002 | Voice

[burger_king]

It's a little after midnight, the cobblestones slick with fog on this mild late August night. Polly Nichols, a divorced mother of five, makes her way down Brick Lane on unsteady feet. A victim of drink, like so many other members of the working class at this time, and where there's drink there's desperation. She turns down on Whitechapel Road to earn enough coin for a bed for the night. Her new bonnet will surely do the trick.

Three hours later, two cart drivers come across a body in Buck's Row. In the dim light of early morning they can't know for sure but, as one of them told the police later, she looks to me to be either dead or drunk, but for my part, I believe she's dead. The way her throat was slit ear to ear confirmed that belief.

Want to hear the rest? Tune in to the Overlook Podcast. The first episode is available now on your favorite podcatcher.

Happy Friday the 13th.

Comments

video

[girlybruiser]

[ This post captures Haru's attention, evident as she leans in with intrigue bright in her eyes. ]

Ear to ear? Such a violent death...

[burger_king]

Oh, definitely. I'd say it's one of the best we've done.

[burger_king]

Doesn't get better from there, I'm afraid. Really gruesome business. [ He doesn't seem too bothered by that. ]

Do you like true crime stories?

Voice

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

You have to feel for Polly... and those five kids who just lost their mother.

It's not really my kind of story, but it sounds like a great audiocast. I hope you get plenty of listeners.

[girlybruiser]

To be honest, I don't listen to it ever, I think.

[ This might be the first she's ever been interested. ]

I do like a good mystery, however. I am very curious as to what happened to that poor woman.

voice

[knaval]

Is this a riddle? Uhhh-- oh, I know! The horse did it!

[c lose?]

text »

[perfectible]

I'm going to listen to it at least twice.

[burger_king]

For once I agree. [ Not the celebration type, but maybe just this once. ] We should start thinking about the next episode. Work while we got the momentum up.

[burger_king]

Pretty sure she wasn't around for them much to begin with. [ Says the kid of an alcoholic. ]

And thanks. True crime is my anti drug, it's nice to get an outlet for it.

[burger_king]

In that case, I really think you should listen to the rest. This is a mystery that's remained unsolved for over a century.

[burger_king]

Show your work - how did the horse do it?

[burger_king]

To see if you can solve the mystery where Abberline couldn't? [ He wouldn't put it past her. ]

[girlybruiser]

A century? That's a tragedy. No justice for this poor woman.

[ But of course, now she needs to know why and how it's gone unsolved this long. ]

Do you enjoy these kind of stories then?

audio

[devoutish]

Bravo. How many are you gonna do?

[He'll have one more listener; this stuff is interesting.]

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

True crime. So this is a history podcast? Not fiction?

[Things that no longer have as much cultural resonance in the 22nd century: Jack the Ripper.]

[knaval]

With its hands. It was jealous of Polly for her bonnet.


Also the horse was drunk. Another victim of drink.

[burger_king]

A drunk horse with knife hands. There's an image to fall asleep to.

[burger_king]

[ That's weird. Super weird. Why wouldn't the serial killer equivalent of the Titanic live through the ages? ]

We're taking some liberties for the sake of entertainment, and who knows how much of what I know from back home that actually applies here... but yes. There's a foundation of history.

I've been looking for an opportunity to tag you

[burger_king]

As many as we got material for... so many, I'd guess. There's a lot of stories to tell.

[burger_king]

I do - true crime is my anti-drug. The mystery, the look into the human psyche, that they really happened...

Doesn't hurt that they tend to be dark and dramatic.

[burger_king]

Is it cool if I bring Betty? Fair warning, last time I invited her to a party things got weird.

[ If by weird you mean awful and terrible and ended in a breakup. ]

aaah I'm glad I hit you up then!

[devoutish]

Are you making these up?

[knaval]

You're welcome, and sorry for instantly solving this.

[girlybruiser]

Doesn't the content get too heavy sometimes?

[burger_king]

It's- complicated. [ Nothing he wants to talk about like this, at least. Maybe later, in private. ] But a lot of it was situational. We're just good at getting into those kinds of situations.