(familiar theme music: acoustic guitar, church bells, a faraway female voice)
VOICEOVER: Welcome to Season Two of The Black Tapes Podcast.
This season, we’re continuing our exploration of belief and the search for truth, and our profile of the enigmatic Dr. Hermann Gottlieb. We are examining his collection of unsolved cases, pursuing the theory that they are connected.
Our story progresses in order, week by week. So, if you’re a first-time listener, welcome to the show! You’ll have to start at episode one if you want to have the faintest idea what I’m talking about.
(interlude music #4)
NEWT (VO): Our last episode ended in a bit of a cliffhanger. Sorry about that, kids.
We’ll pick up where we left off--the unexpected return of Dr. Gottlieb.
HERMANN: Hello, Newton.
NEWT: Hermann.
(beat)
NEWT: I’ve been trying to get in touch.
HERMANN: I know.
NEWT: It’s... um. It’s the Westfield Police, they need you to...
HERMANN: I know.
NEWT: Well you--
HERMANN: Newton.
NEWT: ...Yes?
HERMANN: I need your help.
NEWT: What’s wrong?
HERMANN: Please, sit down.
(sound of papers being moved, someone sitting)
NEWT: ...Are you going to sit? You don’t look so good.
NEWT (VO): He didn’t. Dr. Gottlieb looked disheveled. His short hair had grown out of its usual trim. His sleeves were rolled up, and his top shirt button was open. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but on him, it looked downright disastrous. He even had five o’clock shadow, which frankly, I didn’t think was possible.
But most of all, it was his eyes. They were half-dead. He hardly seemed to see me.
He looked bad. I would know--I haven’t been looking so hot lately, either.
NEWT: So you’ve been working on... this?
HERMANN: ...Yes.
NEWT: It’s... a lot to take in.
HERMANN: I know. It looks...
NEWT: (cautiously) Thorough...?
HERMANN: It looks insane. I know.
NEWT: But you’re fine.
HERMANN: Yes.
NEWT: Yeah. Cause you look really great. You look super chill and healthy and well-rested.
(beat)
HERMANN: I could say the same of you.
NEWT: (quietly) Well...
HERMANN: You have questions.
NEWT: No [expletive bleeped].
HERMANN: Are you going to keep recording?
NEWT: What?
HERMANN: I said, are you going to record this?
NEWT: ...Yes.
HERMANN: I’d prefer you didn’t.
NEWT: (blunt) Sorry. It’s my job.
HERMANN: And if I said I wouldn’t answer your questions, unless you stopped recording?
NEWT: (...)
(beat)
NEWT: I would go.
(long pause)
HERMANN: (quietly) Go ahead, then. Ask your questions.
NEWT: And then?
HERMANN: And then I have an appointment in Westfield.
NEWT (VO): We’ll hear the rest of that interview later.
Spoiler alert: he doesn’t answer most of my questions. Big surprise, I know.
After we talked, Dr. G headed out on the Mass Pike to speak to the kidnapper, Robert Motherwell. (curtly) Sheriff Collins made it very clear that the press corps was not invited.
NEWT: (sounds like he’s pacing) This is B.S., you know.
MAKO: It is.
NEWT: I should be in there, in that interview.
MAKO: It’s out of our hands, Newt. The FBI is involved in this investigation. We’re just a podcast.
NEWT: It’s suppression of the press, is what it is.
-----------OFF THE RECORD-----------
MAKO: ...You’re just wired.
NEWT: Oh yeah?
MAKO: Yeah. You know perfectly well why.
NEWT: No--no. It’s not that.
MAKO: Oh, it’s not?
NEWT: ...No. I’m fine.
MAKO: Because you don’t sound fine.
NEWT: (sarcastically) Please.
MAKO: How much did you sleep last night, Newt?
NEWT: I...
MAKO: (...)
NEWT: Maybe an hour.
MAKO: Did you go to your appointment with the sleep doctor?
NEWT: Yes! But you can’t expect it to start working instantaneously. It needs--
-----------RESUME RECORD-----------
(phone rings)
(click)
MAKO: This is Mako. (...) Yeah. Really? Whoa. Um... Okay. Yeah, I’ll give you my email. It’s [bleeped]. Okay. Thank you. Bye. (click)
NEWT: What is it?
MAKO: Dr. Gottlieb just arrived at the station. He’s sitting down with Robert Motherwell right now.
NEWT: ...And?
MAKO: And Motherwell requested the interview be recorded.
NEWT: ...Oh.
MAKO: He’s insisting on it. There’s nothing his lawyer can do to stop it.
NEWT: (perking up) So they’re going to send you the audio, when it’s done?
MAKO: (grimly) Yes.
(interlude music #6)
NEWT (VO): In the meantime, an update on my insomnia situation. As I mentioned last month, I’ve been experiencing rather serious sleep disruption. At Mako’s, um, strong urging, I made an appointment with a sleep doctor. The urging was something like, “Newt, if you don't, I will resign as producer of this podcast.”
WOMAN: So how have you been feeling?
NEWT (VO): My sleep doctor's name is Dr. Joan Mitchell.
Now, I agreed to attend these sessions on one condition--that I could record my sessions and share anything relevant with you, dear listener. I explained to Dr. Mitchell that I thought sharing what I was experiencing would help me get past whatever it was. Dr. Mitchell was less than enthusiastic. She agreed to let me record the first two sessions, and then revisit the agreement.
DR. MITCHELL: How have you been finding the relaxation exercises?
NEWT: Well...
DR. MITCHELL: Have you done them?
NEWT: Yes.
DR. MITCHELL: And did they help?
NEWT: Well, they definitely helped me fall asleep...
DR. MITCHELL: ...But you’re not able to stay asleep?
NEWT: No. I always wake up within an hour. And then I can’t fall back asleep.
DR. MITCHELL: I’d like to avoid that type of language.
NEWT: Which was that?
DR. MITCHELL: Negative absolutes like “can’t” and “always.” Rather than saying “I can’t fall back asleep,” I’d rather you try saying something positive.
NEWT: (with some irony) I’m not feeling very positive about it, honestly.
DR. MITCHELL: (humoring him) Still. Try saying something like, “I fell asleep quicker than usual,” or something of that nature. It’s important that we use positive language around the subject of sleep and sleeping.
NEWT: Okay. I’ll try.
DR. MITCHELL: Great. Have you started your sleep journal?
NEWT: Er... Not yet.
DR. MITCHELL: Is there a reason why not?
NEWT: Well, I was wondering... is it alright if I do an audio journal?
DR. MITCHELL: That would be fine. The important thing is just that you record or write something each morning.
NEWT: Every morning. Got it.
(interlude music #3)
NEWT (VO): According to the preliminary reports we obtained by wheedling over the phone, Motherwell claimed he was some kind of monk. He said he belonged to a brotherhood called “The Sylvan Order.”
Mako and I did some digging into that while we waited to get the sound file from his interview with Dr. Gottlieb.
MAKO: I found them!
NEWT: (excited) You did?
MAKO: Yes. I win again.
NEWT: Newt 3, Mako 17.
MAKO: (laughs) Come check it out. (sound of rolling chair) I’ve been looking into the order that he claims to be a member of, The Sylvan Order. I found a reference to them in a local paper from 1985--the National Forestry Service found a community of monks living illegally on state property. They were living in Green Mountain National Forest, way deep in the woods. That’s in the southwest corner of Vermont. Here. (sound of her tapping on screen)
NEWT: Oh, yeah. That’s not far from Westfield.
MAKO: No, not far. Have you heard of this, Dr. G?
HERMANN: (sounding more awake) No. As I said, I’ve never heard of this order before.
NEWT: So what happened? Were they arrested?
MAKO: (tapping on screen) Yes. Read from here.
NEWT: (reading aloud) “Forest rangers were able to apprehend six of the monks for illegal trespass and development in a national park, under the auspices of the International Union for...” blah blah... “An estimated 10 to 15 monks escaped the authorities. They are still at large.” What year was this?
MAKO: 1985.
NEWT: That’s around the time the Festival of Paine got started, isn’t it?
HERMANN: Approximately.
NEWT: (...)
HERMANN: ...If you’re trying to suggest a connection, Newton...
NEWT: Well...
MAKO: (interrupting) I just got an email from the police. They’re releasing the interview audio. They also sent along the, um, scans you requested, Dr. G?
HERMANN: Yes. Motherwell was found in possession of an unusual book. The police have it now, but they let me scan the pages. I think it will be of interest to you as well.
NEWT: What is it?
HERMANN: Most of the lettering appears to be Cyrillic, but it’s not Russian. I can’t read it. I’ll forward them to you both.
MAKO: Thanks. The interview is ready. I’m going to play it.
NEWT: Go for it.
(interview plays)
(sound of metal door closing in a concrete room)
(sound of chair moving, echoing)
HERMANN: You’ll need to sign this before we begin.
(sound of pen, then paper sliding)
HERMANN: Thank you. Tell me, why did you kidnap Tessa Hall?
MOTHERWELL: (mid-range, throaty voice, ambiguous age) You know why.
HERMANN: I’m afraid I don’t. That’s why I came here.
MOTHERWELL: You visited the cabin, didn’t you?
HERMANN: I did. You’re fully aware of that.
MOTHERWELL: Am I?
HERMANN: You listen to Newt Geiszler’s podcast.
MOTHERWELL: (slowly) You saw what was in that cabin. So then, you know.
HERMANN: Mr. Motherwell, if you aren’t interested in answering my questions, I fail to see why you requested...
MOTHERWELL: Brother.
HERMANN: Pardon?
MOTHERWELL: It’s Brother Robert.
HERMANN: You’re a member of a holy order? What order?
MOTHERWELL: The Sylvan Order.
HERMANN: “Sylvan” as in “wooded”?
MOTHERWELL: That’s right.
HERMANN: I’m not familiar with that order.
MOTHERWELL: It’s quite small.
HERMANN: Where do you meet?
MOTHERWELL: It’s not important.
HERMANN: Would you like to tell me about that book you were found with?
MOTHERWELL: It’s not important.
HERMANN: It looks important.
MOTHERWELL: It’s a prayer book.
HERMANN: It didn’t look like a prayer book.
MOTHERWELL: There are many types of worship, Dr. Gottlieb.
(beat)
HERMANN: Let me ask again. Why did you kidnap Tessa Hall?
MOTHERWELL: Let me say again. You know why.
HERMANN: Because of the cabin. The symbols.
MOTHERWELL: (darkly) Yes.
HERMANN: (sound of chair scraping closer) The thing is, Brother Robert, I don’t know why. I don’t know what it means. You have to explain it to me.
MOTHERWELL: (quietly) Think, Hermann Gottlieb... You are a lonely man. You like to be alone. But not always. I know there are times when you wished you weren’t so very... alone.
Do you ever think, in those lonely moments, when it’s just you and the darkness... Have you ever felt an other?
HERMANN: Another what?
MOTHERWELL: Not another. An other.
(beat)
HERMANN: (...) No.
MOTHERWELL: You have been watched, Hermann. All your life, you have been watched. Since you were a boy. You know this.
HERMANN: Brother Robert, if you aren’t going to answer my questions, I will end this interview. It will not air. And I know you want it to be aired. For the last time, tell me why you kidnapped Tessa Hall.
MOTHERWELL: (quietly) You know. Think of what she can do. Think of her gift. Is it so different from your own?
HERMANN: (with disdain) And what gift is that?
MOTHERWELL: (almost whispering) Your refusal to connect the dots will be your undoing, Hermann.
HERMANN: (sound of chair, standing up) One last thing--why did you insist on speaking with me in particular? Why not the police?
MOTHERWELL: The police haven’t seen what you’ve seen. They don’t have all the pieces that need to be fit together.
HERMANN: You’ve been listening to too many podcasts.
MOTHERWELL: And you are not listening. You have all the pieces. That’s why they’re watching you.
HERMANN: Who.
MOTHERWELL: The Advocate.
(end of tape)
NEWT: (...)
HERMANN: (...)
NEWT: Who is the Advocate?
HERMANN: I’ve no idea.
NEWT: (concerned) He was talking like he knew you.
HERMANN: He’s obviously a madman. Maybe he’s obsessed with my work. Or yours.
NEWT: (incredulous) So that’s your theory? Just a madman?
HERMANN: (snapping) I’m sorry, was “Opening a portal to Hell” a more plausible scenario to you?
NEWT: Well?
HERMANN: Look. Here’s my theory. Robert Motherwell believes he can open some kind of interdimensional portal to Hell. He believes for some reason that Tessa Hall holds the key. But obviously, he’s wrong. Tessa Hall wasn’t the key to opening any portals to Hell, well, because nothing happened. The cabin is still there. There’s no fiery maw with demons pouring out of it into our world. There's nothing. Because science does not work that way.
NEWT: That we know of.
HERMANN: Newton, I don’t know how to state this any more clearly. None of this is real. You are listening to the ramblings of a madman.
NEWT: You really believe that? That he’s crazy?
HERMANN: ...Yes.
NEWT: Then what about what he said about you being watched?
HERMANN: (...)
NEWT (VO): Because, well, Hermann had brought that up with me before. Earlier that day.
When we come back: the rest of our interview from his office. Stay with us.
---------SPONSOR BREAK #1---------
⏮ ⏯ ⏭
NEWT (VO): I had just come face to face with Dr. G for the first time in six months. His office was a crazy mess, and his hair was too. I was a little shaken up myself. I had a lot of questions. After I semi-politely declined his request for me to stop recording, I asked him where he’d been, and what he’d been doing.
HERMANN: Go ahead. Ask your questions.
NEWT: And then?
HERMANN: And then I have an appointment in Westfield.
NEWT: ...So. Where the hell have you been?
HERMANN: (...)
NEWT: (clears throat) Okay. Sorry. I shouldn’t expect you to give a direct answer to such a broad question. That’s on me.
HERMANN: (upset) Newton...
NEWT: (pulling himself together) No. No. It’s fine. (clears throat) Here it is--first question. Did you find Vanessa?
HERMANN: No.
NEWT: Have you seen her?
HERMANN: No.
NEWT: Have you been in touch with her?
HERMANN: No. When I got to Florida, the postmistress shared security footage with me. There was a visible license plate. The police found the car a few hours later, abandoned a few miles away. It had been reported stolen the day before.
NEWT: And the trail went cold after that?
HERMANN: Yes.
NEWT: Okay... So what’s all... this?
HERMANN: This is...
(beat)
NEWT: Still think the tapes aren’t connected?
HERMANN: This has nothing to do with your tapes.
NEWT: I thought they were your tapes.
HERMANN: This is different.
NEWT: What is it, then? I see Vanessa. I also see Father Dirac. What’s the connection there? And what are you doing with a photo of Sexy George Clooney on your wall? How did you find him?
HERMANN: Who?
NEWT (VO): Last December, I was approached in a cafe by a mysterious and implausibly handsome stranger. He said a bunch of cryptic nonsense, took Hermann’s coffee, and left. For six months, we’ve been unable to identify this man.
So imagine my surprise when, upon entering Hermann’s nest of madness, I saw a photo of him tacked on the wall.
NEWT: That photo.
HERMANN: (sound of turning in chair) Him?
NEWT: Who is he?
HERMANN: His name is Mark Roth. He’s the CEO of the Roth Corporation, or Rothco. It’s a conglomerate I’ve been... looking into. Why?
NEWT: That’s the guy. The guy from the cafe. Sexy George Clooney.
HERMANN: That.... That was the man?
NEWT: Yes.
HERMANN: The one who took my coffee cup?
NEWT: Yes.
HERMANN: Newton, you’re absolutely certain?
NEWT: Yes. I would not forget that face. Who is he? Why is he up there?
HERMANN: (...) You’re still recording?
NEWT: Yes.
HERMANN: I... I am concerned about sharing this information “on air,” as it were. It’s... private.
NEWT: (...)
HERMANN: (reluctantly) ...For some time I have been aware that I am a... person of interest to certain groups.
NEWT: (quickly) What groups?
HERMANN: (frustrated) I don’t know.
NEWT: Rothco?
HERMANN: Maybe. But I have suspected that I am... under surveillance. In a manner of speaking. Being followed. Or courted. By a group, or groups, seeking certain artifacts or information. Things that would have been in my father’s possession before he died.
NEWT: Your father the... artifact collector?
HERMANN: Correct.
NEWT: Do you have these artifacts?
HERMANN: No. But these persons or groups seem to think I have information about their whereabouts.
NEWT: What makes you think you’re being followed? Have there been... incidents?
HERMANN: (with finality) I am not comfortable sharing that on air.
NEWT: Okay... So what kinds of artifacts are we talking about? Are they right? Do you have that information?
HERMANN: No. I know nothing.
NEWT: Okay...
HERMANN: If I am a target, my family members are as well. Anyone associated with my father might be. Or even myself. For this reason I have... distanced myself from them.
NEWT: From who? Your family?
HERMANN: From everyone.
NEWT: Oh. (skeptical) Okay.
HERMANN: It’s likely they’re monitoring this podcast as well.
NEWT: Probably.
HERMANN: If you really believe Mark Roth was the one you saw in that cafe...
NEWT: He was.
HERMANN: That is both disturbing and reassuring. It means I’m on the right trail. I must admit, I wish I wasn’t.
NEWT: Why would these people be after your family?
HERMANN: I... I believe for the artifacts my father dealt in.
NEWT: You can’t think of any other reason?
HERMANN: Are you asking about something in particular?
NEWT: Are you avoiding something in particular?
HERMANN: (warningly) Newton.
NEWT: I feel like there’s something you’re not sharing.
HERMANN: There isn’t.
NEWT: You can’t make me wait forever, Hermann.
HERMANN: (...)
(pause)
NEWT: ...You said you needed my help.
HERMANN: Yes.
NEWT: With this?
HERMANN: Yes.
NEWT: Is that why you’re... back?
HERMANN: You’re the one who broke into my office.
NEWT: (blunt) Right. And you’re talking to me. So? You need my help?
HERMANN: I’ve... hit a dead end.
NEWT: With... all this?
HERMANN: Yes. (sounding weary) I thought you or... Mako could help me research, look online, follow these threads.
NEWT: Which threads, exactly?
HERMANN: (quietly) Will you help me, or not?
NEWT: What about Marian? Can’t she help?
HERMANN: I’d like to keep her out of this. You and I, we...
(pause...)
NEWT: (also quiet)...Yeah.
HERMANN: So you’ll do it?
NEWT: Yes. Of course I'll help.
(interlude music #5)
NEWT (VO): Dr. Gottlieb said there was something else he wanted to show me. I would have to come up to his house, sometime that week.
It was strange, seeing him again after all that time. Things definitely felt different.
Maybe we were both different now. I don’t know.
---------SPONSOR BREAK #1---------
⏮ ⏯ ⏭
(sound of a front door opening)
NEWT: Hi. You’re looking better.
HERMANN: Yes, last night I slept much better than I have been, lately. Come in.
NEWT: (stepping in) Wish I could say the same. (Sound of front door closing) This place is beautiful.
HERMANN: It’s certainly something.
NEWT (VO): Dr. Gottlieb invited me up to his parents’ old house in Lincoln, about forty minutes north of the city. He actually inherited it years ago, when his father Lars died. But it’s stood empty most of that time. He recently moved back in, and invited me up to show me something, something he said was pertinent to his “investigation.”
The house was beautiful. It was sited on a slope above a wide field bordered by stone walls and dark woods. The halls were spacious and clean, but mostly empty. Each room had a cluster of neatly-labeled boxes on the hardwood floor. What little furniture there was, it was still covered with plastic.
I wouldn’t say it felt haunted. But it did feel hollow. It felt too vast and echoey to have ever been a happy home.
NEWT: (distantly) Move-in seems to be going well.
HERMANN: (down the hall) Yes. Marian has been advising me on how to redecorate.
NEWT: I bet she knows her stuff.
(sound of door opening)
HERMANN: Quite. Please, sit. I’ll have to look through these boxes to find what I’m looking for.
NEWT: (sitting down) Which is what, exactly?
(sound of tape being ripped off cardboard)
HERMANN: Are you recording?
NEWT: Always.
(sound of objects being shifted around)
HERMANN: I understand you were frustrated about the lack of detail in my... investigation. The one we discussed the other day.
NEWT: Mhm?
HERMANN: I’d like to give you another angle to approach from.
NEWT: Sounds like an olive branch.
(shifting stops)
HERMANN: (...) Do we need one?
NEWT: (makes a noncommittal noise)
(shifting resumes)
NEWT: I do appreciate the journalistic consideration.
HERMANN: I’m glad.
NEWT: (looking) Is that just a box full of black tapes?
HERMANN: Yes.
NEWT (VO): Dr. Gottlieb was digging through a cardboard box marked “Unsolved,” taking them out and stacking them as he searched. It was strange to see them like that, so informally. Just packed in a cardboard box--stacked on a hardwood floor--the now-famous tapes. A year ago, that’s all they were to me. A random collection of tapes. And now... Well.
HERMANN: Here--I’ve found it.
NEWT: Oh. Sweet.
NEWT (VO): We went to the living room, where we spent about half an hour trying to hook up the VHS to the TV. There was no couch, so we sat on crates. Dr. G put the tape into the player. The label was “Karla.”
(interlude music #2)
NEWT (VO): Attentive listeners may remember the Karla tape from last season. They may in fact remember Dr. Gottlieb denying he had any such tape. Here’s the audio from season one.
(audio from Episode Six plays)
CAITLIN LIGHTCAP: Ask him to watch the Karla tape.
NEWT: The Karla tape?
LIGHTCAP: Yes.
NEWT: What’s on there?
LIGHTCAP: I won’t say more. That’s for Dr. Gottlieb to explain.
(...)
NEWT: She told me to ask you about a certain tape.
HERMANN: A tape?
NEWT: “Karla.” She said you would know what that meant.
HERMANN: I’m afraid I don’t.
NEWT: You sure?
HERMANN: Quite.
NEWT (VO): So you can imagine my surprise when he queued it up without comment.
NEWT: (incredulous) Hermann, I seem to remember you saying...
HERMANN: Yes. I know.
NEWT: (sighs quietly)
(click)
(tape beings playing)
(static)
(static resolves into a voice--a young boy)
BOY: Where? Show me.
GIRL: Right there.
(clunk sound on mic)
BOY: I don’t see anything.
NEWT (VO): The footage was dark, and very grainy. It’s nighttime. It’s hard to tell, but it looks like they’re in an enclosed porch or sunroom. There’s a boy and a girl. She’s young, about seven or eight. We can’t see the boy. He sounds younger.
He’s holding the video camera, pointing at the girl. She’s leaning against the glass doors, breathing steam circles onto the glass and then wiping them away.
BOY: Karla, where is it?
(squeaky sound of hand wiping glass)
KARLA: Out there.
BOY: But where? I can’t see it. I can’t see it on the camera either.
KARLA: It’s not one where. There’s a bunch of them.
BOY: (frustrated) A bunch of what?
KARLA: Tall men.
NEWT (VO): The camera jerks and the boy moves towards the door. He slides it open. All we see is black.
(rubbery squeak sound of sliding door opening)
(quiet wind)
(wind)
KARLA: You shouldn’t have opened it.
BOY: There’s nothing out there.
KARLA: They’re not out there.
BOY: But you said...
KARLA: ...Anymore.
BOY: (...)
(squeaky hand-on-glass sound)
KARLA: You opened the door. They came inside.
(camera clunk)
KARLA: They’re in here now.
(someone gasps)
(click--tape ends)
NEWT (VO): Right as she says “They’re in here now,” Karla points at something behind the boy. Karla definitely looks like she’s looking at something, high up near the ceiling.
He turns around to see, and gasps. But when the camera turns to that corner, well...
NEWT: ...There was nothing there.
HERMANN: (...)
NEWT: I mean. It’s a creepy video, but... I don’t exactly see how it’s black tape material. It’s just one kid scaring another kid. Am I missing something?
HERMANN: I can see how it would look that way.
NEWT: Who was Karla?
HERMANN: Karla was a childhood friend.
NEWT: A childhood...of yours? (astonished) Hermann, was that you?
HERMANN: Yes.
NEWT: (still shocked) That was you, behind the camera?
HERMANN: Yes.
NEWT: How old were you when you made this?
HERMANN: About five.
NEWT: (unconcealed fondness breaking through) No accent yet?
HERMANN: I was packed off to boarding school soon after this.
NEWT: ...Can I ask again why this tape is unresolved? I didn’t see anything unexplained...
HERMANN: I did.
NEWT: (quickly) You saw something? In that room?
HERMANN: ...I thought I did.
NEWT: But there’s nothing on camera.
HERMANN: Yes. There was nothing there. But what Karla claimed to see, I... Well. There’s lots of research explaining visions. There are many ways the brain tricks you into thinking you see something. But there are few reputable studies on shared hallucinations.
NEWT: Folie à deux?
HERMANN: The closest explanation, yes, is something called shared psychotic disorder. But this does not really occur among children. Even if it did, we did not fit the profile--my friend would have had to be quite dominant over me. She was a bit older, but otherwise...
(beat)
NEWT: What did you see?
HERMANN: ...I don't know, anymore.
NEWT: You don't know?
HERMANN: I don’t remember it.
NEWT: How did you two know each other?
HERMANN: She lived in Lincoln.
NEWT: Where is Karla now?
HERMANN: I don’t know. Please don’t try to find her.
(interlude music #4)
NEWT: So how did Caitlin Lightcap know about this video?
HERMANN: (sighs) This tape was among my father’s books when he died. I was out of the country at the time. The some of his belongings got auctioned off, and Lightcap was at there. She bid on a box of his books. This tape was with them. When I came back, she mailed it to the Institute.
NEWT: That was... nice of her?
HERMANN: Yes.
NEWT: (trying to understand) But you two don’t seem to get along now.
HERMANN: Because we didn’t make small talk at the police station in Westfield?
NEWT: Yes.
HERMANN: It’s my belief Lightcap sent this tape to me as a way of... challenging me. I think it was her way of positing that my “mission” to debunk the paranormal stems from an insecurity about this incident from my childhood.
NEWT: But it doesn’t. Stem from that.
HERMANN: Of course not.
NEWT: That would be ridiculous. So what does this have to do with the rest of your investigation?
HERMANN: I don’t know. But I thought you’d want to see it.
NEWT (VO): I drove back to the studio feeling strange. That tape gave me an eerie feeling. Not because of what was on it--but because of the way Hermann talked about it. It was the first time I had ever seen him express doubt. Doubt about his mission, about the truth in his own eyes.
Seeing his childhood home was also something. As he showed me out, I think I spotted the room where he and Karla saw whatever they saw. It was a screened-in porch off the back living room. It gave me a chill.
--------- ⏹ Stop ---------
(Driving, highway sounds. Radio is playing quietly. Someone is crying.)
(crying continues)
(car honks)
(Sobs slow down. Sniffling. Flipping through radio stations.)
(sniffs loudly, then sighs.)
NEWT: (hoarsely) Okay. Okay. It’s okay.
(settles on a radio station--“Tainted Love” is playing)
NEWT: (sings along quietly)
--------- ⏺ Rec ---------
NEWT (VO): Back at the studio, Mako and I sat down to look at the other piece of evidence from the kidnapper: the mysterious book.
(clicking)
MAKO: So the police scanned all the pages in and sent them in this PDF. I’m going to forward it around to some rare books people and see if I can track down someone who can tell us more about it.
NEWT: Sounds good.
(click)
MAKO: So the first thing that jumps out is this... drawing of Satan on the flyleaf?
NEWT: Yeah... That’s interesting.
NEWT (VO): Indeed there was a drawing of Satan in the book. I’m not a hundred percent on my Christian iconography, but this looked like medieval Satans I’d seen. Horns, tail, funky eyebrows. Big smile.
MAKO: The words are, like Dr. G said, in Cyrillic... But not Russian. These parts look like lists to me. Or maybe songs?
NEWT: Maybe, yeah. (intrigued) Interesting. Didn’t Motherwell say it was a prayer book?
MAKO: Yeah.
NEWT: Wait--is that the cover?
MAKO: This? Yeah.
NEWT (VO): Mako clicked back to the first page of the PDF. The cover was dark green leather. It had no title. The bottom half was taken up with a gold lattice design, and the top half had a weird little star. It had seven points, with dots at the intersections, and it was enclosed in two concentric circles.
It looked... familiar.
NEWT: (slowly) This looks familiar.
MAKO: Really?
NEWT: Do we have a photo of the whole book?
MAKO: Yeah. (clicking) Right here. Why?
NEWT: Red inked... I’ve seen this before. We’ve seen this before.
MAKO: (incredulous) Have we?
NEWT: (slowly) Yes. This looks exactly like the book in the painting. Il Sorriso Capovolto. The one that’s open on the professor’s desk.
MAKO: (disbelieving) What...
NEWT: (furious typing, clicking) No--wait. Wait. (click) Yes. Yes. It does. Look. Look. Here’s the painting.
NEWT (VO): I pulled up a high-res scan of the missing Caravaggio. I admit I’ve... spent a lot of time looking at this painting. I think the code is interesting, what can I say? I’m not a codebreaker. And I’m not really interested in opening a portal to hell, which, if you recall, is what this code purports to do.
I just... I don’t know. I find it interesting.
Well, in the painting, the book is propped open on another little stack of books. It’s small, in the middle ground of the painting. You can see one page and the front cover. It’s a dark green binding, with a gold lattice. There’s a strange little gold star design on the top part of the front cover. And the edges of the pages are inked--like gilding, but instead of gold, they’re dark red.
NEWT: Look. Green. Gold lattice. (click, click) Weird star thing. And the pages...
MAKO: (realizing) Red inked. Just like the one in the painting.
NEWT: (excited, talking fast) It’s the same. It’s the same book. It’s looking old and worse for wear maybe, but it is. Maybe another edition. Or copy. Or translation? Is this handwritten? Are we sure we don’t know anyone who can r--
MAKO: (quickly) Okay wait, think about what this means. If this--
NEWT: (almost yelling) The code!
MAKO: (startled) What?
NEWT: Is the code in here? The Capovolto Code? Wait, wait. Hang on.
(sound of typing, clicking)
NEWT (VO): Needless to say, I was hyped. I scrolled through the PDF, scanning quickly for the code page--believe me, I would know it if I saw it.
(chair moving)
(clicking continues)
NEWT: I don’t see it...
MAKO: I mean, think about it. Even if this is the same book, even if the code is in here, this is a Cyrillic text... The code in the painting isn’t Cyrillic.
NEWT: (clicking, but more slowly) Yeah...
NEWT (VO): I really hoped it was the same book. It seemed too good to be true--so maybe it was. My gut was telling me one thing... But these days, I’m sometimes not sure about trusting my gut.
I emailed my findings to the Isabella Stewart Gardner historians. It might be a crackpot theory, but they’re pretty well-disposed towards me these days. They even invited me to a party--they’ve nearly finished restoring Landscape with Obelisk to its original frame, and the gallery opening is coming up soon. Mako and I will, of course, be honored guests.
NEWT (VO): I went back through the PDF and looked again. Nothing jumped out as being the Capovolto Code, translation or otherwise; like Mako said, though, I probably wouldn’t recognize it in this other script.
I did find one interesting thing. Between pages 56 and 57 of the PDF, there’s a torn edge in the binding. The pages themselves are not numbered in the actual book. But it looks to me like a page was removed--fairly carefully. There’s only a little tear left.
We’ll need an expert’s opinion on the book, though. Someone who can actually authenticate, and read it. The search is on.
In the meantime, another search was gaining ground.
(Skype ringing sound)
(call connect sound)
MAKO: Hello?
BECKET: Hey, Mako.
MAKO: (warmly) Hey Raleigh. I didn’t expect to hear back from you so soon.
BECKET: (faux suave) What can I say? That’s just how we do it at the BBC World Service.
NEWT (VO): Reporter extraordinaire Raleigh Becket called Mako up. I was taking a break room couch nap at the time, and Mako didn’t wake me. Guess she thought I "needed the sleep" or something.
He gave Mako his first update.
BECKET: So I don’t have anything definitive yet. I haven’t found anyone who actually remembers seeing Hawking. It was almost a year ago. But I do have an idea of why he might have come here--so while I keep looking for him, I thought you guys might be able to follow this thread.
MAKO: That’s great. Hit me.
BECKET: A crypt.
MAKO: A crypt.
BECKET: Yes. Here in Limoges. It’s all that’s left of the Abbey of Saint Martial, which was built in the 9th century and destroyed in the 19th. The crypt houses the bones of Saint Martial, first Bishop of Limoges, who the monastery was named for.
MAKO: Ah. A monastery. Like Hawking’s email said.
BECKET: Yes. Like I said, the crypt is all that’s left--there’s not much to see. So I don’t know why he was here, but...
MAKO: But you’ll keep looking.
BECKET: You know I will.
NEWT (VO): We asked Dr. G if he knew anything about this crypt or monastery, and he said no. But he offered to put us in touch with a friend who studied medieval monasticism.
Next month, we dig into the Abbey of Saint Martial and its monastic mysteries. We’ll have the first of my sleep notes, Rothco, and more on Dr. Gottlieb’s mysterious childhood.
It’s the Black Tapes Podcast. I’m Newt Geiszler. See you next month.
(music fades out)
⏺ Rec