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Speaker 2: Calaroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Murder Weekly. This
Speaker 2: episode is titled Salad Koala.
Speaker 3: The tiney electronic music from the Salad Koala mobile app
Speaker 3: filled the air of Dave's cramped sedan. He squinted at
Speaker 3: his phone screen with mounting frustration as the processing payment
Speaker 3: wheel spun interminably. Come on, come on, he muttered under
Speaker 3: his breath. A bead of sweat trickled down his furrowed brow.
Speaker 3: With an anticlimactic bloop, the app suddenly flashed a new
Speaker 3: message payment method declined, please try again, son of a bitch.
Speaker 3: Dave smacked his palm against the steering wheel, drawing annoyed
Speaker 3: looks from nearby pedestrians. This had been happening far too
Speaker 3: often lately. Whenever he attempted to order from the trendy
Speaker 3: Salad Eateries app, despite numerous calls to his bank and
Speaker 3: triple checking his information, his credit card would get inexplicably
Speaker 3: declined for seemingly no reason. Well enough was enough. Dave
Speaker 3: wasn't about to be deterred from his daily Salad Koala fix,
Speaker 3: not when he'd been diligently following their eat healthy, Live
Speaker 3: large lifestyle for months. If they couldn't accept his money online,
Speaker 3: he would simply take his business to the nearest franchise
Speaker 3: location and give them a piece of his mind. Ten
Speaker 3: minutes later, Dave pulled into the parking lot of the
Speaker 3: Salad Koala on Dwight Street. Even from the vehicle, he
Speaker 3: could make out the rustic wooden beams and trendy succulents
Speaker 3: artfully arranged against the exposed brick interior. Just glimpsing the
Speaker 3: upbeat modern eatery fanned the flames of his irritation. As
Speaker 3: he stormed through the entrance, Dave was immediately enveloped in
Speaker 3: the pungent aroma of fresh greens, roasted nuts, and musky
Speaker 3: undertones of the restaurant's signature Koala Kale dressing. The spacious
Speaker 3: dining room was sparsely populated for the early evening hour,
Speaker 3: just a handful of tired looking office drones picking disinterestedly
Speaker 3: at their salads while scrolling on their phones, all except
Speaker 3: for two young women at the corner table who seemed
Speaker 3: to be engaging in a heated discussion. Dave stealed his
Speaker 3: resolve and arched up to the counter, where a two
Speaker 3: chipper teenage cashier offered him a beaming smile. Hi, there,
Speaker 3: welcome to salad Koala. Can I start you off with
Speaker 3: our tri salad sampler while you decide on your entree.
Speaker 3: Poor Dave slammed his palm on the countertop, cutting her
Speaker 3: fake chipperness off with a cold glare. No, what you
Speaker 3: can do is explain why your crappy app keeps rejecting
Speaker 3: my card even after multiple successful payments to you bozos.
Speaker 3: The bubbly cashier's smile froze in place, her eyes going
Speaker 3: momentarily wide at the unexpected hostility. She opened her mouth
Speaker 3: to respond, only to be cut off by an authoritative
Speaker 3: new voice. Is there a problem here? A slim woman
Speaker 3: in her thirties wearing the manager's forest green salad Koala
Speaker 3: Polo emerged from the kitchen, piercing Dave with a hard stare.
Speaker 3: He scowled and opened his mouth to unload, but was
Speaker 3: again interrupted, this time by one of the young women
Speaker 3: at the corner table. Yes, Cheryl, you might want to
Speaker 3: get control of your unhinged customer before he stops just
Speaker 3: spitting mad and starts getting physical. Dave turned to see
Speaker 3: a smirking blonde with bright red lipstick, clearly the source
Speaker 3: of the commentary. She flashed him a mocking wink before
Speaker 3: leaning across the table toward her friend and stage whispering loudly, God,
Speaker 3: can you imagine being so furious over an underwhelming salad chain?
Speaker 3: Pretty sure that's a new level of pathy. Look, miss Dave, snarled,
Speaker 3: wheeling back to face the manager. Cheryl. I don't know
Speaker 3: what kind of two bit outfits you're running here, but
Speaker 3: I've been a devoted customer, ordering from you people nearly
Speaker 3: twice a week, Yet every time I try to order
Speaker 3: through your app, it declines my payment without explanation. Cheryl
Speaker 3: raised a placating hand, the very picture of customer service,
Speaker 3: calm and rationality. Sir, I completely understand your frustration, but
Speaker 3: yelling and insults won't resolve anything. Why don't we start
Speaker 3: over calmly? Can you show me your mobile order attempt
Speaker 3: so I can check our system logs. Dave fumed silently
Speaker 3: for a moment, feeling all eyes in the dining room
Speaker 3: boring into him. Behind the counter, the cashier looked like
Speaker 3: she was on the verge of tears from the sheer tension.
Speaker 3: Muttering under his breath, he pulled up his phone and
Speaker 3: shoved it across the counter towards Cheryl. See for yourself,
Speaker 3: over and over, same damn issue. The manager peered at
Speaker 3: the screen for a few moments before her expression melted
Speaker 3: into one of polite understanding. Ah, I see now, she
Speaker 3: said gently. It seems there's been an error with your
Speaker 3: payment info being auto stored to your account correctly. That's
Speaker 3: almost certainly why it keeps kicking the charge back. Dave
Speaker 3: opened his mouth to protest, but Cheryl deftly continued in
Speaker 3: that same soothing tone. But not to worry. We can
Speaker 3: wipe the slate clean right now in just a couple
Speaker 3: of minutes. Why don't you have a seat and I'll
Speaker 3: bring you over a complimentary Koala key punch while we
Speaker 3: get this sorted. She looked toward the garigling table of
Speaker 3: girls with a pointed glance. I'll even throw in a
Speaker 3: free order of our nutty crunch topping if you ladies
Speaker 3: can pipe down out of common courtesy. The blonde smirked again,
Speaker 3: but offered no further commentary as Dave stalked away to
Speaker 3: find a seat on the patio, stewing in his own
Speaker 3: righteous indignation. Deep down, he knew the poor manager was
Speaker 3: probably just doing her job dealing with his unhinged behavior.
Speaker 3: He certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end
Speaker 3: of his borderline meltdown either. Still, something about how dismissively
Speaker 3: those girls had mocked him just didn't sit right. Five
Speaker 3: minutes later, Cheryl reappeared carrying the promised Koala keypunch in
Speaker 3: a menu. Okay, sir, I've completely deleted and refreshed your
Speaker 3: account details in our system. If you'd like, I can
Speaker 3: re input your payment method right now and get your
Speaker 3: usual Koala Deluxe bowl order put through to the kitchen.
Speaker 3: Dave still felt aggravated at having been forced to make
Speaker 3: a scene, but the manager's cheery, yet professional demeanor had
Speaker 3: effectively diffused the situation. With a resigned sigh, he dug
Speaker 3: out his credit card. Fine, yeah, let's try this one
Speaker 3: more tie. The deafening sound of shattering glass obliterated his
Speaker 3: words as something sailed past mere inches from his face
Speaker 3: to smash against the far wall. Dave blinked dumbly at
Speaker 3: the dripping streaks of orange liquid as his brain slowly
Speaker 3: registered what had just occurred. His gaze turned slowly back
Speaker 3: toward the dining room, where the blonde and her friend
Speaker 3: now stood in matching stances of horror. In the dead
Speaker 3: silence that followed, all eyes locked onto the teenage cashier
Speaker 3: standing frozen at the counter. Tears streamed openly down her
Speaker 3: blotchy cheeks as she stared first at the shattered remains
Speaker 3: of the Koala key punch she'd flung at Dave, then
Speaker 3: over to the blonde woman, now clutching her throat and
Speaker 3: starting to sway on her feet. When she slumped to
Speaker 3: the floor with a heavy thud, Dave saw the sickening
Speaker 3: crimson bloom spreading from the deep gash across her neck.
Speaker 3: The shattered ceramic mug had been the weapon, and the
Speaker 3: teenager had just committed cold blooded murder right in front
Speaker 3: of them all. No one dared move or even breathe
Speaker 3: for several eternal seconds. Finally, the cashier dropped to her
Speaker 3: knees with a wail of despair and anguish. In that moment,
Speaker 3: any notion of an accident or mistake was shattered as
Speaker 3: definitively as the deadly weapon still clenched in her trembling hand.
Speaker 3: From there, the actual police investigation into precisely what triggered
Speaker 3: the senseless attack proved to be as convoluted as the
Speaker 3: murder itself had been brazen. Early interviews revealed the teenage cashier,
Speaker 3: whose name was Kelsey, had been engaged in a heated
Speaker 3: dispute with the now ceased blond named Mandy for weeks.
Speaker 3: The two were former best friends until recently falling out
Speaker 3: over some perceived disloyalty involving a guy they had both
Speaker 3: been interested in. According to the surviving friend, Tanya's official statement,
Speaker 3: things between Mandy and the cashier had grown increasingly bitter
Speaker 3: and disruptive at the salad koala, where Mandy routinely dined
Speaker 3: solely to antagonize the young co ed Kelsey had allegedly
Speaker 3: threatened violent retaliation against Mandy multiple times over her tormenting.
Speaker 3: When the manager, Cheryl was questioned, she acknowledged cautiously disciplining
Speaker 3: Kelsey over the past few weeks about her inappropriate hostility
Speaker 3: toward customers. However, as the face of the company, she
Speaker 3: always endeavored to de escalate and resolve such conflicts. Diplomatically.
Speaker 3: Seasoned detectives also extensively interviewed Dave, the unwitting customer whose
Speaker 3: seemingly innocuous payment issue had provided the powder keg spark
Speaker 3: that day. He readily admitted to being irate about his
Speaker 3: credit card troubles, but vehemently denied instigating any physical confrontation
Speaker 3: or provocation that could have set Kelsey off on a
Speaker 3: homicidal rage. If anything, Dave's testimony only muddied the waters further.
Speaker 3: On one side was a vengeful feud between two former
Speaker 3: friends turned mortal enemies. On the other, a hungry customer
Speaker 3: overreacting in the worst possible way to minor incompetence. Both
Speaker 3: scenarios had the potential for escalating tempers and resentments that
Speaker 3: could conceivably climax in senseless violence like what transpired, But
Speaker 3: as the investigation dragged on with reconstruction. After painstaking reconstruction
Speaker 3: of the event, an unsettling new theory slowly emerged, one
Speaker 3: that painted Kelsey less as an impulsive killer and more
Speaker 3: as a pale imitation of her literary inspirations, brought to
Speaker 3: life in the most direct changed way. Imaginable. Interviews with
Speaker 3: the teenager's parents revealed a once sweet natured, if socially
Speaker 3: awkward young girl who had slowly been withdrawing into introversion
Speaker 3: over the past year. As many in her age group did.
Speaker 3: She found solace in binge watching true crime documentaries and
Speaker 3: consuming vast libraries of thriller novels about charismatic serial killers
Speaker 3: and psychopaths. Kelsey's obsessive personality gravitated toward fixating on the calm,
Speaker 3: calculated personas of infamous fictional killers like Hannibal Lecter and
Speaker 3: Patrick Bateman. She seemed to draw inspiration from their icy
Speaker 3: machinations and complete lack of outward instability until the moment
Speaker 3: they struck that fateful day in front of her managers.
Speaker 3: The hapless customer and her tormentors. The unassuming cashier had
Speaker 3: simply decided this was to be her moment to step
Speaker 3: off the written page into real life. When the frustrated
Speaker 3: Day escalated the situation with his bluster, Kelsey opted to
Speaker 3: cement her infamy by randomly targeting the unlikeliest victim possible,
Speaker 3: the shallow, mean girl, whom fate had cruelly placed in
Speaker 3: her crosshairs. Just like in her twisted literary inspirations, she
Speaker 3: had coolly waited for the perfect opening when everyone's guard
Speaker 3: was down, then struck with sudden, casually brutal violence before
Speaker 3: anyone realized she'd been living out a dark fantasy the
Speaker 3: entire time. Kelsey's failed attempt to mimic her idols cemented
Speaker 3: her fate behind bars, with no possibility for parole or
Speaker 3: a dramatic last second reveal from her delusional inner psyche.
Speaker 3: And while Dave was rattled by his proximity to the
Speaker 3: sickening crime, his life ultimately continued on with little interruption
Speaker 3: beyond his new found aversion to salad bar franchises. For
Speaker 3: the rest of Salad Koala's dining patrons that evening, however,
Speaker 3: the horrific sights and sounds never faded, just another harsh
Speaker 3: rerom that darkness can lurk behind even the most mundane facades,
Speaker 3: manifesting itself without hesitation when nurtured by troubled minds.
Speaker 2: Murder Weekly is a Caloroga Shark Media production, written and
Speaker 2: hosted by Aidan I Flanagan, produced by Mark Francis. Executive
Speaker 2: producers Mark Francis and John McDermott. Portions of this podcast
Speaker 2: may have been created with the assistance of AI. This show,
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Speaker 1: Just look for the link in the episode or show notes.
Speaker 2: Calaroga Shark Media