Episode 1: The Man with the Scarred Hands

TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of child harm.

This episode of All in the Cards Podcast was written by Ashley McAnelly.

Theme music for this episode was composed by TheArsonist and produced by Scott Thomas.

Featuring the voice talents of Ashley McAnelly as Jade, Atticus Jackson as Damien, Kiana Harris as the Whiny Girl, Nichole Goodnight as Sam, Fern Maye as Rachel, and Doug Malena as Al.

• Narrator — Ashley McAnelly
• Damien – Atticus Jackson
• Whiny Girl— Kiana Harris
• Sam — Nichole Goodnight
• Rachel— Fern Maye
• Al — Doug Malena

[Intro roll in]

Whiny Girl: “So how does this work?”

Jade: It’s an innocent enough question, but it still irritates the shit out of me. You think the people who come in my bookstore, off the beaten path, would have an idea of how this works. But, I must give these two young girls some grace. They’re only teenagers, probably just hearing about magic outside the realm of fiction for the first time. Running an occult bookstore in the Bible Belt, it’s not hard to run into the ignorant. 

Still, if I had a dime for every time someone asked it, I’d have enough to buy the building and stop being harassed by the bank.

I finish shuffling the cards and lean across the table toward them.

“It’s simple: you ask a question, and the cards answer it.”

Whiny Girl: [scoffs] “That’s it? My parents made it sound like you had to sacrifice a chicken to get the magic to work.”

Jade: Oh, boy. Here we go. 

“Not all tarot readers are practitioners of other arts. Tarot is simpler than that.”

I didn’t add the fact that I was, indeed, a witch. I thought that would be obvious from, you know, the occult bookstore I run. To be fair, I do have a Christian section for the Bible, bible studies and some choice Christian romance. No one is going to call me intolerant. 

Sam: “Your deck looks unique. Did you make it yourself?”

Jade: She gives me pause. I expected her to be as ignorant as her friend, but the air buzzes around her with curiosity. Maybe she only appreciates the art of tarot. So I humor her.

 “I did, yes.”

Sam: “How long did it take you?”

Jade: “Long enough. Now please, if you will provide me with a question, I can more than happily give you an answer.”

[Intro Roll In]

Whiny Girl: “I want to know how to make Tyler Jacobs fall in love with me!”

Jade: It takes every ounce of restraint I have not to roll my eyes.

“The cards will give an answer, but it’s not going to be a clear road map. They’ll give you possibilities. Guidance.” 

She leans back in her chair and folds her arms across her chest.

Whiny Girl: “Well then what’s the point?”

Sam: “The point is to see how much of it happens!”

Jade: Whiny girl’s friend sounds as tired of her as I am. I’d applaud her for putting up with her on the daily if I cared enough. 

“Are you ready for your answer?”

That gets both girls to shut up, a feat I was worried wasn’t possible. They both lean over the table, eager to see what the cards have to say. Feeling this reading will be pretty cut and dry, I decide not to use all my energy. Still, I take a deep breath, attune to my deck while thinking about the question, and pull the first card. It’s my beautiful hand drawn goblet overflowing into a steady stream in the mountains. The Ace of Cups. Of course. 

“Hmm, Tyler Jacobs is definitely in the market. Maybe you do have a chance after all.”

Whiny Girl: [sighing] “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Jade: I pull the next card. It’s the Knight of Rods.

“Okay, so now we’re getting somewhere. This card tells me he’s adventurous, likes trying new things. He probably likes to travel, dance, and is in multiple clubs and athletics at school.”

Sam: “He gets around for sure.” 

Whiny Girl: “You hush! So you’re saying I should also try to get into the things he likes? Can do!”

Jade: “Let’s see if the last card gives us anything more concrete.”

I pull the last card. Before I even flip it I know it’s going to burst this girl’s bubble. The Lovers reversed. Hmm, that’s interesting. Just to clarify my suspicion, I draw another card. The Empress reversed.  Lovers reversed and Empress reversed? Oh, boy. A laugh slips out before I can catch it. 

The whiny girl is not amused, but her friend’s smile almost reaches her ears. I’m starting to think the second girl is not here for her own reading but to see the entertainment and chaos ensue. Tyler Jacobs is never going to be in this girl’s reach, but I don’t feel comfortable telling her the true reason why.

Whiny Girl: “What’s so funny?”

Jade: “So sorry, dear, but you don’t have a chance with Tyler. It’s nothing you have control of or have a chance of changing.”

Second girl breaks out in laughter now, too, but whiny girl gets even whinier.

Whiny Girl: “Why are you laughing at this? How can this be true! Why can’t I make him fall in love with me?”

Sam: “Because, you dork, he’s gay.”

Whiny Girl: “No, he’s not!”

Sam: “Yeah, he is, he’s just not out to his parents yet. Ask anyone around. You’re just in denial and don’t want to believe it.”

Jade: The whiny girl throws her head and arms on the table, feigning a temper tantrum.

Whiny Girl: “But we were supposed to be married and have three kids named Julia, Jake, and Joanna! And we were going to live on the East Coast and he was going to be a shrimper and I would stay home and make my candles!”

Jade: Her whining melts into true grief, I can taste the dryness of it, like too many crackers in my mouth. I remember teenage girls being dramatic but not this intensely. Something else is going on. Digging deeper past her present emotion, I focus on her as my energy spills into the room, invisible to the naked eye, but a practiced eye could sense it. I use it to find the true root of her problem. Her anxious energy makes it easy to infiltrate her memories and I catch images of what she’s talking about: She, and who I assume is Tyler, laying side by side in the grass, looking up at the sky and talking about exactly what she just said. But they look no older than ten years old in the image. 

“It’s not his romantic love you really crave. You used to be friends and now he’s too busy to give you the time of day. You just thought making him fall in love with you would bring him back.”

If I was the motherly type I might say something reassuring or helpful next, but I say nothing. I let that truth sit in the air. I think she needs that more than anything. 

Sam: [solemn] “I didn’t know you had been friends with him.”

Whiny Girl: “Once we hit high school he got in with the cool crowd and I was stuck still being the band geek. Even though he’s in choir! Like, how does that make him better than me? Why-why did he leave me behind?”

Jade: Second girl wraps her arms around her.

Sam: “You know where he still lives, right? We can go over this weekend and ask him ourselves.”

Jade: “Good plan if you want to alienate them even more.”

I can’t let these girls walk away from this reading with no good actionable plan. Even I’m not that heartless.

“This is advice outside of the reading so don’t come running to me for a refund if it doesn’t work, but if you still want him back in your life, then I say stick to your original plan. Get into what he’s into. Infiltrate those circles. Talk to him, but don’t get nostalgic and start talking about how close you used to be. Start over. You know him better than those brats in his circles. Remind him of it.”

Whiny girl sits up, thinking.

Whiny Girl: [huffy sigh] “I’ll try it. But if it doesn’t work, I’ll be back.”

Jade: Please let it work so I don’t have to deal with her again.

“Good luck. [pause, to the second girl] Were we giving you a reading today as well?”

Sam: “No, but I’ll be back.”

Jade: She says it as if I passed her first test and I’ve moved on to the next round. She must have been here to see if I was legit, must’ve known that Tyler was gay, and was interested to see what the cards read. 

As if I need the approval of a sixteen-year-old.

I follow them out of the reading room and back into the main room of my bookstore.

“If you ever need another reading, come on back. I’ll always be here.”

Sam: “Thanks!”

Whiny Girl: “Thank you!”

[SFX: phone rings]

Jade: “Witch Way Between the Lines Bookstore, this is Jade.”

Al: “Hi, Ms. Albright, how are you doing this fine morning?”

Jade: I immediately recognize the voice.

“Hey, Al, is it already that time again?”

Al helps me handle my family’s estate. It’s bigger than I actually care to know about, but I pretend that Al is a crutch I depend on. He also knows he can never cross me. He’s done that with some of his other clients but he knows better with me. He knows what will happen to him if he does.

Al: “It is, Ms. Albright. Although instead of just confirming I must tell you that rent is going up on your I-40 billboard.”

Jade: Of course it is.

“How much, Al?”

Al: “Right now it’s just fifty a month, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that goes up again by the end of the year. Things are moving that’s for sure. You sure you don’t want to cut loose your radio ad? You psychic hotline doesn’t seem to be bringing in much money these days.”

Jade: “Now, Al, you know you can’t just look at the landline revenue. You know the zoom payments are from that as well. Like you said, things are moving, and they seem to be moving to the internet. I’ll keep that landline a bit longer but we may rework that radio ad to the online calls only. I may get with you about that next quarter.”

Al: “Sounds good, Ms. Albright. And your landlord called me but I have a feeling he may be paying you a visit soon.”

Jade: “Same old same old?”

Al: “Well, that, but there also seems to be a slew of killings going on in your neighborhood.”

Jade: “Is that so?”

Al: “Well first, it was an elderly man and then the neighbor who went to check on the man. Rumors are before the neighbor was killed they said they saw a pentagram painted in blood at the elderly man’s house. Sounds like it may be some kind of Satanic murders.”

Jade: “Most Satanists don’t actually worship Satan, Al.”

Al: “Yeah but that doesn’t mean some don’t. You take care of yourself, Ms. Albright. I’d really hate to lose you.”

Jade: “Thanks for the heads up, Al. You have a good day.”

Al: “You, too, Ms. Albright.”

Jade: Well, that was fun. I decide to go back to unboxing inventory but a voice from my lounge area catches my attention.

Rachel: “My, my, I don’t remember you ever being nice to children.”

Jade: I walk past the book aisle to get to my lounge area. Rachel sits at the small wooden table, thumbing the books stacked on it. She looks at me with a shit eating grin on her face.

Rachel: “Are you getting soft in your older years?”

Jade: “As if you’re not older than the dirt you brought in on your shoes.”

Rachel: “As if the dirt wasn’t already here. When’s the last time you swept this place?”

Jade: I grab the box from the front desk and then sit at the table across from her, moving the stack of books to the side so I can see her clearly. I dig in the box for the ingredients I need.

“What are you doing here, Rachel?”

She spreads her arms.

Rachel: “What, I can’t just stop by and see one of my oldest friends? And by oldest I do mean old.”

Jade: “You never just do anything. You are one of the most efficient witches I’ve met, both in magic and in life. You’re not here to shoot the shit. You’re here for a reason. Just get to it already.”

She grabs my hands to get my attention.

Rachel: “I’m not here for myself. I’m here to warn you. The coven is watching the recent attacks closely. And as they inch closer to your side of town, the more Rosalind wants to pay you a visit, or at least her flunkies.”

Jade: “Big of you to call people above you flunkies.”

Rachel: “I’m serious, Jade. Just because you want to shut yourself away from the magical community doesn’t mean they won’t come knocking.”

Jade: I shake her off and continue to dig for the supplies I need right now.

“I just dare that big-toothed excuse for a high priestess to set foot in my bookstore. I haven’t done anything wrong.” [tone lightening]. “Though I will be more than happy to let her know when I’m murdered. I’ll haunt her until she decides to join me.”

Rachel: [scoffing] “You’e still holding on to your conspiracy—”

Jade: “It’s not a conspiracy. You and I both know there’s no way it went down the way they said it did.”

Rachel: [carefully] “Your mother was a hero. She lived a hero and a pillar of this community, and she died a hero. End of story. You’ve got to move on–”

Jade: “I think it’s time for you to leave, Rachel.”

[sighing] “Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you, you old hag.”

Jade: “Takes a hag to know a hag.” 

Before she leaves Rachel stares at me.

Rachel: “What are you conjuring there anyway? What is that, a spell jar? For what?”

Jade: “Why do you care?”

Rachel: “Because you are super conservative with your magic, even though you’re the wealthiest of us all when it comes to energy.”

Jade: [chuckling] “Let’s just say I’m bored of my regular clientele and hope to spice it up a bit.”

Rachel shakes her head.

Rachel: “Are you trying to solve the attacks by yourself? You know you aren’t a one-woman army.”

Jade: “Aren’t I? Pretty sure I can take out your whole coven by myself.”

Rachel: “Oh, I would love to see it. Except when you wipe us out, then you’ll have no one else to torment.”

Jade: “True. But I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before someone else opens up shop. Rinse and repeat.”

Rachel: “Just…take care of yourself, okay? Maybe make some friends?”

Jade: “What are those?”

Rachel: “Bye, old crone.”

Jade: “Bye, cronie.”

Rachel hasn’t said anything that I don’t already know, but I appreciate her stopping by anyway. Once upon a time we were friends before she decided to stay with the coven after my mother’s death. We don’t agree on a lot of things, but we do still love to insult each other. As long as we enjoy that, we’ll always enjoy each other’s company.

As I watch Rachel leave, a man walks in. I should have been right behind Rachel to lock the door once she was gone. I shuffle my tired feet to the front. 

“Sorry, but we’re closing now.”

The man stops by the front desk, his smile beaming across the room.

Damien: “I really hope you will make an exception for me. Dylan spoke so highly of you.” 

Jade: As I approach, I take in who this man is. He’s not much taller than me but his broad shoulders and broom stick posture tells me he isn’t the type of man who usually compliments people lightly. His blonde hair is cut short but gelled and styled with playfulness and makes me wonder exactly how old he is. At least my age, but with a young soul.

A young soul with a dark stain. The air around him makes my skin crawl, but I know better than to turn his type away. I go straight to him instead of ducking behind the front desk. He’s not here for a book or supplies.

“Oh, so Dylan has managed not to get himself killed yet.”

Damien: [Playfully] “As of this morning he was still breathing.”

Jade: I’ve got to remember to talk to Dylan about his sketchy activities.

“Well, how can I help you?”

Damien: “I need a reading. I’ve always been a skeptic, but Dylan convinced me to give you a try.” 

The man steps closer, barely putting me in his shadow. That’s when I notice his hands. I only stare for a moment, not wanting to be rude, but his hands are a mess of scars. Burn scars, from the looks of how the skin healed.

Jade: I throw on my business smile.

“I can certainly help you with that, but are you sure that’s what you want? Are you sure you want the answers?”

It takes a lot for me to turn down a reading. That dark stain on his soul makes me all the more curious. But something tells me that what he wants me to discover is going to be something that shakes his very core. I ask sincerely. 

Damien: “Oh, more than anything.”

Jade: “Okay. Follow me then.”

Damien: “Thank you.”

Jade: He walks beside me, close enough that his fingertips glide across my arm once. When I was a teenager that small touch would have been enough to trigger my visions, but I have control over my power now. I learned how to protect myself from unwanted knowledge. Even so, with that touch I know his name and I sense fear and dread with that knowledge. Either this man is deathly afraid of something, or he’s struck fear into the hearts of others. And here I hoped to have a quiet evening.

[SFX: beads clicking as Damien pulls the beads apart to pass through, and they fall back against each other behind him.]

I motion for him to step through the threshold first. Over the doorway hangs beads wrapped by vervain. The vervain tells me the intentions of my clients. Thankfully no one meaning me harm has walked through them. It’s gonna be messy the day it happens.

“Please, take a seat.”

He does as I ask, while I thumb the decks on the bookshelf. I finally settle on my homemade deck. 

“Yes, you will do just fine for this one.”

Damien: “You talk to your cards?”

Jade: “Don’t you talk to your car when it doesn’t want to start, begging her to just turn over and you promise to get her checked out? Only difference is that I take care of my decks, otherwise they won’t take care of me. Or you.”

Damien: [Chuckling] “Okay, fair.”

[SFX: Shuffling the cards]

“So, what question would you like answered, Damien?”

Damien: [Suspicious] ” I never told you my name.”

Jade: “Whoops. Good guess? Or maybe I’m better than you thought.”

He smiles but it’s different from the good ole boy smile in the main room. This is predatory, and I fight the urge to squirm beneath its scrutiny.

Damien: “That will just make this all the more interesting. [Satisfied pause]. My question is simple: what am I hiding from the world?”

Jade: My stomach drops.

“That sounds like something you can answer for yourself.”

He shrugs. 

Damien: “But it seems to be something I can’t bear to share myself. I need your help to…let it out.”

Jade: I flip the first card over. Vibrations in the air nip at my skin and I fight not to twitch.

“The Devil. Help you let it out indeed. This card tells me you’re trapped by something, even enslaved by it. Something carnal, something inside and out.”

His face is blank now, controlled but calculated. I don’t see the point in that if he knows there’s a good chance I’m going to find what he wants me to. My heart races as I draw the next card.

Justice stares up at us, her dark eyes drilling into my soul the weight of what Damien has done, as if I’m the very scale that judges his actions. It’s like a tree has fallen on me.

[Straining a bit to talk] “Whatever you’ve gotten into, it’s going to end badly for you.”

His predatory smile cracks through his blank face.

Damien: “It was always going to end badly for me.”

Jade: “Then why ask me?”

Damien: “Because the question isn’t how my ending comes. The question is if you can uncover what I’ve done.”

Jade: By the weight of his action, it’s really bad. Voices buzz in my head as the weight of his secret pulls me deeper into my chair. I close my eyes, one hand firmly on the table to steady me as the voices scream, pitiful and desperate. And then there’s nothing but pain.

[Exhales, and clears throat] “You’ve already brought death to someone else. Many someone elses, in the most painful way possible.”

His smile spreads wider, his eyes wild, chaotic energy spilling through that darkness deep inside him.

Damien: “Oh, yes.”

Jade: I draw my power back in, silencing the voices, grounding and shielding myself a bit better now that I know what I’m dealing with.

“Tell me. Tell me your story.”

Damien: “I thought you were telling me-“

Jade: “I have told you. I’ve uncovered it, but I also sense how much you have wanted to tell your story for a long time. Here I am, willing to listen.”

Damien: “You’re not afraid of me?”

Jade: “I’m more curious to hear what you have been dying to share.”

He licks his lips and leans forward onto his elbows on the table.

Damien: “It started with Brooke.”

[SFX: bar atmosphere noise]

“I was out at a bar on Garrison. Brooke was loud enough to hear over the music. She was beautiful and she knew it. At first I thought her confidence was that I’ve got my life together and it’s amazing type. She seemed mature but out that night to let loose. I watched her for a bit with her friends and she definitely seemed like the motherly figure of the group. It didn’t take much for me to feel comfortable walking up to her and striking up a conversation. Once we started talking, we realized we had a lot in common. She was a Broncos fan, too, we liked the same bands. I thought she would have been a perfect fit. 

I’ve never been one to dance, but she got me out on the dance floor that night. I mostly stood there swaying and ironically pumping my arms but she had a grace. She wasn’t an amazing dancer, she didn’t have to be, but that grace was one of someone sure of themselves. I wanted that in my life, not just for one night. So I asked her if she wanted to get out of there and get some food. She was happy to. She was so taken with me, as well, she forgot about her friends. Didn’t even tell them we were leaving.

So we walk down the street to the diner, still talking, getting to know one another. My excitement settled in my shoulders and chest. It was the first time I’d been giddy in a long time. But then we get into the diner, and that’s when I see it. I saw that darkness inside her. Once I saw it she became a completely different person. Once I saw that darkness, that’s all I could see.

But she still seemed charming, full of life. So I invited her back to my place, hoping that I could talk more with her to get to the bottom of that darkness. I had to see if I could save her. But once I started questioning her, she got irritated, annoyed, as if I was the one with the problem. That’s when I knew she would never face who she truly was, never get the help she needs to keep from letting that darkness out.

It all happened so fast with Brooke. When she started to raise her voice I knew I had to quiet her. So I did what I knew to do. I knocked her out and tied her up. Then I pulled a chair close to my fireplace so I could hold my bowie knife in the flames until she woke up.”  

Jade: “It was her eyes. You saw your mother’s eyes when you got a clear look at hers.”

My words wipe away his smile. I’ve heard enough of his story to be satisfied, I don’t need to let him describe and revel in his torture porn.

Damien: “You weren’t supposed to know that part.”

Jade: “How could I not? She’s the reason you did it. She’s the reason you killed all of them. Did you really think I wouldn’t see that part?”

He leans back in his chair, tucking his hands in his lap.

Damien: “I guess there was part of me that thought you wouldn’t find anything, much less that.”

Jade: “Tell me about your mother.”

Damien: “It wasn’t just that she made me think of my mother. Brooke had the same hazel eyes with the same brown flake in the iris of her right eye, just like my mother. It triggered a lot of….a lot of bad memories. I tried to focus on her soft voice, all the good things about her I learned that night.”

Jade: “But the memory of your mother overshadowed her to the point your mother is all you saw.”

Damien: “Could you not do that, please.”

Jade: “I’m getting the feeling you don’t want to talk about your mother, but she seems central to this story.”

Damien:“It’s hard to talk about her. It’s hard to remember everything she did to me.”

Jade: [voice raising, steady] “But you remembered every time you killed those women.”

[SFX: slams fists on the table]

Damien:“Because they were all like her! Every one of them! If it wasn’t their resemblance, it was the malice in their voice, their actions. I noticed the same horrible quality of my mother in other women. One of them I saw with my own eyes neglecting her son.”

Jade: His shouting startles me, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Ignoring the words, I release my magic into the room to read him more closely. The pain is written all over his soul. 

[SFX: mother shouting angrily, young boy screaming in pain as he is hit with a hot fire stoker]

Images of his mother beating him with a glowing hot metal rod flash into my mind. Her anger and his agony wash over me, taking my breath away. She did this to him over and over when he was old enough to understand the spiteful words she spit at him. He didn’t escape her until he was a teen. For a moment I feel sorry for him, but not for long. Not knowing what he did to Brooke and many others.

Damien mistakes my gasp for fear, but it works to my advantage. He leans back in his seat.

Damien:“Sorry about that.”

Jade: The fact he’s gaining his composure eases my fear. I don’t seem to be one of those women that reminds him of this mother. It’s the small blessings that get us through the day.

[Composed] “And that was your sloppiest kill, wasn’t it? That was when you completely lost it.”

Damien: [clearing his throat] “I was a bit ashamed. I did try to show them first, you know. Where they were going wrong, but none of them wanted to hear it.”

Jade: A big part of me doubts that any of these women were really as bad as he thought. But his poor traumatized soul saw what it needed to see to act out the torture he inflicted on these women.

“You’re mother used a fire stoker, didn’t she? But you didn’t. You chose your blade.”

He seems unsure of himself now. He was so eager before to tell his story but bringing up his mother struck a nerve. Maybe that’s my way out of this situation.

“So why do this to all these innocent women? Why not go straight to the source?”

Damien: [sighing] “I tried. By the time I hunted her down, she was long gone. Been dead for years.”

Jade: Unknowing to him its importance, I decide to pull one more card. It’s really more for me than him, but I pull it. The angel Gabriel stares up at us, forever blowing his horn. Judgement. Okay, that’s what I hoped for. I steady my breathing as he stares at me.

Damien: “You okay there, Jade?”

Jade: Hearing my name on his lips makes my stomach turn.

“Yes, Damien. I’m fine. I’m a little stronger than your average tarot reader, but sometimes the weight of the readings takes its toll on me.”

Damien: “Whose pain are you feeling, those evil women or mine?”

Jade: “I feel it all, Damien. And I’m sorry you had to go through all of that at the hand of your mother. But I think I can help you here.”

Damien: “How?”

Jade: “I can give you what you want. I can give you your mother. It won’t be easy, but it will give you a chance to not only see her but to give her the justice you’ve craved for so long.”

His face becomes carefully still.

Damien: “Don’t tease me.”

Jade: “No, really, I can. Surely Dylan talked up how I am the real deal.”

Damien: “He did, but I still never dreamed it would be true.”

Jade: I nod as I slide my hands off the table.

“I can do it. But I need your permission to do so. I need you willing. Please, lean back in your chair and relax.”

He does as I ask.

Damien: “I am willing. Please, where do we start?”

Jade: “With a push of a button.”

[SFX: ten metal stakes releasing and sinking into Damien’s flesh]

My finger slides over the release button on my left beneath the table and my hidden metal stakes in the chair Damien sits in impale his body, pinning him to the chair as he gurgles and twitches. I make my way toward him. Standing behind his chair, watching as the blood pools on his lap, I pet his face.

“I promise you, you will see your mother again. Just not before I’m done with you.” 

[SFX: rushing air, inhaling breath as Jade sucks the life force out of him]

I release my protective shields and open myself to take his energy. He tastes bitter, like the peel of an orange. But like the peel, his soul still gives me the nutrients I need. Sucking all the despair, disgust, and rage from his body along with what was left of that scared little boy his mother tortured. I drink him down until there’s nothing left. 

I walk back to my chair and slide my hand over the release button on the right side of the table. The trap door beneath Damien opens and his body falls below to the chute that leads to an unnamed terror. A terror that I have kept watch over for a decade now. A terror that’s always hungry and always accepting of my gifts, however sparsely they come.

[sighing] “You will definitely be spending eternity with your mother. But who will be torturing whom, now that’s up for debate.”

As I decide to get up and do damage control, another thought occurs to me. I do one more reading to answer a question that Damien had not. Once I have my answer and think about how to string it all together, I make a phone call.

[SFX: phone dialing]

“Hi, yes, I would like to report a lead on where Brooke Staton’s body is. I think I just had a run in with her killer.”