering the other walls were an off-white color.
Nic finally turned on the light, and... well. The wall wasn't black. It was covered in blood. A lot of blood.
But the buzzing wasn't from anything electrical. There were thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of flies. It was at this point that the small his us. Hard. A sick, sweet metallic scent. Wet iron crossed with... rotting meat and honey. And that's when we saw it. In the center of the living room, hanging by an orange extension cord from the ceiling fan, was the housekeeper, Maddie.
It's The Black Tapes Podcast. 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. Mixed and engineered by Nic Silver and Alan Williams. Edited by Nic Silver and Alex Reagan. Executive producers Paul Bae and Terry Miles.
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.
(Theme music)
0:02:10.5
- Woman: How is everything been going?
- Alex: Well, I've been doing the relaxation stuff, and avoiding bright light after 8:00 pm.
- Woman: Any success?
- Alex: Not really.
- Woman: No change?
- Alex: Nothing.
- Woman: You've started your sleep journal?
- Alex: Yes. Well, an audio version. I transcribe it afterwards.
- Woman: Good. That's very important, every morning.
- Alex: Right, every morning.
- Woman: That's right.
- Alex: Okay.
- Woman: Are there... is there something new? Something that may be increasing the stress in your life?
- Alex: Uh, ha, where to start?
- Woman: (laughs) Anywhere's fine.
- Alex: (shakily) Okay. Well. I'm worried about Dr. Strand. He's the subject of my documentary series.
- Woman: This documentary that you're recording now?
- Alex: Yes.
- Woman: Is there anything else?
- Alex: Well, um. There are a lot of ...factors involved in my project.
- Woman: Okay. Well, if possible, I'd like you to avoid thinking about work or anything that might make you feel pressure or stress after 8:00 pm.
- Alex: I'll try.
- Woman: Have you tried marijuana?
- Alex: Smoking pot?
- Woman: Well, there are other ways to ingest it.
- Alex: Uh.
Alex: I'm working on relaxation and keeping sleep notes. And I'm trying to remain optimistic, but (takes a deep breath) my lack of sleep has become an issue, and I'm starting to make poor decisions. Right now they're small poor decisions, tiny errors in a day filled with myriad other bigger choices, but I'm genuinely afraid of them worsening. And soon. I'm beginning to understand how people come to see visions. Things out of the corner of their eye. I was driving the other day and stopped at a red light, and I swear I saw someone standing to my left, just outside the car door. I spun in a shock of adrenaline, but (pause) there was no one there.
It reminded me of all the letters we've received from listeners. Stories about how they were listening to our podcast, often at work in their office, alone. And how they started thinking that they were hearing things. Shuffling, or skittering around the back of the room. Or maybe they're driving home alone in their car, late at night. And they hear something stir in the back seat. Or just the slightest bump coming from the trunk. Or maybe they're walking home alone at night, and they hear the echo of footsteps behind them. Is someone following? At a distance?
I get it. Too much work. Stress. Lack of sleep. These can all lead to our minds playing tricks. I know, I can hear his voice in my head. "Apophenia." But, it feels so real, so... possible. Strand would say that working on the black tapes doesn't help, and I'm sure he'd be right, but (pause) I've started seeing shadows where there are none. And... hearing sounds when there should be only silence. I now understand how you can be alone in a car, or in an office, or in your home, and be genuinely that you're really alone. In these moments, there are no guarantees that ghosts don't exist. In these moments, we don't have Dr. Strand's calm assurance. All we have are our minds and our senses. And if we can't trust those things, our world becomes less secure. Less safe. Less... mundane.
0:06:36.9
Alex: Having Amalia staying with me has had a bit of a stabilizing effect. Just the thing to counteract the... craziness. Due to the sensitivity surrounding a few of the things she was working on, she's asked me not to reveal too much about her lack of communication while in Russia. I can say, however, that she had to lie low for a few months before she made her way out of St. Petersburg. And she assured me her falling off the radar had nothing to do with Percival Black or Keith Dabic. I'm going to press her for more information soon, but, she seems a bit... different. Not quite herself. I'm afraid the serious questions are going to have to wait until she gets settled.
We recently received a voice message at the Pacific Northwest Stories studio.
- Woman: Hi, my name is Wendy Hochman. I just heard your season two episode about the mother with the nanny cam footage? Could you call me back? I'm at (audio beeped out). Thank you. Please call me? Soon? Thanks.
- Wendy: Is here okay?
- Alex: Yeah! Anywhere you'd like. Thank you so much for coming all the way over here.
- Wendy: Of course, thanks for fitting me in so quickly.
- Alex: Well, when we spoke on the phone you had some really interesting things to share. I'm gonna have to ask you to repeat yourself a bit, if you don't mind.
- Wendy: Um, sure. Uh. Where should I start?
- Alex: The first time you heard it.
- Wendy: Okay, um. Well, Robbie was in his crib at the time.
- Alex: And how old was Robbie? And how long ago was this?
- Wendy: This was just about a year ago. Robbie had just turned one.
- Alex: And you were getting ready for bed?
- Wendy: Yes. Uh, Robbie was asleep and I just finished removing my contacts.
- Alex: So you were in the bathroom at the time?
- Wendy: Yes. And that's when I heard it.
- Alex: Heard what?
- Wendy: Oh, sorry, right, I have to repeat it for your recording.
- Alex: If you don't mind.
- Wendy: Of course. At first I thought the sound was coming from the hallway. One of our neighbors cats maybe, or something.
- Alex: You live in an apartment?
- Wendy: Yes. A brownstone in Capitol Hill.
- Alex: Ah.
- Wendy: So, I started walking toward the front door, and as I walked down the hallway, I noticed it. The sound was coming from the baby monitor in my room. It was like this weird, it was like, like a cat howling for its food? So, I rushed into Robbie's room and... nothing. Everything was fine. I went back to my room and the monitor was silent. I figured it was some kind of interference or something, probably some kinda cellphone thing.
- Alex: And you're married?
- Wendy: Yes, ten years.
- Alex: Congratulations!
- Wendy: Thank you.
- Alex: So, where was your husband at this time?
- Wendy: He was out of town working. He just joined a new engineering firm, so he's been away a lot lately.
- Alex: Ah. So it was just you and Robbie?
- Wendy: Yes.
- Alex: When did you next hear the noise?
- Wendy: About two weeks later. I was asleep this time. And the sound woke me up.
- Alex: The same sound?
- Wendy: Yes. The same thing. Just like before, it was coming from the baby monitor.
- Alex: It was exactly the same?
- Wendy: I think so, it's hard to tell. It didn't last long the first time. And, well, my memory isn't great when I haven't been sleeping, so.
- Alex: Sure, of course. A one year old can lead to a few sleepless nights.
- Wendy: Right? So anyway, I go to check on Robbie, but this time I bring the baby monitor with me. And as soon as I reached his door, the sound from the monitor... stopped. Like, suddenly. So I opened the door and...
- Alex: What is it?
- Wendy: Something was in there?
- Alex: What'd you mean, "something?"
- Wendy: I mean it was dark in the room, but the hall light was on, so. When I oepend the door, I saw something move. Kind of scurry away from Robbie's crib. Very quickly. I turned on the light and there was nothing. It was silent... for a moment. And then of course I'd woken Robbie up.
- Alex: Well, with a one year old you must have been experiencing a great deal of stress.
- Wendy: Of course.
- Alex: The combination of stress and a lack of sleep can lead to some... pretty crazy...
- Wendy: This wasn't in my head, Miss Reagan. It was real. Some... thing was in there.
- Alex: Okay. And you checked the closet?
- Wendy: Of course. I checked everywhere. It was gone.
- Alex: How many more times did this happen?
- Wendy: Seven, maybe eight? After the fifth time, I upgraded and got this new high-tech baby monitor, starts recording as soon as any sound is made. The quality's not great, but you can still hear it.
Alex: Wendy Hochman sent over the file before our meeting. I'm going to play it for you now.
- (monitor beep, followed by high pitched undulating noise that changes pitch and sounds like howling, and then a whisper too quiet to hear, then more monitor beeps)
Alex: We sent the sound file to our now-resident expert in sonic weirdness, structural acoustician Michael Pullman. We'll hear from Dr. Pullman soon, but first Wendy Hochman has a bit more to tell us.
- Alex: So, what did your husband think?
- Wendy: He wasn't in town during any of the... incidents. So he only heard the sounds on the recording. He said it was a cat. He's very... skeptical.
- Alex: And these sounds, you only heard them when you were along with Robbie?
- Wendy: You heard it yourself. It's.... not just in my head.
- Alex: Oh, no, I'm not saying that at all, it's just... Did anyone else have access to your apartment?
- Wendy: Well, we have a woman come in once a week to clean up the place.
- Alex: Is there any chance she might be somehow responsible for these sounds?
- Wendy: It wasn't Maddie.
- Alex: Do you think I might be able to speak with your housekeeper, Maddie?
- Wendy: I sincerely doubt that she has anything to add.
- Alex: What makes you say that?
- Wendy: Because (long pause) there's something else.
- Alex: What?
- Wendy: Well, just before I called you the first time? I found something. Under Robbie's crib.
Alex: Wendy handed me a photo. It was a symbol. A symbol I'd seen before.
- Alex: This is the underside of your son's crib?
- Wendy: Yes.
Alex: It was a pentagram. In two concentric circles. With some strange symbols around it. The same symbols we'd seen in that cabin in Northern California, where Sebastian was found. The same symbol we'd seen in Simon Reese's room. The same ones under Katie Yi's bed.
- Wendy: Someone or something had drawn it there. It obviously wasn't Robbie, and it definitely wasn't me.
- Alex: What did your husband say about it?
- Wendy: We got the crib second hand, so he believes it's been there the whole time.
- Alex: You bought it here, in Seattle?
- Wendy: Yes. Well, my husband did.
- Alex: Could you send me any information you have regarding its purchase?
- Wendy: Sure, I'll ask him.
- Alex: And I'd still really like to speak with your housekeeper, if you don't mind.
- Wendy: She's not involved in any of this.
- Alex: How can you be sure?
- Wendy: She's not.
- Alex: I don't... (sighs) I mean, I can't see how this drawing rules her out.
- Wendy: I've known Maddie for over seven years. Before we hired her, she worked for my mother's office as a custodian. I'm the one who asked her to work for us when I got pregnant. There's no way that she's involved in any of this. And you'd feel the same way if you met her.
- Alex: Would it be okay if I met with her?
0:16:33.6
Alex: Nic called me into the studio. He said it was important.
- Alex: What's going on?
- Nic: You know, I'm not sure.
- Alex: Okay?
- Nic: In studio B.
- Alex: ...Okay.
- (footsteps, door opening)
- Alex: Oh.
- Strand: Oh, good. I'm glad you're here.
Alex: Nic told me that Strand had been there for hours. And that he had every intern in the building working on a variety of research tasks. He tried to get Nic and Paul, one of our executive producers, to impersonate a detective and track some license plates. That's when Nic called me. Strand was looking... he appeared... unraveled. Like he was slowly coming apart at the seams. I sat down and he told me what he was looking for.
- Strand: Thomas Warren is the advocate.
- Alex: (long pause) ...Okay. Why do you say that?
- Strand: He's a lawyer. Or, at least he went to law school.
- Nic: That's it? Lots of people go to law school.
- Strand: He had something on Coralee.
- Alex: What?
- Strand: That's what I'm trying to find out.
- Alex: Do you have anything new?
- Strand: Warren was involved in a dig, or sponsoring a dig, in Hillah.
- Alex: A dig? Archeology?
- Strand: Yes.
- Alex: In Hillah?
- Strand: it's in Iraq, south of Baghdad. They were looking for... something big. It was set up as a predevelopment dig, but I did a bit of digging on my own. It functioned as a research excavation.
- Nic: And what's the difference?
- Strand: Predevelopment happens when they're building something and ostensibly have to be careful in a sensitive area. They might find an artifact by mistake but they're not looking for anything other than profit.
- Alex: And a research excavation?
- Strand: In that case they're looking for something, often they have no idea what that something might be. I believe in this case, however, they were looking for something specific. Something very significant.
- Alex: What makes you say that?
- Strand: The expense, for one thing. There are a lot of far less expensive places to build in this region. This location makes absolutely no sense for predevelopment.
- Alex: Okay?
- Strand: But also, there's this.
- Alex: What's "this?"
- Strand: Tiamat.
- Alex: Tiamat?
Alex: Strand pulled up a photo. It was a small statue, some kind of dragon thing. Gray. It had many heads and... it was terrifying. Much worse than that demon statue that oepns the exorcist. And that statute gave me nightmares for... well, for a long time.
- Strand: Tiamat. Ctulhu or Cthulhu, Leviathan, the Kraken. It's an ancient myth. The battle between some cultures hero and a chthonic monster.
- Alex: Chthonic?
- Strand: Aquatic.
- Alex: Right.
- Strand: Often a dragon. In the case of Tiamat, the culture is Babylonian. This battle can be referred to as the Chaoskampf.
- Alex: That sounds scary.
- Strand: The Hittites have something similar, the Greeks have Apollo and the python. It's quite common.
- Alex: ...Okay. What does... Tiamat have to do with the advocate?
- Strand: The myth is binary: there are two parts. In the first she's like a creator. A goddess, creatrix, god if you like.
- Alex: And the second part?
- Strand: She's the monstrous embodiment of primordial chaos.
Alex: Strand, whether he knew it or not, was quoting Stephanie Dalley directly, from her book Myths from Mesopotamia (Oxford University Press, 1987). The myth of Tiamat was fascinating. I fell pretty far down the rabbit hole of Sumerian and Babylonian mythology. Which was helpful, because Strand was down there with me. Way, way down.
- Alex: The movement from matriarchal to patriarchal societies, the number of arms, heads, animal parts and legs, are all significant. This mythology is really packed with... stuff.
- Strand: Stuff. Yes. It is. These are extremely allegorical religious myths.
- Alex: So Tiamat is the connection between Warren and this dig? How does that work?
- Strand: The nature of the exploration, where they're looking. This was all presented in a paper over 40 years ago.
- Alex: What... paper?
- Strand: A paper that was never published. A paper referencing the location of the Horn of Tiamat.
- Alex: If it was never published, how do you know about it?
- Strand: My father wrote it.
- Alex: Your father was into Sumerian and Babylonian mythology?
- Strand: Well, the Horn of Tiamat is a very specific kind of mythology.
- Alex: What kind?
- Strand: (long pause) The Howard Strand kind.
- Alex: Y-you told me your father was some kind of... search for ancient antiquities or something.
- Strand: That's Indiana Jones.
- Alex: Oh!
- Strand: My father was interested in a lot of things. Obsessed, really. But nothing came close to the Horn. It was his life's work.
- Alex: Wow.
- Strand: I know. Believe me. I've had just about enough of the Horn of Tiamat to last me a lifetime. But it looks like it's back.
- Alex: (very long pause) And you're certain that Thomas Warren is involved somehow?
- Strand: Him or his company.
- Alex: Deva Corporation?
- Strand: Yes.
- Alex: Why?
- Strand: I don't know. But at the moment I'm more concerned about how.
- Alex: How?
- Strand: How did he find the location of the Horn? Did he somehow get his hands on my father's work?
- Alex: (long pause) (sighs) When's the last time you ate something?
- Strand: I had a, a bar of some kind earlier.
- Alex: You look... (sighs)
- Strand: What?
- Alex: Tired. Come on, I'm taking you for lunch.
- Strand: That's not necess...
- Alex: And I'm not taking no for an answer. Let's go.
- (footsteps)
- Alex: Hi Maddie, thanks so much for coming in!
- Maddie: Uh, is this for radio?
- Alex: Yes.
- Maddie: This is my first time on the radio.
- Alex: Okay! I'll make it as painless as possible. (both laugh) Um, so, have you been cleaning residences for a long time?
- Maddie: Four years?
- Alex: Do you enjoy working for the Hochmans?
- Maddie: They're really nice to me. And Robbie is the cutest kid in the world. Well, not including my niece Stella, of course.
- Alex: (laughing) Right. Have you ever heard or seen anything... strange at the Hochman residence?
- Maddie: Are the Hochmans in some kind of trouble?
- Alex: No, it's nothing like that.
- Maddie: Okay.
- Alex: Have you seen or heard anything... out of the ordinary at the apartment?
- Maddie: Not that I can think of.
- Alex: When you're cleaning over at the Hochmans', are they usually home?
- Maddie: No, not usually.
- Alex: Then how do you get in?
- Maddie: I have a key. I have keys to all my clients' houses.
- Alex: So the Hochmans aren't there?
- Maddie: Mrs. Hochman is sometimes, Mr. Hochman is always in... Europe, or Brazil, or some other place.
- Alex: Okay. Have you ever seen this symbol before? In their apartment?
- Maddie: No.
- Alex: Are you sure?
- Maddie: Yes, I'm sure.
- Alex: Okay. I'm gonna play you something.
- (the baby monitor recording from before plays a high-pitched, distorted wailing)
- Maddie: Sounds like a cat.
- Alex: Yes it does. Kind of. Doesn't it? Have you heard anything like this before in their home?
- Maddie: The Hochmans don't have a cat.
- Alex: Right. But maybe one of their neighbors?
- Maddie: Sorry, what's this story about?
Alex: The rest of the interview went on like that for a while. She didn't seem to know anything specific about the sound or the symbol.
- Nic: How's everything going, a-are you sleeping? Is, is everything okay? Are you...
- Alex: Yeah, no, it's, I mean, no, I'm not sleeping very much but. It's fine. I'm, you know...
- Nic: Okay.
- Alex: Doing what I need to do.
- Nic: Yeah. Well. On that subject, um, I feel like maybe...
- Alex: Maybe...?
- Nic: You, well, I don't know how to say this. Uhh. It's not major, but, I just, I feel like maybe you're forcing the issue? A little bit? With some of this stuff?
- Alex: What issue?
- Nic: Well. Like, as an example, letting Strand go on about Thomas Warren being the advocate just because he's a lawyer. And the Wendy Hochman interview stuff, it just almost feels like she was trying to create some kind of personal paranormal drama... or something.
- Alex: You think so? Really?
- Nic: A little bit. I mean, I dunno, it's just some of the stuff felt kinda sensationalized. Maybe if you could just go back and revisit the last couple of interviews? Take another look?
- Alex: ...Okay? Are you thinking I should look at anything specific?
- Nic: Nothing specific jumps out, it was just kind of a directional general sense that things were feeling a bit more... sensationalized.
- Alex: You really think that that's the case?
- Nic: Just, if you could just listen to the last few interviews before you cut them into the final show, that's - that's all I ask.
- Alex: (skeptical) Okay.
0:26:17.8
Alex: Nic was right. I made some of the edits he suggested, and we both agreed we were headed back in the right direction. I had another conversation with our recurring guest and friend of Pacific Northwest Stories, Dr. Michael Pullman from the University of Washington Physics Department.
- (phone ringing)
- Pullman: Hello?
- Alex: Hi Dr. Pullman! It's Alex.
- Pullman: Hey Alex, how are you?
- Alex: I'm doing well thank you, how are you?
- Pullman: Uh, pretty good pretty good.
- Alex: Good! So, what do you have for me this time?
- Pullman: Well, you're not gonna like it.
- Alex: Hey, I'm ready for anything.
- Pullman: Mmm, okay, but are you ready for nothing?
- Alex: Oh, really?
- Pullman: Yeah. Um, I looked for patterns again, but it's purely organic, this wave.
- Alex: Do you think it could be a cat?
- Pullman: I don't think it could be a cat, no.
- Alex: No, why not?
- Pullman: Mm, well, sorry I, I shouldn't say that, 'cause y'know, my field of study is mechanical waves. But I do have a colleague here, he studies bioacoustics, he specializes in North American birds, he's, he's (chuckles) pretty amazing. And I played it for him here in my office. Um.
- Alex: Oh, and what did he say?
- Pullman: Well, he, he didn't have a specific idea, but he said it's definitely an animal. Just not an animal... he could identify off the top of his head.
- Alex: Okay, so not a cat.
- Pullman: Not, not a cat, according to him.
- Alex: And... why is he so sure it's an animal?
- Pullman: Mm. Well, it's not like he used any software or spectrogram or anything like that. Like I said, he just heard it here in my office with his ears, you know.
- Alex: Right.
- Pullman: But he did say it sounds like, um, he said it sounds like whatever it is, or was, it sounded like it was singing.
- Alex: It was singing?
- Pullman: Yeah.
- Alex: Okay.
- Pullman: Yeah, he said it sounded like it was, you know, calling out is maybe a better way to put it. Like animals do in the wild?
- Alex: Oh, okay.
- Pullman: Yeah (he laughs, Alex sighs) Sorry, this is not satisfying you, at all (both laugh). But it's all I got! He did ask that you let him know, you know, whenever you find out what might've made this sound. He's, he seems genuinely interested. He asked me about it yesterday, so.
- Alex: Oh! Okay, well, hopefully I'll find out what it is and I can let him know.
- Pullman: (laughs) I hope you do.
- Alex: Yeah. Well thank you again.
- Pullman: It's my pleasure.
- Alex: Alright, we'll talk to you soon.
- Pullman: Okay.
- Alex: Bye.
Alex: I guess it did sound a bit like something calling out. Like cats do in alleys late at night when they're tired of being alone and desire company. I was thinking about Strand, how he was doing, what he must be going through, when Nic called.
- Nic: So the new edits sound great.
- Alex: Thank you. Yeah, I'm sorry it took so long to get through this episode. I - I haven't been sleeping much.
- Nic: I understand. I'm sorry too. I've been a bit scattered with some of the other shows. I definitely could've been more helpful on this episode.
- Alex: No. No, you were extremely helpful.
- Nic: Well, thank you.
- Alex: You're welcome.
- Nic: So is there anything I can do to help with the rest of it?
- Alex: I dunno. (sighs) It was easier with Strand around. He, he would say it's a cat. Yet I'd say it might not be a cat, you know, repeat.
- Nic: Right (laughs). Well whatever's happening here, I don't think it's a cat. Or at least it's not only a cat. I found something.
- Alex: What's going on?
- Nic: So I was working on a sub mix, cleaning up some EQ on one of the baby monitor recordings?
- Alex: Okay?
- Nic: I was looking for the cleanest audio samples to use for a promo, it's a pretty big file...
- Alex: Yeah. Yeah, it goes on for, what, five minutes I think?
- Nic: (laughs) Try three hours.
- Alex: Three hours??
- Nic: Yeah. The timestamp is off, it's actually three hours plus. I'd moved onto the music station to work on some Tanis stuff, and I forgot I had the baby monitor playing on the other computer.
- Alex: Wasn't it just... silence?
- Nic: At first.
- Alex: But that monitor, it's sound activated right?
- Nic: Yeah, and there is definitely a sound.
- Alex: Oh.
- Nic: This is about an hour and a half after Wendy Hochman leaves the room. I'm guessing she must've fallen asleep.
- Alex: So this is the one at night when she swears she saw something in the room?
- Nic: Yeah. I'm gonna turn it all the way up or you won't hear it. This monitor is really sensitive.
- (audio plays very quiet, almost inaudible whispering)
- Alex: I don't hear...
- Nic: Shh! Just wait.
- (a baby cries)
- Alex: That's just Robbie.
- Nic: Keep listening.
- (demonic chanting begins)
- Alex: ...What the hell?
- (extremely quiet whispering)
- Alex: It, it, it sounds like...
- Nic: Yeah. It sounds like Robbie's talking to someone who's in that room,
- Alex: Oh my god, I wonder if Wendy's heard this stuff.
- Nic: I'm guessing not, there'd be no reason for her to keep listening this long. And the sound file looked like it was much shorter. I wouldn't of heard it myself if I hadn't accidentally left it playing in the background.
- Alex: Jesus. I've gotta call Wendy.
- Nic: Just wait, there's more. Here, I'll forward this section.
- (tape winding)
- Nic: Okay, this is about half an hour later.
- (a woman's quiet voice whispering "There you are, little one.")
- Alex: That's not Wendy.
- (woman: Oh, you like him, don't you?)
- Alex: She... I know that voice.
- (woman: Shhh. Don't let mommy hear you. You are going to love your new life, my boy.)
- Alex: How do I know that voice?
- (woman: chanting in a guttural foreign language, lots of heavily aspirated consonants)
- Alex: Oh my god.
- (woman: more chanting. Goodbye, little one.)
- Alex: Oh my god.
- (woman: Serve him well.)
- Alex: That's Maddie! That's, that's the housekeeper!
Alex: We left a number of messages with Wendy Hochman sharing our concerns about her housekeeper. But so far we haven't received a response. I called Wendy's office, and they reported that she'd been absent for two days. Thanks to the power of social media, I was able to contact her sister who said that no one had been able to reach either Wendy or her husband for some time. She'd filed a missing person's report and the police had started questioning those close to the Hochmans.
- (footsteps)
- Nic: How many suites are in this place?
- Alex: I hope this is it.
Alex: I decided to pay a visit to a certain housekeeper. Nic insisted on accompanying me, in case things went sideways.
- Nic: Okay.
- (rapping on a door)
- Alex: (calling out) Hello?
- (rapping on a door)
- Alex: (calling out) Hello? Maddie?
- Nic: Doesn't look like she's home. Um, what're you doing?
- Alex: It's unlocked.
- Nic: I can see that it's unlocked. Okay, um, before we perform a criminal act that we're probably going to admit to on the podcast, do you think we maybe should consider other... and she's going inside.
- Alex: (calling out) Hello?
- Nic: We're in somebody's house...
- Alex: Maddie?
- Nic: Okay.
-
- Alex: (gasps)
- Nic: Holy sh(expletive bleeped out).
Alex: We could only see a little because of the light coming in from the hall. The apartment looked like it had been torn apart, like in the movies. Ransacked. Furniture was overturned, drawers opened, broken glass covered the kitchen floor. And there was a buzzing, a deep electrical sound. In the dim light that came through the hall, we could see that one of the walls looked like it had been painted black. Which was strange, considering the other walls were an off-white color.
Nic finally turned on the light, and... well. The wall wasn't black. It was covered in blood. A lot of blood.
But the buzzing wasn't from anything electrical. There were thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of flies. It was at this point that the small his us. Hard. A sick, sweet metallic scent. Wet iron crossed with... rotting meat and honey. And that's when we saw it. In the center of the living room, hanging by an orange extension cord from the ceiling fan, was the housekeeper, Maddie.
It's The Black Tapes Podcast. 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. Mixed and engineered by Nic Silver and Alan Williams. Edited by Nic Silver and Alex Reagan. Executive producers Paul Bae and Terry Miles.