Unlicensed S2 E3: "Minor Chords"

Speaker 1 and I don't just write Welcome to Nightville, we also write books that are not about Nightville, and here are some of them.

Speaker 1 Alice Isn't Dead, a lesbian road trip horror love story for fans of Stephen King.

Speaker 1 The Halloween Moon, my book for kids of any age about a Halloween where things really start to get weird for everyone.

Speaker 1 The First 10 Years, a memoir from me and my wife about our relationship told year by year without consulting each other about our differences in memory.

Speaker 1 And from Jeffrey, You Feel It Just Below the Ribs, an apocalyptic novel that takes place in the same universe as the Within the Wires podcast.

Speaker 1 No matter what you're looking for, we've written a book just for you. Find them where you find books.
Okay, bye!

Speaker 5 Summer is turning to fall, which frankly, rude of summer to do, but don't worry.

Speaker 7 Quince is here with fall staples that will last for many falls to come.

Speaker 3 We're talking cashmere, denim.

Speaker 2 This is quality that holds up at a price that you frankly just won't believe.

Speaker 5 We're talking super soft, 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters, which sounds like the kind of item that you need a credit check to even imagine, and it starts at just $60.

Speaker 3 Plus, Quince partners directly with Ethical Factories, so you get top-tier fabrics and craftsmanship at half the price.

Speaker 4 I got an adorable dress for my daughter, which she helped pick out.

Speaker 8 She wore it at her first day of school. She loves that dress.

Speaker 5 It has pockets, if you know, you know.

Speaker 7 I also got myself a mulberry silk sleeping mask, and every night since has been a luxury, I have never gotten better sleep than with mulberry silk draped upon my eyes.

Speaker 5 Experience what it must be like to be wealthy without having to, you know, have a bank account that doesn't make you wince when you check it.

Speaker 8 Keep it classic and cool this fall with long-lasting staples from Quince.

Speaker 6 Go to quince.com/slash nightfail for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Speaker 9 That's quince.com slash nightfail.

Speaker 5 Free shipping and 365-day returns.

Speaker 9 Quince.com/slash nightfail.

Speaker 10 This is the third and final unlicensed episode that will go on the nightfail feed to hear the rest of the season. Head on over to Audible.
Listen to the whole thing right now with a free trial.

Speaker 10 Third season is coming in 2025. Enjoy.

Speaker 11 Since moving into the property at Foothill Gardens, my client has filed numerous complaints with the management regarding loud music, dogs barking, verbal arguments, and excessive sexual noises after 10 p.m., herein referred to as the nuisance.

Speaker 11 Investigation has traced the nuisance as originating from your apartment for F.

Speaker 11 My client requests that you seize and desist immediately or face legal consequences under the state of California Penal Code 414.

Speaker 12 No, wait. 414 is about fighting in public.

Speaker 11 Is it 4012?

Speaker 11 Siri, look up Disturbing the Peace.

Speaker 12 Disturbing the Peace is a 2020 neo-Western action thriller starring Guy Pierce. Stop.
Never mind.

Speaker 12 Morning. Hi.

Speaker 11 Sorry.

Speaker 14 Could I get

Speaker 11 a venti caramel frappuccino with extra whip, please?

Speaker 2 Oh, and do you have sprinkles?

Speaker 11 Sprinkles would be so awesome.

Speaker 11 Thank you so much.

Speaker 13 Unlicensed. Episode 3.

Speaker 13 The beaches of San Bernardino County.

Speaker 13 The first rays of sunlight peek over the San Gabriel Mountains and wash across the empty parking lots of Foothill Boulevard.

Speaker 13 A hungover Starbucks employee lowers the blinds against the sudden brightness, wondering why they had to build this place with east-facing windows.

Speaker 13 She sees the cars already lining up at the drive-through, takes a deep breath, and puts on a smile.

Speaker 13 The sun moves higher, illuminating storage units, a cosmetic dental office, a historic Route 66 marker, and at the end of the street, a lone pawn shop with a We Buy Gold banner hanging in the window.

Speaker 13 Inside the shop, a light turns on above a jewelry case igniting a fire of glitter. Precious gems.
A custom necklace reading Charmaine.

Speaker 13 An engagement ring, originally purchased at Costco for a marriage that never happened. The love is dead, but the stone still sparks like a living thing in the light.

Speaker 13 The fluorescent snap on one by one, above shelves of sporting goods and power tools and dusty electronics. An AC unit, the only survivor of a house fire.

Speaker 13 A tablet stolen from a child on a crowded Metrolink train. when her parents weren't looking.
A case of rifles and handguns, each with their own story, and none of them good.

Speaker 13 The electronic chirp of the front door announces the arrival of a young man clutching a Gibson-Les Paul guitar.

Speaker 13 He owes his roommate, Luther, the rent, and if he doesn't pay, he'll be kicked out.

Speaker 13 He has to pawn Luther's guitar, he tells himself.

Speaker 13 He'll just get it back out of Hawk before Luther notices it's missing.

Speaker 13 This is wrong, a voice in his head says as he sets the guitar on the counter to be appraised.

Speaker 13 But he takes the ticket. He takes the money.

Speaker 13 As he steps back outside, he feels the warmth of the sunlight on his face telling him everything will be okay.

Speaker 13 He feels the warmth of the money in his pocket begging to be doubled. Or maybe even tripled at Morongo Casino, just a short hour's drive down the town.

Speaker 13 Two women approach, and even though he already closed the door, he takes a step backward and opens it again for them.

Speaker 13 I may be a bad person, he thinks, but at least I'm a gentleman.

Speaker 13 The Hollywood pawn and trade is not in Hollywood. It's in Glendora, behind the Foster's Freeze, not far from my office.
I don't feel bad about getting rid of this stuff.

Speaker 13 Some of it's a relief to get rid rid of, like the jewelry I never wear. I'm not even sure why I have it in the first place.

Speaker 13 The only thing I feel bad about is the watch. Grady gave it to me when I was first starting out in the business.

Speaker 13 It was a joke about my lack of punctuality, but it's also a damn nice watch, much nicer than necessary for a joke.

Speaker 13 Sometimes people who care about each other have to frame love as a joke, so neither of them will get embarrassed.

Speaker 13 Molly gives me an encouraging look, the same look she's been giving me for the last two weeks while we've gone to a parade of free consultations with what she calls the good lawyers.

Speaker 13 That means they have a four-star review average with a minimum of 50 reviews. I tried to convince her I didn't need them.
No one knows my case better than I do, I said.

Speaker 13 Lou, she told me, you might know your case, but you don't know the law. I've personally seen you break at least five laws today alone.
That's not because I don't know the laws, I argued.

Speaker 13 See, not a great defense, she said.

Speaker 13 Sometimes people also say I love you by stopping you from making bad choices, like representing yourself in a felony trial. So, in the last two weeks, we've seen 10 different good lawyers.

Speaker 13 I haven't liked any of them, but we agreed I wouldn't do any other investigation work until I picked one. So I settled on the bullfrog.

Speaker 13 I call him that because of his deep voice and the way his facial expression never changes, and because I can't remember his name. But all the good lawyers require a retainer, so here we are.

Speaker 13 pawning my valuables. I hope the broker doesn't think I stole them.
I look past him as he he examines the watch and turns it into money.

Speaker 13 A sign above the register reads, law office, with an arrow pointing toward a back hallway. Molly sees it too, and we look at each other with raised eyebrows.

Speaker 13 When you've got lawyers on the brain, they seem to show up everywhere. That's my daughter's law practice, the clerk proudly tells us, noticing us noticing the sign.

Speaker 13 She graduated top of her class at Northwestern.

Speaker 13 Really?

Speaker 13 Is she available for consultation?

Speaker 12 Lou jokes. At least, I hope she's joking.

Speaker 12 But no, the clerk tells us to go right back and Lou is actually doing it. I jog to catch up.

Speaker 12 The hallway is short and leads to what seems to be a janitor's closet, but a name plaque on the door reads Tammy Kang, Esquire.

Speaker 12 Then I remember our office just has a taped piece of paper hanging in the window and check my judgment.

Speaker 12 Hi, says a young woman sitting at a desk, surprised to see us. She quickly wipes whipped cream off her mouth and sets down an enormous trappuccino.
It has caramel drizzle and rainbow sprinkles on top.

Speaker 12 Check your judgment, Molly. Check your judgment.

Speaker 12 Your father speaks highly of your work, work, Lou says, offering her hand. The woman, Tammy, reaches for it, looking confused.
Uh, he does? She asks.

Speaker 12 That's weird. I represented him in small claims last week, and we lost.
I thought he was still pissed. Uh, do you want to sit down? Oh, uh, let me get some chairs.

Speaker 12 She disappears for a minute. leaving us alone.

Speaker 13 It can't hurt to talk to someone a little more off-grid.

Speaker 12 Instead of responding, I show her my phone.

Speaker 12 I did a quick Google of Tammy Kang, and not only does she have a one-star average review, but the Northwestern that her dad mentioned refers to Northwestern California Law School, an online program out of Sacramento with a reputation as one of the worst law schools in the state.

Speaker 12 Lou grins.

Speaker 13 Top of her class, though.

Speaker 12 She says.

Speaker 12 Tammy returns with folding chairs, and Lou launches into a quick description of the case against her and our background as investigators, a familiar speech we've been telling lawyers for weeks now.

Speaker 12 Tammy looks very interested, and I'm starting to feel like it's mean to lead her on. Do you do criminal law? I ask.

Speaker 12 Not yet, she says, but I've been meaning to branch out.

Speaker 12 Maybe we'll be in touch, I say. But uh, we gotta get going, Lou.
We have that thing in Redlands.

Speaker 12 This isn't a lie, though there isn't really a time crunch either.

Speaker 12 We're meeting up with Shelby Hineda of the Pacific Coast Paranormal Commission to check in with their investigation of the missing TikTok kid and see what's been happening with the George Perez murder.

Speaker 12 Redlands? Tammy asks. You're going to Redlands right now?

Speaker 12 Lou confirms that we are, and before I know what's happening, Tammy is launching into some description of a case she has out in the Redlands area that she hasn't been able to investigate due to car problems.

Speaker 12 At first, I think she wants us to give her a ride, but no.

Speaker 12 She's asking us if we can do some investigating for her since we're PIs. She'll pay us, she says.

Speaker 12 As I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that we were supposedly interviewing her for a job, and she has somehow flipped the tables and wants to hire us, Lou says, Of course, we'd be happy to.

Speaker 13 Tammy opens her desk drawer and hands over a brochure for something called Camp Minor Chords, a non-profit music organization for underserved youth in San Bernardino County.

Speaker 13 Tammy's 11-year-old cousin Erin recently attended their free weekend music camp and returned home emotionally distressed.

Speaker 13 She won't say what really happened there. Instead, her stories about the place are fantastical and don't make sense.

Speaker 13 But from what Erin's mother can tell, the facilities at the camp were potentially unsafe, and the kids almost went full lord of the flies over the course of two days.

Speaker 13 So, Tammy's aunt, Jennifer Kang, wants to sue.

Speaker 13 She can't afford a regular lawyer, so she does what the family always does and asks Tammy to help them out.

Speaker 13 So far, Tammy's only clients have been family members.

Speaker 13 Mostly pro bono.

Speaker 13 This makes her one-star review average on Google extra insulting.

Speaker 13 But Tammy tries not to take it personally.

Speaker 13 It's all good experience, she tells herself.

Speaker 13 She'll be a great lawyer someday.

Speaker 13 And maybe even get some clients who don't share her DNA.

Speaker 12 Oh, this place used to be a hot springs resort in the 40s.

Speaker 13 Molly says, looking up information about the music camp property while I'm driving.

Speaker 12 But it closed down a long time ago and stayed abandoned until this non-profit bought the land.

Speaker 13 Molly skims Camp Minor Court's website, but it's pretty sparse. It says they host weekend camps, after-school programs, concerts, but there's almost no details, no calendar of events.

Speaker 13 The charity was founded by a billionaire almond magnate named Linda Norman.

Speaker 12 Linda Norman?

Speaker 13 That name is familiar.

Speaker 13 Call Grady, I order. Molly looks at me surprised by my tone.

Speaker 13 Sorry, I was trying to voice command the phone, I tell her, but I can't get the thing to work, so Molly ends up calling the number for me anyway. What do you know about Linda Norman?

Speaker 13 I ask Grady when he's on the line. He works for McGovern Security, the biggest PI agency in town.
This is exactly the kind of information he would know.

Speaker 13 He tells me that the Normans are one of McGovern's biggest clients. They own, among other things, innocent almonds, which I might recognize from the shelves of every grocery store in the country.

Speaker 13 Ron Norman is the face of the operation, a self-made man, as he'll be happy to tell you and has in every interview he's ever given.

Speaker 13 Good friends of politicians on both sides of the aisle and an even better donor as long as they cough up on farm subsidies. And Ron's wife, Linda Norman, the brains of innocent almonds.

Speaker 13 From an old California cattle ranching family, now she's the chief operating officer of both Innocent and their parent company, Norman Akers.

Speaker 13 I'm sure I had a case that involved the Normans at some point, but I can't remember what it was.

Speaker 13 They're also

Speaker 13 close allies of the governor, Grady adds, like extremely close. They're his biggest donors, huge players in the state.
What do you know about Camp Minor Chords?

Speaker 13 I ask him, ignoring the warning tone in his voice. He's never heard of Camp Minor Chords.
I tell him it's a charity that Linda runs, and he says she's involved with a lot of charities.

Speaker 13 She's got this horse rescue farm up in Stockton, Hoof Beats, he thinks it's called. I can tell he's getting more nervous now.

Speaker 13 He starts skipping the subtext and saying things more directly, like, why are you asking? And, you're not doing anything involving the Normans, are you?

Speaker 13 I tell them we're about to drive through a dead zone and hang up.

Speaker 13 The address Tammy King gave us for her aunt and cousin's house is in a tiny city called Mentone, stuck on the end of Northeast Redlands.

Speaker 13 We pass farm stands advertising oranges and avocados and honey, telephone poles with signs advertising Jesus and cash for homes.

Speaker 13 Aaron King's house features a lone palm tree in a dirt yard and a swing set with a view of the abandoned Lockheed jet fuel factory.

Speaker 13 There's an old travel trailer in the driveway with the mysterious words, don't knock written on the door. The house itself, A brown prefab, has no such warning, so I go ahead and knock.

Speaker 13 A dog barks from inside, something small like a terrier. The sound is quickly muffled as someone shuts it into another room.
Erin Kang herself, age 11, opens the door and lets us in.

Speaker 13 Cousin Tammy said you are coming, she greets us. She takes us into the kitchen where several fans are blasting on high and offers us orange fantas.

Speaker 13 Then Erin says,

Speaker 13 there's a portal out in the hills. We have to close it before the monsters get out.

Speaker 13 Molly and I look at each other, deciding on the best response to this declaration.

Speaker 13 Is your mom home? You'll have a Fanta.

Speaker 13 Aaron's mom, Jen, comes into the kitchen carrying a chubby toddler. The dog has stopped barking.
Sorry, she says as a greeting, setting the kid down.

Speaker 13 He can walk, but it looks like a relatively new skill. She tells us she has to get on a work Zoom, but gives permission for Erin to fill us in.

Speaker 13 Then, maybe we can decide, she says in a whisper, if Erin is emotionally disturbed or what.

Speaker 13 We're not psychologists, I try to tell Jen as she grabs her laptop from the table. She disappears into the back hallway, leaving the toddler with us.

Speaker 12 Tell us about the music camp, Aaron.

Speaker 13 Molly says to the older girl while shaking a ring of plastic toy keys at the child on the floor. He takes them from her and sticks them in his mouth.

Speaker 13 Erin paces around the kitchen, restless as she talks, and she talks a lot. She begins by telling us that she is not anything like Anthony.

Speaker 13 Anthony is a boy in her class who makes up stories for attention. For example, he tells people his family raises sharks in their swimming pool, but everyone knows that he doesn't even have a pool.

Speaker 13 She wants us to know that she hardly ever lies and she doesn't even like attention. It's a good opening statement.
Maybe I should hire Aaron to be my lawyer, I think.

Speaker 13 Then she launches into her story.

Speaker 13 Everything started out normally that weekend.

Speaker 13 The camp wasn't far from Aaron's home, 20 minutes into the foothills. Her grandfather dropped her off without speaking to anyone in charge.
There were other kids around, it seemed fine.

Speaker 13 But when Erin went into the main lodge, the whole place looked like it was falling apart. There were a couple of teenage counselors, but no actual adults.

Speaker 13 They were supposed to have music lessons, but they were just boxes of instruments laying around with no one to teach them how to play.

Speaker 13 They mostly used the recorders and kazoos because they seemed the easiest.

Speaker 13 Meals Meals were serial.

Speaker 13 There weren't any planned activities. The campers wandered around the hills exploring.
That was fun at first, but then things took a bad turn. Cliques formed.
Fights started breaking out.

Speaker 13 And then, on the last day, Erin was off by herself and saw something that really scared her.

Speaker 13 In a grove of trees, there was a giraffe. It would be strange enough if it was a normal giraffe, but this giraffe looked evil.

Speaker 13 Erin tried to run away back to the camp, but that's when a portal opened up in the ground right in front of her.

Speaker 13 It was like a giant black hole, she said.

Speaker 13 There was a cosmic shrieking sound, and when the portal finished opening, she could hear monsters inside, moaning and groaning, trying to get out.

Speaker 13 She heard strange demonic music, too.

Speaker 13 She ran past the portal and made it back to camp just in time for her grandpa to pick her up.

Speaker 13 No one believed her story, but they believe she's been frightened by something.

Speaker 13 She's had nightmares about the experience ever since. In each nightmare, the monsters get closer to the surface.

Speaker 13 She knows that the portal is still open out there and that really horrible things are going to crawl out of it unless we do something to close it.

Speaker 13 I think we need to call the Ghostbusters or something. Erin concludes her story.
Molly and I share another look.

Speaker 13 It just so happens that we know the Ghostbusters, I tell Erin. The local chapter, Molly adds.

Speaker 12 We got permission from Jen to take Erin and meet with some other investigators out at the music camp property to have a look around.

Speaker 12 We don't tell her that the other investigators are members of something called the Pacific Coast Paranormal Commission.

Speaker 12 We end up at a crumbling 1940s lodge in the hills, bordering a sprawling almond orchard on one side and hilly canyon land on the other.

Speaker 12 Broken wooden stairs lead down into empty rock pits that were once hot springs pools. One of the windows on the lodge is broken and boarded over.

Speaker 12 The front porch slants to one side, slowly being swallowed into the ground. Nothing about this place gives youth camp vibes.

Speaker 12 The doors are locked, so we can't look around inside.

Speaker 12 But the amount of negligence involved in this entire operation is already mind-blowing to me.

Speaker 12 Especially since there are children involved.

Speaker 12 I'm angry, and I can tell that Lou is too.

Speaker 12 We channel our anger into the work, collecting as much photographic evidence as we can for Tammy. I hope she and Jin sue the pants off this place.
Interdimensional portals are no.

Speaker 12 How tall was the giraffe?

Speaker 12 Shelby Hineda, founder of the PCPC, asks Aaron, She has arrived with her co-investigator and social media manager, Benjamin Dumain, and a woman my age age with owlish glasses named Nada.

Speaker 12 Nada is wrestling with some equipment while Benjamin gleefully takes videos around the property. Shelby asks Erin questions and records her answers into a notebook.

Speaker 12 Erin seems less agitated here than she did in her own kitchen, even though we're now at ground zero of her recurring nightmares.

Speaker 12 There's a lot of restorative power in having someone take you seriously.

Speaker 12 And And where did you see the portal? Shelby asks. I'll show you, Aaron says.
We follow her down a dirt trail behind the lodge.

Speaker 12 It's not long before we see the head of a giraffe peeking out from between the trees. Erin clutches at my arm.
Then let's go.

Speaker 12 It's not real,

Speaker 12 she says.

Speaker 12 She's right. It's smaller than life-size and made of hard plastic.
The paint is chipped and weathered. We move closer.
To Aaron's credit, it does have a somewhat demonic expression on its face.

Speaker 12 It's from Pharaoh's Lost Kingdom, Nada speaks up.

Speaker 12 We turn to look at her, and for a moment, I feel like I'm about to be asked to go on some kind of side quest to recover a talisman from a mummy's tomb.

Speaker 12 The old water park in Redlands, she clarifies. It had an Egyptian theme.
Got torn down a while ago.

Speaker 12 She tells us that during the demo, pieces of it were hauled off as souvenirs by various townsfolk, and you just come across them sometimes. A friend of hers has a pyramid out in his alfalfa field.

Speaker 12 It's a weird Redlands thing, but it's not paranormal.

Speaker 12 I take Erin's picture in front of it. She's smiling now.

Speaker 12 Maybe the portal isn't real either, Erin says hopefully. But as as it turns out, the portal is very real.

Speaker 12 A black hole yawns across the earth, at least 10 feet wide. It goes so far down, you can't see the bottom.
The walls are sheer, and there is only darkness within.

Speaker 12 Aaron looks pale, but approaches the chasm with the rest of us.

Speaker 12 You actually saw this open up in front of you? Shelby asks.

Speaker 12 And there was nothing there before?

Speaker 12 Erin nods firmly. There were exploding sounds, she reiterates.
And then she heard the voices of monsters from deep within the earth and weird music. And then she ran.

Speaker 12 We listen for sounds, but don't hear anything except afternoon cicadas.

Speaker 12 Maybe the monsters already got out, Erin says fearfully. The air above the pit feels cold compared to the heat of the day.

Speaker 12 Benjamin gets on his belly with his arm outstretched toward the hole's opening, trying to record an EVP with his phone.

Speaker 12 Shelby and Nada show Aaron the Elmo and explain that it's a device used to detect a paranormal presence through changes in electromagnetic fields.

Speaker 12 They turn it on and it starts beeping, the needle jumping wildly back and forth.

Speaker 12 Then, it shuts itself off and won't turn back on. Erin's eyes go wide.

Speaker 12 There's been some wiring issues with that model, Shelby admits, putting it back in its case. She tells Aaron, you should always use your own powers of deduction first anyway.

Speaker 12 And if we look around, there are a lot of other clues about this pit's existence.

Speaker 12 Shelby points out exposed tree roots, the foundation of an orchard shack with a huge crack in it, the way the ground slopes under our feet, the fact that the hot springs dried up, the colder temperature above the pit, and of course, the cracking explosions and groaning monster voices that Aaron heard.

Speaker 12 The sounds bedrock makes when it collapses in on itself.

Speaker 12 Interdimensional portals may exist, Shelby says, but this is not one of them. This is a sinkhole.

Speaker 12 She explains some key differences between sinkholes and portals, including the fact that sinkholes do not contain monsters or paranormal beings of any kind.

Speaker 12 Sinkholes are extremely dangerous though, she says. In fact, we should all probably move away from it immediately.
It can continue collapsing any time.

Speaker 12 We definitely have to call someone at the county about this.

Speaker 12 We walk back to the lodge, contemplating the odd yet natural phenomenon.

Speaker 12 What about the music? Aaron asks suddenly. I heard music coming out of there.
It was

Speaker 12 really weird. Probably some of the other kids at the camp trying to play Taylor Swift on recorders, Benjamin offers.

Speaker 12 Distorted by the wind.

Speaker 12 Aaron doesn't look so sure.

Speaker 12 I got something over here! Nada's excited voice interrupts. She has gone ahead of us and is using some other kind of ghost sensing device to take readings around the dried-up hot springs.

Speaker 12 I think it's a ghost.

Speaker 12 Hey, I say sharply. I don't want her scaring Aaron all over again.

Speaker 12 But Erin smiles.

Speaker 12 Don't worry, she tells me. I don't mind normal ghosts.
She turns towards Nada. Hi, ghost.

Speaker 12 She says to the dry springs. I hope you're okay.

Speaker 13 In 1951, when these hot springs were bubbling over with rich mineral water, this place was known as the Hollywood Oasis, an exclusive hideaway where movie stars could come to relax.

Speaker 13 Until one night, when a young actress named Myrna Whitlock fainted and drowned in one of the pools. Headline: Starlet boils to death.

Speaker 13 Shortly after this tragic accident, visitors began to report seeing Myrna's ghost sitting by herself in the hot springs late at night and then evaporating into steam.

Speaker 13 The Hollywood Oasis went out of business soon afterward and sat abandoned for years.

Speaker 13 The story of Myrna Whitlock has since been lost to time.

Speaker 13 While Benjamin, Nada, and Aaron play with ghost equipment over by the hot springs, Molly and I have a conference with Shelby on the sagging porch of the lodge.

Speaker 13 We've been trying to track down this it's hocus bogus person, Shelby says, but it's been a lot of dead ends so far. They're practically a ghost themselves.

Speaker 13 Shelby's referring to the troll who regularly commented on Ouija Bird's videos, I remind Molly.

Speaker 13 Molly asks if Shelby really thinks this Hocus troll really had something to do with Birdie's disappearance.

Speaker 13 Shelby isn't sure but reiterates that Hocus's aggressive behavior toward Birdie online was well known in the ghost hunting TikTok community and ever since her disappearance Hocus has been posting about it obsessively.

Speaker 13 acting like they want to help find her. It's definitely suspicious behavior.

Speaker 13 We promise to do whatever we can to help them trace Hocus, though, just like Bertie, they seem extremely skilled at keeping their identity hidden. Then, it's time to go.

Speaker 13 We promised Aaron's mom she'd be back for dinner.

Speaker 13 Before we leave Mentone, Molly and I notice red-painted letters on a rusted water tank that read, Mentone Beach.

Speaker 13 Since we're miles from the ocean, our curiosity gets the better of us. We follow the signs and park off Highway 38, then make our way over rocks to a water district pond about the width of a car.

Speaker 13 The words, no swimming, are stenciled on the nearby pavement. A broken surfboard sticks out of the dirt.
The town of Mentone may be desolate, but it has a sense of humor.

Speaker 13 Molly sits on a rock and takes off her shoes. She dips her toes in the water.
I sit next to her.

Speaker 12 If Camp Minor Chords is run by billionaires, why have a music camp in an abandoned building? Why is the website so shitty? Why don't they have trained professionals teaching the kids?

Speaker 13 Because it's a tax shelter. I figured that out on the drive here this morning.
Molly looks confused.

Speaker 13 It's a way for rich people to move their money around into barely existent charities that, in the end, just funnel the cash back to themselves.

Speaker 13 It's kind of like money laundering, but legal, I explain. Molly shakes her head.
A kid could get hurt out there, she says. Then.

Speaker 12 You know what Mintone is named after? Minton, Mintone, France. It's a resort city on the French Riviera.

Speaker 13 We look out over the muddy pond, the rocks, the sunset going down over the 38,

Speaker 13 and burst out laughing. Finally, Molly stands and helps me to my feet.
We make our way back to the car and say, au revoir to Mentone.

Speaker 12 We meet Tammy back at her

Speaker 12 office in Glendora. She thanks us for everything we did today, especially for helping her little cousin feel better.
Jen is going ahead with the lawsuit, and Tammy is really excited about it.

Speaker 12 She's never won a case before, she tells us, but she feels confident about this one thanks to our work. She's sure they can at least get the camp shut down with the evidence we sent her.

Speaker 12 She says she'd love to work with us again sometime and that she'll Venmo us our fee.

Speaker 12 She might not be the most professional lawyer, but her enthusiasm is contagious. I smile until Lou says, Don't worry about payment.

Speaker 13 I was thinking, how would you feel about a barter, investigation work for legal work? I want you to represent me, Tammy, if you still want to take my case.

Speaker 12 What the hell, Lou? I say when we're back in Lou's car. I like her.
I like her too, but

Speaker 12 the point was to get you a good lawyer. She literally just said she's never won a case.

Speaker 13 That just means she has a lot to prove, so she'll work harder than any of those five-star guys. You have to trust your gut sometimes.
My gut says Tammy.

Speaker 12 Ugh, I can't really argue with Lou's gut, because it's usually right.

Speaker 12 I guess a bad law school is better than no law school, I finally say.

Speaker 13 That's the spirit.

Speaker 12 She drops me off at my car in Azusa, and I continue the long drive back to Northridge.

Speaker 12 I'm already exhausted from all the driving today.

Speaker 12 I hope I don't fall asleep at the wheel.

Speaker 12 Then I get a message from Jamie, and suddenly I'm wide awake again.

Speaker 12 We got so preoccupied with Tammy's case that we didn't even have time to check in about the George Perez murder.

Speaker 12 Jamie tells me the police have made no progress and he's not even sure there's a real investigation happening.

Speaker 12 It's bouncing back and forth between the cops and the sheriff and no one seems sure who the case belongs to. It's been two weeks and no one has even interviewed him.

Speaker 12 All he wants is for the police to investigate this properly, find out who did it.

Speaker 12 Not that it would make this right or bring Jamie peace,

Speaker 12 but it would be something.

Speaker 12 All he wants is a gesture toward justice. And the police won't even give him that.

Speaker 12 I don't have a lot of funds, he says,

Speaker 12 but I'd really like to hire you guys to work on it, if you have the time.

Speaker 12 I don't want to take his money,

Speaker 12 but I do want to help Jamie find out who killed his friend. I can't imagine how awful it must be for him.
Losing someone so close

Speaker 12 and feeling like no one cares.

Speaker 12 I know Lou is interested in the case too, especially since it seems to be tied up with Birdie's disappearance.

Speaker 12 It might be nice to get to know Jamie better too, I think. Then immediately tell myself not to think things like that.

Speaker 12 I wish I could trust my gut like Lou,

Speaker 12 but I just can't seem to let myself when it comes to certain things.

Speaker 12 Like other people

Speaker 12 and myself.

Speaker 13 Unlike Molly, Jamie doesn't try to stop himself from thinking about his growing interest in her or a potential spark between them.

Speaker 13 It might not be realistic, but it feels nice.

Speaker 13 It's better than thinking about what happened to George.

Speaker 13 As he goes about his evening chores, he hears a howl in the distance and double-checks the latches on the chicken roosts.

Speaker 13 Edgar the Peaceful, Jamie's faithful if cowardly farm dog, stands at the edge of the field.

Speaker 13 Beyond the field, into the canyon, onto a piece of property with mysterious ownership, and down through the outstretched arms of an ancient walnut tree, a coyote investigates the scent of old blood on the ground.

Speaker 13 He found a human body here recently and had a few nibbles. It belonged to a man named George Perez.
Although the coyote doesn't care about things like names, all he knows is it wasn't bad.

Speaker 13 Not his favorite.

Speaker 12 Well, not bad.

Speaker 13 Good enough to continue checking back here nightly just in case more bodies show up.

Speaker 13 Unknown to the coyote, several other human bodies do happen to be nearby, almost right under his paws.

Speaker 13 Hidden many feet below the ground.

Speaker 13 Trip Planner by Expedia. You were made to outdo your holiday,

Speaker 13 your hammocking,

Speaker 14 and your pooling.

Speaker 13 We were made to help organize the competition. Expedia, made to travel.

Speaker 15 I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times.

Speaker 16 And I'm Paul Scheer, an actor, writer, and director. You might know me from the League Veep or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters.

Speaker 15 We love movies and we come at them from different perspectives.

Speaker 16 Yeah, like Amy thinks that, you know, Joe Pesci was miscast in Goodfellas, and I don't.

Speaker 2 He's too old.

Speaker 15 Let's not forget that Paul thinks that Dune 2 is overrated.

Speaker 4 It is.

Speaker 15 Anyway, despite this, we come together to host Unschooled, a podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits, fan favorites, must-sees, and in case you missed them.

Speaker 15 We're talking Parasite the Home Alone, From Greece to the Dark Knight. We've done deep dives on popcorn flicks.
We've talked about why Independence Day deserves a second look.

Speaker 16 And we've talked about horror movies, some that you've never even heard of, like Kanja and Hess.

Speaker 15 So if you love movies like we do, come along on our cinematic adventure.

Speaker 16 Listen to Unspooled wherever you get your podcast.

Speaker 15 And don't forget to hit the follow button.

Speaker 14 Hi, we're Meg Bashwiner. And Joseph Fink of Welcome to Night Vale.
And on our new show, The Best Worst, we explore the golden age of television.

Speaker 2 To do that, we're watching the IMDb viewer-rated best and worst episodes of classic TV shows: the episode of Star Trek, where Beverly Crusher has sex with a ghost, the episode of The X-Files, where Scully gets attacked by a vicious house cat, and also the really good episodes, too.

Speaker 14 What can we learn from the best and worst of great television? Like, for example, is it really a bad episode, or do people just hate women?

Speaker 2 The best worst available wherever you get your podcasts.