Speaker 1: Bridgewater is a production of I Heart Radio three D
Speaker 1: Audio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey For a
Speaker 1: full exposure, listen with headphones. Listener discretion advised. Um, thank
Speaker 1: you for having you over. And I know this is
Speaker 1: a bit strange. Can I get you anything? Water or
Speaker 1: a beer? Water is fine? You have a lovely home. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: it's walking distance in my office, so you don't mind
Speaker 1: if I have a drink to you know, it's been
Speaker 1: a bit of a weird day. It's actually been weird
Speaker 1: few days here. Have a seat, so okay, So you
Speaker 1: said you recognize these symbols. Yes, I think so. Well,
Speaker 1: can you tell me what you think you know? I
Speaker 1: think you should probably go Wait wait, Officer Maria, I
Speaker 1: don't know what you're afraid of, but I promise you
Speaker 1: anything that you say that's going to stay between us. Okay,
Speaker 1: you won't put it in your book. Okay, I promise
Speaker 1: that I will anonymize anything. I'm sorry. I'm not usually
Speaker 1: I'm a cop in one of the weirdest parts of
Speaker 1: the state because there isn't a lot that frightens me.
Speaker 1: I don't believe in ghosts or monsters or UFOs. Well,
Speaker 1: we're in agreement there. Really, you don't believe even a
Speaker 1: little bit of it. No, I mean I think that
Speaker 1: maybe did. When I was a kid. I think it
Speaker 1: was a lot easier to think of my dad being
Speaker 1: taken by a Sasquatch and acknowledging that human beings can
Speaker 1: be capable of such terrible things. You think he was murdered, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, don't you. That's been the prevailing theory among
Speaker 1: the police since the eighties. I think a lot has
Speaker 1: been blamed on the gathering. Yeah, that's what Anne said. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: despite what you've heard, Anne isn't crazy. So you're familiar
Speaker 1: with the gathering. Man wasn't that well before your time?
Speaker 1: It was, but they never really left Freetown tried to
Speaker 1: drive them out. But the gathering is still around, it is.
Speaker 1: It's smaller than it was in the seventies, I think,
Speaker 1: and more underground, but they're still active. And huh so
Speaker 1: the police, the police think that they have something to
Speaker 1: do with this missing hiker. No, the police don't know
Speaker 1: that the gathering still exists. Then how do you know
Speaker 1: my girlfriend is a member? Oh? I see, her name
Speaker 1: is Katie Frank's Katie isn't the hiker you talked to earlier.
Speaker 1: Oh you see what, I'm talking to you instead of
Speaker 1: my boss. Wait, Haddock doesn't know that she's your girlfriend.
Speaker 1: No one on the forced US um that, because are you?
Speaker 1: Are you worried about? Um about? I don't know? Oh
Speaker 1: oh no, not at all. No, No one will care that.
Speaker 1: I'm gates. Me having a girlfriend wouldn't be a problem.
Speaker 1: The fact that I have a girlfriend who's a member
Speaker 1: of a group that doesn't have the cleanest history with
Speaker 1: the police would be a problem. So I take it
Speaker 1: Katie didn't mention the gathering when she reported her missing friend. No, okay,
Speaker 1: don't you think that that would be relevant information. Daniel
Speaker 1: isn't part of the gathering. Yeah, but if Katie is
Speaker 1: and he went missing after going hiking with her, she
Speaker 1: were involved, why would she report it? I know my
Speaker 1: girlfriend and the gathering have nothing to do with this.
Speaker 1: It's just a spiritual group Katie joined after her mother
Speaker 1: passed away, and it's been a really positive influence on
Speaker 1: her life. That's what most cultists would say. It's not
Speaker 1: a cult, Officer, Batista, it's by definition. I know what
Speaker 1: you're thinking, but I've checked them out and I've spent
Speaker 1: hours talking to Katie about who they are and what
Speaker 1: they do. They're harmless. Wait, so what does all of
Speaker 1: this have to do with the symbols. You said that
Speaker 1: you've seen them before. They're used by the gathering. Cool.
Speaker 1: So Katie lied to me. She didn't want suspicion being
Speaker 1: cast on the gathering again. But you're here telling me
Speaker 1: that one of their members carved a bunch of symbols
Speaker 1: into a rock the day after my father's badge was found.
Speaker 1: I don't think the two are related. Asson at Ledge
Speaker 1: has been a meeting place for the Gathering for decades.
Speaker 1: It would make sense that they'd leave messages for each
Speaker 1: other there. That's what you think. This is a message
Speaker 1: from the gathering to its members. It's how they tell
Speaker 1: each other where meetings are. They'll carved symbols into trees
Speaker 1: or rocks, sometimes even sand or dirt if the weather
Speaker 1: is drying. If they've been around this whole time, why
Speaker 1: would they need to communicate where they're meeting. They're constantly moving.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming to avoid people like me and my colleagues
Speaker 1: finding them. Freetown, Forest, Hacko, Mock Swamp. They're big places.
Speaker 1: It's easy to get lost, so they leave symbols and
Speaker 1: well traveled spots to tell those in the know where
Speaker 1: they're meeting. Okay, and this is something that Katie told
Speaker 1: you so she would know how to read these symbols. No,
Speaker 1: this particular symbol system is only for core members. Katie
Speaker 1: isn't one of those. She's not She's not deeply involved
Speaker 1: or anything. It was just it was a source of
Speaker 1: comfort for her after her mom died. She only goes
Speaker 1: to their main meetings, meditations and stuff. Okay, I'm confused
Speaker 1: this this message is for a different kind of meeting. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and Katie's never been to one of those. She knows
Speaker 1: about the code, how it works, what it's for, but
Speaker 1: she can't read it. The only person that could maybe
Speaker 1: help you translate that would be someone familiar with Wampa
Speaker 1: dog symbols. I'm pretty sure that's what the system is
Speaker 1: based on. But really, you need a core member of
Speaker 1: the gathering, and you will have as much luck finding
Speaker 1: one of those as you will sasquatch. Why come to
Speaker 1: me like this, with all this secrecy and subterfuge, and
Speaker 1: you seem so nervous telling me this, Maria, are you
Speaker 1: sure the gathering isn't dangerous? They aren't, I promise not
Speaker 1: to us anyway. What does that mean? Katie? She she
Speaker 1: isn't on the inside, but she's been hearing things. These
Speaker 1: symbols showing up near the lake. Is it means something?
Speaker 1: The only other time they've carved on that particular rock
Speaker 1: was in the gathering? Is scared? What are they scared of?
Speaker 1: I have no idea, but whatever it is, it's just beginning.
Speaker 1: Do you think Katie would be willing to talk to
Speaker 1: you again, even if she can't translate the symbols. I
Speaker 1: bet the Gathering has a lot of insight into the
Speaker 1: Bridgewater Triangle. They could be a great resource for the book.
Speaker 1: I'm really not sure that I want to be using
Speaker 1: a cult as a reference. Well, they're as reliable as
Speaker 1: anyone else who claims to have had paranormal experience. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess, I don't know. Batista texted me this morning
Speaker 1: again asking that I not tell anyone what she told me,
Speaker 1: not even Anne. Have you heard from her? And I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I know, and I I really think
Speaker 1: that it's best that we go our separate ways. She
Speaker 1: might have experience and knowledge that I know, but I
Speaker 1: I think that now that I have some of my
Speaker 1: dad's files, I don't really you know, need her, And
Speaker 1: Anne just wants to turn this into something that it's not.
Speaker 1: What do you mean, I mean, I don't think she's
Speaker 1: entirely stable. The police files that she had, She's got
Speaker 1: tons of copies, and it seems like they were files
Speaker 1: that she'd gone over again and again and again. And
Speaker 1: that's just not the behavior of of someone in the
Speaker 1: right mind. Yeah, but it is the behavior of someone
Speaker 1: trying to figure something out. She was a detective after all,
Speaker 1: I know, But what is she trying to figure out?
Speaker 1: It's been forty years. She isn't going to solve the
Speaker 1: mystery of what happened to my dad, and it's just
Speaker 1: not going to happen, right. But maybe there's something else
Speaker 1: at work here. You said she talked about it happening again,
Speaker 1: which Batista seemed to believe as well. The gathering is
Speaker 1: gearing up for something exactly. Maybe that's what Anne is
Speaker 1: trying to solve, using for two year old case files
Speaker 1: to predict cult activity. Now, all right, well, let's just
Speaker 1: let's just look over the files. Maybe we'll start to
Speaker 1: see what she sees I've already looked them over dozens
Speaker 1: of times in the last twenty four hours. I'm starting
Speaker 1: to sound like an I didn't sleep much last night.
Speaker 1: Oh boy, should I be making a lesson plan for
Speaker 1: tomorrow's lecture. No, it's all right. It's about Dighton Rock,
Speaker 1: which I know backwards and forwards. I could do it
Speaker 1: in my sleep. Oh wait, wait, wait, wait, I think
Speaker 1: there was something about Dighton in the files, and I
Speaker 1: thought you said you were working on your thesis last night. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: helping you out is kind of part of that, and
Speaker 1: these are now part of your books. So no regrets,
Speaker 1: except I haven't decided that yet. Come on, a scholar
Speaker 1: writing about the Bridgewater Triangle who actually has a personal
Speaker 1: connection to it. You know that's too good to pass up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I love exploiting my childhood trauma for book sales.
Speaker 1: I didn't. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that was completely out
Speaker 1: of line. No, it's okay, don't worry about it, and
Speaker 1: you're not wrong. Maybe you know I have been thinking
Speaker 1: about it, making the book more personal or probably would
Speaker 1: help book sales. No, I really don't think there's much
Speaker 1: new information in here. It's the same legends as always sure,
Speaker 1: but the first person perspective, Uh here here it is,
Speaker 1: um yep. They went to go look at Dighton Rock
Speaker 1: a couple of times, such stimulating police work. Okay, just
Speaker 1: just listen to this. October one, Becker and I went
Speaker 1: to look at Dighton Rock. Today it's in the museum now.
Speaker 1: They moved at their features back fifteen years back. Demmi,
Speaker 1: you know, the worst sense of timing of anybody that
Speaker 1: I know. Still just a big rock at this time,
Speaker 1: though it was it was odd the rocket. It seemed
Speaker 1: to be humming and informed to the touch. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, Jemy's got the fluke. Gosh, the poor kids.
Speaker 1: So maybe I got something and I'm just hallucinating. But anyway, no,
Speaker 1: you weren't hallucinating. I felt it too. I should have
Speaker 1: told you the same weird symbols that have always been there.
Speaker 1: And Becker thinks the symbols we've been finding in the
Speaker 1: woods might be based off Dighton Rock somehow, But no,
Speaker 1: so far, so far, that doesn't seem to be a connection.
Speaker 1: I mean, people have been trying to figure out what
Speaker 1: this damn rock means for centuries. I don't think B
Speaker 1: and B are going to be the ones to finally
Speaker 1: cracked the code. You always hated that nickname. I loved it,
Speaker 1: RAJ Hank Becker, the dynamic duo. I think the symbols
Speaker 1: in Freetown have something to do with that new group
Speaker 1: in town, the joining that wait, no, it's gathering, idiot,
Speaker 1: the gathering. Literally, how many times do I have to
Speaker 1: tell you anydio? I forget every time. It's a stupid
Speaker 1: name for a group anyway, Gathering. Yes, I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't even really know what we're supposed to be looking
Speaker 1: for with them. Captain wants us to keep an eye,
Speaker 1: but they can't be responsible for all the weird ship
Speaker 1: that's been happening around here. But these symbols, they Becker,
Speaker 1: I wish you were here. I always think better with
Speaker 1: you on it. I wish I were there too. So
Speaker 1: we'll do another patrol this weekend see if we can't
Speaker 1: figure out a pattern to that placement of these carvings. Hey, Jeremy,
Speaker 1: what are you doing up? And that's nothing? No, no, no,
Speaker 1: it's not nothing. Okay. The humming, the warmth that could
Speaker 1: have been anything, that was the rock was sitting in sunlight, okay,
Speaker 1: in the museum. Yeah, it was a museum that had windows,
Speaker 1: and the humming could have been uh, fluorescent lights or
Speaker 1: some construction outside. All right, you really really think your
Speaker 1: dad didn't consider that? I mean, he wrote it down.
Speaker 1: It clearly was significant. He was just being thorough. Your
Speaker 1: dad thought there was a connection between carvings in Freetown
Speaker 1: forests and strange things that were happening. Just like, now,
Speaker 1: what strange things? What strange things? Where should we start?
Speaker 1: His badge being found, the missing hiker, the woman last
Speaker 1: week who saw a four foot tall eagle. I still
Speaker 1: can't believe that. You can stand to watch local news.
Speaker 1: How can you not? It's basically modern folk lore? Okay, hippen.
Speaker 1: All of this has an explanation, as I'm sure everything
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty had a rational explanation too. We just
Speaker 1: got to find it. Yeah, But I mean just the
Speaker 1: sheer concentration of events, like look at this here, Okay,
Speaker 1: just listen to this. In August to November eight, there
Speaker 1: were seven missing persons cases in Freetown State forest, three
Speaker 1: reports of livestock being killed, seventeen eyewitness accounts of cult activity,
Speaker 1: and to alien abductions. Supposed alien abductions. Suppose it alleged,
Speaker 1: of course, but you know what I mean, I'm not
Speaker 1: going to assume anything hippen. You seem to be buying
Speaker 1: into quite a lot more of this than I'm comfortable with. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm just saying it's strange. You know, whether any of
Speaker 1: it is real or not. It's not. It's not real, Okay, fine,
Speaker 1: But it's strange right that this particular moment in time,
Speaker 1: exactly forty years ago contained the highest concentration of paranormal
Speaker 1: sightings in this area. I don't see how that's strange.
Speaker 1: It was the late seventies, the early eighties. It was
Speaker 1: a time when everyone across the country was panicking about
Speaker 1: some demonic thing or another. There were all these stories
Speaker 1: just breeding more. Stories became trendy to be worried that
Speaker 1: your neighbor was a witch, or that your dog got
Speaker 1: eaten by some mythological creature. That's just what was happening then,
Speaker 1: I know. But not all these reports are just people
Speaker 1: seeing something odd or making up a story. There there
Speaker 1: were legitimate crimes. There are always legitimate crimes, always, all right,
Speaker 1: just hear me out. There's this one report, okay, a
Speaker 1: girl who went missing. Yeah, I know, and told me
Speaker 1: about her twelve year old she was camping and she
Speaker 1: got lost and came out of the woods a day
Speaker 1: later without remembering anything. It's not as eerie as you're
Speaker 1: making it sound. I don't remember half of the things
Speaker 1: that happened to me as a kid. Sure, a toddler maybe,
Speaker 1: but twelve. She went through a trauma VIP, and she
Speaker 1: was lost and cold and scared, and who knows, maybe
Speaker 1: she had to run in with a wild animal. Her
Speaker 1: mind just blocked it out in self defense. Happens all
Speaker 1: the time, does it? Because I'm not sure that's how
Speaker 1: it works. You think it's more likely that she encountered
Speaker 1: something supernatural. I'm just saying that. It raises questions. I
Speaker 1: don't know what we're gonna do. I mean, we're also
Speaker 1: relieved that Francine was found, that she found her way home.
Speaker 1: How how did she get out of the woods and
Speaker 1: she was completely fine, not a scratch or a bruise anywhere.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make any sense, And she didn't remember anything,
Speaker 1: and she doesn't remember anything that's right. It's it's just awful.
Speaker 1: It's just reminding me too much of Jeremy. And I
Speaker 1: just said, I know she's going to have nightmares, just
Speaker 1: like him and just like me. But she doesn't remember
Speaker 1: any lights, so I can't. There's nothing I can do,
Speaker 1: not if I don't have more to go on. And
Speaker 1: the only thing we were able to get out of
Speaker 1: her it was something about the lake. Lake. She said
Speaker 1: she saw a woman all in white. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe she was hallucinating. Maybe the captain is right, Maybe
Speaker 1: it really is the gathering, kidnapping children, performing ritual sacrifice.
Speaker 1: But at the lake, something about it just doesn't feel right.
Speaker 1: I know what I saw. What did you say about
Speaker 1: that lake? I know that the Indian abductions and big
Speaker 1: Foot stings aren't real, but something out there is real.
Speaker 1: The only thing that the girl mentions is seeing something
Speaker 1: at the lake, a woman all in white. Well, it's
Speaker 1: probably someone from the gathering, or or the children of Titchaba.
Speaker 1: You know your dad and Becker went to the lake
Speaker 1: the day after and saw something too. What do you mean,
Speaker 1: what didn't you read all the files this? They saw
Speaker 1: a miurage. No, they saw a vortex. Okay, it was
Speaker 1: probably just a whirlpool. It's unusual, but it's not impossible
Speaker 1: really above the water. Listen, it was late at night,
Speaker 1: and it says here that it disappeared faster than they
Speaker 1: can blink. And this wasn't a report that was ever filed.
Speaker 1: These are just some personal notes. Yeah, one of the
Speaker 1: only personal notes in all of these files. It was
Speaker 1: clearly significant. Sorry, Vippin, we have different definitions of significant.
Speaker 1: I just don't think that there's some grand paranormal conspiracy
Speaker 1: at work here. Okay, But why would he write this
Speaker 1: incident down if he wasn't going to report. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe he forgot his tape recorder that day and said
Speaker 1: that he would always copy his tapes to the official reports.
Speaker 1: He must have recorded his personal notes usually. I don't know.
Speaker 1: But then maybe there's a lot more information that we're missing,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe his personal notes have more of these
Speaker 1: kind of sightings, you mean, the ones that he was
Speaker 1: so uncertain of that he wanted to keep them from
Speaker 1: his boss. Okay, you have to admit, aren't you curious?
Speaker 1: At least? I mean, wouldn't you want to hear your
Speaker 1: dad's voice again? Sorry? I just I get it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and of course I want to hear and said she
Speaker 1: would make copies. But honestly, I am I'm reluctant to
Speaker 1: go back there. I just don't want to. I don't
Speaker 1: want to get a mestion in all of her crazy theorizing.
Speaker 1: Frankly got enough of it with you, alright, professor, And
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna put this out there. What if, just
Speaker 1: as a thought experiment, you believed Anne, What if you
Speaker 1: went along with all of this being real? Um? Why
Speaker 1: would I do that? None of it is real? I know,
Speaker 1: I know, I know, But just what do you risk
Speaker 1: by keeping your mind open? I risk looking like a
Speaker 1: total idiot, right, because that's the worst thing in the world.
Speaker 1: It is. When it's my literal job to teach people,
Speaker 1: I don't need my superiors or my colleagues finding out
Speaker 1: about this research is one thing. But going off on wild,
Speaker 1: unfounded speculation based off some individuals personal reports, it's just
Speaker 1: the dean's don't need to know. Oh my god, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to keep things from them. I'm not my father.
Speaker 1: The school isn't in charge of your book. You are.
Speaker 1: And this entire thing, this investigation, that's a strong narrative
Speaker 1: to hang a book on. I mean I would read
Speaker 1: that book. What investigation? There's nothing to solve here? Really? Well,
Speaker 1: what about the carvings you guys found huh in the
Speaker 1: missing hiker. That's not our job. We are academics, were
Speaker 1: not detectives, and we're definitely not ghost hunters. What if
Speaker 1: we went back to the lake though, you know, just
Speaker 1: checks to see if the carvings have changed, and if
Speaker 1: they have, it just means that the gathering is up
Speaker 1: to something that is business that I definitely do not
Speaker 1: want to get mixed up in. In the badge, what
Speaker 1: about it? I agree that a missing person is in
Speaker 1: our problem, but how his badge ended up in the
Speaker 1: woods is your business. He died in Freetown forest, it
Speaker 1: makes sense that something of his would remain there, But
Speaker 1: that doesn't explain how the badge is in mint condition.
Speaker 1: Well maybe that's something that I just don't need to explain. No,
Speaker 1: you always need everything explained, and it could be anything
Speaker 1: witchcraft or wormhole or the cult members. Stop fipping, seriously, stop,
Speaker 1: we are not having this discussion. You have one saved message, yeah,
Speaker 1: and you need to help the leak. You're right, it
Speaker 1: isn't what it seems. It's happening again, and it hold
Speaker 1: end this time one way or another. Come on, why
Speaker 1: are you trying to tell me, Thomas, and you need
Speaker 1: to help lak. You were right, it isn't what it seems.
Speaker 1: It's happening again and it will hold end this time
Speaker 1: one way or another. Thanks Mom, And you need to
Speaker 1: help the lake. You were right, it isn't what it seems. Hey, Nana,
Speaker 1: Hey baby, whoa? What is this stuff? It's nothing? Police stuff? Oh,
Speaker 1: come on, Ethan, you know I'm retired. Yeah, right, it's
Speaker 1: just it's nothing. Hey, um di Olivia ever take a
Speaker 1: class from Professor Bradshaw? I don't know. I don't really
Speaker 1: pay attention to what classes she takes. I'm glad you
Speaker 1: and your sister are getting along. We get along fine.
Speaker 1: She just doesn't talk to me much. Well, she's always
Speaker 1: in her room doing computer stuff. M you're twelve. Don't
Speaker 1: you like computer stuff? Well? I like Minecraft, but you
Speaker 1: like hiking better, don't you. Heck? Yeah? Okay, Well are
Speaker 1: you ready? Do you think we could go to the
Speaker 1: ledge today? No? I don't think so, Nana. I don't
Speaker 1: know why you're so scared to take me there. I
Speaker 1: told you it's dangerous. It's just some rocks in the lake. Okay, Well,
Speaker 1: you're just gonna have to trust me. Ethan the You know,
Speaker 1: this is why I live never wants to go hiking
Speaker 1: with us. You freaked her out with all those ghost stories.
Speaker 1: I know. I know, honey, I never should have. Your
Speaker 1: mom was right, But I I haven't freaked you out right.
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm uh. But you you do know that the
Speaker 1: woods aren't safe. You have to be careful, Nana. I'm
Speaker 1: not a kid. I know there aren't any monsters in
Speaker 1: the woods. Of course there aren't, baby, all right, come on,
Speaker 1: you have one new message. Bridgewater was created by Aaron
Speaker 1: Manky and written and directed by Lauren Shippen, with executive
Speaker 1: producers Aaron Manky, Misha Collins, Matt Frederick and Alex Williams,
Speaker 1: supervising producer Trevor Young, editing and sound designed by Trevor
Speaker 1: Young and Matt Stillo, and music by Chad Lawson. Starring
Speaker 1: Misha Collins as Jeremy Bradshaw, Melissa Ponzio as Anne Becker,
Speaker 1: Karen Sony as Vipen Corona, Lori Allen as Nancy Collins,
Speaker 1: Cheryl Umania as Officer Bautista, Victoria Grace as Katie Frank's,
Speaker 1: Will Wheaton as Captain Haddock, Hilary Burton Morgan as Shelley Hoskins,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Joss as Joseph Hoskins, Sabra May as Olivia Hoskins,
Speaker 1: Samuel Marty as Ethan Hoskins, Kristin Bauer as Celeste, and
Speaker 1: Nathan Fillion as Thomas Bradshaw, with additional voice acting by
Speaker 1: Brigand snow and Drew Nowak, Julia Maurit Sawa, Jarvis Johnson
Speaker 1: and Brielle Bresnan, Kristen de Mecurio, James Oliva, and Leron Amiel.
Speaker 1: Learn more about the show over at Grimm and Mild
Speaker 1: dot com Slash Bridgewater, and find more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio on the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows, and as always,
Speaker 1: thanks for listening,