A gut-wrenching case pulls Jon, Crowley and Mendez into a tragic situation. Crowley may finally catch a case that’s plagued her for months… as long as Jon can ask the latest ghost questions with Mendez hanging around.
How i Died is an Audiohm Media original, starring Vince Dajani as Jon Spacer; Shaina Waring as Sheriff Fran Crowley; David Dixon as Curtis; Caitlin Roberts as Amelia; Vyn Vox as Dr. Kim. Guest starring Dallis MacKenzie as Amber Volakis; Abbie Michaels as Kate Geller.
Support the show and get bonus content at https://Patreon.com/HowiDied
Written and created by Vince Dajani. Directing and sound design by Vince Dajani and Chroma Sikora. Mastering by Eric Howell.
The How I Died theme song was created by Mike Lynch at SilentMikeMusic.com.
Show notes and transcript available at https://audiohmmedia.com/howidied/
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Transcript: How i Died S2 E11: Where The Heart Lies
This transcript is adapted from the episode’s original script, so the final audio may differ slightly.
[Freezer blowing]
Amber: (panicked, but strong) Kate? Kate! Stay with me.
Kate: (weak and freezing) I’m so cold…
Amber: I know. Here. Come closer.
Kate: You have to make it out of here.
Amber: Don’t talk like that. We’ll both be rescued soon.
Kate: I love you…
Amber: Don’t you say that to me right now.
Kate: Why not?
Amber: Because that’s like a goodbye. I’m not losing you.
Kate: It might be… Better to die than… What’s going to happen to us.
Amber: Neither of us is going to die. It’s just a threat. He doesn’t mean it.
Kate: Please tell me you love me.
Amber: Not until we’re home.
Kate: I’m getting so sleepy…
Amber: Stay awake! Please. Wake up.
Kate: Tell me a story… Someplace warm.
Amber: Come here. You have to sit up.
[Door opens slowly.]
Vin: So… Who’s first?
[Intro song]
[Driving]
Jon: Gotta say, I’m glad to get away from the hospital for a day. Perfect timing, honestly.
Mendez: You’re glad someone is dead?
Jon: No, but –
Crowley: You’re officially un-suspended, right?
Jon: Yeah.
Crowley: Good.
Jon: You almost seem happy about that.
Crowley: Professionally, I’m glad for this case.
Jon: And personally?
Crowley: Personally… Meh.
Jon: I thought me being suspended was exactly what you’d want.
Crowley: A change in your attitude is what I wanted.
Jon: And would you say that’s happened?
Crowley: (pause) A bit. Yeah.
Jon: Oh…
Crowley: I don’t know if it’s the therapy helping, or if you’re just taking out your anger on Doctor Kim, but-
Jon: I’d say it’s because we’re finally on the same page.
Crowley: Getting there.
Mendez: Uh, guys? Did you forget I’m in the back?
Crowley: No. We could never forget you, Mendez.
Mendez: Good. Cause it was getting a little too heavy in here. Enough with the touchy feely stuff.
Jon: Agreed.
Crowley: One more thing.
Mendez: Do you think I would survive if I barrel rolled out of here right now?
Jon: Probably. But you’d be pretty badly injured.
Crowley: I wanted to apologize.
Jon: To who?
Crowley: To you.
Mendez: Holy crap. Let me get a video of this rare occassion.
Crowley: Shut up. This is real.
Mendez: That’s it. I must have jumped out of the car and died.
Crowley: Spacer, I forgive you.
Jon: You… Forgive me? For what?
Crowley: Everything. For being a general fuck up.
Jon: Gee, thanks.
Mendez: I knew it was too good to be true.
Crowley: I mean it. When you got shot, I was bitter, and I took it out on you.
Jon: You were bitter because I got shot?
Mendez: I see where this is going.
Crowley: I… Damnit. Mendez, bring him up to speed again.
Jon: Is this about the case today? How are the two things related at all?
Mendez: A few months before you got shot, Fran and I found some new information about a case. A few women in town have been going missing. We had no evidence, until we got an invite to the Skewer Steakhouse.
Crowley: Where we’re headed now.
Mendez: Right. Well, the day you were shot, Fran went to talk to the owner and got the evidence we needed… Oh god, I’m gonna throw up just thinking about it.
Jon: What was it?
Crowley: I had a bag of puke that may have contained traces of human…
Jon: Human what?
Crowley: That’s it. Just… Human.
Jon: Oh gross… Why? How?
Mendez: Ohhh yeah. Here it comes. I need some air.
[Window rolls down.]
Crowley: Doesn’t matter how. But I was bringing it to your lab to be analyzed.
Jon: The day I got shot?
Crowley: Yeah. I was right down the hallway when I heard the shot.
Jon: You were that close?
Crowley: Yes.
Jon: Why didn’t you ever tell me?
Crowley: Because I was… Look, as much as I can’t stand you some times, it’s not like I wanted you to get hurt.
Jon: Oh my god… You were there. You came into the lab after I stabbed Curtis, didn’t you? You…
Mendez: Guys…
Crowley: I stopped the bleeding on your wound until the response team made it down.
Jon: No… Way. You saved my life… Why didn’t you ever tell me?
Crowley: Because I was pissed off at you!
Jon: Why?!
Crowley: I dropped the sample and left it to save you.
Jon: You blamed me for that?!
Crowley: I was angry. It was a lot to handle. It doesn’t need to make sense to you.
Jon: I can’t believe this… All this time…
Mendez: And the trail went cold. Until recently.
Jon: What happened recently?
Mendez: Two more women went missing.
Crowley: But we got a warrant. And today is the day we take down this fucker.
Jon: My head is reeling.
Crowley: Well, get it back in the game. We’re here.
Jon: Uhh… Okay.
Crowley: (far) Is it cleared out?
Vin: Sheriff Fran. I had a feeling this was your doing.
[Jon and Mendez hurry by]
Jon: (whispered) Who is that guy?
Mendez: (whispered) Just keep going.
Vin: And who is this? The VIP?
Crowley: You don’t move.
Vin: (yelling far) Good luck finding anything, Doctor Spacer.
Jon: He knows my name?
Mendez: It’s his thing. Don’t worry about it.
Jon: Where are we going?
Mendez: The kitchen.
Jon: And I’m looking for evidence in here? This place is huge. There’s crevices and cracks everywhere.
Mendez: Just gives you more chances to find something. Blood, hair, semen-
Jon: Semen?
Mendez: Blood…
Jon: You do know people cut themselves in kitchens, right? I’m sure there’s traces of blood, but I can’t prove whose like this. Who were the missing girls?
Mendez: Amber Volakis. Twenty two. Kate Geller. Twenty.
Jon: Do we know anything about them?
Mendez: We do.
Jon: Care to share?
[Jon puts on gloves]
Mendez: Fran said you do better with the particles and not the people.
Jon: Particulates. And information about the victims can help me find what I’m looking for.
Mendez: If you know about someone, you can find their blood?
Jon: Oyy. Did you bring the bags?
Mendez: Bag away.
Jon: Kitchen knives we can collect and test.
Mendez: Got’em.
Jon: I’m going to do some scrapings off the grill.
Mendez: So you do narrate everything?
Jon: I’m describing the scene… I figured it’s helpful.
Mendez: Not when I don’t know what half the things you say mean.
Jon: You don’t know what "scrapings from a grill" are?
Mendez: You know what I mean.
Jon: Come closer so I can drop these in the bag.
Mendez: Ugh…
Jon: Is it the whole… Human meat thing that weirds you out?
Mendez: Man, this entire situation weirds me out. You weird me out. Being here weirds me out.
Jon: I weird you out?
Mendez: You’ve got a reputation.
Jon: I’m not going to stab you. You’re the one with the knives.
Mendez: That’s a different reputation.
Jon: So what’s mine?
Mendez: Talking to yourself while you look at bodies.
Jon: It’s called dictation. It’s completely normal for taking autopsy notes.
Mendez: I’m sure it is. But you gotta realize how creepy it seems when we come to drop off paperwork and shit, and you’re standing over a dead guy mumbling to yourself in the dark.
Jon: You have a weird perception of what I do. Shouldn’t you be more used to this stuff? How long have you been with the sheriff’s department?
Mendez: Hey, I can deal with a lot. But people eating people is where I draw the line.
Jon: And doctor’s doing their jobs, apparently. Here. This floor tile has a stain on it that’s lighting up from the luminol.
Mendez: Blood?
Jon: You can’t determine that with luminol. It reacts to a bunch of different bodily fluids, and some other strange things.
Mendez: I told you there was semen…
Jon: Your world view worries me.
Mendez: Same.
Jon: Your world view worries you too? Then why don’t you-
Mendez: I was kidding. Saying yours worried me.
Jon: Gotcha… Maybe I’ll just go back to narrating what I find.
Mendez: Have you seen any good movies lately?
Jon: Now you’re just talking to fill the space, huh?
Mendez: Actually, I think the theatre on elm closed up.
Jon: If this makes you so uncomfortable, why didn’t Crowley come in and you stay with the cannibal? Actually… I think I just answered my own question.
Mendez: She wanted to be the one to put Vinchenzo in handcuffs.
Jon: *That’s * the owner’s name?
Mendez: Yeah… Stupid name for a bad guy, huh?
Jon: I didn’t know there was a good name for a criminal.
Mendez: Sure there is.
Jon: Like… What?
Mendez: Skellator.
Jon: That’s not a real name.
Mendez: The villian from He Man? You remember He Man, right?
Jon: I’ve heard of it. Still not a real name.
Mendez: Ted Bundy.
Jon: You only think that because he WAS a serial killer.
Mendez: Nah. I don’t trust anyone named Ted.
Jon: So… Ted is a good villian name?
Mendez: …yes
Jon: I found a small spatter pattern on the wall here. Can you grab the razor blade out of my bag?
Mendez: Sure.
[Sure.]
Jon: Who was that the kid who killed people with his dad in the 90s? He had an interesting name.
Mendez: Castor Grey.
Jon: You… Answered that very quickly.
Mendez: It’s my job to know those things. (Pause) Why are you backing up?
Jon: No reason.
Mendez: Oh come on now.
Jon: I’m kidding. But you see how anything out of context can be seen as creepy?
Mendez: Nope. Still not coming down into the lab.
Jon: Ha… I’m not seeing… Anything else, really. This kitchen is very clean for a retaurant this big.
Mendez: There’s almost never anyone in here. I’d be surprised if they really use this kitchen much.
Jon: So it’s just a front for cannibalism? That doesn’t seem like a lucrative business model.
Mendez: Human trafficking. We’re not actually sure if he eats all of the victims himself, or just an unlucky few…
Jon: Depending on where these women got shipped out to, being killed and eaten may have been better.
Mendez: …and *this* is why no one likes coming into the lab with you.
Jon: Where do we look next?
Mendez: There’s a fridge and freezer in the back, along with the dish room. We know for a fact that Vinchenzo’s served human on these plates, so maybe you’ll get something from there.
Jon: Industrial dishwashers usually have a trap that catches the food scraps so they don’t go down the same drain as the water.
Mendez: Why do you know that?
Jon: I actually worked in restaurants through college.
Mendez: Somehow, I can’t picture your tableside manner.
Jon: Better than my bedside manner.
Mendez: Ayy, there ya go, doc!
Jon: Damn. The dish room is huge. Let’s start with the fridge.
Mendez: To the left.
[Fridge door opens.]
Amber: (gasps) No! Please.
Jon: (shocked) Oh – god. Hello.
[Mendez pulls gun]
Mendez: What?
Jon: You don’t see…?
Amber: A police officer! Are you here to rescue me?
Mendez: See what?
Jon: The uh… The meat hooks.
Mendez: Then why the hell did you say "hello"?
Jon: Like… Hellooooo evidence.
Mendez: Riiiiight.
Jon: They’re probably covered in it. Vinchenzo may have strung up the victims back here.
Mendez: Jesus. You think so?
Jon: It’s possible. We’ll need a gourney or a body bag to transport them.
Mendez: I’m on it. You gonna be alright on your own for a minute?
Jon: I’ll be fine.
Mendez: Be right back.
Amber: Wait! Who are you? You’re not dressed like an officer…
Jon: I’m sorry about that. My name is Jon. I’m a doctor working with police on the crime scene here. What’s your name?
Amber: Amber. Why did he ignore me?
Jon: I don’t think he could see you.
Amber: Why not?
Jon: How long have you been in here?
Amber: I don’t know. Are you here to save me?
Jon: Do you know how long it’s been since you’ve seen another person?
Amber: I see them every day… They come in here and don’t look at me. They keep me in here alone now…
Jon: You weren’t always alone in here?
Amber: No… I… (Sobbing) I was with my friend, Kate.
Jon: Kate Geller?
Amber: Yes… Did you find her?
Jon: We haven’t. You’re the first one we’ve found, but we were looking for both of you. Do you know what happened?
Amber: Can I stand now?
Jon: Oh… Of course… Can you get up?
Amber: It feels… Weird…
Jon: Take your time.
Amber: Can you help me up?
Jon: I… Can’t.
Amber: Are you working with them?
Jon: Who is… Them?
Amber: Mister Vinchenzo and the Chef.
Jon: No. We’re here to stop them.
Amber: So I’m… Free to go?
Jon: Amber, I don’t know how to tell you this, but…
Mendez: (walking back) Talking to yourself already, huh? You must have found something.
Jon: I did…
Amber: Can you ask me the rest of these questions down at the sheriff’s department? I don’t want to be here any more…
Jon: Just a second.
Mendez: What’s up?
Jon: I’m trying to get a good picture of what happened here.
Mendez: Did you bring your camera?
Jon: I did… But that’s not the type of picture I was talking about.
Mendez: Did you find any evidence in here?
Jon: Not yet.
Mendez: I’ll start taking down the hooks.
Jon: If the two women were kept in here… Where would they have been kept?
Mendez: Hanging from the hooks?
Amber: Disgusting… No. We just hid behind the boxes in the back. It blocked part of the air vent.
Jon: If you were freezing, you’d want to block the airflow as much as possible.
Mendez: There’s a vent on the left wall.
Jon: Exactly. They would have been back here… Maybe behind these.
Amber: What is going on? Please just…
Jon: I don’t know how else to say this… But… You’re sure Amber and Kate are dead?
Amber: What?! I’m not dead. I’m right here.
Jon: Damnit….
Mendez: You’re taking this harder than I thought you would. Fran said you didn’t really seem to care about the victims – just the evidence.
Jon: Can you just tell me what happened?
Mendez: Geez. You try to build a rapport with a guy and it’s gone as soon as shit gets real. Fine… Volaskis was reported missing over a week ago. When we went to look for her, we discovered her roommate, Kate, was also kissing. Both employees of Vinchenzo’s… Circle.
Jon: At the restaurant?
Amber: I worked here… Kate was…
Mendez: Prostitution. This place was just a front. And when things got out of hand, we discovered that Vinchenzo partook in some… Darker forms of human trafficking.
Amber: It was because of the drugs… I was trying to help her quit, but she couldn’t…
Jon: Live victims, or what?
Mendez: They have an online store for delivering gormet raw steaks across the country.
Jon: Jesus…
Amber: What does that mean? What are you telling me?
Jon: You think the Skewer Steakhouse is sending human meat to other cannibals?
Mendez: Exactly. This goes wider than we ever thought.
Amber: Oh my god… I’m gonna be sick. (Wretching) I can’t… Feel anything in my stomach. What the fuck is going on?
Jon: I’m so sorry.
Mendez: For what?
Jon: For… What happened to them.
Mendez: They can’t hear you… But, I get it. This is the worst case I’ve ever worked on…
Amber: Jon, right? Tell me what’s going on. Why are you both ignoring me now?
Jon: Amber… (Change in tone) and Kate… We’ll figure out where you two were killed, and Vinchenzo will pay.
Mendez: You sound like Fran.
Amber: Am I dead?
Jon: You are.
Mendez: Heh. I wish I was more like Fran.
Amber: He can’t see me… Because I’m dead? But you can see me… You’re trying to talk to me without him realizing?
Jon: Yeah.
Mendez: You wish I was more like Fran?
Amber: I can’t believe this… I have so many questions.
Jon: I’m sorry. I have a bunch of questions about what happened here. I’m trying to find evidence to help these missing women, and you’re over her thinking about Crowley.
Mendez: Like you haven’t…
Amber: Is this guy a good cop? I’m dead, and he’s making jokes…
Jon: Can we please get back to work?
Mendez: This consumes at least half of my work day.
Jon: Somehow, I believe that. (Pause) I found a fiber from a purple article of clothing.
Amber: Kate is wearing purple. Or she was…
Mendez: One of the victims’?
Amber: If she’s dead too, shouldn’t her ghost be here?
Jon: That is a great question. I wonder what happened to the person wearing purple.
Mendez: It could even be a victim from before.
Amber: How many others were there?
Jon: How many victims were there?
Mendez: Known? Five. But there could be more we don’t know about.
Amber: Oh my god… Does that mean my body was… Oh…
Jon: What are the odds of either of them still being alive?
Amber: Kate always knew she was going to die early… She had some rare genetic disease that made her want to live life to the fullest. We were best friends growing up, and when she found out she… Sort of spiraled. She got into drugs. And that led to worse. I was only working at this damn restaurant to still be near her. I wanted to be there if she ever wanted to change or get clean. She could have had a better life with what she had left…
Mendez: I was just gonna ask you the same thing. You’re not finding anything?
Jon: I’m seeing some specs of blood here and there, but if this was really used to store meat of any kind, I can’t be sure if it’s even human. I need some sort of evidence that tells me the story of what happened.
Mendez: Is that how it usually works?
Jon: Ideally. How did you end up here? What happened to you when you did? Where did Kate go?
Mendez: And Amber… Right?
Amber: She came here to tell Vinchenzo that she was done. I think… Or at least I hoped so… We had just gotten into a fight about it, and she stormed off. I thought she was going to go score, but… She didn’t go to the chef. She came here to confront Vin himself.
Jon: What happened here?
Mendez: Find something?
Amber: By the time I came inside, she was already in here. The Chef saw me and grabbed me, too. We were in here for a few days and… She started detoxing. I tried to be strong… I tried to be so brave for her. I didn’t want her to see me scared. But then… I was taken out of the room. And by the time I got back… Kate wouldn’t wake up. I saw her breathing for a bit, and I tried to shake her or move her, but I couldn’t… It was like… I couldn’t touch her… And I’m just now realizing that was because I’m dead. I’m a ghost… I was a ghost then. And she froze, or her brain disease finally got her. Something… And all she wanted me to do was tell her that I loved her before she died. And I didn’t… I came back and I tried, though. I screamed it at the top of my lungs. And she couldn’t hear me, because I was already dead…
Jon: What disease?
Mendez: Huh?
Jon: Just thinking aloud. There are a handfull of diseases that are carried through human meat. That present themselves after prolonged cannibalism. If any of those diseases were present in any of the victims, you’d see them in Vinchenzo, or even more widespread in the cannibal network he was shipping to.
Mendez: Wow… Something like HiV of Hepatitis?
Amber: Kate didn’t have hepatitis, you ass.
Jon: No. Those can all be cooked out. It’s-
Mendez: Ugh… Cooked out. Jesus. I gotta get out of this meat locker.
Jon: Keep it together. I’m talking about rare prion diseases, transfered through the proteins.
Mendez: I’m gonna hurl.
Jon: What did she have?
Amber: I don’t remember… Some acronym. Not HiV.
Mendez: How uncommon are these diseases?
Jon: Very.
Mendez: So the odds…
Jon: I don’t like odds. Think… Think…
Amber: I don’t know!
Jon: Kuru?
Mendez: What?
Amber: It was something genetic.
Jon: Do you have medical histories for both victims?
Mendez: There was very little on either of them.
Jon: How about relatives?
Mendez: We didn’t check.
Amber: Kate’s dad died in his fifties.
Jon: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. CDJ?
Mendez: Gesundheiht.
Ameber: That sounds familiar.
Jon: I need to get back to the hospital and check medical records. If Kate’s dad had genetic CDJ, she may have had it.
Mendez: And that can be transferred through her meat?
Jon: Through her brain.
Amber: Jesus christ…
Mendez: Okay. Yup. Gonna be sick. Let’s get you out of here.
Jon: You go on ahead. I’ll gather this stuff.
Mendez: Okay. Another officer will drive you back. I’m heading into the precinct with Crowley and our guest of honor if we’re done here. You’ll let me know about the medical records?
Jon: Or course.
Mendez: Thanks, doc.
Jon: Watch that hook.
[Mendez wretching in the background.]
Amber: Is that it?
Jon: I think so.
Amber: Are you going to leave me here?
Jon: Amber… I’m so sorry about what happened with you and Kate.
Amber: That’s a yes.
Jon: I can stay and talk, if you want.
Amber: No… It’s okay. I’m going to go look for Kate. I guess… We’re both trying to solve this in different ways. My way is… Hoping she’s still alive.
Jon: She won’t be able to see you, if she is…
Amber: But I’ll see her.
Jon: I hope you find her… Good luck, Amber.