Speaker 1: Hey, lethal listeners, take Torres here. Stay tuned for the
Speaker 1: next episode of Lethal Lit. But first, here's a quick
Speaker 1: word from our sponsor. H Hello, Tick, Yes, I hope
Speaker 1: it's not too late. Jane Ferranti, producer of Something in
Speaker 1: the Water. She's an amazing journalist and kind of a legend.
Speaker 1: Oh hi, Jane, No, definitely not too late. Always have
Speaker 1: time for you. I just got off the phone with
Speaker 1: a medical examiner who will do anything for homie brownies,
Speaker 1: even if they're not actually homemade. Half a minute to talk,
Speaker 1: of course. The sudden death of the antique store owner,
Speaker 1: Stephanie Reid had me convinced something was again not right
Speaker 1: in the town of Hollow Falls, but the doctor insisted
Speaker 1: it was a natural death and wouldn't give me the
Speaker 1: time of day. Jane did, though, take your hunch was right.
Speaker 1: They found strict nine, otherwise known as rat poison and
Speaker 1: listen to this. After reviewing the details, they decided to
Speaker 1: go back and do another autopsy on Rock Monitue. I
Speaker 1: want to guess what they found. Strict nine. Looks like
Speaker 1: you've got a serial killer on your hands. I shouldn't
Speaker 1: have felt proud to hear her say that, but I did,
Speaker 1: and in a sick, twisted way, I also felt excited
Speaker 1: that there was a new mystery to solve. I guess
Speaker 1: that's what life and hollow Falls will do to you.
Speaker 1: I'm tig Torres and this is lethal lit two victims,
Speaker 1: each with a music box nearby. I had the means
Speaker 1: strict nine, and I had a lead suspect Harris. But
Speaker 1: that's where things get complicated. Max was involved with him,
Speaker 1: had genuine feelings for him, and I didn't handle that well.
Speaker 1: I couldn't help it. I got that feeling, the feeling
Speaker 1: I had when the lit killer murders were happening, that
Speaker 1: it was only a matter of time until another body
Speaker 1: dropped m hm. I needed to apologize to Max, but
Speaker 1: also protect Max, which, if I was right, was more
Speaker 1: important than his feelings. Wind came along to make sure
Speaker 1: I didn't make things worse. Welcome to the Montague Hotel, Hi, Max, Max. Max,
Speaker 1: let's have a lot in your hand when you're greeting guests.
Speaker 1: It no, sir, it's a cup of water to melt
Speaker 1: you with you which and how may I help you? Max?
Speaker 1: I wanted to apologize for coming off so intense yesterday.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry I was really shortsighted, and I let my
Speaker 1: ambition to find out more about Harris override your feelings
Speaker 1: for him. And but I still think we need to
Speaker 1: talk about him. M I see, do you have a
Speaker 1: reservation with us? Max? Tag and Ella did over hear
Speaker 1: some pretty shady stuff at that antique store, and he
Speaker 1: hasn't come forward to the police about being the last
Speaker 1: person to see Stephanie alive, last besides Tag and Ella.
Speaker 1: You mean, I'm sorry, ladies, I don't seem to have
Speaker 1: a record of you in my system. I'm sure you're
Speaker 1: not both here to discuss personal matters, as that would
Speaker 1: get me in trouble with the OGRE currently observing security
Speaker 1: cameras in the office directly behind me. Perhaps you made
Speaker 1: a reservation under a different name, Max. As painful as
Speaker 1: this is, we have to talk about it. It's really
Speaker 1: important one moment, and I'll check on that for you.
Speaker 1: You don't like Harris and you don't approve of my
Speaker 1: being in a relationship with him. He's a suspect. Why
Speaker 1: how he was badgering Brock moments before he died, Plus
Speaker 1: the stuff we overheard at the antique store, the music
Speaker 1: boxes and then Stephanie. There's no proof there's even been
Speaker 1: a murder. Brock Montague had a heart attack and the
Speaker 1: antique lady had a seizure. No, Max, they were both poisoned.
Speaker 1: The coroner confirmed it half an hour ago. Now have
Speaker 1: you seen anything suspicious? You know, I've been too busy
Speaker 1: sipping on the latte that my beautiful, thoughtful boyfriend bought me,
Speaker 1: and I guess I forgot to indulge in any wild
Speaker 1: conspiracy theories this morning. You've got to listen to me.
Speaker 1: Someone else could die. Max. Excuse me, I've listened. I'm
Speaker 1: not convinced. Now let me do my job. Yes, I
Speaker 1: have a delivery here for Max Wyneman. That's me have
Speaker 1: a nice day. That's a personal package. Uh no, Walter,
Speaker 1: it's it's a guest ledger I ordered to surprise you. Oh,
Speaker 1: it's from Harris. Less than a full month into a
Speaker 1: relationship and he can't keep himself from sending me surprises. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well that's nice. Next, put that latte down, tigs thing,
Speaker 1: just an accident, cleaning it up. Now we have to
Speaker 1: get you to the hospital right now. What the hell
Speaker 1: is wrong with you? There's rat poison in that latte? Well,
Speaker 1: now I know why people don't get their stomachs pumped
Speaker 1: for fun. How are you feeling, Max? Mm hmm? Like
Speaker 1: Andy Cohen after taping a Housewives reunion, Badgered, exhausted, wondering
Speaker 1: why the hell I'm alive? The doctor says, you're all right, wonderful. Well,
Speaker 1: I hope you've got everything you wanted from this delightful
Speaker 1: experienced Tig, Let's do it again sometime. You're not safe here. Max,
Speaker 1: We're going to take you home. You're being crazy. Tig
Speaker 1: Brock and Stephanie both died within minutes of getting a
Speaker 1: music box. If Harris or whoever it is is coming
Speaker 1: after you, then there's a good chance he'll try and
Speaker 1: make another move tonight. Shouldn't we call the police then
Speaker 1: and tell them what you can explain your little theory?
Speaker 1: Or does that mean having to tell them the truth
Speaker 1: about your antique store? B and E. We're going to
Speaker 1: stay with you tonight. Max. I'm sorry. I refuse to
Speaker 1: believe that Harris would try to hurt me. It just
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense. He's our only serious lead right now,
Speaker 1: Harris and Ali. Yeah, but why would Ali want to
Speaker 1: kill Max Um? Maybe because we stopped him from fulfilling
Speaker 1: his murder dreams of killing you. I would either of them.
Speaker 1: What the hell did I do? I don't know. But
Speaker 1: we're not leading your side. No one's getting anywhere near you.
Speaker 1: Story of my life. I was acting a lot more
Speaker 1: certain than I really was. The truth is, it didn't
Speaker 1: all make sense to me. Max had a good point.
Speaker 1: Why would Harris want him dead? And why put his
Speaker 1: return address on the music box package? And what possible
Speaker 1: connection could there be between brock Montacue, Stephanie and Max,
Speaker 1: a millionaire playboy, an antique store owner, and the high
Speaker 1: school junior currently leading the voting for most organized locker. Still,
Speaker 1: there was what I overheard at the antique store. Kay,
Speaker 1: was I paranoid at the time? I reasoned to myself
Speaker 1: that it's safer to be paranoid when a friend's life
Speaker 1: is in the balance. Well, isn't this great? A prisoner
Speaker 1: in my own home forced to eat clam chowder straight
Speaker 1: out of the can? Can't we at least order from
Speaker 1: the star. We can't risk anyone touching your food, not
Speaker 1: even Phil. So what's the plan exactly? Well, we stay
Speaker 1: here with you until you're out of danger, which will
Speaker 1: be until that's reassuring um the three of us can
Speaker 1: sleep in shifts. That way someone's always on the lookout
Speaker 1: makes sense. I think the first thing to do is now,
Speaker 1: who do you think that might be? Hey Lee? The
Speaker 1: listeners stay tuned more. Leathal Lid is up next, but
Speaker 1: first a quick word from our sponsor, hey Lee, the
Speaker 1: listeners take Torres here. There's always more to the mystery,
Speaker 1: and I could use your help getting to the bottom
Speaker 1: of it. Join us on Instagram and TikTok at I
Speaker 1: am tig Torres for more clues and inside info. Do
Speaker 1: you have a baseball bat? Do I look like i'd
Speaker 1: have a baseball bat? What about a kitchen right in
Speaker 1: the kitchen? Show Look, we're armed in here and extremely dangerous.
Speaker 1: We called nine one one, the police are on their way.
Speaker 1: Come on, open up in there, l You almost gave
Speaker 1: me a heart attack. Are you seriously doing an all
Speaker 1: night vigil without me? Weren't you grounded after getting dropped
Speaker 1: off by a squad car last night? I can't believe
Speaker 1: you asked them to show for you home and literally
Speaker 1: use the words chauffeur. I can't believe you stayed at
Speaker 1: the hospital. What'd you do walk home? Really anyway, I
Speaker 1: got a twenty minute lecture on political optics and a
Speaker 1: new bag for keeping it out of the papers. So
Speaker 1: we're going to continue keeping it out of the papers? Right?
Speaker 1: I really want that back? And how did you know
Speaker 1: we were here? Dig out of me to the group chat? Oh? Really,
Speaker 1: big step? Well, then, welcome to the party. It feels
Speaker 1: like a funeral in here. Don't you guys know how
Speaker 1: to do a sleepover? Sure? So cute? All right? Never
Speaker 1: have I ever kissed a girl? Who? Who? Who? Alright? Alright, alright,
Speaker 1: calm down. It was fifth freaking grade with this random girl, Kelsey.
Speaker 1: I was hoping i'd absorb her abilities with men without
Speaker 1: also absorbing her red hair, Jean, can you imagine me
Speaker 1: as a ginger when I kissed Annie? Of course? And
Speaker 1: then there was this girl at camp. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: Annie and I haven't thought about that psycho and forever. Okay,
Speaker 1: she's not a psycho. I still follow her on the ground.
Speaker 1: She's got a pug. She makes little hats for it.
Speaker 1: Who's Annie Win's first official girlfriend? She goes to Freman Prep. Now, wait,
Speaker 1: didn't you bring her to the end of the year formal?
Speaker 1: That's right, she was hitting on Katie Briggs, our head cheerleader,
Speaker 1: something pretty fierce, and that was one of your healthier relationships. Really,
Speaker 1: who else were you in? Okay? Enough attention on when
Speaker 1: we're still playing a game, are we not? Okay? Let's see.
Speaker 1: Never have I ever developed real feelings for an actual psycho,
Speaker 1: like a potential serial killer? For example, Harris is not
Speaker 1: a psycho? Who said I was talking about you? I
Speaker 1: bet psycho killers make very passionate lovers. You know what?
Speaker 1: Can we not talk about psycho killers for like one
Speaker 1: glorious evening? Please? I'm serious? You're right, my bad? Look,
Speaker 1: none of you know Harris? Okay, It's not like I'm
Speaker 1: so unbelievably desperate for affection that I look past murder.
Speaker 1: That's not what I said. Sure feels like it, believe me, Max.
Speaker 1: Everyone here knows. I'm in no position to judge you.
Speaker 1: But even assuming he's innocent, Harris still gives off shady vibes.
Speaker 1: Can I ask, what do you see in him? I
Speaker 1: really want to know? Yeah, I'm kind of curious too. Well.
Speaker 1: I'm he's gorge for one, he knows what he wants
Speaker 1: and he's not afraid to go for it. He's not
Speaker 1: like other people in this town, just letting themselves be
Speaker 1: dragged whichever way life happens to take them. He's got plans.
Speaker 1: He makes me feel like I can be whatever I
Speaker 1: want to be. And unlike most of the superficial idiots
Speaker 1: on Grinder, he actually thinks these scars on my face
Speaker 1: or kind of hot? How? Who am I kidding? I
Speaker 1: want attention so badly, I'll look past anything. Now it
Speaker 1: turns out he's a murdering psychopath. Of course he is.
Speaker 1: Isn't that just exactly who I'd fall for. I can't
Speaker 1: believe I was so stupid. I think that what we
Speaker 1: had was real. Hey, don't say that, you're not stupid.
Speaker 1: And maybe it is real. There's no denying the music
Speaker 1: box and the inks. And I felt so special when
Speaker 1: he brought me that lattape, but then it was a
Speaker 1: death latte. I think both things can be true. A
Speaker 1: person can have real feelings for you, and they can
Speaker 1: also want to hurt you. Who are we talking about,
Speaker 1: Tig Maybe it's just a side of himself he can't control.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's how he was raised. Everyone has control over
Speaker 1: the choices. They make you deserve better. Max. I'm just
Speaker 1: saying it happens, don't hate on yourself. Max. Did you
Speaker 1: know I never cried when Tony was killed? Isn't that crazy?
Speaker 1: It wasn't until after I was at the mall trying
Speaker 1: out new eyeliner, treating myself. It just started falling and
Speaker 1: I couldn't stop for three day. Oh Ella, honey, come here,
Speaker 1: take okay, I ms Ali. I still think about him
Speaker 1: a lot. We all do, Tig, even though it turns
Speaker 1: out we didn't know him like we thought we did,
Speaker 1: only was a friend for a long time. Some of
Speaker 1: it had to be real. I don't know. I have
Speaker 1: to tell you all something. What is it, Tig? I.
Speaker 1: I'm really glad you're all my friends here, you guys
Speaker 1: group hug. I'll look at us. Oh Ella, your nails,
Speaker 1: my dad? You know. I'm glad my dad moved me
Speaker 1: to Hollow Falls, even though Denise, my spiritual advisor, says
Speaker 1: the whole town is haunted. You don't believe in ghosts, now,
Speaker 1: do you know? But as Denise told you, you can
Speaker 1: be haunted by grief. You can't deny that that's true.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be nice if there was something we could
Speaker 1: do about that, like some kind of exorcism or something,
Speaker 1: so we could all just get on with our lives.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to get the hell out of this place.
Speaker 1: It just eats people alive and make some Michelin star
Speaker 1: meal out of their dreams. If that all right, I'm
Speaker 1: walking off that stage of graduation and right out of town.
Speaker 1: You watch, We know you will, Max. Yeah, if anyone can,
Speaker 1: it's you? God? What time is it? Almost two? You're tired?
Speaker 1: You kidding? The night is still young, queen? When I
Speaker 1: will tell you what I have? Mhmm. Looks like they're
Speaker 1: both out. Ella sleeps like she's posing for a selfie.
Speaker 1: I uh, you can rest your eyes if you want.
Speaker 1: I can keep watching. No, no, I mean unless you'd
Speaker 1: rather be alone. If you're uncomfortable spending the night together
Speaker 1: with me, well, I don't know. Would Annie be jealous?
Speaker 1: Annie is with a guy now right. Also, she wasn't
Speaker 1: the jealous type, far from it, truth be told. She
Speaker 1: wasn't that into me. Good kiss her though? Oh yeah?
Speaker 1: Like how well, it's hard to put into words. You're
Speaker 1: not waiting for me to lean in and kiss you,
Speaker 1: are you? No, you're not waiting for me to lean
Speaker 1: in and kiss you? Are you, of course not. Okay,
Speaker 1: then we're on the same page. Then yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: this would be a pretty romantic time for a kiss, though,
Speaker 1: wouldn't It seems like it? What was that? Oh crap, Max?
Speaker 1: Wake up? Someone's at the door. What what's happening? Is
Speaker 1: it your parents? No, they're a wait till the end
Speaker 1: of the week. Grab the skillet, Ella, There are scissors
Speaker 1: on the counter. When they get your knife, bax, Oh,
Speaker 1: Maxie Harris, don't come any closer. I am fully prepared
Speaker 1: to use these scissors. What are you gonna do? Give
Speaker 1: me bangs? What's going on in here? Max? Wait? Did
Speaker 1: I walk in and a sleepover? It's some cozy in here.
Speaker 1: We're not going to let you hurt Max. Hurt Max?
Speaker 1: How did you get in? Did you steal a key
Speaker 1: to Max's house and make it? What are you talking about?
Speaker 1: You want drugs? Look, he gave me the key. Okay,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I didn't know what What were you thinking?
Speaker 1: I gave him a copy while my parents are away.
Speaker 1: It seemed like a good idea at the time. Okay, seriously,
Speaker 1: what's going on here? They know about us. I told
Speaker 1: them you can't say anything about this. My father would
Speaker 1: kill me, dude, Please, he disn't just come about disinherit me.
Speaker 1: What do you want? Max got your little music box? Oh?
Speaker 1: I see, and you went in right about time? We
Speaker 1: want in to? What to killing him? Why do you
Speaker 1: want Max dead? Want him dead? What are you talking about?
Speaker 1: It was a present, the first of its kind. And
Speaker 1: I have even more ideas of products for the Hollow
Speaker 1: Falls Murder Lover's Gifts Murder Lovers. I should be selling
Speaker 1: a couple of packages what I'm still working on the title.
Speaker 1: I wanted to be in the Montague, just off the lobby.
Speaker 1: I got key chains, mugs, I visited Hollow Falls and
Speaker 1: lived to tell about it, T shirts. I've got the
Speaker 1: floor plan all mapped out. But then Brock was, well,
Speaker 1: you know, so the projects on pass for a while.
Speaker 1: That Walter is next to impossible to work with, right evil?
Speaker 1: See I told you guys, so that's why you were
Speaker 1: at the antique store. Yeah. Stephanie's in touch with the
Speaker 1: vendor overseas who was like so cheap by I don't
Speaker 1: even want to know how much they pay their workers.
Speaker 1: She gets sold a lot of her work done that way.
Speaker 1: Some of her antiques aren't so antique. But sh it's
Speaker 1: a secret, Harris. Didn't you hear Stephanie's dead? Dude? What
Speaker 1: right after you were in her store last night? Strict
Speaker 1: nine poisoning? Oh god, no, no, no, no, no, this
Speaker 1: this is terrible. How am I going to find another vendor? Vendor?
Speaker 1: I guess I could do license plate frames, but no,
Speaker 1: those those music boxes were going to launch my mail
Speaker 1: over business. It's okay, it's okay. Is this guy serious
Speaker 1: right now? I'm sorry, You're right. I just I meant
Speaker 1: to say, it's very sad. I guess wait, how did
Speaker 1: you know I was in her store last night? Um?
Speaker 1: We had a wait a minute, what are you doing
Speaker 1: sneaking in here at this time of night? Tig? Really
Speaker 1: you're a detective. I think you can figure this one out.
Speaker 1: Look like I was wrong about Harris being the killer.
Speaker 1: He was just an over zealous entrepreneur with questionable moral bearings.
Speaker 1: And for better or for worse, Max's boyfriend, Hey, Max
Speaker 1: Tig wild night, Huh certainly memorable. It's not often you
Speaker 1: can say that getting your stomach pumped is the least
Speaker 1: weird part of your day. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry.
Speaker 1: I know you were just looking out for me, albeit
Speaker 1: in a completely deranged way. I just I wish you
Speaker 1: would take me a little more seriously sometimes and trust
Speaker 1: me when I tell you stuff. You're right. Well, it
Speaker 1: looks like you're back to square one. What'll you do now?
Speaker 1: What would I do? Now? Well? I did what any
Speaker 1: hypocrite who just finished criticizing her friend's poor relationship choices
Speaker 1: would do. I called Dolly strict nine. That's interesting. Why
Speaker 1: is that interesting? Well, that's how Agatha Christie would kill
Speaker 1: people off in her stories. Could be not to the
Speaker 1: lick killer. How Ry Levinson, the original lip killer, Ali
Speaker 1: had given me an idea. Maybe the music box wasn't
Speaker 1: the key clue. Maybe it was the strict nine. If
Speaker 1: the killer was using Strict nine as a literary reference,
Speaker 1: he might be connected somehow to Levinson. It was a stretch,
Speaker 1: but it was something to go on, which meant there
Speaker 1: was someone I had to talk to. You're going to
Speaker 1: go talk to Levinson? Are you nuts? Promise me you
Speaker 1: won't go see him. He's stronger than you think. He
Speaker 1: can get in your head. If he has something to
Speaker 1: do with this, then you visiting him in prison is
Speaker 1: already a part of his plan. Don't you get it?
Speaker 1: He wants to be in your head too. Promise me
Speaker 1: you won't put yourself in harm's way like that. Promise
Speaker 1: you won't go to the prison. Okay, Ali, I promise?
Speaker 1: How bad could One? Little White? Lieb iron Horn's Epic
Speaker 1: Productions and I Heart Radio present Lethal Litt A tig
Speaker 1: Torres Mystery Season two created an executive produced by Heather
Speaker 1: Einhorn and Adam Staffaroni. Created by Alex Sagura and Monica Gallagher.
Speaker 1: Executive produced by iHeart Radio head writer Melanie Hoops, writers
Speaker 1: Louis Cornfeld, Jasmine al Shammy and Adam Staffaroni. Directed by
Speaker 1: Critzia Bajos, with performances by Rebecca Solair as tig Torus,
Speaker 1: Shelley Shnoy as Win, Matt Gumley as Max, Luke Slattery
Speaker 1: as Ali, rachel Orem Land as Ella, with Critzia Bajos
Speaker 1: and J. B. Blanc. Special guest Chuck Bryant as Brock Montague.
Speaker 1: Additional voices Paul Gayet, Caleb Jen Stacy Moseley, Alba Ponza
Speaker 1: de Leone, Stephanie she Christian Ochoa, Louis Cornfeld, and Megan Gray.
Speaker 1: Post sound and music by Chapter four. Sound supervision and
Speaker 1: sound design by Sarah Gibilaska. Music by Kareem Dueti. Produced
Speaker 1: by a Rupe, Santa Kayla and Bo Young Blood. Development
Speaker 1: Executive Greg Lock, Art production coordinator and script supervisor Laura Martin,
Speaker 1: Operations Laura Kaufman. Marketing and Publicity Jesse Post Digital Marketing
Speaker 1: Jennifer Gennaro. Creative direction and design by Ryan McCann. Key
Speaker 1: art illustrated by Rebecca Mock. Promotional art illustrated by Breen Newman.
Speaker 1: Special thank you to the Shadow Unicorn. Head to Lethal
Speaker 1: Lip podcast dot com to share theories, discover new evidence,
Speaker 1: and follow case updates. Iron Horn's Epic Productions and I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio present Lethal Lit, a tag Torre's mystery