The Gentleman From Hell |S1| Ep. 13

Rusty Quill presents.

Good evening, gentlemen and gentle ladies of hell.

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Talk about refreshing.

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A brand new phone with Verizon.

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This is a deal for everyone, whether you're a new or existing customer.

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

Three-year price guarantee applies to then-current base monthly rate only.

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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, play, or claim.

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And we're back live during a flex alert.

Dialed in on the thermostat.

Oh, we're pre-cooling before 4 p.m., folks.

And that's the end of the third.

Time to set it back to 78 from 4 to 9 p.m.

Clutch move by the home team.

What's the game plan from here on out?

Laundry?

Not today.

Dishwasher?

Sidelined.

What a performance by Team California.

The power truly is ours.

During a flex alert, pre-cool, power down, and let's beat the heat together.

Say it,

I use

that

I'm not sure if I can get it to the bathroom.

What do we have here?

Look who's back.

Mace, Phil, Rise and Shine.

I saw headlights out there.

Could be the guy from the other night.

Why can't this guy show up at a decent hour?

What time is it?

A little after 2 a.m.

You guys get ready and I'll wait for you in the car.

Never a dull moment.

Indeed.

Seems to be coming from around this area.

I just hope you saw him while he was coming and not going.

And as usual, we must consider the ever-present possibility of thrill seekers.

Could be, but it's the middle of the night on a Tuesday Tuesday in the rain.

Not the best conditions for the average teenage hijinks.

Been that long since you were a teenager, huh?

That will be quite enough of that, young man.

Ageism will not be tolerated.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down.

Look right there.

Fresh tire tracks in the mud.

Looks like he's headed back to the farm.

Probably chickened out last time.

Took off before he was done looking around.

Needed a couple of days so he could build up the nerve to come back.

You think you can see all right to drive without the lights on?

If I drive real slow.

There, I can see his headlights.

He's got him facing right into the barn.

He's either in there or still thinking about it.

If he bothers to look, he's definitely gonna notice that we nabbed the melted water cards he left behind.

Look, he was in the car.

He's getting out now.

See if we can slip up there on the grass so it's not to crackle across the gravel.

Between the rain and his car still running, there's a good chance he won't hear us coming.

You got it.

I'm gonna slip out and catch him when he comes out.

You're not planning on hurting this man, are you?

No, but I don't want him to rap it either.

I hope you know what you're doing.

He does, don't worry.

Now get going before he comes back out.

I won't be long.

How about this weather, huh?

Huh?

Who who the hell are you?

Take it easy.

I don't want any trouble.

Just want to ask you a few questions, is all

stay the fuck away from me, or I'll shoot.

You hear me?

I'll fucking shoot.

Hold on, chief.

Nobody wants to get hurt.

All I want.

Shut the fuck up.

Just stay where you are and keep your hands away from your pockets.

Or I swear to God, I'll fucking use this.

You're one of them.

The fuckers who were following my brother.

Look, I'm on your side.

I'm a private investigator.

I'm just looking to ask you a few questions about your brother.

That's all.

What did you do to my brother?

What did you do to Alex?

Tell me.

Or so help me, Christ.

Okay, pal, I want you to slide that hammer back and toss the pistol on the ground.

My partner is telling you the truth.

We don't want to hurt you.

We just want to ask you some questions.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay, just

please, please don't kill me.

I don't know anything.

I won't even tell anyone when I saw you.

I swear to God, I won't.

You got nothing to worry about.

Just throw the gun down.

There you go.

You got the gun?

I got it.

So, what do you say?

Can we talk now?

Here you go.

Should warm you up a bit.

Thanks.

So, uh, you three are private investigators?

That we are.

Why are you looking into Alex?

So, uh, Alex is the name of your brother, huh?

Yeah, uh, he's the reason I came all the way out here.

Last name?

Harmon.

What made you think Alex would be here, all alone in an abandoned barn in the middle of the night?

I, uh, snuck a tracker app onto his phone.

The app said he'd been hanging out in the barn, or maybe the farmhouse.

How's that exactly?

There, uh, ain't no service around here.

The app still collects data when it's offline.

Just uses GPS.

When he left the city, the app updated his position on my map.

Wait a minute, he left?

Cold Sparrow?

Yeah, he headed out after a few days.

Why does that surprise you?

I thought you said you were looking for your brother.

I never said I was looking for him.

I said I knew he'd been around the barn.

I know where Alex is.

Are you saying your brother isn't missing?

Right.

Yeah, he's somewhere in Europe.

Left a few weeks ago.

Okay.

No, but we are former law enforcement agents, and you pulled an unlicensed gun on us while trespassing on private property, where only we have permission to be.

So, unless you'd like us to...

David, I know you've been terribly concerned about Alex, and I know he hasn't been himself for quite some time.

But what we're investigating may help explain what happened to him.

How do you know that?

That Alex hasn't been acting normal.

I'm clairvoyant, and I saw some of what's been going on.

I couldn't determine who he claimed to be talking to, but I know from where he believed that person was talking to him.

Hail.

All right.

I suppose I might as well.

The hell stuff came out of left field.

He never believed in anything like that.

Neither of us did.

Then one day he just brought it up, said he was starting to think our grandfather was talking to him.

At first, he thought he might be cracking up.

He even went to a specialist to check himself out.

But then he started believing the voice really was our grandfather's.

Why did Alex think his grandpa's was in hell?

Because that's where our grandfather told him he was.

I mean, I suppose that much wasn't hard to believe.

Our grandfather was a real son of a bitch.

How so?

Um,

well, uh,

our parents sent us to stay with him one summer, after our aunt died.

Um, they had to take care of all the arrangements, the will, property, you know, all that.

While we were with him, he treated us like animals, slapped us around, threatened us.

And then, one day we found something.

It was hidden in the basement of an old run-down house on the edge of his property, way out in the fucking woods.

And

what did you see, David?

There was this room in the basement.

It was packed with huge jars filled with formaldehyde.

There were all sorts of dead animals floating around them.

In one of the containers

we found what looked like a knotted up hand.

We were never sure though.

Did you tell anyone?

Your parents?

We talked about it, but we didn't think anyone would believe us.

We were just kids, you know.

At one point, we planned to take our parents there to prove it to them.

But before we could, we found out the abandoned house had burned down.

We always figured he'd done it himself, and He found out we'd been in his room and decided to empty it and burn it to the ground.

Either way, it didn't matter.

The asshole died of a stroke not long after.

Did Alex ever tell you what his grandfather was saying, though?

Something like, I'm waiting for you.

Another time he claimed my grandfather said,

I've got myself a new secret room, and I can't wait for you to see it.

Or something like that.

Anyway, Alex started to get worse, having hallucinations, hearing different voices.

He got so bad that he wouldn't come out of his house after dark.

He said that the world changed once the fog came out.

But there was a further element, wasn't there?

A detail that raised suspicions about another possibility.

Yeah, yeah, there was.

I uh I started noticing things.

Like what kind of things?

Cars parked outside his house, people walking through the neighborhood at odd times.

It just didn't make sense.

They, or someone, was fucking watching him, and they didn't want anyone to know about it.

Who do you think these people were?

Now, I did a lot of researching about conspiracies and all that shit, right?

The only thing I could think of was that the government was doing it, experimenting on him, something like that.

And then you decide to track him, just in case they took him, right?

Not yet.

Not until the last night.

Alex showed up at my door, crying.

Out of his fucking mind.

He said he'd risked coming to see me out at night into the fog.

That I...

that I had to save him from them.

Christ,

he was pleading with me.

I'd never seen him like that before.

It's okay, David.

We just want to understand what's happened to you.

You think I could get another drink?

Yeah, sure.

Be right back with it.

Thanks.

So, what happened next, David?

I took him inside, tried to settle him down, but he just wouldn't stop raving about demons going to hell.

So, finally, I called an ambulance, a mental health emergency.

I didn't know what else to do.

When they finally arrive and take Alex away, he's just screaming for me to help him.

Anyway,

I followed them out to the ambulance, and that's where I saw it.

The same damn car that always parked across from Alex's place.

In that instant, it all clicked.

He wasn't crazy.

Someone or some group had done this to him.

Shattered his mind.

The car took off the moment the ambulance left.

Later that night, after visiting Alex in the psych ward, I got a hold of his phone and installed the tracking ad.

I'm assuming they couldn't make heads of tails of his condition.

They said all kinds of things.

Nervous breakdown, paranoia.

I tried to push them to do more tests to see if Alex had been, you know, tampered with.

But they wouldn't do anything they figured wasn't absolutely necessary.

But from where I was standing, it looked more and more like they were understaffed and short on funds.

But none of that mattered because the morons let him out.

Some doctor said he was fit to be released and out he went.

Alex called me once he hit the street and I rushed to pick him up and give the staff a fucking earful.

But he wasn't there.

I just figured he took a a taxi and went home, but wasn't there either.

So I pulled up the app.

He was outside the fucking city and still going.

All I could think was they took him.

They fucking took him.

So I sped after him, hoping I could somehow get him back.

But the app stopped transmitting his location.

I was out of options.

Did you report him missing?

Yeah, but that didn't get me anywhere.

You know, the whole he hasn't been missing long enough, blah, blah, blah.

A guy vanishes the second he's released from the psych ward, but that doesn't raise any eyebrows.

I thought I'd never see him again.

But you did, right?

You did see him again.

Showed up right out of the blue about a week later.

He was dressed in a suit and sounding right as rain again.

Said he was fine, that his stay in the psych ward let him collect himself, but he still needed some time.

And that he was going on vacation to Europe.

Did he look or sound any different to you?

Not really.

But then I didn't get a chance to say much to him.

Said he was going to be late for his flight out.

Did he have the kind of resources to just drop everything and take an extended vacation?

Hellex was an insurance adjuster.

He wasn't broke, but he wasn't swimming in money either.

Didn't make a difference anyway.

After he left, I found out that his number didn't work anymore.

He quit his job and moved out of his apartment.

And

that's the last I've heard from him.

But then you remembered the app.

And then I remembered the app.

Once he'd left the service dead zone, it updated his previous locations.

Took me a while to get the nerve to come out here.

Why the fuck was he here?

In an abandoned city?

The app didn't show any more locations?

He came straight here to that fucking farm.

Stayed there for a few days and then headed out.

His trail ends on that main road that heads to Portafoy.

I assume his phone died.

And you haven't heard anything from him since?

Nothing.

Not a damn thing.

So,

how does any of this fit with what you three are investigating?

We've been down to the barn, David.

And we found some contracts a while back.

Must have been your brother.

See, we've been looking into some shady activity here.

A lot of shifty types.

We think.

We think something might be going on.

You don't think the government might be using this place for some sort of,

I don't know,

off-the-grid experiments?

But we don't know a hell of a lot yet.

Now, do you mind if we call you if we need any more information?

Wait a minute, that's it?

Look, I just told you some real personal shit.

You said you might know something.

She even knew about the crazy shit Alex was spewing.

So what is it you know?

Tell me.

We've just been chasing shadows so far, Davin.

To be honest, we were hoping you would tell us something we didn't already know.

And Phil's a psychic.

Pulling shit out of thin air is what she does.

I'm sorry we sort of led you on.

You gotta be fucking kidding me.

I can't believe this.

Look, David, what sorry?

The hell with your sorry?

Fucking drag me here just to blow smoke up my ass?

Thanks for the drink, assholes.

Think he's okay to drive?

Just had the two drinks.

Why did you lie to the poor man?

You could have at least told him something.

Because he'd want to stay here, see things through, which would only make our job all the more difficult.

I'm just glad he didn't recognize us.

Must not be a fan of true crime shows.

Lucky us.

What if we need to talk to him later?

He just stormed out, and all we have is his name, David Harmon.

There must be hundreds of people with the same name.

I got his plate number, and the glass has his prints on it.

If we need to, we can figure out who he is easily enough.

Hmm.

Clever lads.

If somewhat infuriating.

I recorded everything he said, so let's go through it again.

See what we can make from it.

Two coffees and a tea.

Coming up.

Hi there, officer.

Uh, sorry about that.

Kind of forgot about how fast I was going.

David Harmon?

Yeah, that's me.

Wait, how did you know who I was?

Wait, wait, wait, please don't!

The Gentleman from Hell is a Maltopia production.

Today's episode was written by Mark Anselone and performed by Steven Zivick, Sam Stark, Aubrey Akers, and Stephen Anselone.

Sound editing was completed by Stephen Anselone, 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.

Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

Talk about refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing this summer?

A brand new phone with Verizon.

Yep, get a new phone on any plan with Select Phone Trade In MyPlan.

And lock down a low price for three years on any plan with MyPlan.

This is a deal for everyone, whether you're a new or existing customer.

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

Three-year price guarantee applies to them-current base monthly rate only.

Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.

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, play, or claim.