Don't Mind | Sealskin Rock | Ep. 6

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Take it away.

Hello, my little nightshades.

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Guests include Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Hunter Dewan, Steve Buscemi, Fred Armison, Catherine Zeta Jones, the Joanna Lumley, and show creators Al Goff and Miles Miller.

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Previously on Don't Mind Seal Skin Rock.

Having spotted Julia in a terrifying position atop an armoire, Melody rushed to get her father.

Samson, upset with his daughter's perceived jest when Julia was nowhere to be found, told her to go back upstairs with Maxine.

Back in their room, Melody and Maxine learned more about the history of the Grot Chateau and the tragedy of the Dan Le Grot family.

After a small fight with her sister, Melody returned downstairs and spied her father and Ian talking about the boom discovered beneath their feet.

Grooves of silver set within the very foundation of the chateau.

Don't mind.

Sealskin rock.

Silver's not strong enough for that.

And there's more to find.

We haven't even found the edges to these pipes yet.

They could even go up into the house, the walls, or the grooves could go deep.

This part, the central section, where do you think we are?

Under the staircase?

Hey!

What are you doing here?

Mel?

Shit!

So, this changes things, right?

What's the next step in your scam now?

It's not a scam.

We found real sub-Melody, what did I say?

You never listen, girl.

I tell you there's glass and asbestos and lead, and you still come down here, knowing it's dangerous.

Get out.

Go back upstairs, and don't come down here again.

Oh, wear a mask!

And anyways, you said you weren't even starting the asbestos removal yet.

And it's not really glass shards, now is it?

It's something else.

It doesn't matter what it is.

I said it's dangerous.

Why can't you just do what I say?

Let's see.

I'd say it's because I've never had a credible role model for good choices.

But how would I even know that if I never get to go back to school?

You can't just do what you want and blame your bad behavior on others.

What the fuck do you think you're doing?

Hey,

let's calm down.

Come on.

Julie will hear us, and we can't have.

We can't have her coming down here right now.

Look, we

found something.

You probably heard us, right?

I overheard a lot of it.

Then maybe you can help us.

If she wears a mask, she can come down here.

Maybe she can stop Julia from coming down here if she ever gets curious.

Samson, she already knows about the stuff, and she's been down here a few times.

He didn't do a great job hiding it from her before, and you can't expect her to just accept lies now that she knows the truth.

Melody,

this is real, and it's serious.

This could be more than just some job to tide us over for a few months.

A few months?

You said this was the last one!

Shh!

And it could be.

Now it could.

So before you were just lying?

But now some big transition from small-time con man to thief somehow fixes that?

I knew it.

I was being hopeful.

With every single job, I hoped it would be the last one.

one.

And this one can be.

Really?

Look.

Look!

We took up the rotting boards, and when we were sweeping up the debris, we saw these...

these grooves were just cut into the stone.

And they've been filled with silver.

Pure, perfect silver.

There are a few points where the silver is connected to the floor through smaller holes, but most of it should be easy to pull up once we cut it.

And no one knows it's here.

I brought over a detector and multiple silver testing kits.

The detector reads as silver no matter where I test on the metal and the grooves, and the silver test kits came back positive for high quality.

Fine silver, not a copper alloy.

It's real.

It's valuable, and there's a lot of it.

Miss Julia's been working here for years.

There's no way she doesn't know about this.

We had to tear up two layers of the basement floor to get to it.

She's been working here for years.

Yeah, sure.

But she hasn't done any renovations.

And it's in the ground, in the stone that makes up sealskin rock.

But it's not natural?

Like in a silver mine?

No, no.

In a mine, if you're looking at silver in the rocks, the stones will look like natural stones with a shine to them.

Like silver dust settled on rock.

These

are pure.

Someone refined the silver and then poured it into the grooves like a mole.

They're dirty here.

It's hard to see it.

Come on.

See?

Pure.

And we can take it.

We don't have to scam Anrock out of the money for the contracts or the jobs.

We can just do our best at the demolition and use it as a cover while we remove all the silver we can.

If they don't know it's here, we just treat it like anything else the company wants removed.

But instead of disposing of it, we keep it.

And rebuilding the basement subfloor and floor is something we can do.

It's not overly difficult, and we can do it to the standard expected in the contract.

They'll never need to see it, and never need to know.

They'll get what they want.

We can charge for only the work we've properly done, and the only thing Anrock loses is a little bit of time until they can hire on a new contractor.

So that's it.

You're either a con man or a thief.

There's not even the option of being the good guy.

I'm not the good guy for trying to give you and Max a better life.

No one is worse off for this.

Anrock doesn't need it, but we do.

And with the cards we've been dealt, yeah, sometimes we can't afford to take the high road.

Sometimes you just gotta suck it up and take what you can get.

That's how we keep money in our pockets and food in the fridge.

I'm sure your dad's trying his best.

And we don't need you to help with anything you don't want to help with.

You're a smart girl.

You know what he's saying is right.

It may feel like a crime, but it's not.

It's what's best.

The only thing we do need is for you not to tell anyone.

Not Julia, not Lucas.

Not Maxine.

She doesn't need to know.

She just needs to focus on her schoolwork and her health.

You want to know how we get money for gifts into the budget?

How we get her new games and clothes she doesn't doesn't need to repair?

This is how.

I won't tell her.

I won't tell them.

Maxine doesn't need to know how shitty this is.

How any of your jobs have been.

Fine.

Good.

Since you know now, can we show you what we found?

The silver?

You just did.

Yeah,

but not all of it.

Put on a mask.

Silver or not, it's still a mess, and we aren't lying about the asbestos or the lead.

Right.

This is where we first spotted it.

But it only keeps spreading from there.

It looks like they bore out a design into the flattened stone, made these grooves to collect the poured silver, and filled it after it was all completed.

The silver is one massive, perfect piece, all poured at once.

At least with what we've found so far.

We still have to follow the silver lines outward and keep looking for the edges.

How deep is each groove?

We don't know yet.

Could be a couple millimeters, could be a few centimeters.

Either way, it's as thick as your wrist and worth a fortune.

Can I lay down on the floor?

This part, here.

You're gonna get dirty, but that part is still supported, so you can lie down.

It couldn't have been poured all at once.

There are pieces that don't look connected.

In there, it looks like, I don't don't know, an F or a symbol.

And it's not connected to the rest.

Unless it connects under the rock.

Get up and get out of the way.

We'll pull the floor up.

Okay.

Right there, see?

Good eye.

I don't think it's an F.

I think it's just...

a symbol?

Maybe something Chinese?

Nah, it's not.

Don't know what it is.

So, it's like a big circle?

Yeah.

And look at the center.

It's thicker than all the others.

And it's connected with these narrower channels to the larger circle.

It's a cross.

Or an X, like X marks the spot.

And you think that under it is just rock?

We don't know.

There may be something under the silver, but we haven't taken any out yet, so we can't tell.

This looks creepy.

Maybe it was a chapel?

Lots of old rich families built personal chapels, and when you're on an island like this,

it'd be hard to make it to church on Sundays.

I mean, sure, but why hide it if it's a chapel?

I don't think you should be messing with this.

Don't be childish, Melody.

I'm not.

I'm being cautious.

Someone put a lot of work into carving out this circle and the cross and the smaller symbols, and they poured all this silver in there for a reason.

How'd they even get their hands on this much silver?

They owned a silver mine.

The family that built this place, the OG Grote, he discovered a silver vein in Quebec and founded a mine.

He made his fortune in silver.

Hmm.

Makes sense then.

You took the job for this place, but you didn't look up anything beforehand.

History doesn't matter much, just the state of the building.

Which is shit.

There are certainly things in here that are a bit mismatched as far as construction goes.

Some new pipes had to be installed in the 1900s, and the asbestos pipe installation was not widely used until the mid-1900s.

Power lines were run in too, but not to every room.

So, somebody probably knows all about the silver.

If people have been down here changing stuff, someone must have seen it.

What's that?

Is that one of your trash bags?

Where?

This one

looks old.

Not mine.

Ian?

Nope, must have been under the subfloor.

Give it a year.

Oh fuck.

They're bones.

Let me see.

Look at the skull.

It's some kind of carnivore.

Oh, it's probably a seal.

Julia said seal hunting was super normal here, so it was probably really common when the chateau was being built.

It has the right shape, I think.

And teeth.

Almost looks like a dog.

Just add it to the trash pile, then.

Now, there's a line of silver we've uncovered that goes from the circle out this way.

Come here, I'll show you.

This is an old exit from the basement out to the rocks.

It was probably used to get things in and out of the chateau without having to use the front door.

It was boarded over, but we ripped those out earlier.

Rotten, like everything else in this place.

Whoa.

You take your mask off out here.

The air's clear and a bit salty.

This is...

Maxine would love this.

Okay, Melody.

Pay attention.

It doesn't look like much, but you see that rock right over there?

It's all rock.

Where?

Which part?

The edge, right there.

Look where I'm pointing.

I'm trying.

Okay, yeah, sure.

We followed a groove of the silver out through the stone foundation.

And we think it comes to an end over there.

We can't get there, though.

I'm too tall, and your father's too wide.

So you need to go over there and...

What?

You said I didn't have to help in your scheme.

Well, neither of us can do it.

So this is the one thing you'll need to help us with.

I put those boards down earlier this morning.

Just walk out there, duck under that, and tell us if you see any of the silver coming through.

No way!

That's not.

This is stupidly dangerous.

Here's a safety line.

If you fall, we'll catch you.

This is insane.

That won't save me.

That'll hurt me.

Maybe we could.

Melody, hurry up.

I hate you.

I hate you.

I hate you.

I hate you.

I hate you.

I hate you.

You should brace that, bro.

You're at it.

What's there?

Do you see the what we're looking for?

Yeah, it's here.

I can see it.

I can see the curve of it.

Curve?

The bottom of it.

And like a T?

The rock fell off at some point, so you can see the shape of it.

Like a pipe.

It's like a little thicker than our phone, but flat on the top side and round on the bottom.

You said a T.

Where does it go?

What direction?

Uh,

it goes up a little and then down.

The top looks like where they would have poured it from.

Does that make sense?

Dad?

I told you!

I told you it wasn't safe!

I told you!

You okay?

Ian, you're bleeding.

Yeah.

Shit.

I'll be right back.

You said you put those boards down earlier.

That could have killed me.

You could have killed me.

I would have fallen, Dad.

Stop being dramatic.

You're fine.

The planks were properly secured.

They were rotten.

When I put them down earlier, they were fine.

And you're safe.

Stop griping.

You're fine.

Ian will be fine too.

You're back on solid rock, so stop making a show out of it.

Anyway, we got work to do.

What did the silver look like?

Are you serious?

Melody, I'm sorry you got scared, but what did the stuff look like?

How far out of the basement wall did it go?

Yeah.

Pretty far.

It comes out pretty far.

It does.

Looks like they drilled holes out there, too.

The silver goes down into the rock.

There may even be more.

More and more and more silver for you to steal.

A great opportunity, right?

That good?

Because I'm good.

I'm done.

Bye.

Hey, Melody, hold up.

Are you okay?

Did you get hurt at all?

I'm fine.

Sorry about about your arm.

I'm going back upstairs.

Bye.

I'll walk up with you.

Really?

I'm fine.

Hey, I said I just want to talk.

No, really.

I'm fine.

I have no doubt.

But that was still really messed up.

I told you, Dad, those boards looked a little sus.

I should have been a bit more insistent.

If we got the money to expand that grocery budget a bit, give it a little wiggle room, room, what would you want?

What would you wish for?

Something for Maxine, I'd imagine.

That gift?

The game?

Right.

Anything else, though?

But that's good.

Seriously.

Wish my sisters were as nice as you.

Maxine is lucky to have you.

Seems like you're always thinking about her.

You should take time to think about yourself, though.

It's okay to be a little more selfish, you know?

To figure out what you want.

Okay.

I get it.

You put on a tough face so you can take care of Maxine and try and pick up after your father's problems.

I have to do the same, except with my mom.

Sometimes it's okay to be weak.

Okay, not weak, but think about it, right?

Where can you draw your line?

Don't you deserve to draw a line?

Lean on someone else for a while?

Sure.

Look, I understand how dumb this must all feel.

You deserve a break, but think of how much good that money will do us.

That much silver, sold at even some second-rate pawn shop, would make our life so much better.

Our life?

No!

Our lives!

Lives!

Plural!

Well, yeah, sorry.

I just meant our life, like us versus them.

We need this stuff.

Anrock doesn't.

And well, me and your dad, we shouldn't need to get another gig for a while after this.

If we're lucky, we'll head somewhere better.

Just like he was talking to you about, right?

Who knows?

You're probably really close to getting your own place, too.

Thank you, Anne, for helping me back there.

I might have actually died, so really, for that, thank you.

But you need to understand that there is no we or us, and I'm not talking about me personally, but my family.

You're not part of us.

You're not our friend.

You work with my dad.

That's it.

Once this job is done, silver or no silver, we'll never see you again.

That's how this works.

That's how this always works.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

I can help.

It's a lot of responsibility.

At some point, you'll need to make some choices for yourself, right?

Make friends?

Find someone to lean on?

You're right.

I do need friends.

Friends my age.

Not what.

What are you?

Like 26, 27?

Ian, thank you for earlier.

Now goodbye.

You can go.

I'm sure you're busy.

With all the silver and theft and all.

Email, I thought.

Oh, hi, Ian.

He's just leaving.

Oh, really?

How's the work?

What happened to your arm?

Oh, I'm glad you weren't there to see it, Max.

It was heart-wrenching.

We were working with your dad in the basement and we found a cool old passage that went outside through a boarded-up door.

We were in the folds on the rocks.

Oh, and your sister said you'd like to see it, but it's honestly really really dangerous, Max.

But your sister was helping us out, going out on a narrow path on the rock face, and the board snapped and she nearly fell.

I caught her and helped her back up, but grazed my arm on the rocks.

No worries, though.

Nothing time won't fix.

I'll snap a picture of the place next time I'm out there.

Then I can show it to you.

Melody, seriously?

You could have died!

But I'm fine.

Thank you, Ian.

Of course, it all happened so fast.

She was really lucky.

Lucky you were there?

Sure was.

And now Ian's just leaving.

There's a lot to do in the basement, so he's busy.

Yeah, okay, but come back up to show me that picture.

Can't do.

Maxine,

go

back inside.

I didn't do anything.

Max.

Don't come back up here to see Maxine.

And

this is actually why I came down to the basement in the first place.

Take it back.

I'm sure you can find someone more age-appropriate to give it to.

No, you know what?

Don't give stolen stuff to people, and never

give anything to my sister.

She doesn't see the worst in people, but I do.

Why are you so mean to him?

And why be mean to me?

I didn't even do anything.

You always hate people.

You always make them leave.

Every time we have a new place, you're always scaring people off.

I nearly fell into the ocean.

It was scary, Maxine.

It was so scary.

And after all of that, I still have to.

I am just so tired.

I wanted to come back up here and see you and and catch my breath.

What have you been up to?

Schoolwork and some cleaning.

I'll need you to upload the assignments when you go down next.

Yeah, not a problem.

Guess I should do the same.

Eventually, yeah.

Schoolwork won't do itself.

I heard some really strange noises while you were gone.

Was Dad working with any weird tools down there?

No, not yet.

It's still just hammers and stuff for demo.

Why?

What do you hear?

I don't know.

Some bangs, like doors slamming closed, but mostly it sounded a bit like someone was skipping or walking fast down the hallways.

Or they were doing the same thing above the room, like in the attic or something.

And it wasn't boots.

It was like hard high heels.

There was one time when I was cleaning up our shoes by the door, and I thought I heard a laugh.

It was really weird and creepy, so I locked the door.

Is Miss Julia on the island?

She comes and goes.

Was that it?

It was really loud, and I think it came down the hallway.

But when I looked at the lights under the door, nothing moved.

There weren't any feet or any shadows moving around, but I still heard it.

Do you think the chateau is haunted?

Like the ghost of Henry down Lacroe, angry that no one found his body for all those years.

Did Henry wear heels?

Well, maybe.

But, uh,

Miss Julia has been acting a bit weird, so if she does come up to the room and you're alone, maybe just

pretend to not be here.

Where else would I be?

True.

Then

maybe just don't answer.

I know you think it's just because I don't like people or that every- No, no, no.

I believe you.

I found something when you were downstairs, and I need to show it to you.

I am 100% on the creepy Miss Julia train.

Believe me.

Come look.

Okay.

Now you've got me really concerned.

What did you find?

You didn't leave the room, right?

You brought up that book with all the landmarks in it, and it had a few papers inside, but you also brought up a whole bunch of clippings and stuff that you said Miss Julia gave you.

I did.

She said the caretakers have been collecting them over the years.

But it's really weird she would give it to you.

Some of these are old, like World War II and older.

And we read about the women's navy group that came out to the island.

Max.

I'm getting to it.

Look, these articles here are all about the area's efforts during World War II.

Some only mention Sealskin Rock, but others focus on the women who are working here.

For a Canada Day celebration during the war, all the people, all the ladies out here on Sealskin Rock, manning the little station they had set up here, they had a party.

Well, not much of a party, seeing as how it was still the war and they were all alone out here, but look, here!

Wrens on the rock celebrate in style.

Rens?

Like birds?

No!

Rens was what they called the Navy woman.

Mel, look at the photo.

They look happy.

Hard to imagine the courtyard looking so well kept, but was still a bit run down even then.

No, look, in the courtyard arch.

That's who I saw when we came into the chateau a few days ago.

That's Julia.

That's Julia.

Don't mind.

Sealskin Rock.

Written and created by K.E.

Stats.

Produced, directed, with additional sound design by Travis Vengroff.

Co-edited and directed with dialogue editing, editing, sound design, mixing, and mastering by Finner Nielsen.

Writing assistance by W.K.

Stats.

Music by Brandon Boone.

And executive producers Dennis Greenhill, A.J.

Punken, Carol Vengroff, and Michael Viegas.

Starring Marcy Edwards, Lily Pichu, Ewan Sheng, and Rusty Moore.

For bonus content, early releases, and ad-free episodes, please support the creators at patreon.com slash foolandscholar.

This is your last week to get a limited edition metal sealskin rock coin.

This is a Fool and Scholar production.

Thank you for listening.

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