The Gentleman From Hell |S1| Ep. 14

Rusty Quill presents

Good evening, gentlemen and gentle ladies of hell.

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All right, gentlemen, that was the seventh alarm I've set for you.

It's nearly eleven.

If we're going to make it to Portafor in time to do anything significant, we must get moving.

These little late-night adventures of ours need the shift to normal hours of operation adventures.

I think I might have slept a total of two hours.

At least you slept.

I've just been laying here staring at the ceiling.

Do you often snore while you stare?

Okay, maybe I might have gotten in a wink or two.

Anyway, how's about we grab some rogue coffee and get lunch/slash breakfast on the way?

I'll miss my personal chef's gourmet meal of every breakfast meet under the sun, but I suppose I can make do with less affair.

And I've already filled both your femices with coffee.

Someone's on top of their game this morning.

Barely morning, lazy bones.

And need I remind you, I am psychic.

As they say, good riddance to bad rubbish.

So much for fast food options en route to Porta Foy.

How the hell do you screw up a cheeseburger that bad?

I suppose it was your clairvoyance that told you to stick to iced tea?

When one encounters a franchise called Beef Prince, one needn't be psychic to predict the quality of food.

Hopefully Portafoy has some respectable dining.

Not even the English can survive on tea alone.

At least they had Wi-Fi, so I could text you as our progress.

I wanted to give them something before he figured we'd been doing nothing but striking out and seeing ghosts.

I'd say secret entrances and hidden tunnel networks should hold him over for a while.

Did you mention anything about the possible cult?

Nothing beyond what he could get from the fact we found secret tunnels.

I didn't want to say too much else until we had something solid to give him.

The tunnels and the cult, if that's what we're up against, again, might not even be connected.

That mausoleum was made centuries ago.

Same might go for the tunnels.

Yeah, could be.

But there was what looked like a path leading right up to the mausoleum.

But no prints in the dirt of the tunnel.

True, but a lot of the ground was solid rock, and the stuff before was all stones and roots.

We'll have a better idea once we get some decent equipment down there.

The tunnel and the cult may not end up being connected, but there is some kind of group involved in this.

I didn't get even the slightest sense that David was lying to us.

And given what I saw during my reading, the men that seized his brother, I have no doubt that Alex was indeed being watched.

Does that mean they drove him nuts?

Christ, I see the links, but uh, I'm still lost.

And what's with the fog?

Is it just a coincidence or what?

When the fog was present, Ben saw both the hyena and the strange man at the farm.

I'm curious to know what Alex thought about it, what he might have seen in it.

Although, strange mists aren't altogether uncommon within the paranormal.

We've seen the hyena and a whole lot more, and we haven't seen any fog.

Are mists anything like the smell of rotten eggs?

That they sort of give away the presence of the paranormal?

That's how I was made to understand them.

During my consultations with paranormal researchers, they often discussed strange, mist-like apparitions, and even showed me photographs where mists appeared only in the images, invisible to the photographers at the time.

And the photos were all taken at locations where paranormal activity had been reported.

It's close, but not quite on the money.

Both Ben and Alex saw it with their own two eyes.

personally i think we might be reading too much into it rupert said cold sparrow was super foggy remember and we're not sure alex wasn't crazy if some group did somehow drive him nuts the stuff he saw after the fact don't matter makes sense but it's still an odd thing to have in common what doesn't make sense is alex coming back right is rain again i mean nothing besides someone forcing him to take that trip but why why drive him nuts and back again, only to pack him off to Yora, if that's even where he went?

Can't say it wouldn't be nice to get more details about Alex.

Might be able to grab some info from whatever hospital he spent the weekend in.

Don't think we'd even need those prints or his plate numbers to do it.

Most of those search sites we subscribe to should be able to score addresses and whatnot.

You know how hard it will be to get info on a psych patient in this state?

Like pulling goddamn teeth.

Need a court order for that kind of shit.

Do you see any water behind these ears?

Obviously, I'm not going through normal channels.

I just happen to know that nurses and minders have a lot of bills to pay, and that Hughes gave us one hell of an expense budget.

He did say spend what you need.

Voila.

What do you got, Phil?

While you two have been discussing leads, I've managed to produce one.

With a little help from the now-functioning internet, if you consider two bars functional.

At any rate, it appears that Ben's lawyer, Mr.

Charlie Prist, resides in Port Foy.

I have both his address and phone number.

Should we call and make an appointment?

Only makes sense that the guy would end up being so close by.

He seemed to know Ben's father well enough, and then ended up taking him on as his lawyer.

But let's just swing by and see if he's home.

Always better to talk to someone before they know you're coming.

Then give him a chance to polish their story.

What about the shrink, Raglan?

Anything turn up on her?

Nothing recent.

Doesn't appear to be practicing anymore.

We can dig deeper into that when we finish looking into everything else.

Why don't you drop me off at the Historical Society when we get into town?

There's a little digging I'd like to do, and since Hughes paid them to let us stay in the house, I'm figuring I might have the run of the place.

I believe the term is donation, but yeah, they should be pretty accommodating.

Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't let the cat out the bag yet, and we haven't seen a bunch of reporters on our doorstep.

That's because one of the conditions of the donation was that they keep their yaps shut.

If we end up having one, I expect I'll be needed for your little chit-chat with Mr.

Prist.

You got it.

It was Prist who gave Ben that tape in the first place.

I want to know if he has any reaction when I bring it up.

About that and anything else you couldn't snatch out of thin air.

Ugh, these days, the air seems to be getting thinner all the time.

Hello there,

welcome to the Demeter County Historical Society and Museum.

Will it be just you today?

Yep, just me.

That would be $8.

Wait a minute.

I recognize you.

Aren't you that young man from the FBI who helped put a stop to that awful solder cult?

Ex-FBI, actually.

But yes, that's right.

I'm Leon Oates.

Maria Telfer.

It's so nice to finally meet you.

Mr.

Hughes mentioned you and your partners want to come by and told us to assist you in any way we can.

So, if there's anything I can do to help you, you just go ahead and ask.

It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Telfer, and thank you very much for the offer.

You know, I was absolutely glued to the news that day.

Oh, my, all that business with those awful, awful maniacs.

It's just terrible what they did to those poor, brainwashed people.

Such a tragedy.

Yeah,

yes, it was.

But what I was wondering...

Did anyone survive that fire?

I mean, what with all those little children, one can only hope?

No.

No one survived.

Horrible.

Just plain horrible.

What kind of a person douses whole families in gasoline and lights them on fire?

Go on, FBI.

Take your shot.

Just see what happens when you do.

May their sweet souls find peace in the hereafter.

So, what can I do for you today, Mr.

Oates?

Could I use your restroom, please?

Certainly.

It's right down that hall.

Thank you.

Oh, keep it together, Leon.

You gotta keep it together.

Just keep your mind on the job,

focus, breathe,

Okay,

gotta focus.

Now, this is our restricted collections room.

If we have anything concerning the city of Isabel or the Olden Sparrows, it should be here.

You have no idea how many of those paranormal types come in here looking for this or that or the other thing.

Let me tell you, they'd give their teeth to get in here.

You see, it's normally off limits to the public.

Why is that?

Quite a bit of the collection was donated based on very specific conditions.

There's a lot of extremely damning stuff in here, let me tell you.

And certain families and people only allow their contributions to be viewed if the information proves important

to historical knowledge.

But since Mr.

Hughes is such a well-respected figure, I'm sure we can make an exception just this once.

Well, I can assure you, we all very much appreciate it.

Now, you just take all the time you need.

If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask.

I won't, thank you.

Money talks and bullshit walks.

Well, this is the place.

647 College Street.

It's not quite as respectable as I expected from a retired lawyer.

Retirements definitely looked better, that's for sure.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the house was abandoned.

It's practically buried in thickets.

There's a car up back.

Looks like he just might be home.

Mace,

why didn't you look up Prist's name the last time you came here?

It's unusual for you not to be ahead of things.

Am I about to be demoted?

You know what I mean.

If I wrap tinfoil around my head, would that keep you from poking around in it?

No, but that shouldn't stop you from trying.

Marlene called.

It's been years since we split, and the bank still calls her about my delinquent mortgage payment.

Ah, the house in the Hamptons.

Yeah, and she made damn sure to let me know how badly I screwed up.

Anyway, after all that, I was in no condition for sleuthing.

You know, Mason, I've built up a significant amount of savings, and I'd be...

Absolutely not.

I got myself into this hole, and I'll get myself out of it.

Besides...

With the money Hughes is putting down, I'll be living on Easy Street in no time.

Speaking of which, I'm not gonna make a dime unless we crack this case.

But thanks for checking in on me just the same.

You're always welcome, Mason.

But do try that tinfoil trick, won't you?

You ready for this?

My antennae are fully extended.

All right,

let's hit it.

Mr.

Charlie Prest?

That's me.

Who are you?

Name's Mesa Rhodes, and this here is Phyllis Chambers.

We're with Apex Intelligence Solutions.

We've been hired to look into some matters concerning Benjamin Veers.

I understand you were his lawyer.

That was over 20 years ago, fella.

And in case you ain't heard,

he disappeared.

Along with everyone else in Cold Sparrow.

Don't see what help I could be to you.

We're looking into some familial claims regarding his estate and other remaining assets.

We were hoping you could clear some things up for us.

We'd be willing to compensate you for your time, of course.

Compensate, huh?

Well then,

sure.

Come on in.

It's your time.

You'll have to pardon the mess.

Made's day off, don't you know?

You from here?

Does it sound like it?

No.

I'm originally from New York.

I was looking to get out of the big city.

Set down some routes someplace nice.

Fresh air and uh

wild dad.

Have a seat right over there.

Just uh put all that stuff on the floor.

Now, uh, you were Ben's father's attorney too, right?

Sure was

Ed was my uh

first client when I got here.

Sounds like you lucked out.

Must have been a nice gig.

Until Ben

Ed was uh

my one and only client

since hitting Cold Sparrow.

Didn't need any others.

Maid

She came more often back then, too.

I'll bet.

Now, Ben and Edward were uh estranged.

Yeah.

But don't ask me why.

Never talked about him or maybe some other relatives?

We, uh...

We weren't really buddies.

I mean,

we had dinner at his place

a few times.

Mostly to discuss business.

All I know about his um relatives is he

Excuse me

is that he inherited all his money from big wigs in Europe.

Yeah, like father like son, I guess both of them are pretty reclusive from what I hear.

So uh

who's this um

client uh who thinks they deserve a piece of V's fortune

well there

I'm afraid our client wishes to remain anonymous, Mr.

Prist.

They believe they could be in some danger if word got out about their inquiry into the matter.

Danger, huh?

What uh

what kind of danger?

Did you happen to see anything unusual during your employment with either Edward or Ben?

Uh,

not that I can think of.

Uh,

I mean,

you know, they were both into some

odd stuff.

Edward,

Edward, you here?

That uh package you wanted so bad came in.

Figured I'd bring it over myself.

I am uncertain.

Edward,

you uh

you were in there.

What's that noise?

Everything okay?

Hello, Charlie.

It's nice to see you.

And look, you've brought me a present.

How thoughtful.

Uh, yeah, it's that package from Norway you've been waiting for.

Um, say,

what was that you were listening to in there?

While I appreciate you bringing me my package, Charlie,

next time, I recommend waiting till you're invited, before

stopping over.

Do you understand?

Sure.

Um, you know, sorry about that.

No harm done.

But if you will excuse me, I'm quite busy.

I'm sure you know the way out.

Yeah, I'll uh talk to you later.

And, you know, sorry about that.

The Gentleman from Hell is a Maltopia production.

Today's episode was written by Mark Anzalone and performed by Stephen Zivik, Sam Stark, Aubrey Akers, Jesse Van Hove, and Mark Anzalone.

Sound editing was completed by Stephen Anzalone, and script editing was conducted by Walker Kornfeld.

Be sure to rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.

And follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Meltopia.

If you want unique art and animations of Meltopia's stories, visit our YouTube page or click on the link in the show notes.

And for more exclusive content, such as additional lore, stories, and art, be sure to check out our Patreon at www.patreon.com forward slash Meltopia.

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Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game day scratchers from the California Lottery.

Play is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Hey, a little play makes your day, and today it made the game.

That's all for now.

Coach, one more question.

Play the new Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams Scratchers from the California Lottery.

A little play can make your day.

Please play responsibly, must be 18 years or older to purchase light or claim.

Hey, I'm Paige DeSorbo, and I'm always thinking about underwear.

I'm Hannah Burner, and I'm also thinking about underwear, but I prefer full coverage.

I like to call them my granny panties.

Actually, I never think about underwear.

That's the magic of Tommy John.

Same, they're so light and so comfy, and if it's not comfortable, I'm not wearing it.

And the bras, soft, supportive, and actually breathable.

Yes, Lord knows the girls need to breathe.

Also, I need my PJs to breathe and be buttery, soft, and stretchy enough for my dramatic tossing and turning at night.

That's why I live in my Tommy John pajamas.

Plus, they're so cute because they fit perfectly.

Put yourself on to Tommy John.

Upgrade your drawer with Tommy John.

Save 25% for a limited time at tommyjohn.com/slash comfort.

See site for details.