Speaker 1: If you were going to kill someone, how would you
do it? Would you go full on horror movie with
a chainsaw or your scary hook hand, or would you
be subtle a pillow in the night poisoned tea. I
wish I could say this is a hypothetical, but it's
not the first time I killed someone. I did it
with a story. You've reached the voicemail of Nora Ky.
Please leave a.
Speaker 2: Message, Miss Keene. This is Douglas Brantwood with Carson and REEDLP.
I represent mister Jonathan Sutterfield regarding the defamatory article you
published on substack. We are formally requesting a full retraction.
Speaker 3: Message deleted. Next new message.
Speaker 4: Hey Nora, it's Jordan Laski from the post. I know
this whole thing's a mess, but off the record, can
we talk. I think there's a bigger story. You're not
the villain people are making you out to be.
Speaker 3: Message deleted. Next new message.
Speaker 5: Nori Kean, It's Bryce Dalton, I host the Corrections, Top
five and Media Scandals on Spotify. I'd love to have
you on totally. Your side of the story unedited, call
me back or don't. I'm telling this story either.
Speaker 3: Word Message deleted next new message.
Speaker 6: Hey Nora, I know you're dodging my calls, and I
get it, but maybe stop and just pick up. I
hate that you're going through all this alone. You act
all jaded, but I know all you've ever wanted is
to save the world. What happened, It's not your fault.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 6: I'm back in Jannalie for the summer and I got
this crazy idea. I need a second bartender. And maybe
you need a place to regroup somewhere no one knows about.
Speaker 1: Nora Keene.
Speaker 6: Nora Keen? What trash dumpster focus?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 1: Sorry, be good, Just pondering all the light decisions that
led den me standing in a forest holding this leaking
bag of fears of trash.
Speaker 6: Best decision you ever made, not the worst?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 6: I know you and Kyle on fire Night.
Speaker 1: You could bring that up again. You want my help
with this? Keg or not?
Speaker 6: You got it?
Speaker 1: I think? So wow, it's like moving it dead body.
Speaker 6: You're doing it wrong.
Speaker 3: So how do you know?
Speaker 1: That's Cherry? My best friend's in second grade and now
my boss. When I was busy chasing headlines and moving
up in the journalism world, she bartended her way across
five continents, from beach shacks and Bali to rooftop lounges
in Lisbon.
Speaker 6: Dude, you're not even lifted. Yes I am.
Speaker 1: And if I ever did need help moving a dead body,
she'd show up with a shovel and a playlist, no
questions asked. That's friendship. I feel like it's your turn
to host ope in Mike night. I did nineties prominent Ah, I.
Speaker 6: Did Crunchy Confession night.
Speaker 1: I did see a girl ballad night.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that was cathartic for you.
Speaker 1: Is there like a specific reason you don't want to
host open mic night?
Speaker 6: You've got better stage presence than me, that's all. Don't
you want to put those broadcast.
Speaker 1: Skills to good use? Okay, fine, it's not like I'll
ever work as a journalist again.
Speaker 6: Had a girl hook up the keg, I'll get the door.
Speaker 1: This secret summer haunt that Cherry and I work at
is so much more than a bar. I tell you
where it is, but then I'd have to kill you.
Speaker 7: Grab me a GVR.
Speaker 8: She told me she was a forest with so go
ask him out. I don't know. He's like really into.
Speaker 1: For It's this weird little dive bar built out of
an old train car in the Alaskan wilderness. It's purposely
hard to find, and yet it's packed every night, like
some booze fueled urban legends.
Speaker 7: That's wholly legends.
Speaker 6: Do you ever feel like that moosehead is watched?
Speaker 8: You get your hands off on my pizza.
Speaker 1: It's the spot where all the overworked seasonal employees in
Denali go to blow off steam. You get to know
people really fast because you're all living on top of
each other in staff housing, cabins, wall tents, bunk beds.
We all share the same crusty showers and one sad
jerry rigged microwave. Up here, the sun never goes down,
so sleep is optional. If you're picturing summer camp gone wild,
you're spot on and okay, fine, I kind.
Speaker 9: Of love it.
Speaker 1: Even that.
Speaker 8: I was like you, I'll get a room.
Speaker 1: Oh stop, I got it. Problem your park meetance, I'm
pretty sure sweeping up PBR, shrap nose and in your
ranger contract.
Speaker 8: I don't mind helping out.
Speaker 1: Helping out the bar, or helping out cherry.
Speaker 8: Shut up.
Speaker 1: Fine, you sweep all dust pan. That's bo He's quiet
and sweet, which makes him so much fun. To tease.
Bo isn't much of a drinker, but he's been an
awful lot of time here. I'm not judging. I've seen
the way he looks at Cherry, and I don't have
the heart to tell him it's never gonna happen.
Speaker 8: Where did you get that the dust pan? That necklace
you're wearing.
Speaker 1: Oh this, I found it by my cabin.
Speaker 8: It was just laying there.
Speaker 1: I have a theory. There are these ravens that hang
up on my window. And you know how ravens collect
shiny dings.
Speaker 8: They're crows. We've been through this.
Speaker 1: Pretty sure they're ravens.
Speaker 8: No ravens hang out alone or in pairs. Crows gather
in groups.
Speaker 1: You mean murders a murder of crows? Why is it
called that?
Speaker 8: How should I know?
Speaker 1: That's Matt Wilderness Guide Trivia, champ Walking Encyclopedia. Until someone
pulls out a joint, then he becomes a human lava
lamp and it's an absolute pleasure to watch. I thought
you knew everything, Matt.
Speaker 9: It just seems that way because I know more than you.
And the shiny objects thing also a myth. There's no
evidence to support the idea that Corvid's collect objects.
Speaker 1: What about my anecdotal evidence?
Speaker 8: Sure? Yeah, my aunt swears her toaster talks.
Speaker 5: You are.
Speaker 8: Don't plug it for a bit fixes everything?
Speaker 1: Hi Kyle?
Speaker 8: Hey, you and plugging things does not fix them. Don
knock until you tried it. Everyone has tried.
Speaker 1: It's like I didn't fix the washing machine at your
raft company?
Speaker 8: Did I tell you that?
Speaker 1: Even marking the same shirt all week?
Speaker 8: Ah? You notice kind of hard not to dude.
Speaker 1: You read there's nothing serious about Kyle, and that's probably
the very best and the very worst thing about him.
Speaker 8: You guys want to hear this review I got Maybe
I'm just going to read the first part headline is
hot Guide, cold River. I think we get the g
I came to Denullate to take in the natural beauty
and our raft guide. Kyle did not do so.
Speaker 1: Kyle and Matt dated last summer. Matt dumped him, and
I don't think Kyle ever really got over it. The jokes,
the smiles, classic cover up god.
Speaker 8: Ten out of ten would raft again?
Speaker 1: Hey Kyle, how would you like to use my washing machine?
Speaker 8: Is that a euphemism?
Speaker 1: It's an intervention for the sake of public health?
Speaker 10: Cool?
Speaker 8: Thanks?
Speaker 1: I have to host campfire story open mic night.
Speaker 8: Oh yeah, no, can do. I'm looking forward to you
telling a pretentious ghost story about surveillance capitalism.
Speaker 1: By surveillance capitalism.
Speaker 8: Did you find my ted talk I believe it was
a ted.
Speaker 1: X talk y, I said, don't google me.
Speaker 8: I didn't. Okay, Okay, I did, but only because everyone
was talking about.
Speaker 1: You, talking about me.
Speaker 8: How that you wrote some stuff that wasn't true. Big deal.
Speaker 9: Someone died, so kind of a big deal. Matt knows,
everyone knows, So.
Speaker 1: Everyone suddenly decided to catch up on a random news
story from a year ago.
Speaker 7: It was me, I told everyone about your dirty little secret.
Speaker 8: You're a really bad person. I'm ready for another round.
Speaker 1: That's Alex. He's my nemesis. And yeah, I know how
stupid that sounds, but apparently that's what happens when you're
a bartender and you have to cut someone off multiple
times a week. It seems I've underestimated him, and that
dumb evil look in his eyes tells me he's not
going to let this go.
Speaker 7: Hello, did you hear me? Another round? Sweetheart? Or should
I say murderer?
Speaker 1: Don't call me that?
Speaker 8: Why not?
Speaker 1: How many of those have you had.
Speaker 7: Stop acting like you're better than me. I'm not the
one who killed someone. Told you you'd regret treating me
like that. I warned you, I warn you.
Speaker 11: I warned you, Nora.
Speaker 1: I told you to wait.
Speaker 11: I couldn't wait any longer. She was scared. She was
a whistleblow. She was vindictive and unreliable. She had proof
fabricated documents in a fake audio file, which you would
have known if you had properly betted her. Instead, you
went around us and published it on substack of all
plays and posted a retraction. The damage was already done.
Speaker 1: I thought I was helping. I cared about her.
Speaker 11: It clouded your judgment. Your job was to present the
facts and tell the truth was I'm sorry, I have
to let you go.
Speaker 1: Please don't do that.
Speaker 11: I don't like it either, But what you did was reckless.
You're a liability and we can't risk a lawsuit right now.
What if it had all been true? What if I'd
been right? You weren't, But what if I was? Then
you would have had the story of a lifetime.
Speaker 6: The story of a lifetime. Here's your buriallex. I'll sit down, Nora.
Are you good?
Speaker 1: Uh? Huh? Uncle? Get open Mic started good evening Denalie.
This week's Beamed open Mic scary story is to tell
around the campfire. The story I'm about to share is
true and it will chill you to the bone. Did
you know you're being watched right now, right this second,
all the time and you allowed it. I'm talking about
surveillance capitalism.
Speaker 8: Hey, you're a liar.
Speaker 7: Your story sucks.
Speaker 1: You Ever noticed how your phone knows everything about you?
Like if you had a breakup, tell.
Speaker 7: The story about how you've ruined that woman's life.
Speaker 1: That's not what happened, but look it up.
Speaker 7: She killed herself right after Nora's story came out. Nora's
basically a murderer.
Speaker 1: You know what, Alex, fine, you want to talk about murderers,
Let's do it.
Speaker 8: Your face is really red. Are we sure she's okay?
Speaker 6: Come on, Nora, stay cool.
Speaker 1: Has anyone here ever talked to a murderer? Anyone? I have?
And they actually seem pretty normal when I interviewed them.
You know what they said, I didn't plan it, It
just happened. I snapped. You really ought to be careful,
would you say to people? Words have power and you
never know what they'll do to someone you push hard
on us and anyone can break. That's exactly what happened
to a woman named Last Call Lucy. She worked right
here in this bar the very first year it opened.
It's not always easy being a bartender, and she had
gone through some rough times. Perhaps she was a little unhinged.
Then one day some drunk dude said the wrong thing
and it enraged her. No one knows exactly what that
guy said, doesn't matter. What matters is what Last Call
Lucy did next. According to local legends, she took something
from the bar before she locked up. That golden railroad
spike hanging over there, the one that means drinks on
me if you dare ring it. Last Call Lucy didn't
ring it, oh no, but she used it. Oh boy,
did she use it. She waited outside that man's cabin,
waited until she heard him snoring that deep, heavy sleep
where you're dead to the world. Then she crept in
and stood over him until she couldn't hold in her
rage any longer. She raised that golden spike over her
head and brought it down with all her might, again
and again and again. They found Alex's body the next morning,
with a spike shaped hole right between his.
Speaker 8: Okay, great, Yeah, let's hear it for Nora and her Uh,
a very detailed story.
Speaker 1: I wasn't finished.
Speaker 8: You were scaring people.
Speaker 1: That's kind of the point.
Speaker 8: Take it up with Jerry. So Nora told me I
could use her washer if I ran open mic. Let
me just say, I have a so much laundry and
zero shame you. Let's see your story about a gold
miner who came to kids.
Speaker 1: Did you tell Kyle to take over?
Speaker 6: He likes the attention and I kind of want to
keep tonight drama free.
Speaker 1: Why what's tonight?
Speaker 6: Nothing? I could just tell you were getting upset, and
I'm not sure everyone knew you were joking.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you were joking right, Obviously he really got to you.
Speaker 6: Huh.
Speaker 1: Why do you care? Which? I don't care? I don't
care about any of it. Seriously, things happen, mistakes were made,
life goes on. It's not like I blame myself. It
wasn't personal. It was a story. I've written millions of them.
I didn't care about any of those, So why would
I care about this one?
Speaker 8: I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't care at all.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm gonna go kick Glex out. I said, I
don't care, and I totally believe it came from the.
Speaker 8: Creek, then from the trees, then from inside his tent.
Speaker 1: Despite the rough start, open mic turns out to be
a hit. Kyle charms the crowd. I washed glassware in
the back, and more people go up to share their
own campfire stories.
Speaker 8: Last night, the firewood screamed when I lit it, we
still made scores?
Speaker 1: Or do you hike solo? Someone or something heikes.
Speaker 8: With the face in my cabin window. The problem is
I live alone. He vanished during a snowstorm, but her
footprints kept walking.
Speaker 9: The ghost at the Rangers station only appears during karaoke night.
Speaker 8: Don't whistle up the mountains you might get an answer.
I tried to hug a spruce street, I sneeze near
a toadstool and started speaking fluent Russian. I don't speak Russian.
All right, give him a hand, all right? I see
cherry signaling last call, which means we've got time for
one more story before we end the night. Any takers,
I'll go, oh, okay, give it up for vo first time.
Speaker 12: I don't really do talking, not like this, And this
isn't a campfire story. It's a poem, but I couldn't
let tonight go without saying something. On this day last summer,
Steady disappeared or died, I guess, and everything changed for
a lot of us.
Speaker 6: Cherry who Sadie.
Speaker 12: She loved hosting open mics here. She always had a
poem to read. I was looking through old photos and
stuff and I found one she wrote after going camping
with some of us last year, Me, Cherry, Kyle and Matt,
and that wouldn't shut up about the whole leave no
trace thing anyway. That's the title of this poem. Pack
the stars and fold the sky, breathe the pine and
say goodbye. Tried to light the earth. Won't know which
way you came or where you go. Take no stone
and leave no name. Let silence hold you just the same.
If they should ask what, If they should ask what
marked the end?
Speaker 8: Okay, you will me. If they should ask what marked
the end, say only this I loved, my friend. Then
smile once more and turn your face. Leave only footprints,
leave no trace.
Speaker 6: To Sadie, we did pretty good tonight. That's for you.
Don't spend it all on crystals at the rock shop.
Why didn't you tell me about Sadie cherry because it's
sad and you're staying in her old cabin and I
didn't want to freak you out or bring up stuff
that was her cabin comes with the job. If she
worked here at you too must have been close. Wait
were you together? I hate when you do that. Yeah,
kind of it was new. It must have been awful.
Last summer was hard. I wasn't sure i'd come back,
but I did.
Speaker 1: What happened to her?
Speaker 6: She went hiking alone and never came back.
Speaker 1: They didn't find her, Norah, don't what I know that book?
Speaker 6: Look, listen to me. There's no story here, okay, no mystery.
The cops searched for weeks. They called it an accident,
no signs of foul play. She's gone and we're all
just trying to move on. So they didn't find her.
They found blood a lot enough to draw conclusions. Where
exactly are you asking as my friend or as a
journalist looking for a story. As your friend, you don't
have to talk about it if you don't want to.
About one hundred miles inside the park, who is she
doing all the way out there? I don't know, Nora hiking?
I guess.
Speaker 1: Please just let it go. Okay, I'm sorry, you're done
with the broom. Yeah, I'll grab the trash on my
way out.
Speaker 6: Hey, where's the spike? What do you mean the golden spike?
It's not hanging at the bar.
Speaker 1: Did you move it? Why would I you mess with Alex?
I'm not bad, unhinged.
Speaker 6: Maybe someone else took it as a prank or something.
Speaker 1: Do you think maybe Alex did it?
Speaker 6: It wouldn't be the first time he did something stupid
for attention.
Speaker 1: Probably trying to creep me out. Are you creeped out?
Speaker 13: No?
Speaker 1: Are you nah?
Speaker 8: Final?
Speaker 1: Man?
Speaker 8: Oh, it's just me not cool.
Speaker 6: You're lucky I didn't have my bear spray?
Speaker 8: Okay, Sorry? What's called you?
Speaker 5: Two?
Speaker 8: So on edge?
Speaker 1: We thought you were Alex jump scaring us with a
spike that has mysteriously gone missing.
Speaker 8: So you got freaked out by your own ghost story?
Speaker 1: Wait?
Speaker 6: Why are you here? We closed like an hour ago.
Why are you looking at Nora?
Speaker 1: I told him he could use my washer at.
Speaker 8: Three am, my favorite time to do laundry, which is
definitely not a euphem mesae.
Speaker 6: Oh gross, I knew it. I knew it wasn't a
one time thing.
Speaker 8: Told her it was a one time thing.
Speaker 1: It was, and then it was.
Speaker 6: You do realize he still hung up on my mask,
standing right here at things you are spiraling and Kyle
your collateral damage.
Speaker 8: You good with that, Jerry. We are mature adults who
enjoy doing laundry, some very very dirty laundry.
Speaker 6: Rights, That's a thing. I'm mature adult.
Speaker 1: So we talk about this tomorrow.
Speaker 6: Of course, laundry is not going to do itself.
Speaker 8: I'll keep an eye out for that spike. Maybe it'll
turn up the someone's cool dead body.
Speaker 1: Later. As I'm lying in bed, all I can think
about is Sadie. She lived in this cabin, slept in
this bed, stared at that creepy knot in the wood
that looks like a smiley face. Then she went out
hiking and never came back. Tragic but simple end of story.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 1: I should let it go. I want to let it go,
but I can't not notice things like that tiny pause
before Cherry raised her glass after Bo's poem. She was
picking at her thumbnail. She only does that when she's
nervous or lying. And what was up with Matt and
Kyle that split second look when Bo mentioned Sadie. I've
seen that kind of glance before, in interviews, in courtrooms,
in press briefings where everyone's sticking to the same story
and bo the guy barely talks. And there he was
my in hand reading some poem to a drunk and
very opinionated audience. Sadie meant something to him, there's a
story here right now. All I have are a bunch
of details that don't connect, just a hunch of feeling,
which is exactly what got me in trouble the last time.
Speaker 8: Hey, you sleep.
Speaker 1: Just thinking?
Speaker 8: Are you spiraling?
Speaker 1: Not right this second?
Speaker 8: Do you think Cherry's right that this is a mistake?
Speaker 1: No, do you.
Speaker 8: I don't make mistakes. And for the record, I'm completely overmat.
Speaker 1: It's fine. Everyone has a mat, do you. I don't
do feelings.
Speaker 8: So you threatening Alex on stage? That was you not
doing feelings?
Speaker 1: How else was I going to get you to take
over open mic?
Speaker 8: Okay, So we both agree that this is strictly laundry,
and we both agree if this ever becomes more than laundry,
we say something.
Speaker 1: This is getting weirdly formal.
Speaker 8: I'm serious, You're never serious. I'm so super serious.
Speaker 1: Fine, I will agree to this in the same way
I agreed when my mom may me sit down to
do my estate planning like it's some far away abstract
scenario that I am temporarily taking seriously in order to placate.
Speaker 8: You do things you can count on death and Kyle.
Speaker 1: Where do I sign? Did you hear that.
Speaker 8: It's just the wind?
Speaker 1: No, someone's on the porch.
Speaker 8: Pants if his last call? Lucy, I'm not sure pants
will help?
Speaker 3: Ry Keane, it's fare of miles. Mind opening the.
Speaker 1: Door is everything? Okay?
Speaker 6: When was the last time you saw Alex Merrith?
Speaker 1: Alex? He was at the bar tonight for open mic.
Speaker 13: Why he was stabbed multiple times? We're still figuring out
what the weapon was.
Speaker 1: Wait, what someone said?
Speaker 13: You told a story tonight about a bartender and a
railroad spike. Could you explain to me what that was about?
Speaker 1: If you were going to kill someone, how would you
do it? Would you go full on horror movie with
a golden railroad spike? Or would you be subtle and
pinted on someone else? Pulling inspiration from a ghost story
told by an unhinged journalist in front of a bar
full of people? Why not both? I wish I could
say this is a hypothetical, A sick, twisted hypothetical. But
it's not the second time I killed someone. I did
it with a story. You read the voicemail of Nora.
Speaker 6: Please leave a message Norah the sheriff called. She asked
a lot of questions about you. I never thought I'd
say this, but please tell me you were with Kyle
all night. You're gonna need an alibi.
Speaker 3: Next new message, Okay.
Speaker 9: Hey, look, I know you and Nora have your thing
going on, but how wealth do you really know her?
I mean this pelex stuff, it's bad. And if Norah's
in the middle of it, just call me. Okay, I'm
worried about you.
Speaker 3: Next new message.
Speaker 12: Jerry, it's bo I heard about Alex exactly one year later.
Speaker 8: It can't be a coincidence.
Speaker 12: Canon. And did you see that necklace Nora was wearing?
Speaker 8: Where are you?
Speaker 12: You need to talk?
Speaker 10: Next new message, Hey, Nora, it's Sadie. Loved your story tonight.
Last call Lucy. Such passion, such creativity. That bit about
this bike brilliant. By the way, where is that spike?
Have you seen it?
Speaker 1: Just kidding?
Speaker 10: I know where it is and soon you will too.
Speaker 1: You might be a little.
Speaker 10: Confused, right, now, so let me explain all this in
a way I do best with a poem.
Speaker 1: I died.
Speaker 10: You see one year today, and someone here will have
to pay an accident, a slip, a fall. That's not
what happens, not at all the woods, remember, so do I.
Speaker 1: My friends all told a little lie.
Speaker 10: Now everyone you love will bleed if you don't give
me what I need. So play your part and play
it well, or meet me in the woods in hell.
You've always loved a mystery? Will you find out who
murdered me? Did you like it? The title is do
it or I'll Go. I'll last call Lucy on your