Transcript

AJ (00:43.298)
Hey everyone, welcome once again to Podcast in Death, the weekly podcast where we discuss the In Death series of books by JD Robb. I am AJ.

Tara (00:52.249)
and Tara.

AJ (00:53.9)
And this is episode 293 of Podcasts in Death. And we’re finally going to talk about leverage in death.

Tara (01:02.243)
Yes, we are.

AJ (01:04.296)
And somebody, we were going to talk about leverage and death. And one of our listeners posted somewhere about like, cause I said something about, this is not a favorite. And she was like, great. I’m in the middle of it right now. And I said, well, it’s not not good. It’s just not, it’s not, I mean, it’s, you know, everything that, my gosh, I just remembered what I was going to talk about on the briefing room. But you know what? It will, it will be.

Tara (01:20.419)
Right, it’s not not good.

AJ (01:33.806)
Yeah, listeners probably would be fascinated to hear this. I’m talk about it now. We’re gonna put it here. Let’s put a pause on Leverage and Death for just a second. And we should probably talk about this on the We Review the Reviews episode, but we won’t. talk about it right now. Because otherwise I’ll forget about it again. So, I was online and one of our listeners mentioned in one of our posts about how…

Tara (01:46.287)
You

AJ (02:03.094)
I don’t know if it was this one or if it was devoted. Where they were saying, didn’t like it, blah, blah. And of course I had started to think that maybe there’s a ghostwriter and I was like, my God. And I didn’t want to answer the person and be rude and go like, no, there’s no fucking ghostwriter. know, say it so many times on our Review the Reviews episodes.

You not liking something that was written doesn’t equal Ghostwriter. It just equals you don’t like it.

Tara (02:35.769)
Correct. It’s okay to not like it.

AJ (02:41.006)
It’s okay to not like it. But people always go like, I just didn’t sound like Nora. didn’t, know, So I decided, Tara, this weekend, to do a little experiment, okay? I took a passage, maybe a thousand or so words, out of Naked in Death, which I think everyone can agree was written by Nora.

Tara (02:54.745)
Okay.

AJ (03:07.0)
Like that’s the one book nobody says there’s a ghostwriter because it’s the first book. Obviously it was Nora that wrote it, correct?

Tara (03:14.863)
I mean that’s obviously obvious to me.

AJ (03:17.09)
Yes, right. So I took a passage, maybe a thousand words or so from Naked in Death, and I put that passage into ChatGBT. And I said, can you look at this passage and then look at another passage next to it and determine whether or not it’s the same author and give me reasoning for that?

And chat GPT is like, yes, absolutely. I can do that, you know, pasting another passage and I’ll tell you where they’re not. think that it’s the same author. So let me pull up chat GPT real quick because I just thought this was fascinating. And so, and it’s, you know, podcast related. it goes here. All right. so let me find it. First of all.

Tara (04:04.653)
It does.

AJ (04:11.406)
Okay. All right.

So I put in this passage from Naked in Death and it kind of, the first thing it did was kind of like, here’s kind of the style that it’s written in. You know, what is it saying? Repeated list structures with escalating specificity. Like the Ficus poem would appear to be monitors, keyboards, gadgets, and telelinks.

Tara (04:34.521)
Hmm

AJ (04:43.874)
This not just description, it’s a signature cadence, concrete nouns stacked in a controlled almost musical sequence. Also contrast driven characterization. Passages repeatedly use contrast to define Eve, practical leather jacket versus polished corporate elegance. The contrast is often delivered with dry understatement or rise self awareness.

lots of sound texture verbs, whooshed, slick black glass, discrete with, you know, that kind of stuff. anyway, so it was telling me this is kind of the hallmarks of this particular style of writing. Okay. So then I was like, okay. Pat for passage B, I took like a thousand or so words out of devoted. And I pasted those in. Can you tell me whether or not this.

Tara (05:22.852)
Yeah.

AJ (05:43.871)
author is the same author. And what it said was, on the evidence available, passage A and passage B are very likely written by the same author. Basically, it uses the same kind of dialogue mechanics as in A, rapid back and forth, short-turn interrogative rhythm, the cadence compressed lines, strategic fragments,

you know, procedural pacing, both are closed third person filtered through Eve with blunt pragmatic phrasing, occasional sharp edge, blah, blah, right. So then I took another and I think this was from leverage, because we’re reading that right now. Okay, here’s passage C. Can you tell me whether this is?

Passage C is highly consistent with passage A. Basically identical POV, very plausibly the same author. Okay? Now, you could say then, well okay, but you’re putting passages in and of course it has Eve’s name in there, it has other things that are markers that this is the In Death series, right?

Tara (06:54.013)
He

Tara (07:07.801)
Right.

AJ (07:08.682)
So how do I know that it’s just not saying like, yeah, these are all similar, regardless, you How do I know it just doesn’t know the difference between Nora writing and somebody else writing who’s really good at imitating Nora’s style, right? So I went on to Archive of Our Own and I found a recent fan fiction.

Tara (07:16.142)
Right.

AJ (07:36.632)
that was posted that had a lot of really good reviews, like a ton of five star reviews and a ton of people saying, you absolutely nailed Nora’s style to this author, right?

Tara (07:46.371)
Okay.

AJ (07:50.272)
I took a passage from that and I pasted it in, right? And again, it’s the same, it’s talking about Eve, it’s from Eve’s point of view, it’s talking about Peabody and McNabb and Roarke and all this stuff. All the markers from, this is the In Death series, right? Very similar to what Nora would write. Best guess conclusion. Passage G is unlikely to be written by the same author.

Tara (07:53.998)
Ahem.

AJ (08:20.558)
as passages A, B, and C. A low to moderate likelihood, roughly 20 to 35%, that it’s the same author.

Tara (08:23.075)
Hmm.

Tara (08:30.915)
Hmm.

AJ (08:32.255)
So I just thought that was fascinating because people keep saying ghostwriter. like, feel like I know Nora’s style. And I feel like I would know if it was a ghostwriter. But people keep saying like, well, it’s just a ghostwriter that’s really good at writing her style. But this person was also apparently, according to people that read this fan fiction, really good at nailing Nora’s style.

Tara (09:01.988)
Yeah.

AJ (09:02.07)
And yet chat GPT is like, absolutely not. Didn’t say absolutely not, but it’s really a low likelihood that this is Nora. So it could, it could, yeah. So this is the funny part. I decided, cause I have one, I wrote in my lifetime one in-depth fan fiction. And so I decided to take a passage from my fan fiction and paste it in. Okay.

Tara (09:06.369)
Nope.

Tara (09:12.921)
Fascinating.

Tara (09:23.213)
Yeah, I’ve read it. It’s very good.

Tara (09:31.576)
Okay.

AJ (09:33.006)
And here’s what it said for a while.

AJ (09:40.248)
Passage E is almost certainly not written by the same writer. Very low likelihood, 5 to 15 % of the same authorship. Reads most likely like a fan written story.

Tara (09:58.094)
Well…

AJ (09:58.254)
I’m like, you know, I mean, it’s not hurting my feelings. I just found it fascinating that it was like, no, absolutely not. This is not Nora. Sorry.

Tara (10:04.803)
Yeah.

Tara (10:08.431)
Nope

AJ (10:11.832)
So I just thought it was interesting because we keep getting him, we’re probably gonna get him with this book too. Well, this is obviously a ghostwriter. but yeah, I mean, I can do this for almost any book that we have, but I don’t know that it’s necessary because like, there’s ways that you can tell.

Tara (10:12.281)
And you’re like, that’s right.

Tara (10:16.961)
yes.

Tara (10:21.284)
is fascinating. Like, I love that you thought of that.

AJ (10:41.934)
Somebody has a style of writing and it’s very recognizable and it’s very, it’s very personal to them. And even if you’re really familiar with their writing and can really approximate their writing to a point where fans probably couldn’t tell, there are ways to tell.

Tara (11:05.027)
Yes.

AJ (11:06.73)
if you take the personal, like your own personal feelings about the book out, like Chat GPT is just a computer. So it’s not having any feelings about what it’s reading, right? It’s just looking specifically for how the passage was written.

Tara (11:18.947)
That’s true.

Tara (11:24.643)
Yeah, the styles and.

AJ (11:26.026)
the styles and all of that. And so interesting. So I thought I would just. Yeah, it is really interesting. So people, you know, there’s not a ghostwriter. Stop saying that. Bottom line is we always say that, but here is definitive proof. That she doesn’t have a ghostwriter.

Tara (11:31.533)
I love that you did that.

Tara (11:42.552)
You

AJ (11:51.992)
So anyway, having said that…

Tara (11:52.015)
Yeah, that was a brilliant idea for you to do that. So having said that.

AJ (12:00.544)
I was really bored or whatever this weekend. not sure. I did this, I changed the battery in my laptop. All of those things I did when I was bored. Anyway, let’s talk about leverage and death, shall we?

Tara (12:19.097)
Talk about it.

AJ (12:20.918)
So in my opinion, Tara, the theme of this one is trust. There could be a couple of themes and I was going back and forth between a couple, but I think I landed on trust mostly because it was the most consistent throughout. And typically when I pick out a theme, that theme kind of runs through the personal relationships as well. In this one, even Rorke had a little bit of a…

an argument, a little fight. And most definitely, if they’re having a fight in a book, the theme is gonna weigh heavily within that fight, right? So anyway, so this is the reason why I said trust. When we’re talking about that fight, and I’ve got the passage down there, I’ve got more of it when we get to that point in this outline, but…

Tara (12:52.271)
Yes.

AJ (13:17.4)
For right now, and Roarke have a somewhat heated disagreement because of Eve’s, one of Eve’s suspects is a man Roarke knows from his past. Roarke wants to talk to him first before Eve questions him again and Eve is pushing back on that, so Roarke accuses Eve of not trusting him. You know. So that’s what that whole fight was about. Roarke not feeling trusted. Right?

Tara (13:35.193)
Yes.

Tara (13:39.363)
because the two of them jump all over the gas, which is part of their.

AJ (13:47.98)
It’s them, that’s what they do. Yeah, it’s who they are, you’re right. So at a certain point in the book, Peabody asks Eve if she was going to invest money, who would she trust? And Eve said Roarke. And later to Roarke, Eve says, trusting you with it, meaning Peabody’s money, Peabody and McNabb’s money, trusting you with it is as close to a sure thing as you can get.

Tara (13:48.751)
That’s just who they are. That’s them. That’s what they do.

You

AJ (14:16.333)
They went and interviewed Cecily Greenspan, who is the wife of the first victim. And Eve asked her about whether or not they gave their nanny the security codes. And she says, Lieutenant, I trust her with my child. And that’s trusting her with my life.

And later the nanny tells Eve that she didn’t give the security code to anyone else because you can’t break trust. Mira tells Eve that the suspects may or may not be related, but they trust each other. Jordan Banks, that dick, tells Eve that Wilhelmina Carson gave him the quantum, gave him information about the quantum air merger.

but that he would have never betrayed her trust, which is bullshit because he did and that’s what got him killed. And later Carson says she trusted Banks too much and that he betrayed that trust in many ways. And it’s the betrayal of that trust really, when you go to the beginning of everything, it’s the betrayal of that trust that started everything to begin with.

So, you know, there you go. So that’s why I’m saying the theme is trust.

Tara (15:38.617)
I agree with that.

AJ (15:40.596)
Okay. my gosh, I’m getting messages from everyone.

AJ (15:58.68)
Hang on, I just have to answer. Or do you want to start reading? You can start reading the, if you want.

Tara (16:09.999)
We’ll start the timeline of the book So day one Monday chapter one Paul Rogan arrives at quantum error Hearing thou shalt not kill and a voice repeating cecily melody he enters brushes past his admin Rudy Rowe Locks himself in his office breaks down then follows instructions in his head

At 856 a.m. Rogan exits his office, tells Roe he’s been an asset, and walks into the 9 a.m. merger meeting, murmuring, please stop and there needs to be another way. At 9 a.m. Quentin President and CEO Derek Pearson enters with Econolith President Wilhelmina Carson and begins a multi-city conference. Rogan steps forward, interrupts, and says, Derek, I don’t have a choice. I’m sorry.

Carson steps back, Roe runs toward the room with Rogan’s tablet. The conference room doors blow. Eve Dallas responds with Lieutenant Elizabeth Salazar, explosives and bombs. There are 11 dead and nine injured, including Rogan. Witnesses report Rogan revealed a suicide vest and detonated seconds later. Salazar assesses a short-range device, approximately 12 to 15 feet, aimed toward Pearson.

shrapnel, including table fragments, caused some deaths. Rogan brought the vest in a lead-lined briefcase. He worked at Quantum nearly 12 years, married nearly 14 with an 8-year-old daughter. His wife and daughter do not arrive at the school where the wife works and the child attends. Eve orders officers to the residence. Peabody arrives. Eve states they are treating it as homicide.

Witnesses describe Rogan as devoted and reliable. His memo book shows plans focused on the meeting and celebrating the day, not self-detonation. With Pearson dead, his son and daughter, both in Europe running offices, will co-head quantum. Officers at the Rogan Greens fan residence find the wife found in a basement storage room and the child bruised but alive. Both report a home invasion. Eve orders the scene secured and goes there with Peabody.

Tara (18:30.433)
Officers report two masked men broken early Saturday morning while the family slept, drugged Paul, assaulted and bound the wife, then bound the child and Paul. The wife’s injuries include fractures and bruising, lacerations from zip ties, dehydration, and mild concussion. She refuses hospital transport to avoid separation from her daughter.

AJ (18:52.152)
So yeah, that first chapter was pretty rough. Seeing everything from first Paul Rogan’s point of view. yeah, is really pretty. And then hearing what had happened, the masked man coming in and beating up his wife and terrorizing his daughter and then.

Tara (18:55.467)
It’s pretty brutal.

Tara (19:15.951)
terrorizing his daughter.

AJ (19:20.878)
threatening that if you didn’t do this that they would, you know, essentially sexually assault his wife and then his then his daughter and kept saying over and over what would you do to save your wife and child? You know? So yeah, it’s a brutal, brutal scene.

AJ (19:44.074)
Yeah. Before we go on, you know that now with this new job that Caitlin has, she’s working from home. And Clara also works from home part-time to like one or two days a week. They work from home. So they decided they were going to set up a situation where they have two, a long desk and two workstations. Right. At the house.

Tara (19:47.864)
Yeah.

Tara (19:52.708)
Yeah.

AJ (20:14.028)
And so Kaylin just sends me this picture and she says, guess which side is whose. So can you see that?

Tara (20:22.691)
Yeah.

AJ (20:25.55)
So this one is all pink, it’s got a pink chair and pink and pink and pink. And this one is very black and utilitarian.

Which side do you think is Caitlin’s? Pink.

Tara (20:42.265)
bet it’s the pink side.

AJ (20:46.798)
So funny

Tara (20:48.619)
what it would look like if Eve and Peabody worked next to each other.

AJ (20:51.56)
Exactly. Yeah. So anyway.

Tara (20:57.935)
That’s great.

AJ (20:59.63)
So do you want to go ahead and go on to chapter two? All right, let’s do it.

Tara (21:01.187)
Ha.

Tara (21:04.974)
Yeah.

Tara (21:09.433)
Chapter 2. From the wife and daughter’s account, Eve determines one intruder was dominant and enjoyed inflicting pain, the other complied but was less cruel. The invaders told Paul he had to take lives to save lives. Melody heard them say Paul would wear a bomb and afterward they were going to Fat City and that they would be there at nine. Eve asks who has the home security codes? Only immediate family, their helper Iris Kelly.

who had been with them for nine years, and the wife’s mother and stepfather. Calendar reports the security system is strong, but someone has been working to breach it for two months, starting end of December, typically two to 3am. Even Peabody conclude Paul wore an earbud, the intruders monitored him and played recordings of his wife and daughter screaming when he wavered. Nothing was stolen, the intruders were focused and patient.

AJ (22:05.666)
Yeah. So I think, you know, with for Eve and this one, the fact that nothing was stolen was a deal for her. why, what, what was the point? They didn’t come here to steal things. And they, I guess they had, you know, cash and stuff in the house, but nothing got stolen. So now you got to think about what was, you know, she’s, think at this point, she’s thinking clearly somebody just wanted to stop this merger from happening for whatever reason.

Tara (22:18.958)
Yeah.

Tara (22:33.911)
Yeah, yeah, that’s what the focus is at the beginning. I just wanted to say that, like, I think that this kid is so smart and, like, I love how well she, like, handles herself when he was talking to her. Like, this horrible, scary thing happened, so. Kind of had some Nixie Swisher vibes, you know?

AJ (22:37.921)
Yeah.

AJ (22:50.765)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

AJ (22:59.886)
Yeah. Yeah, you know, I mean, there’s always a lot of times you have a smart kid that does something because she managed to, because they were, they were, uh, they didn’t tie her up the last time, or they tied her hands, but they didn’t tie her feet. So once they left, she was able to get up and saw police outside and she picked up her, you know,

what Jupiter from her solar system and threw it through the window. so yeah, Jupiter came flying out the window and that’s how the police knew.

Tara (23:31.937)
Yeah. Thanks Jupiter.

Tara (23:43.257)
There we go. It’s great. But good kid.

AJ (23:46.702)
So she dropped some Jupiter.

Tara (23:50.827)
Yes.

So anyway, Chapter Three. So even Peabody go to Iris Kelly’s apartment to question her. This is from the book. One of the two elevators let out a pair of women speaking rapid Spanish, both carting handbags the size of baby elephants. The younger pushed a thumb sucking baby in a stroller with little animals dangling, including a baby elephant. The kid’s eyes looked glassy with pleasure as it snacked on its own thumb.

What do they get out of that? Eve wondered as they stepped onto the vacated elevator. How good could your own thumb taste? it’s not the taste. It’s the sucking action, oral satisfaction and comfort. So basically they’re giving themselves a blowjob. For a couple of seconds, Peabody’s mouth worked silently. I can’t possibly answer that without feeling really dirty and weirded. Same. I was like, I was with Peabody. Eve’s entire, that whole thing, I was like.

AJ (24:47.466)
Yeah, same. Well, it’s clearly a ghostwriter because Nora would never write something like that. Kidding. It’s Eve, so yes, she would.

Tara (24:54.231)
What the fuck, Eve? The fu-

Right? Eve would never think about weird fucking shit like that. wait, Eve.

Tara (25:07.567)
Anyway, Iris Kelly states she never shared the security code and didn’t write it down. She recalls her link and wallet were stolen while Christmas shopping with Melody in December. concludes the theft may have been an attempt to access the code via her link. At the hospital, Carson is in a coma. Eve interviews Rudy Rowe, who has been injured, and Rowe texted Rogan over the weekend. Rogan replied, chill, Rudy, we’re locked on. A phrase unfamiliar to Rowe,

but recognized by Eve as military. Roe reports Rogan was distracted and not acting right Monday morning. Another quantum admin, Kimi, reports her apartment was broken in two in December and electronics were stolen. She had a Kano deal data on her computer. Even Peabody interview Kano-Liff legal counsel, Lauren Abel. Succession, the Pearson children will co-head quantum if Carson dies.

Her shares would be divided among her half brother, her childhood friend, and Abel. The merger is expected to proceed as it nearly as it is nearly signed and the Pearson children intend to push it through. So we meet a lot of people in this chapter and I will say that like later on in the book, I’m like, we’ve met a lot of people that didn’t have anything to do with it.

AJ (26:28.524)
Yeah.

Tara (26:29.655)
which is the whole point of investigation, but.

AJ (26:34.286)
But it’s a lot of people, yeah. Well, yeah, because a lot of people were involved. Yeah, a lot of people have been killed. Yeah, so it makes sense that she has to talk to a lot of different people. Plus, she’s still not sure why it’s happened. She’s going with the standard of like who is gonna inherit when the head guy dies and that kind of thing. Yeah.

Tara (26:36.035)
Yeah. A lot of people have been killed. Yeah.

Tara (26:50.36)
Yeah.

Tara (26:59.469)
Which makes sense. That is understandable.

AJ (27:08.76)
So, do you wanna do the next one? Do want me to do it? What do wanna do? Okay.

Tara (27:11.425)
Sure. I’ll do the next chapter. So, chapter four. As even Peabody leave the hospital, Peabody states she’s hungry and decides to go to the eatery in the hospital lobby. I’m gonna just make a comment and then I’ll read this. Generally, the food available to families and visitors is not… So it is the same food. It’s the same restaurants, same…

AJ (27:28.151)
Yeah.

Tara (27:41.529)
food service, but hospital food is not like it used to be. And I was like, I was like my, was like in.

AJ (27:49.62)
Is it though, Tara? Because I was with my mom in the hospital and her food didn’t look very appetizing.

Tara (27:56.973)
It really will, okay. So I guess it’s not fair of me to say that because the hospital I work at, it is the same food. Because there’s one place where all that comes. That said, even if it wasn’t, like if it’s not the same food, I just recall when I was at the hospital my grandmother was at in Florida, and this was over 20 years ago, like the food that they brought my mom while she was just sitting in the room, because they were like, we can get, know, like they were,

they basically will just give food to the family for free. Like that always looked terrible. But like if I wanted to go down to the cafeteria with my aunt, it was like normal food. It was not disgusting. So I was thinking about that. was like, how bad is this hospital that like the stuff that just sold to people is this bad?

AJ (28:29.474)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (28:39.928)
Yeah

AJ (28:45.198)
No.

AJ (28:49.294)
Well, it’s hospital after the urban war, so maybe they just haven’t gotten to the point where they have improved their recipes from.

Tara (28:51.875)
Yeah.

Tara (28:56.995)
They’re also like, or they’re like, we don’t give a fuck. We just have to make sure that people get the nutrition that they need. Because I will say that that is even though it’s disgusting, there there is a whole nutritional plan that goes with any patient in a hospital. And even though the food is gross, I’m glad I don’t have to make that plan.

AJ (29:01.87)
Exactly.

AJ (29:14.892)
Yeah. mean, I mean, all they need is like a piece of chicken, piece of broccoli and a corn tortilla, right?

Tara (29:26.287)
Yeah, and of course, you know, a jello cup.

AJ (29:30.158)
Did you, you didn’t hear that, that news story? The secretary of agriculture or something like that, was on a, on a news, like she was being interviewed on a news channel or something like that. the news channel was talking about how expensive food is now and how people are having a hard time making ends meet when.

Tara (29:35.629)
No.

AJ (29:53.774)
food is so expensive right now. And the lady’s like, it’s not, know, mean, making a healthy choice isn’t expensive. I mean, you can make a healthy choice for only like, for only like $3. You know, for $3, you can have a good meal of like a piece of chicken, piece of broccoli, corn tortilla, and one other thing. And it’s been, that’s been going around.

Tara (30:20.407)
It don’t hurt it!

AJ (30:22.486)
the internet, it’s been going around, TikToks, talking to people like showing their piece of little piece of chicken, piece of broccoli and the corn tortilla and one other thing and everybody’s one other thing is all different. And then there was even one woman that was like, I’m going to actually get all the stuff and see what you can get, what you can make for $3.

Tara (30:25.843)
my god.

AJ (30:51.18)
Like how much chicken, how much broccoli, how many tortillas? I mean, she’s just been getting dragged on online.

Tara (30:59.877)
well, I mean, she should have been, come on. But no, aren’t.

AJ (31:04.878)
And everybody’s going, and chicken, just plain because I can’t afford seasonings. I only have $3. So anyway.

Tara (31:18.461)
my God. So that’s great. Yeah. I mean, I don’t really know how this kind of stuff works, but I just was like, was like, I don’t, that’s so, that’s a lot to think about. But also the eatery in the hospital lobby would not be the same as what the patients are getting fed. So this was a choice and perhaps it was just the wrong hospital because.

AJ (31:41.934)
What’s just the wrong hospital on the wrong day?

Tara (31:46.223)
Because let me tell you, when I took a, oh, when I got my Reiki certification, I did that at one of our regional hospitals. And at lunch, our instructor was like, oh, the Indian guy is here today. And they’re like, on Thursdays, this Indian guy comes and he makes whatever, like he makes all of his Indian food.

And it was some of the best I’ve ever had. You know, she was telling people she’s like, this is good, this is good. Again, my hospital is so small, don’t get anything terribly exciting, you know, different hospitals, I suppose. Anyway.

AJ (32:16.17)
Mm, all right.

AJ (32:31.232)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, everybody and even on different days, depending on somebody who makes it, sometimes it’s different. It’s really, there’s a lot of, you know, there’s a lot going into this to make it either a good choice or a bad choice. But anyway.

Tara (32:36.611)
Yes. Who makes it?

Tara (32:47.567)
Yeah, and apparently this was a bad choice. So this is from the book. Bad choice. Peabody hopped in the car, handed Eve a go-cup soup, vegetable beef. Eve took a sniff, then a swallow before she started winding out of the underground lot. It smelled like pepper and tasted like spicy liquefied cardboard, heated to cautiously approach lukewarm. Beef of what? They didn’t say, and I thought it wiser not to ask. Peabody took a gulp, coughed a little.

AJ (32:49.954)
Bad choice.

AJ (33:11.98)
Hahaha

Tara (33:17.537)
It’s bad. It’s bad. I should have gone for the mini berry pies. They had mini berry pies and you went for liquid mystery meat and veg Peabody choked down another swallow. I told myself to be an adult to think of loose pants. Is it gamey? think it’s a bit I think there’s a little bit of gamey aftertaste. It could be rat liquified peppered rat you shoved her cup into Peabody’s hands. It’s a hospital. Hospitals don’t serve rat.

AJ (33:24.67)
Yeah.

AJ (33:36.504)
Hahaha

Tara (33:46.421)
As she wound, Eve swung toward a recycler, stopped, pointed, disposed of the rat soup. It’s not rat. I didn’t drink rat. But Peabody fumbled the door open, juggling go cups. She hot footed it to the recycler, dumped the cups. She slid back into the car downtrodden. Can I get a diafizzy from the AC? What flavor washes away the taint of rat soup? It wasn’t rat, but any. She ordered up cherry and a tube of Pepsi for Eve. Later.

Peabody asked Eve, if you wanted to invest, who would you trust with it? Roarke, she admitted, since I know pretty much squat about investing. Exactly. He bought a farm, Eve muttered. He bought a farm. You’re mixing your idioms again. A farm, an actual farm, somewhere in Nebraska, because I made some comment that turned into a challenge in his head. So he bought this shithole farm in Bumfuck in my name. You’re going to live on a farm in Nebraska?

Jesus Christ Peabody did a glug of rat soup melt your brain. He’s going to do something with it. He knows who knows what make it something or other or sell it or something. It’s a crap hole of a house with a weird crap hole buildings on a bunch of scary empty land in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska. And you own it technically, which bugged and baffled her, which she knew stood as a reason number one. He’d done it in the first damn place.

What I’m saying is whatever he paid for this bullshit is a game to him. Even if he loses the challenge, he’ll be, you know, amused. If you give him your money, it won’t be a game for him. He’ll be careful with it. I know it. The idea is a little scary, but it’s exciting too. And it wasn’t rat soup. There’s maybe possibly a scant 10 % chance it was Squirrel. He pulled into Central’s underground lot. What’s the difference? Squirrels are sort of cute and fuzzy and they have personality.

After zipping into her slot, you’ve shifted in her seat. Look in a squirrel’s eyes next time you see one scampering along like a fuzzy rat. Right in the eyes. They’re lunatics.

AJ (35:52.558)
They kind of are lunatics.

Tara (35:55.319)
Okay, so I have a friend who literally hates squirrels with her entire being. Like, like it’s her personality. Like that’s what if you see a squirrel video or a squirrel meme, you just send it to Pam. She’s getting it and then and she will respond. She will usually take a selfie of herself being disgusted. I said that to you. Every every year.

AJ (36:00.974)
Mm.

AJ (36:10.702)
Mm.

AJ (36:18.284)
Ha ha ha ha.

Tara (36:25.655)
I mean, she may have stopped doing this, but for a while our friend Jean was buying her dog’s like squirrel toys. And she has a beagle and the beagle rips the toys up and she’s like, yeah, get that squirrel. Like she’s just, she hates them.

AJ (36:32.44)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (36:40.354)
Yeah, Lily hates squirrels too. And they’ve gotten, so she’s gotten to the point where she’s old enough to where she just can’t chase them like she used to. She used to chase them all around the backyard. Like all around and jump up onto try to climb trees. She would actually try to climb a tree or she would jump in the planter or anywhere they were. She would just try to get, mean, was nuts. And she’s gotten old enough to where it just, they know that she’s not chasing them anymore, but

Tara (36:52.719)
aww

AJ (37:09.248)
A lot of them will see her, like get scared, run up a tree and then she’ll just stand and look at them. And they’ll, I think they purposely, like they, they like wag their little tails and make that chittering noise, you know, looking down at her. Yeah. Like, huh. Yeah.

Tara (37:25.775)
Yeah, little jerks. We have, you know, our hospital is on a… We have several small courtyards in our hospital, which is cute, which means that the squirrels that live there are really fucking safe. You know, there’s not a whole lot getting in there to them. There are coyotes in the area.

AJ (37:53.038)
Hmm.

Tara (37:53.273)
but they can’t get into the courtyards. They can get into the other parts of the ground. I know because I’ve seen them, but I’ll watch these squirrels. They’re all fat and they just chase each other. And it’s really very cute. And I’m like, I can’t talk to Pam. Sometimes I’ll take a video and send it to Pam and she’ll be like, what the fuck is wrong with you?

AJ (38:05.191)
Hahaha

Yeah.

AJ (38:15.566)
No.

Tara (38:18.403)
but it is pretty cute.

AJ (38:20.29)
Yeah, I should send you the video that I took the other day because there was a shit ton of squirrels out there and they were all chasing each other around out in my front yard.

Tara (38:30.111)
See that’s cute as long as they don’t tease your dog.

AJ (38:33.918)
Then, so sometimes I do though, it’s really funny. Then I took her out to on a walk this morning and there was one in my front yard and it was eating something. I don’t know what it was eating. And it saw Lily come out and it ran up the tree real quick. There’s a little V in the tree and it was sitting there like this looking at her. And she was like poised, like she wanted to go after it. She was just, and they were staring at each other for a long time until Lily’s like, okay, done.

Tara (38:38.402)
Mm hmm.

Tara (38:54.884)
Ha ha.

Tara (39:04.143)
Okay, I’m tired. I’m good. I’m good. I love it. Okay, sorry. We got distracted by squirrels. So anyway, squirrel. Literally squirrels.

AJ (39:04.174)
We went on our own. Yeah. So.

Super!

You

Tara (39:20.227)
Which is not really surprising at all. Anyway, back at Central, Eve briefs Commander Whitney, who says his wife and Pearson’s wife were close. And Pearson’s wife is relieved that Eve has the case. I know, like, I remember the first time reading this and, like, feeling Eve’s dread as she learns it. They’re like, no, Eve.

AJ (39:28.609)
Well, of course they were.

AJ (39:39.566)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, Whitney’s, Commander Whitney’s wife is like the Roarke of the wives. mean, like, she knows everybody. Everyone knows her. Like, yeah.

Tara (39:55.149)
Yeah, she’s and Eve is kind of afraid of her. And then Eve consults Feeney. agree Rogan did not leave work Friday intending to bomb the meeting. Feeney notes McNabb and Peabody have been invited to the Academy Awards and suggests they both approve McNabb and Peabody to go. Eve confirms she’s read Nadine’s Red Horse manuscript and says it’s excellent. She says very resignedly. She’s like, and it’s

AJ (40:00.375)
Right.

AJ (40:20.686)
Yeah, she’s very upset by that. Yeah. Yeah.

Tara (40:24.281)
Good fuck. Why is my, why does Nadine have to be good at this? Essential Eve notes, the candy thief stole her chocolate and replaced it with an alfalfa power smoothie from her auto chef.

AJ (40:31.873)
Alright.

AJ (40:43.99)
Yeah, and later on Roarke comes in and she’s like, somebody stole my goddamn candy. I put it under alfalfa power smoothie. And he’s like, well, yeah, of course nobody would think that you had an alfalfa power smoothie in your auto chef. That was, you know, rookie mistake Eve. Yeah, I know.

Tara (40:44.637)
it’s great.

Tara (40:54.561)
Yeah, no one believes you.

Tara (41:00.175)
Yeah, yeah. Like you swung too hard there, Eve. You like gave it up. Oh my gosh.

AJ (41:12.034)
That’s a rookie, total rookie mistake. What she should do is put it in her auto chef under chocolate, chocolate bar. And then somebody is gonna go, that’s, I remember the other thing I wanted to talk about on the briefing room. Okay, I’m talk about it now.

Tara (41:18.894)
Right.

AJ (41:31.742)
I love on YouTube, I love when they do, to watching like reaction videos. Okay. and, I was watching the other day, people were at, sometimes I get on a kick. Like I start watching somebody react to something and then I want to see other people react to that same thing. I don’t know why, but anyway, watch a video of somebody reacting to the first episode of Sherlock.

Tara (41:49.603)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (41:58.157)
Okay.

AJ (41:59.08)
And I was like, I want to watch other people react to the first episode of Sherlock. And one of the things that I watched was this YouTube channel where it’s all like bros. And I hate, I mean, they appreciated it, which I, which I appreciated. I hate when bros and actually it’s not just bros, but another, there was a woman that said the same thing too. because there’s a point at which I’m sure I know you’ve seen the first episode of Sherlock.

Tara (42:08.354)
God.

press.

Mm-hmm.

AJ (42:27.374)
I don’t know if you remember the plot. Okay. It was the guy that was poisoning people when he had a good pill and a bad pill. And he took them out, he was like, there’s a good pill and a bad pill. And right away, one of the bros is like, this is straight out of Princess Bride. They got this from Princess Bride. And so that whole scene was ruined by them going, just like in Princess Bride, yeah, in Princess Bride, yeah, Princess Bride, Princess Bride.

Tara (42:27.727)
You know I have. I do.

Tara (42:34.703)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (42:38.307)
Yep.

AJ (42:57.132)
And I’m sitting there going, you idiots don’t even realize that that bit has been around probably before, I think Shakespeare, when I looked it up, Shakespeare was the first, one of the first to use that, maybe not even the first to use that bit of here’s a poison and here’s a not poison. So this is one of the, and this is another reason why, unfortunately,

Tara (43:19.086)
Yeah.

AJ (43:26.54)
I fucking, I don’t hate, but I am not a fan of Princess Bride. Because Princess Bride people are so Prince Bride. That it’s like Princess Bride is the, is like the thing, like everything after Princess Bride happened because of Princess Bride. You know? When in fact, Princess Bride is full of all kinds of tropes that they got from everywhere else.

Tara (43:48.59)
Yeah.

AJ (43:56.878)
But Princess Bride people don’t see that. They see, it’s Princess Bride. Oh, it’s like Princess Bride. Isn’t that Princess Bride? Princess Bride. It’s like, fuck. Stop comparing every single piece of art that you see as something that must have happened because Princess Bride happened. I don’t know, it just got me all worked up.

Tara (44:08.072)
Stop.

Tara (44:19.919)
I mean, that’s understandable because you get people who are like, I mean, it’s when Harry Potter became popular and it was the generation of getting people to read again, or whatever, and how people would get so, be like, and I was, mean, I was an anti-Harry Potter person at first, because I was anti-popular things, because that was teenage Tara, that’s just who I was. But like,

AJ (44:35.404)
Right.

Tara (44:49.933)
then people would be like, this is just a copy of Lord of the Rings. It’s a copy of Star Wars. And I’m like, you know, and then you look at it you’re like, this is fantasy trope. It’s fantasy trope. Like, that’s the whole point of, you know, there are only so many ideas out there and it’s how you put them together and it’s gonna appeal differently to everyone. you know, when you’re busy being obsessive about one thing,

AJ (44:56.066)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

AJ (45:08.686)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (45:19.673)
then you’re never gonna appreciate anything else. You know, I don’t know.

AJ (45:24.076)
Yeah, I just was so upset that that, it was at that pivotal point in that episode. And it was absolutely ruined by this guy like, Princess Bride, and he’s like, you know, saying Princess Bride lines, and it’s like, for fuck’s sake, just shut the fuck up and watch.

Tara (45:33.828)
Yeah.

Tara (45:39.4)
yeah.

Tara (45:44.355)
Right? you, like at that point it’s like, that’s why I thought there was, the point was to react, not, if you say it once, I’m like, okay, sure. But, we’re just out here, yeah.

AJ (45:51.307)
Yeah.

Ha ha ha ha.

Yeah, but it was just rude saying like, yeah, they got that directly from Princess Bridegwain. And then when I looked it up, and I don’t know whether you can speak to this or not, somebody online was saying that that was a plot point used in one of the early Sherlock Holmes, which is probably what that was actually based on.

Tara (46:03.817)
You’re like, they didn’t.

Tara (46:19.565)
Yes, yes, it is not.

Yeah, like each episode of Sherlock, like goes back to several original, like several Arthur Cronen Doyle stories, obviously modernizing them, just using names sometimes, the character of Jefferson Hope, that is from the original, like the original first published, A Study in Scarlet, and Jefferson Hope’s story,

AJ (46:37.932)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (46:47.426)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (46:52.015)
is it’s not around poison. I can’t remember which story is around the poison, but like that’s what Gatiss and Moffat did is they took original canon and went, how can we make this be 2010s? And the poison pill thing is, it’s a…

AJ (47:14.082)
Right.

Tara (47:21.967)
Eventually I’ll figure out what that is. But yes, there is a story and it’s one of the later earlier stories. It’s not like in the first handful, but it is Arthur Kernan Doyle plot line as well. There’s an Agatha Christie plot line around it.

AJ (47:34.486)
Right. And like, I, it’s yes. Yeah, it’s just been used by everybody. And I guess, and one of the reasons why I disliked them reacting that way so much is that in Princess Bride, that trope was used as kind of a joke, right? But I give you the poison, but did I give you the boil? There’s a whole banter around that, you know? And it’s supposed to be funny, you know?

Tara (47:53.828)
Yeah.

AJ (48:03.954)
and, but the way that they used it in, in Sherlock, in this episode of Sherlock, I felt was really interesting because the whole plot of Sherlock was of that episode was people were killing themselves with poison. And then the thought was, what if the killer is given the poison? Like, what, why would they take it themselves? Like what, what is he?

doing to get them to take it, right? And what is the psychological thing that’s happening there that gets them to actually make that choice? And the reason why Sherlock even went with him was because he said, if you don’t go with me, you’ll never know what I said to them to get them to take the poison. And Sherlock’s saying, I absolutely have to know.

Tara (48:36.046)
Yes.

Tara (48:57.037)
Yeah, I have to know because he’s fucking crazy, but.

AJ (48:59.954)
Right, so yes, it’s the same trope, but the way that they did it was so clever just because of that. Because yeah, you’re wanting, what is he saying to these people to get them to take this, you know, this poison? And so by sitting there and having to, know, that’s just like Princess Bride. They got this right out of Princess Bride. You kind of missed the whole, like that whole thing, you know?

Tara (49:21.785)
Princess pride.

AJ (49:29.366)
So, I don’t know. Maybe, man.

Tara (49:30.775)
No, I looked it up because I was like, it was going to bother me. It is from The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot, which is, which was like the fourth or fifth story he released. It’s been a minute, but yeah, I haven’t read that one in forever. But now I want to watch the, I want to watch the original pilot of Sherlock.

AJ (49:38.038)
Okay.

AJ (49:44.493)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (50:00.215)
Yeah.

Tara (50:00.655)
that was the original 60 minute pilot and then they’re like no and they re-recorded it and turned it into the 90 minute episode that was released. That 60 minute pilot is pretty cool.

AJ (50:09.389)
Hmm.

AJ (50:13.142)
Yeah, I don’t know that I’ve seen it, so I’m gonna have to go look for it. Okay.

Tara (50:16.099)
Yeah, it’s on YouTube. So anyway, back to this. Back to this. So yeah, so they have have they just been reviews at Quantum and Akano. And there are no media red flags. advises that they are seeking two suspects, at least one with military explosives training. So a lot has happened in the first four chapters.

AJ (50:20.928)
Anyway, back to this, detect fictional detective.

Tara (50:45.583)
But most importantly, they may have eaten rat soup.

AJ (50:46.252)
Right, and I f-

AJ (50:51.165)
Right. Then that’s like a recurring theme throughout the rest of the like, you know, Roarke is coming. Have you eaten anything? She’s like, I had a sip of rat soup. And he’s like, Oh, okay. Well, you should probably eat something more than that. But yeah, exactly. That’s how Roarke. Oh, okay. Well, sure. But yeah.

Tara (51:08.303)
essentially how Rook, Rook first really feels like, of course, well, why you eat some real food, cut.

AJ (51:18.584)
But also I have feeling, and maybe not, I haven’t looked at any of the reviews, but you know, people always talk about like, I don’t understand how she got there. did, and in my head I kept thinking that people are going to say like, how did she even know that these people were military? How did she even come to that conclusion that, you know, one of these guys is military or the guy is military? even though it was explained earlier that he must’ve used the guy’s, you know, link to text.

And he used a military term that she was pretty sure that Paul Rogan wouldn’t have used. We’re locked on, you know, is a military term. And so she’s like, doesn’t sound like something that this guy would say. So.

Tara (51:50.755)
Yes.

Tara (51:56.036)
Yeah.

Tara (52:02.351)
It doesn’t seem like this marketing dude’s language. I know I never met Paul Rogan, but it feels like that’s not how he would talk.

AJ (52:07.625)
Right, yeah.

AJ (52:12.769)
No, probably not.

Tara (52:18.593)
And it’s like definitely, obviously we’ll get there, but like it’s definitely way clear after Watts’ fucking face gets murdered.

AJ (52:28.703)
Right. Yeah.

Tara (52:32.047)
Listen, that’s her job as a cop to like Jordan Banks, which is what’s his fucking face is how he should be referred because he sucks. But like also that’s her job as a cop is to like is to like catch the things that are going to get her somewhere. It’s like the her focus on on the kid revealing to her that she heard them say about they’re going to Fat City. Like, what does that mean that that’s what they would say? And so that’s that’s literally her job.

AJ (52:32.334)
What’s his fucking face?

Yeah. Yeah. He’s a dumbass.

AJ (52:45.558)
Right. Right.

AJ (52:55.342)
Right.

Tara (53:02.135)
So yes, it’s not weird that she was like, one of these guys is military.

AJ (53:02.348)
Yeah, and then.

Yeah. And then later on in, after Jordan Banks was killed and they’re in his house, they’re in his apartment and somebody had like tossed it had been in there and like, and took a painting or took a couple of paintings. And she’s like, why did she finally realize is that like, why, why did they take paintings here? There were paintings upstairs too, but they weren’t touched. But they take a couple down here. So why, what does that have to do with anything?

Tara (53:17.743)
you

Tara (53:29.23)
Yeah.

AJ (53:34.974)
So yeah, she’s paid the big bucks to, you know, see these small details that the rest of us miss.

Tara (53:41.965)
Yes, that’s her job.

Do want to read chapter five or do you want me to keep going?

AJ (53:47.532)
Yeah, I can read the next couple and then maybe you can pick up at like eight. Ish.

Tara (53:51.393)
Okay. Sure.

AJ (53:55.142)
okay. Chapter five, Peabody finds no similar pattern in IRCCA of similar crimes. Most suicide bombings are political or tied to financial robberies and many perpetrators are caught. No one claims responsibility. Terrorism is considered, but unconfirmed. Baxter proposes a stakeholder market motive. Both companies would take a hit with Quantum likely to recover faster.

tells Peabody to check out who didn’t report to work. Baxter Trueheart continue to continue employee interviews. checks vendors for potential leaks of meeting times. Rorke arrives at Central. Eve briefs him, because Rorke’s one of the team. Rorke notes Econolift had a cashflow problem for about a year, but could not

Tara (54:45.129)
Yeah.

AJ (54:54.338)
but he couldn’t acquire them due to monopoly regulations. He knew the merger was expected that day and believes it will still proceed. Roarke proposes the profit motive. Buy deflated stock post-event, then sell after the rebound, or leveraged buyers using loans to maximize profit are creating leverage.

Tara (54:54.926)
Ahem.

AJ (55:19.994)
Salazar reports some bomb components were military grade. Ding, ding, ding. There you go. Confirming Eve’s suspicions.

Tara (55:25.518)
There it is.

AJ (55:30.67)
Chapter six, Mira assesses the two perpetrators are as close as brothers, both sociopathic risk takers. The dominant one is more cruel. Carson remains, regains consciousness and confirms the merger will proceed the next day. She reports Rogan was shaky and said, I’m sorry, I don’t have a choice before detonation. Her injured admin suggests Carson’s ex.

Jordan Banks as a person of interest, but doubts he is capable of violence. yeah.

Tara (56:05.409)
That fucking guy.

You

AJ (56:13.026)
I had a point to make and I forgot to make it. What was I gonna say?

Must not have been very important or I wouldn’t have forgot it.

Carson, we’re gonna count merger. We’ll proceed the next day. so there was a lot of, and there was also a lot of talk about, the, during this about, you know, they kept checking the stock reports, you know, the stock had gone down and, just like Roarke said, it was slowly creeping back up again because the family had made a, had a

press conference and said that merger still going ahead. So the stock started, you know, going back up again. And pretty much they all think that anybody doing this kind of thing. So in Baxter’s words, so they can buy low and sell high is pretty fucked up. Which I agree.

Tara (56:57.517)
Richard’s gonna go through, yeah.

Tara (57:17.913)
people are terrible, so.

AJ (57:20.194)
Mm So their next stop, and Roarke is Jordan Banks, fourth generation wealth, financially reckless, owns Banks Gallery in New York. Eve tells Nadine, Eve tells Nadine that, I guess it’s Nadine Rogan. No. Eve tells Nadine that Rogan is considered a victim and that the case is not being treated as terrorism. Nadine offers

Peabody McNabb Transport and Accommodations for the Oscars departing Friday afternoon. Dadeen confirms the ICOV agenda adaptation status and notes they want a third book vid.

I think there Nadine is talking about the other book though, isn’t she?

Tara (58:03.471)
you

Tara (58:10.063)
She is. She’s tough.

AJ (58:10.488)
She confirms, because they start talking about Red Horse. And she talks about they’re talking about using Red Horse as the next movie.

Tara (58:14.254)
Yeah.

Tara (58:21.335)
Yeah, but I think she was talking about she does mention that she that they do want her to pick a third and she’s Thinking about it, but that’s as much as she says. Yeah

AJ (58:27.374)
Thinking about it. Yeah. So Eve asked Nadine not to publicize the trip in case she cannot release Peabody. And Eve struggles with this a lot in this book, like, because it’s a big case. But she knows, but she knows Peabody has been like, this is one of her dreams. Peabody told her at one point that her, her granny watches the Oscars every year and has an Oscar party or something like that. So.

Tara (58:40.559)
She really does. Yeah, it is a big case.

Tara (58:57.475)
Yeah.

AJ (58:58.51)
So even Roarke interview Banks at his three level apartment building that Roarke owns, by the way. Banks claims his relationship with Carson ended amicably weeks earlier and acknowledges knowing merger details because Carson shared them. And he says he advised Carson and strongly encouraged the merger, sent condolences to the Pearsons and comments on Pearson’s

Tara (59:05.881)
course.

AJ (59:27.392)
And comments on Pearson’s daughter, Liana. Pearson is the head of the other.

Tara (59:36.109)
Yes, he’s the one who was killed.

AJ (59:39.798)
Yeah, and he comments on Pearson’s daughter kind of like in a way that Roarke wasn’t happy about.

Tara (59:45.973)
Nope.

AJ (59:47.934)
Eve asks who else Banks discussed the merger with and he plays dumb. So, so, so this is a scary, ruric moment in, in this book. Who did you talk to about the merger? Any details of it as it was being negotiated and set up? He tried for insulted. Whatever Willie discussed with me would have been confidential. I would never betray her trust in me. Bullocks to that.

Tara (59:53.113)
He’s a fucking idiot. God, he’s such an idiot.

AJ (01:00:17.154)
Roarke said mildly, you’re a bloody civ, and as I learned myself at your cousin’s wedding, when you tried to rope me into investing in some deal you were working and gave me plenty of confidential details in an attempt to sweeten the pot. I don’t recall, I do and could refresh you if the lieutenant would give us a moment alone. Roarke leaned forward, shall I refresh you?

I didn’t invite you into my home to be threatened and insulted. I didn’t hear any threat. Eve settled back. But we’ll pass, for now, on the refreshing. You’re going to want to thank who you talked to, shared details with, trying to score a deal or impress someone.

So after they left the apartment, hang on, I gotta…

I got dry mouth today for some reason.

I know what it is.

AJ (01:01:15.754)
I took an allergy pill this morning. So.

Tara (01:01:21.583)
should be… That should be good. You shouldn’t be… I don’t know. I’ve never had that… Okay.

AJ (01:01:27.83)
Well, it kind of- it does kind of dry me out.

So that’s why I’m like, I’m more dry than normal. So I don’t know why. that’s why I don’t normally take one in the morning. And it was just one of those things that I kind of did it out of mostly out of like. Reflex than anything else. I was taking some other like supplements that I have and I grabbed one of those and I took it and I was like, well, what, what’d I do that for? I don’t take those in the morning, but you know, I’m getting old. that’s, know, that’s how you do that.

Tara (01:01:40.492)
Okay.

Tara (01:01:59.331)
No, this is why you drink water. Just drink more water.

AJ (01:02:02.894)
Right, okay. Anyway, so after they left Banks’ apartment, says, I don’t get why Carson, who comes off smart and steady, would hook up with a useless user like Banks. Sure, he looks good, but that’s a thing. But if that’s a thing, just bang and move on. And Roarke says, the heart wants what it wants, sees what it needs to see.

The heart’s just a pulsing muscle without a head. She angled to steady him. You look good. Major understatement, she thought. And that’s a thing. I might have banged you if you’d been a useless user, but I’d have moved on. I believe I was still on your murder board as a suspect when we first banged each other. Technically, she allowed, but I didn’t figure you for it. If I’d been wrong, I’d have taken you down slick. Maybe I’d have banged you one last time.

first, but I’d have taken you down. Darling, that’s so sweet and oddly arousing. The point is she strikes me as too smart and so centered to fall for his bullshit. He knows how to charm and he lays it on when he has a goal. He has intellect and can talk a good game. Roarke shrugged. He is at the core grifter of some skill. The smart and steady can fall for a well oiled grift, especially those who play

to the heart. One thinks, but it’s different with me or I can change him. She frowned as they drove through the gates and home rose up into the deepening sky with all its wonders and welcomes. I was going to say polka dots don’t change their spots, but sometimes they can, they do. You’re married to a cop and I’m living in an urban castle. He stopped the car, leaned over to kiss her. Polka dots are spots.

until they get smeared and blend together, then they’re splotches. That’s both true and confusing, he decided. we’ve smeared our spots into splotches for each other. Right, but Banks, his type’s always gonna be a polka dot. I’m not completely sure how, but I’m forced to agree. So.

Tara (01:04:04.623)
Hmph.

Tara (01:04:20.675)
It’s a fun little section. I just love Roarke in this section. Like, just, I love any time Eve and Roarke go to interview someone and they have it in them that they are going to impress Roarke or they’re gonna try to be impressive to Roarke and he is not having it. It’s so great. It’s like, it’s one of my favorite things about Roarke when he gets to, like I, listen, we love scary Roarke. I love,

AJ (01:04:21.921)
Yeah.

AJ (01:04:39.47)
Right. Right. Yeah.

Tara (01:04:50.655)
I love the- I forget which was a book we read in the last like four or five books where they went somewhere and he was like bored. He’s like purposely playing off that he was bored. Yes, I just I love when he is like just the whole the whole like scene. You know that person wants Roarke to be impressed, intimidated, like

AJ (01:05:02.542)
calculated. Yeah.

AJ (01:05:18.637)
Yeah.

Tara (01:05:19.503)
you know, I’m in a room with Roarke and you’re like, my god, you are, even if they’re not a suspect, but they’re like, just, it’s, it’s so satisfying. And this one was another one.

AJ (01:05:29.314)
Yeah, yeah. Well, and he did, and he also like tried to flirt with Eve. He was trying to lay it on thick, and Eve is not at all impressed by that, ever. Yeah.

Tara (01:05:36.28)
Yes.

He was not impressed. It’s so funny. the and here’s the thing is that this is a real thing that happens is the these characters that their instinct is to just turn on this flirtatious charm. Like you actually first of all, that has worked with exactly one character in the entire series and it didn’t even work. And that’s Charles Monroe. Like it’s

AJ (01:05:58.338)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (01:06:07.372)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Tara (01:06:08.663)
And it wasn’t that, like, that’s just who he is. He’s just charming. But that’s like, that being such an instinct of men is really a thing. Nora is right about that. But to me, it’s just so wild. Like, you can just, I don’t know, be decent. You don’t have to be like, it’s a woman. I’m just gonna…

AJ (01:06:12.441)
Right.

AJ (01:06:21.186)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (01:06:31.534)
Obviously she’s gonna find me attractive and yeah.

Tara (01:06:33.507)
Like.

Right? Like, it’s so funny to think about. I mean, I’ve never been, you know, questioned by the police. So whatever. But just like that, that the instinct would be like anything other than honest and just I’m going to be myself. Because the second that I try to be something outside of where I’m currently where I currently am in that moment.

AJ (01:06:57.827)
Right.

Tara (01:07:05.175)
I’m going to look even more fucking suspicious. Maybe it’s just me. It’s it’s a confidence thing. I’m one of those people who’s going to be like, I’m going to come across as guilty and I am so fucking innocent. That’s me. That’s me. And I’m just lucky that I haven’t been like questioned or something, because I’m just going to be like, somehow, whatever I say and however I do it is just going to make me sound guilty. And luckily,

AJ (01:07:07.726)
Yeah. Yeah, maybe.

AJ (01:07:31.694)
No.

Tara (01:07:33.679)
You know, hopefully they’re smart enough to be like, no, this person is a mess. They’re not capable of this kind of treachery. But I am absolutely that person. Anyway. I enjoyed that part. It was a good it was a good work moment. OK. Oh. Yeah, go ahead and do.

AJ (01:07:41.782)
Yeah.

AJ (01:07:55.478)
Yeah, it was.

So do you me to continue or I can do chapter eight and then you can do.

Tara (01:08:02.969)
Do chapter 8? Sure.

AJ (01:08:06.786)
Okay, so chapter eight, Banks later contacts the people he had given the merger information to, well, murder information to really, wouldn’t you think about that? Right? Even Roarke review Banks’ financials, he bought Quantum stock in November, placed a sell order just after the bombing. Wow, so surprising.

Tara (01:08:14.575)
And by that we mean his own murder. His own murder. Dumbass.

Tara (01:08:31.663)
You

AJ (01:08:34.57)
His broker advised against it and he did not proceed suggesting he was not part of the primary scheme. Roarke reports Banks’s gallery is failing but may function as a money laundering vehicle, which I wouldn’t doubt for a minute. Cause this, guy seems like the kind of person for it.

Tara (01:08:52.281)
Right? Of course.

This guy just gets cooler and cooler.

AJ (01:09:01.108)
Even Roark conclude the explosion was calibrated to damage stock value, but allow a rebound within days.

because you want to get your money pretty quickly and get out.

Tara (01:09:15.513)
You

AJ (01:09:15.98)
So.

Tara (01:09:18.453)
Yes. A lot of even work time in that chapter.

AJ (01:09:20.929)
Yup.

Yeah, yeah there is.

Tara (01:09:26.383)
And so, but don’t worry because there’s no real sleep happening because the next thing happens in the literally before the sun comes up. Day two, Tuesday, chapters nine and 10. Pre-dawn, Eve is called to Central Park. Jordan Banks is found floating in the reservoir. Two college students discovered him and attempted resuscitation. That was really nice of them.

AJ (01:09:33.876)
Hahaha

AJ (01:09:54.178)
Yeah.

Tara (01:09:55.725)
Banks’ neck was broken before he was placed in the water. His wallet and link are missing. The scene does not indicate a mugging. No, because his neck was broken. Also. Even Peabody informed Carson. Carson states she came to despise Banks. She lent him money, refused a second loan, and he slept with another woman. She believes she told him too much about the merger. Eve tells her she is not responsible.

AJ (01:10:05.792)
Right.

Tara (01:10:23.855)
Even Peabody visit the Pearsons. They learned that the daughter-in-law, Sybil, also shared merger information with Banks while in London. She met him at an art showing and later for drinks and lunch. God, he’s such a sleaze. I think they did too. That’s meh. He’s a sleaze. the… Oh, he sucks, man.

AJ (01:10:35.522)
Was it really just drinks and lunch? I think they had sex.

Oops.

AJ (01:10:45.526)
He, yeah. He’s a bimbo. We should talk about him. Yeah.

Tara (01:10:52.111)
At the morgue Morris finds a red pubic hair on banks. So, you know, he’s just been sticking it in all kinds of people people Peabody locates the rapid cab pickup that took banks to the reservoir banks his financial advisors provide no new information Eve in the financial district. Oh Yeah, this is for the book

AJ (01:10:59.133)
Hahaha

AJ (01:11:13.07)
This is from the book. I just thought it was funny.

Tara (01:11:17.519)
Others thronged around the Wall Street Bull gleefully posing in front of its snorting charge. To her mind, a bull, metal or flesh, was a cow with a dick. She gave it a wide berth. Fun fact, a couple of weeks ago, I saw the Wall Street Bull for the first time. So I have stayed in the same downtown hotel several times, but I’d never really explored downtown.

AJ (01:11:34.284)
Really? All right, good for you.

Tara (01:11:46.827)
And this time I went to Battery Park. I went to a brunch nearby. I had gone to a bar once down there, but that was it. So I was like, I’m gonna go see the bull. So I saw the bull and people were posing with it. Yep.

AJ (01:11:59.17)
Yeah, why not? There you go. Just like she said. Because Nora’s been to New York before. But I do one, so one thing I did wonder about it was that, so, you know, after the urban wars happened, I would think that that bowl would not be there anymore because when you think that like, it’s kind of a symbol of like,

Tara (01:12:08.463)
You

AJ (01:12:28.686)
capitalism and, you know, things that people I think would be fighting in urban wars for.

Tara (01:12:39.599)
I I don’t know because I don’t have enough of like, I don’t have enough knowledge about like the symbolism around capitalism versus symbolism of like the city itself. And so to me, I feel like in a city where we’re still hearing about other monuments within the city, other buildings that have been there forever, that, you know,

we, the Chrysler building is mentioned at one point, the Flatiron building is mentioned, and those are, those are like old symbols of New York too. And the bull is not as old. No, but I wonder also if like, people didn’t care, or maybe the urban wars didn’t affect that area of like, because it’s all financial, like what kind of

AJ (01:13:13.645)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (01:13:17.848)
Right.

AJ (01:13:21.582)
It not, but not quite in same way.

AJ (01:13:30.702)
Could be.

Tara (01:13:38.305)
I was thinking this, and I may have mentioned this before, because this is the financial district, and I was realizing that when I was actually exploring this time around, is that there’s not a lot of foot traffic down there. There’s not a lot of traffic down there, but there are still people down there. Like, I still got on the subway, and there were a lot of people down.

AJ (01:13:52.238)
Mmm.

AJ (01:13:56.931)
Hmm.

Tara (01:14:04.729)
down underground, getting on the subway or getting off to go to Staten Island Ferry. There were like, I was trying to go to a pub and there were so many fucking people there. But then I’m like walking down the street and I’m seeing so few people. So I don’t know if it’s just kind of like the, like it’s, that no one is worried. Like no one’s thinking about that. And if like the battled and the rioting and whatever was happening during the urban wars was not happening.

AJ (01:14:07.884)
Right.

Tara (01:14:34.305)
as much downtown, for whatever reason, population. I have no idea, because I never really thought about that, because I’m thinking about New York iconic things, and they’re not just skyscrapers, they’re not just Central Park. But also, I don’t know that I always think about this bull, you know? And I don’t know that everyone knows about the bull.

AJ (01:14:38.146)
Maybe.

AJ (01:14:46.914)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (01:14:55.331)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (01:14:59.864)
Yeah.

Tara (01:15:00.823)
So it could be something that Nora didn’t think about before. And then now we know Eve’s working down on Wall Street and she’s writing a scene and she’s like, you know, Eve’s moving around Wall Street interviewing people because this is where her case is leading her. That bull is down there. let’s throw that into that mix. Eve hates cows. So I mean, it could have been something as easy as that, but yeah, I never thought about that.

AJ (01:15:18.218)
Right.

AJ (01:15:22.589)
Right, yeah, yeah, so it makes it funny. no, I, yeah, 100 % Nora’s just going for, you know, what would be recognizable in that area. That was just a stray thought I had, like, would it still be there?

Tara (01:15:30.493)
yeah.

Tara (01:15:35.407)
Right? I also, not really sure how you move a giant, like, I don’t know, is that thing made out of brass or something? I don’t know. It’s big. Yeah. don’t, well, people will figure it out. Yeah. I mean, it’s big.

AJ (01:15:45.996)
You knock it over and you, mean, people can destroy it. Trust me. People will figure that out. and if they needed like ammunition, maybe they like, this is a big thing that can be melted down and made into ammunition. don’t know. So, but maybe it’s still there. Maybe. Yeah. Like you said, there might be certain amount of people who are like, no, no, this is part of the culture or the history of this city. And we don’t want to.

Tara (01:16:02.467)
That’s true. Yeah. I don’t.

Tara (01:16:13.284)
Yeah.

AJ (01:16:15.874)
Mess with it. Who knows?

Tara (01:16:17.079)
Or maybe it’s a new one. Maybe someone was like, I, there’s a really cool section around where the bull is that’s got significant historic events, kind of just on the sidewalk. I took, I think there’s a picture of that on my Anyone who’s following me on Instagram, my Instagram is private, but if I’ve accepted you, can see it. I’ve got,

AJ (01:16:20.472)
Could be a new one.

AJ (01:16:31.042)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

Tara (01:16:44.655)
a picture of that on there as well as the bull from my last trip, where I put in the, I took a picture of the line that says, or the print that says, October 28th, 1886, that was the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. And it’s like that kind of stuff, yeah. So that was my like downtown adventures. But.

AJ (01:17:04.396)
Hmm, yeah. I saw that, yeah. Yeah.

Tara (01:17:12.205)
Yeah, it’s kind of a cool area. maybe it was something that, yeah, maybe something that if we’re trying to build it into our story, our in-depth story that was built back up or was just like protected by someone powerful, who knows? It’s interesting to think about. Yeah. Yeah.

AJ (01:17:30.7)
Yeah.

AJ (01:17:35.394)
Yeah.

Or like you said, could be just like somebody who, people who just like, is part of what this area is and we don’t want to destroy that, you

Tara (01:17:48.281)
Yeah, yeah, and I just, when I read this, I was like, this is exciting, because I had just seen it for the first time. So I thought that was fun. I knew it was there, I just hadn’t seen it. So anyway, so chapter 11. So Banks’ apartment is ransacked. All computing and communication devices are missing. Rorke notes the building has a five-lock rating. Building manager Rhoda reports no prior break-ins since she started.

AJ (01:17:54.038)
Alright.

AJ (01:18:18.721)
Rota is apparently a rock star.

Tara (01:18:18.947)
We love. Rhoda’s great.

AJ (01:18:23.106)
Cause, you know, it takes a, it, I don’t want to say it takes a lot to impress Eve, but sometimes it does. Sometimes there’s a little thing that Eve is like, whoa, wait a minute. I’m impressed now. And there was one of those moments where, he was asking her a lot of questions about, you know, having to do with the building. and, she said, do you know every person who lives here by site and by name?

Tara (01:18:31.469)
Yeah.

Tara (01:18:51.193)
Yeah, she’s like, yes.

AJ (01:18:52.95)
She’s like, yes, yes, I do. And it says, Eve stop turned interested. Seriously? It’s my job. We’re currently at 93 % occupancy, blah, blah, blah. She like really rattles off a bunch of stuff. And then Eve goes, huh, who lives in the unit across the hall from this one? Ms. Yuri and Mr. Simpson and Ms. Yuri’s mother, Mrs. Yuri, a widow and Georgie, they’re Yorkie. They’re currently in Aruba, but they’re expected back late afternoon tomorrow.

Tara (01:19:22.905)
Slash.

AJ (01:19:23.726)
And then Eve goes, Unit 3100. The first glimmer of a smile dawned on Rhoda’s eyes. Miss Carlin, Mr. Howard, newlyweds, they were married last fall. Miss Carlin divorced Mr. Olson shortly after I began to work here four years ago. He was granted custody of their Persian cat, Yasmin. Unit 3100 hosted a dinner party last night, catered. How many guests? Rhoda closed her eyes a moment.

nodded to herself. Dinner for 20 cocktails at 730 catered by Jackos arrival at six floors delivery. That’s urban gardens for 30 that’s approximate. And Eve says Roarke knows how to pick them. And Roarke comes in at that exact moment because his timing is impeccable. And he says I do. Yeah. But yeah, the whole time she was 100 % a rock star and a really impressed

Tara (01:20:09.069)
He is real good at timing.

great.

AJ (01:20:18.434)
Baxter as well.

Tara (01:20:19.363)
Baxter. Yeah, I don’t I don’t think Baxter has a shot with her, but that’s fine

AJ (01:20:23.925)
No, he does not.

Maybe, I don’t know. I think he was more interested in the hot gallery manager or something like, yeah.

Tara (01:20:26.831)
Uh-huh.

The gallery girl, yeah. So let’s see. There evidence suggests that the break-in occurred before Banks’ death. Peabody finds a memo book hidden in the toilet tank. laundering, laundering ledger, numbers only, no names. So instincts right there, Eve. Baxter and Shuhart investigate the Banks gallery, which has been broken in two. Electronics are missing. The manager, Mazie,

AJ (01:20:56.686)
Right.

Tara (01:21:05.11)
reports banks sometimes removed art without recording it and later returned or sold it for cash. Eve identifies a missing drawing from Banks’ living room. This guy really fucking sucked. Security review with Roarke’s and Bingley blip shows someone exited the elevator on Banks’ floor, but the feed omits the person. No exatives recorded from that floor. Eve and Roarke determine the intruder

AJ (01:21:11.181)
Mmm.

AJ (01:21:17.326)
He really did.

Tara (01:21:34.605)
likely exited via the terrace. The empty apartment across the hall shows a compromised lock, an empty frame, and terrace doors open slightly. They infer the intruder repelled between terraces and apartments, carrying the rolled up sketch.

AJ (01:21:52.086)
Yeah? Mm-hmm.

Tara (01:21:52.345)
A lot of excitement in that building today. Chapter 12. At Central, Eve compiles a list of artwork banks to comb, though it’s incomplete. Mavis visits with family. Bella gives Eve a unicorn hair clip and a finger painting, identifying Dallas, Roark, Somerset, Galahad, and their house. Mavis has a song nominated and will perform at the Academy Awards.

AJ (01:22:19.521)
All right. Okay.

Tara (01:22:21.155)
That scene was fun, also, because I love when Evax really swears in front of fella.

AJ (01:22:25.8)
Yeah.

Tara (01:22:27.649)
Like I listen, listen, I get it. I get it. And my favorite, though, is that Mavis is pretty chill when Eve does that because she knows what she’s doing, bringing her child around Eve. You know, it’s going to happen, girl. You know what’s happening. Eve takes the painting home and speaks with Somerset, who comments that children’s art is typically displayed on the fridge.

AJ (01:22:41.195)
Right. Yeah.

Tara (01:22:56.353)
or her office fridge, and the two discuss his past, including stopping Patrick Roarke. He states her view of law, justice, and the circumstances of that event.

AJ (01:23:07.758)
Yeah, because we heard about that in the last book we read. So this is just their discussion about it.

Tara (01:23:12.729)
in the last book and he.

Before we read this, a couple of days ago you texted me that you need Mavis to stop saying iced. Was that while you were reading this book? Was it something in that scene?

AJ (01:23:29.836)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (01:23:35.715)
That was annoying. What?

AJ (01:23:35.822)
There’s an earthquake happening right now.

There’s an earthquake happening right now.

Tara (01:23:41.869)
my God, that’s so scary. you OK?

AJ (01:23:45.905)
that’s fine.

it’s still happening.

Tara (01:23:51.181)
I can see you shaking.

AJ (01:23:55.745)
That’s a pretty good one.

Tara (01:23:57.845)
my God, that’s terrifying. Like I’m terrified it’s not doing anything to me.

AJ (01:24:03.662)
That was pretty good one. I’ll let you know. I have a, I have an earthquake watch app. So it tells me like when the earthquakes are going to happen and what the intensity is and where it was centered and all that. So I can tell you that in a few minutes. It’ll take it a few minutes to update.

Tara (01:24:26.191)
Sorry, that’s terrifying. I’m not sure how you do that.

AJ (01:24:30.125)
I’m a Californian. That’s why. That’s why. Oh, oh, it’s an earthquake. There’s an earthquake. Yeah, it’s an earthquake. I’m just sitting here like, ooh, that’s a good one.

Tara (01:24:30.447)
Clearly, as other Californian.

Tara (01:24:43.497)
I know.

AJ (01:24:48.43)
what time is it? Five 57. so we haven’t, we haven’t gotten there yet. There was a 3.0, about 12 miles from here. But the one that just happened, we don’t know yet. It hasn’t updated. I’ll let you know.

Tara (01:25:03.485)
Tara (01:25:11.375)
That’s…

AJ (01:25:13.718)
So.

You’re asking why I said I’m gonna need her to stop saying iced? Because of ice. Everything is going on with ice right now and then it’s like triggering.

Tara (01:25:19.119)
Yeah. Yeah.

okay. Yes, that’s understandable. I just was like, something… Because I read that scene a couple times, or I made Susan read it to me. I’m like, she doesn’t even say ice in that scene. She says it like once.

AJ (01:25:33.216)
You’re like, why did she say that? No, it’s just because I was triggered.

AJ (01:25:40.558)
I know, I was tricking.

Tara (01:25:42.369)
That’s fair. Okay. Now that I’m back on the same page as you, I was having Susan read to me so I could avoid the terrors of this world.

AJ (01:25:46.413)
Okay.

AJ (01:25:52.908)
By the way, should t- I don’t know, I should tell you that I sent Susan a message.

Tara (01:25:58.361)
Yeah.

AJ (01:26:00.344)
She hasn’t answered me back yet, but I felt compelled to send Susan a message. sent it out on Friday. And I basically said, hi Susan, Tara and I were just talking about you the other day when we recorded our show. And besides us yet again, complimenting your narration. We are hoping all is well with you and your family and friends there in Minnesota.

Please know that we and all of our listeners have you in our thoughts. Thank you so much for all that you do. Looking forward to the release of Stolen Death.

AJ (01:26:37.26)
Yeah, cause I worry about Susan in Minnesota.

Tara (01:26:41.465)
Yeah.

AJ (01:26:42.456)
Because Minnesota is like, this fucking, this fucking president, I honestly don’t even know, the amount of shit, don’t, what is going on, Tara?

Tara (01:26:56.751)
What is going on? I don’t know. Sorry.

AJ (01:27:00.278)
You were sending people, know, they’re like daily you’re seeing videos from from Minnesota of like them. There was a video just today of them pulling some guy. looked like he was in his 80s out of his house. He’s got nothing but shorts on and some slippers and they put a bank, a blanket around him. And they’re like taking them like, are you fucking kidding me?

Tara (01:27:23.118)
Yeah.

Tara (01:27:26.797)
Yeah, ice.

AJ (01:27:30.914)
Like what could this guy, this this guy is not a dangerous criminal. What do you, you know, seriously. And of course online, everybody’s all like, well, you don’t know what he did. Well, maybe he, maybe he’s a child molester. Maybe he’s blah, blah. Okay. But don’t, you know, people that just make the assumption of they’re not going to do this unless there’s a good cause to do it. When in reality there, there wasn’t a good cause to do it because I’m hearing reports that they released him like an hour later.

Tara (01:27:35.607)
No.

AJ (01:27:58.154)
once they realized he was a citizen and he had no crimes on his record.

And like, they’re doing this for the optics of it. Cruelty is the point. But not just that, he’s like up there going like, well, I just think that I should take Greenland.

Tara (01:28:20.877)
Right? Like you haven’t finished your Venezuela yet.

AJ (01:28:21.003)
and

Right? You haven’t finished your Venezuela yet. And apparently, the somebody, one of the officials from Norway and another official from one of the countries up there, one of the other countries up there, sent him a text message, basically saying like, you know, I really, we really feel like the tariffs you’re proposing are too much and we should

get together and like peacefully come to some kind of a decision and blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, something about that. And apparently he answered them back something to the effect of, yeah, well, you guys didn’t give me the Nobel prize. So I’m not inclined to be very nice to you, you know, so I can do what I fucking want. Cause you didn’t give me the Nobel prize.

Tara (01:29:09.143)
Yeah. What the fu-

Tara (01:29:15.727)
Ugh.

AJ (01:29:16.194)
Like, he’s, it’s just, honestly, I, I don’t know. What is, what are the history books gonna say about this time period? It is wild. Right? We don’t even know if books are gonna be allowed in the future. You’re right.

Tara (01:29:29.155)
Well, if books are allowed in the future, you know.

AJ (01:29:37.568)
So yeah, don’t know, Okay, hang on. I got a shake message here.

Tara (01:29:44.457)
shake messaged. This is wild.

AJ (01:29:46.786)
Well, yeah, that’s my earthquake message. I’ve got to check it.

where’s my messages?

AJ (01:29:59.446)
I just had an earthquake message. people, you, I don’t know whether this app send it to me or another app send it to me. that’s a five points. That was a 5.6 Tara that you just witnessed.

Tara (01:30:12.326)
my God.

Tara (01:30:17.356)
We like watching AJ just sit calmly through an earthquake.

AJ (01:30:22.126)
Well, it was like 76 miles away.

AJ (01:30:28.65)
So, but we are periodically getting aftershocks. I’m just not telling you about those.

Tara (01:30:36.207)
It’s…

Tara (01:30:39.907)
Yeah, mean, I guess you’re like, yeah, yeah, fine, whatever. Things are shaking, but let me tell you about this guy.

AJ (01:30:41.87)
Because I’m too pissed at Trump, I guess.

AJ (01:30:50.222)
Now there’s earthquakes.

Anyway.

AJ (01:31:01.783)
Ha ha ha ha.

Tara (01:31:03.487)
so sorry. I’m going to read this this excerpt from the book that you put in here. I’m so sorry about your editing of this.

AJ (01:31:08.812)
Okay.

I know, this is gonna be a wild one to edit.

Well, you know, I mean, this is good. could always all the outtakes I could put into a episode or something. don’t know.

Tara (01:31:17.75)
Ahem.

Tara (01:31:22.787)
Right? The outtakes could be fun. Okay, so this is from the book.

AJ (01:31:26.572)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (01:31:31.267)
The unrestricted love of a child is a precious gift. I get that. I thought you would tell him, was sure of it. I was wrong. She didn’t have to ask what he meant. I didn’t have proof, she began, and he said nothing. And what good would it have done for him if I told Roarke I suspected the man he thinks of as his father killed Patrick Roarke? I thought you would tell him, Somerset said again, due to beyond our personal friction.

your duty to the law and your loyalty to Roarke. Those are exactly the reasons I didn’t tell him. I don’t understand you. Guess not. She started to continue up, stopped. Okay, here it is. Then it’s done. I believe absolutely in the law, the need for it, the rules of it, the need and rules of it, the lead to justice. I’d be nothing without believing that. But that was a different time and place and circumstances. You had no one in authority you could trust to serve and protect.

to stand for you when a fucking monster threatened to rape, torture, and kill two children. He’d have followed through on that threat because there was no one to stop him. You did. Rorke’s here because you stopped Patrick Rorke, because you protected the child he was at that time, in that place, in those circumstances. That’s enough for me. There were no cops such as you in that time and place. Times change. She continued up. Put it away.

It’s a great scene, the two of them.

AJ (01:32:58.272)
I, it’s a great scene. goes to the theme of trust. I also think that, because we’ve talked about this too, about reading and writing police procedurals in a time where not a lot of people have a lot of respect for police.

And we’ve talked before about, but we would kind of like, we kind of like to see stories of police that are good, good people that are doing good work, you know, for good reasons. And, and it’s also important too, to think about, you know, times change, just like you’ve said, there’s sometimes when you think like, right now there’s no, no cops such as you in this time and place.

Tara (01:33:34.53)
Yeah.

AJ (01:33:53.428)
And Eve says times change and you know, I feel like that’s a good message for like today. So even though she wrote this many years ago, but.

Tara (01:34:08.771)
Nope. a good scene.

AJ (01:34:14.85)
Yeah.

Tara (01:34:16.815)
And then Eve reviews apartment security footage and reduces the pool of unknowns by excluding children, elderly, and women. Roarke explains how he would have entered Banks’ apartment from the outside using electronic gloves and booties between glass after midnight, leaving minimal trace and avoiding alerting police immediately. Well, yes, of course, Roarke, you would not alert the police. You’re Roarke. You’re Roarke.

AJ (01:34:41.846)
Yeah, you would avoid that. That does make sense.

Tara (01:34:47.023)
Continuing into the next day, asks Baxter, words are hard, Eve asks Baxter to bring Maisie back to Banks’ apartment. The stolen drawing is confirmed significant and remembered as a black and white figure study. Chapter 13. Yeah, like there’s something, again, the site is probably a part that’s gonna be like in the reviews. How did she get here? Whatever, like the art.

AJ (01:35:02.998)
Right. So no, Eve has to figure out like how this fits in.

AJ (01:35:14.765)
Yeah.

Tara (01:35:17.039)
And also literally the next thing that happens is another fucking explosion with the artist

AJ (01:35:18.616)
Yeah.

AJ (01:35:25.959)
Yeah.

Tara (01:35:28.079)
Chapter 13. Harvow identifies Banks as sexual partner the night he died as Dolores Larga Markin, married to Hugo Markin. Mazie narrows the possible drawings to three possible artists. and Peabody go to the Markins. Nadine’s schedule moves up. Peabody and McNabb must leave immediately for California for the Oscars. Eve confirms McNabb is cleared to take off Friday with return Tuesday.

Roarke arranges wardrobe through Leonardo for even Peabody.

AJ (01:35:59.982)
Before that, they have a whole discussion and Eve’s like, Eve’s feeling like shit about herself because she’s telling Roarke, like, I want her to do this. I want her to go to the Oscars. But if something else happens, it’s going to be impossible. I’m going to need her here. And Roarke is telling her, like, don’t worry about it. I can be your Peabody. You know, let her go. I’ll be your Peabody. You know, it’s only for a couple of days. You know.

Tara (01:36:22.34)
Yeah.

AJ (01:36:28.91)
It’ll be fine. And yeah, then they, then he contacts Leonardo to make outfits for them. So I just thought that was interesting. You know, Eve really like struggling kind of with that decision to let Peabody go because she really wanted her on this case. yeah.

Tara (01:36:50.895)
Yeah, it was a big case. And I also think and it’s not it’s not in the outline, which is fine. You know, Eve’s decision to keep that from Peabody for for a bit. And also Peabody and McNabb’s decisions to not to recognize that it’s just not a thing that they can do, you know. And

AJ (01:37:04.535)
Right.

AJ (01:37:13.92)
Right.

Tara (01:37:17.429)
Then when Peabody is given that permission, her also acknowledging that the job comes first, the job comes first. So it’s a nice little reminder. But yeah, but the best part is the way you struggles with it because there’s a part of her that’s recognizing that she can do this without Peabody and that isn’t to diminish

AJ (01:37:39.468)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (01:37:46.135)
what Peabody is to her as a partner. If it were, if it were next, if this case happened next week, it would have been different, you know, she would have been there. So yeah, it’s so it’s not like, I think the other thing about that is it’s kind of like an example of just realizing that not, not just Eve can do the thing or not just, you know, there’s going to be other murders, there’s going to be other

AJ (01:37:48.674)
Right.

AJ (01:37:55.394)
Right.

AJ (01:38:14.083)
Yeah.

Tara (01:38:14.891)
other cops who have to solve murders. And so if it’s not this, it’s not, it’s not the end of the world. Peabody isn’t a bad cop for taking an opportunity. And Eve, yeah. No. No. No.

AJ (01:38:17.932)
Yeah.

AJ (01:38:26.562)
Yeah, I don’t think that that was the point though. it wasn’t, I don’t think I came away with Eve feeling like she’s a bad cop. I think it’s mostly that Eve was thinking she’s a bad, she would be a bad person if she told Peabody she couldn’t go. That was her struggle. Like I might have to tell her she can’t do it. And it was kind of like, yeah.

Tara (01:38:43.01)
Yeah, well, no, I’m not.

Yeah, well, I think that that’s, yeah, I was mostly talking about Peabody there, but yeah, like I think that that’s kind of the beauty of Eve, is Eve recognizing that this is all, yes, the job is very important, but this is also, like you said, she doesn’t want to take that away from Eve. Here’s the thing, she could have, she could have been like, I’m, but she didn’t.

AJ (01:39:04.035)
Yeah.

AJ (01:39:12.301)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (01:39:16.311)
She wouldn’t have been wrong had she been like, you can’t go.

That’s like the proof that Eve, well, among other things, but that Eve is not a heartless bitch.

AJ (01:39:28.352)
Right, and that she’s a good boss because other bosses would say like, no, no, you have to be here. This is your job, you have to be here.

Tara (01:39:31.299)
Yes.

Tara (01:39:34.669)
Right. Yeah. so many other bosses would be like that.

AJ (01:39:40.503)
Yeah.

Tara (01:39:42.319)
So it’s good stuff. So then at the Markins, Hugo Markin admits he saw Banks at the party and states his wife had an intimate conversation with Banks the night he was killed. Dolores Markin states the marriage is a legal contract. Divorce is opposed by her parents. She says Hugo is unlikely to have killed Banks. She was in Paris over the weekend with her mother and sister on a work trip.

AJ (01:39:46.723)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (01:40:12.856)
Yeah, Hugo’s kind of a dick.

Tara (01:40:14.765)
Yeah, we don’t really like him.

AJ (01:40:16.655)
We don’t like him at all, because he was all like, yeah, well, my wife was at this party, she banged somebody else. Didn’t you, honey? Tell him about that. you know, he was kind of a dick.

Tara (01:40:28.079)
Yeah, too much, honestly.

AJ (01:40:30.358)
Yeah.

Tara (01:40:32.142)
Do you want to do chapter 14?

AJ (01:40:36.558)
I could do it. Chapter 14, at the gallery, Mazie identifies the missing figure study as an Angelo Ricci sketch. Ricci? Ricci? What are we saying? Ricci?

Tara (01:40:41.752)
Ha ha ha.

Tara (01:40:51.193)
Richie? That’s how Susan said it.

AJ (01:40:55.168)
Okay. So Angelo Ricci. Maybe he’s a relation to Lionel. Or maybe not. don’t know. Ricci originally gave it to Banks after his first sale. They fell out about two years ago and Ricci removed his work from the gallery. Ricci has returned from Italy and is scheduled for a salon opening that night. That’s the name of the art gallery, the salon.

Tara (01:41:01.985)
Ooh.

Tara (01:41:24.847)
this a lot. Yeah.

AJ (01:41:25.76)
This is his first major US show. Eve is notified of another bombing. Wayne Denby, one of the salon owners, detonates a suicide fest while Richie is loading in work, killing himself, Richie, and several workers. Eve orders uniforms and detectives to Denby’s residence for hostages and goes to the salon.

Roarke arrives at the salon, checks electronics and notes he owns one of Richie’s paintings, hung in a guest room used by Peabody McNabb. So good for him, he’s gonna have a very expensive painting on. He knows how to pick them.

Tara (01:42:07.395)
Just you know, look, Roarke has another expensive painting.

AJ (01:42:10.637)
Officers report Denby’s pregnant wife was beaten and their five-year-old son was sedated and dehydrated, but largely unharmed. Home invasion occurred at the previous morning around four o’clock to 4.30 a.m. Co-owner Eileen Asetti reports Denby arrived earlier than expected, told coworkers to stay back.

then detonated. Asetti was injured when she approached him. Security was remotely compromised. The fire suppression system had been off since about 5 a.m. Salazar confirms the Denbigh bomb matches the quantum bomb.

Chapter 15, Feeney reports Dembe security was compromised remotely in a layered fashion as with the Rogans. Even Peabody interpret the perpetrator’s pattern as forcing fathers into the bomber role. Even Peabody interview Richie’s neighbor, a sculptor, and inspect Richie’s trashed studio, mostly work stolen or destroyed. Another artist, Lolly?

in the apartment below reports seeing Richie leave around 1130. Then hearing men arrive later she observes she observed a black panel van and two men wearing sun shades hats and gloves. She hears heavy noise and and later sees men room. She hears heavy noise and later sees the men remove some of Richie’s paintings.

Tara (01:43:27.983)
Holly.

AJ (01:43:52.554)
Eve concludes the perpetrator stole the paintings first and destroyed the remaining work after Denby’s detonation to increase the value.

Even Roark review the art, oh, this is chapter 16, even Roark review the art value motive. Richie’s painting purchased for 50,000 euros would immediately sell for 250, possibly 500,000 through illicit channels after a short delay and far more over the years. Eve identi- I can’t, I can’t read right now. Eve identifies a possible suspect, William O’Donnell.

Tara (01:44:25.72)
you

AJ (01:44:30.71)
mechanical engineer at Econolift with family ties to the military and an art broker’s sister in Florence. He was evasive during the interview. Roarke tells Eve that he used to know O’Donnell and that he would never do something like this and they have an argument over it. So.

Tara (01:44:48.483)
There’s our argument.

AJ (01:44:49.868)
This is a snippet of the argument. I need him in the box. Roarke sighed. Give me his contact information to speed it up. Let me speak with him so he can rabbit before bloody hell. She saw a flash of hot temper before he turned, paced away and arose in her own rose to meet it. 18 dead. Your old pal’s a suspect. I’ll have him in the box. You know, sometimes the fucking cop is a keen pain in the ass. In the arse.

Tara (01:45:20.199)
Yes.

AJ (01:45:21.014)
Yeah, I’m always a fucking cop. The flash of heat had cooled, she noted, and gone brutally cold when he turned back to her. And that I know very bloody well. Do you think a man I haven’t seen in a fucking decade matters more to me than the 18 blown to bits? Is that what you think? How do you live with a man such as me? I think old ties can squeeze, I think old ties can squeeze tight.

Tara (01:45:40.495)
Cough

AJ (01:45:51.574)
So tight I’d betray you? Don’t put that on me. The insult boiled under her skin. I didn’t say anything about betraying, but that’s what it would be. If you don’t trust me to stand with you for those 18, then what the bloody hell are we doing? Back on me, she said bitterly. And if you put him in a box, a man with a past and false papers, what will happen to him? If he’s innocent of the rest, as I know he is, what will happen?

Deportation at best, prison at worst, because you don’t trust me to hold up my end.

So later Roarke does contact the guy and Eve looks the guy up and Eve’s even Eve’s like, yeah, this guy probably didn’t do this. So then Roarke says to her, say you understand, Eve, this is Eve. You say you understand the job comes first, then you slap at me when it does.

Tara (01:46:39.001)
Thanks.

AJ (01:46:54.196)
And you asked me to work with you when it suits, but yank back when my way of doing the job veers from yours. Even, he said before she could speak, if both ways put those who’ve died first and foremost. Pushing at Liam would have eaten your time and energies as it already has more than it needed to. Chasing him down if he was part of this would have eaten more.

True enough, but he’s not, and you’re too good a cop to have looked into his past and thought otherwise. We both know there are ways of doing the job other than pulling a man out of his house and grilling him in the box. And both of us, skirt our particular lines when we have to or when the other needs it. It’s easier for you. He angled his head. Do you think so? She let out a breath.

I like to think so. I don’t like thinking how many times you’ve compromised or moved your line. It makes the scales too uneven. They’re level enough from where I stand. What I can’t tolerate is thinking your trust in me has limits. It doesn’t, fuck. She had to pull, she had to put her head throbbing again in her hands. It wasn’t not trusting you. It was not trusting some guy you’ve acknowledged was a thief.

A guy who checked off several boxes just because you have some fond memories. He drank more wine. If I jiggle my line a bit, we can call that fair enough. But I’d never jeopardize your investigation over fond memories.

So in a nutshell, that was what their whole argument was about. Trust.

Tara (01:48:39.993)
Trust, there it is.

AJ (01:48:41.408)
And not that Eve doesn’t trust him, she just doesn’t trust the other guy, but…

Now she trusts him. Yeah.

Tara (01:48:47.811)
work. Yeah, and she and work are both people that just jump into it. There’s no, like, there’s no pause to be like,

AJ (01:48:56.387)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (01:48:59.693)
Well, it’s my fucking job, Roarke. It’s just immediately everyone is defensive. And that’s why we love even Roarke. Lily.

AJ (01:49:02.06)
Yeah.

Right, yeah.

AJ (01:49:12.512)
my goodness gracious Lily. Hi honey. Yeah we’re kind of close. We’re kind of close. Yeah I know. Go on and lay down.

Tara (01:49:14.307)
We’re on chapter 18? 17?

17.

Tara (01:49:34.21)
Lily.

AJ (01:49:34.318)
She went trotting out and came back like, why aren’t you following me? Obviously I wanted you to follow me. Lily, go lay down please. Go lay down please.

Tara (01:49:41.967)
You’re not paying attention.

Tara (01:49:49.709)
Try to hurry up, Lily.

AJ (01:49:51.682)
Okay.

AJ (01:49:55.822)
okay.

Tara (01:49:58.831)
You want to keep going? Chapter 17. You’re like, no, it’s your turn.

AJ (01:50:01.484)
Yeah, you can do that. Nope. I just had an earthquake.

Tara (01:50:09.846)
You did!

Tara (01:50:13.58)
Okay AJ.

Tara (01:50:26.383)
You’re like, you just have freezing temperatures. I have an earthquake.

AJ (01:50:29.282)
Yeah, right.

Tara (01:50:34.223)
It’s a regular Tuesday around here. You’re like, same here. It’s a Monday, but you know what I Day four, Thursday, Chapter 17. Eve has a nightmare involving the bombing aftermath. Richard Troy, Patrick Roark, in a scenario where Roark wears a suicide vest. Roark wakes her and they take a soother and a green. Either would push the button.

AJ (01:50:37.59)
Hahaha.

AJ (01:50:41.294)
It’s a Monday. It’s a Tuesday on a Monday.

Tara (01:51:04.867)
Before I read this, actually no, I’m gonna read this, then we’ll talk about it.

AJ (01:51:06.816)
Yes. Okay. All right.

Tara (01:51:12.419)
Because it threatened to, words are hard. This is from the book. Because it threatened to swamp her again, she drank the last of the soother. I screamed for you. You couldn’t hear me. I beat on the wall and tried to break through. It started to crack, but you were reaching for the button. I had to get in, had to get in. I couldn’t stop you. I couldn’t stand being without you. I can take anything, but I couldn’t take that. You have to swear to me. Agra didn’t happen and it won’t.

AJ (01:51:15.373)
Yep.

Tara (01:51:41.081)
Didn’t we already say we’d find another way? She gripped his hand until her knuckles went white. You have to swear to me, you have to believe I’d find a way to get out and swear to me you’ve never pushed the button. Swear it. And if it had been me, a prisoner, you’d find a way. He leaned over, touched his lips to hers, and there you have it. So I’ll say again what we said before. We’d find a way. I’ll swear to you and you’ll swear to me. There’s trust between us, isn’t there? We’ll find a way.

Yes, she let out a breath. Yes, I swear it. And so do I. Those fucking bastards and any like them. They won’t win and we won’t let them. She rested her head against his shoulder and let it go.

Listen, I love this sentiment, right?

AJ (01:52:28.622)
I’m gonna be yeah.

Tara (01:52:31.095)
I do. mean, and honestly, honestly, like, what what would you do in that scenario? That’s the thing is like, what what would you do in that scenario? And I won. I’m glad this is fictional. You know, because it’s like it’s one of those things where like I love even Roark. And of course, they’re the heroes of this story. So if that were to ever be something in a plot line, like they’re going to they’re going to find the other way they’re talking about.

AJ (01:52:45.388)
Yes.

Tara (01:53:01.027)
But what if they couldn’t? Like what if they couldn’t? know? I’m just, mean, I’m glad that that’s not a thing we’re ever gonna have to see, it’s like they back and forth quite a bit about, we’d find another way. Okay, but like, what is the other way? You don’t have that answer. And luckily, Nora’s not gonna write you into that situation.

AJ (01:53:01.314)
Right?

AJ (01:53:29.902)
So, well they did kind of, let me find that.

Tara (01:53:31.784)
Ahem.

AJ (01:53:42.318)
Where is that actually?

What chapter? Oh, man.

Tara (01:53:47.823)
Chapter 17.

AJ (01:53:50.316)
That far.

AJ (01:53:54.163)
let’s see. 17.

AJ (01:54:05.788)
so.

AJ (01:54:11.374)
so she’s telling them about the…

AJ (01:54:21.678)
because I think…

AJ (01:54:27.138)
They did talk about it.

AJ (01:54:35.886)
Oh, maybe it wasn’t here. Maybe it wasn’t here. There’s someplace else in that. It’s someplace else in the book. I think because she says something to Roarke about how

They would find a way out because they’re… I wish I could remember how she said it. They’re more like…

mean, not that, you know, the men they picked were more like compliant.

Tara (01:55:10.144)
Yeah. Yeah.

AJ (01:55:19.97)
They picked men who they knew would be compliant. But neither one of them are those kinds of people. We would figure out, she told him, we’d figure out some way to defuse the bomb or something like that, but we would find a way out.

Tara (01:55:19.981)
Yeah, well that was the whole point. Yeah.

Tara (01:55:26.372)
Yeah.

AJ (01:55:45.346)
Which she’s not wrong about. mean, they have a history in this series of doing that. Right. Yeah.

Tara (01:55:45.871)
I mean, they would show she’s not wrong. This that’s what the series is about is them literally doing these things. I just I’m like, I’m like, yes, I appreciate that sentiment. I like but I also I’m just trying I’m like, look at it a little bit more logically there. And I’m like, because it’s a series about them, it’s going to end well for them. It might not be a fun process, but it’s going to end well because Nora would never.

AJ (01:56:07.49)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (01:56:11.426)
Right.

AJ (01:56:14.964)
Right. And but she did say something to him about, know, you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t actually do it, you know, and he, you know, if a couple of people that you love more than life were in danger, and he said, wouldn’t I?

Tara (01:56:14.969)
What?

Yeah.

AJ (01:56:33.59)
So.

AJ (01:56:38.954)
Anyway, where are we? Chapter 18?

Tara (01:56:40.119)
Anyway, well, almost. Also, we just have to talk about this last section. It says of this chapter, Eve exercises, then asks Roarke to vary his routine due to concern and the perpetrators, that the perpetrators may target him or his properties. And for the record, Eve exercises after, again, not properly hydrating, but.

AJ (01:56:44.15)
Okay.

AJ (01:57:08.206)
Well…

Tara (01:57:11.087)
She’s very fit, so whatever.

AJ (01:57:15.031)
Right.

Tara (01:57:15.951)
I speak from a place of jealousy. I’m like, but I don’t want to drink water. I want to drink coffee.

AJ (01:57:18.307)
I mean.

AJ (01:57:21.966)
You don’t have to do that.

Yes.

Tara (01:57:31.477)
Eve, chapter 18. Eve predicts the next target profile. Male 35 to 45, married, one child under 12, single family home with access credibility. MacNab finds a mini house link in Banks’ pantry used by droids. Call logs from that device show cloned hangup tags to Banks’ device on the murder night. The call originated from within his building to Denvy’s home.

to Denvy’s home device two hours earlier, to Richie’s apartment just before the salon bombing to confirm vacancy, to Rogan’s home device during the home invasion. There was a hang up when answered. Eve begins resident interviews and Banks building. A lot of really useful things that Jordan Banks did for them as a piece of garbage human. A lot of helpful information.

AJ (01:58:25.822)
Yeah, I mean…

Thanks Jordan.

Tara (01:58:30.063)
Right, sucks to suck, but thanks. That guy sucks.

AJ (01:58:37.144)
Yeah.

Tara (01:58:39.279)
Chapter 19, Clinton wirely provides detailed information on Banks’s lifestyle and his own whereabouts and offers to find information on residents. This guy is a fucking gossip whore. He’s kind of fun, but he’s a gossip whore. We like him. Yeah.

AJ (01:58:54.126)
Yes, he’s really fun, you know, and Eve liked him too. it’s always fun when we have one of those characters that Eve’s like, you know, I kind of like that guy. Like she’s kind of annoyed by it first.

Tara (01:59:08.471)
Right? And she’s always, yeah, but she’s always surprised that she likes this person. She’s like, wait, why did I like this person? I did. And then Lucius Eiler draws suspicion. Generational wealth, extensive military family background, deceased brother Terry, and inconsistent statements. He claims only slight acquaintance with Banks despite mutual visits for art viewing.

AJ (01:59:17.697)
Yeah.

Tara (01:59:39.143)
Also, his name is Lucius, so he’s gonna be a bad guy. Iler’s ability is alibi. Ability? Wow, cannot say. Iler’s alibi. That is not an easy thing to say together.

AJ (01:59:43.48)
Mm-hmm.

AJ (01:59:56.43)
You watched me have an earthquake, Tara.

Tara (01:59:59.929)
Yeah

Yes, AJ.

I don’t have an excuse, I just suck.

AJ (02:00:08.622)
You

Tara (02:00:12.207)
Anyway, Isler’s alibi is a weekend antique road trip paid entirely in cash with no receipts and poor recall. That’s guy, this fucking alibi. He returned the night Banks was killed but claims he was too tired to attend the party hosted by mutual friends.

AJ (02:00:14.529)
hahaha

AJ (02:00:23.574)
Yeah, that’s kind of really. Yeah.

Tara (02:00:35.139)
When Angela Richie is mentioned, Eyler reacts by dismissing the idea of a murder over a figure study while also referencing charcoal without being told the medium. ha, Eve might not be an art person, but she knows that, yes, she’s a smart cookie.

AJ (02:00:53.612)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (02:00:55.471)
This guy is such a fucking idiot. He’s so dumb. Isler describes it, right? He’s dumb. He describes his brother Terry’s death. He was killed in a terrorist attack on a soul base four years earlier. Terry was due to come home the next week and plan to propose. He saved lives and died as a hero.

AJ (02:00:59.618)
Ha ha!

AJ (02:01:03.404)
Yeah, he is pretty dumb. He’s dumb.

Tara (02:01:22.197)
Eve decides not to force a partial confession and instead pursues research on Terry and his girlfriend and continues looking for the partner.

Yeah, that guy is dumb.

AJ (02:01:38.466)
Yeah.

Tara (02:01:41.385)
do we do this next one or you want to the next chapter?

AJ (02:01:43.502)
Do you, let’s see. I’m looking at all the chapters we have left. this is 20, 21, 22, 23. I can do like maybe, I can do maybe like 20, 21 and then you can do the through the end.

Tara (02:01:52.537)
Okay.

Tara (02:01:59.459)
Ha ha ha.

Tara (02:02:04.055)
Sure.

Tara (02:02:08.749)
Yeah. Yeah.

AJ (02:02:08.942)
Does that make sense? Okay. All right. So chapter 20, Terry Eilers commanding officer confirms Terry was rescuing wounded before a second blast killed him. I did feel sorry for Terry because Terry just seemed like a nice guy and he got killed in action. And then people that knew him went completely bonkers. I don’t know.

Tara (02:02:28.802)
Right?

AJ (02:02:37.624)
Terry’s girlfriend, Felicia Mortimer, remained close to Terry’s family afterward, then met someone else a year ago and married the previous summer. Eve places surveillance on Lucius Eiler and continues building interviews to locate the partner. Nadine informs Eve that the Oscars trip is advanced. You already said that earlier. P. Bonnie McNabb must leave immediately.

Eve receives a military roster from the base during Terry’s attack. After eliminating women deceased in active duty, she assesses the partner is likely younger than Lucius. Mira provides a profile Lucius remained fixated on Terry’s hero death, externalizes blame and presents and resents that others moved on. The partner is militarily trained and violent.

Roarke runs background parameters for the military list. Rhoda matches a frequent visitor to Isler. Oliver Norton, altered appearance, identified as Sergeant Oliver Silverman, wounded at the soul attack, later discharged with mental psych issues. Nobody’s surprised. Now working as a freelance security consultant. So he’s like consulting.

Tara (02:04:01.507)
Right?

AJ (02:04:08.746)
on security. Great job for him.

Tara (02:04:10.489)
You know, great.

AJ (02:04:13.614)
Eve plans an arrest approach, assuming explosives and requiring evacuation. Eve and Roarke observe Isler rappel down to the sidewalk and arrest him. Isler is in custody.

So surveillance at Silverman’s home confirms the house is wired and unoccupied. A timed explosive detonates on the third floor before entry. Salazar’s team clears it and deactivates remaining charges. The workshop used to build vests contains Silverman’s piled electronics and his source of the blast. The safe room is empty. Silverman has cleared out.

Property records show Eiler bought the townhouse a year earlier and claimed losses and repair with reported income of $200 a month. Eiler is found with the Richie sketch, $500,000 in cash and codes IDs for three accounts. Even Baxter interview Eiler with his attorney Singa. The defense claims Eiler wasn’t near Quantum, Quantum or the salon. He didn’t.

Leave home on the night banks died. He climbs as a hobby. He was climbing. He climbed out the window and he climbs as a hobby. What is wrong with that? He bought the Richie sketch in a private cash sale carrying cash and account codes is not illegal.

Tara (02:05:41.931)
Yeah.

AJ (02:05:53.55)
Eve identifies Silverman as Isler’s partner and confronts him with the townhouse rental arrangement. Isler reacts strongly to the prospect of off-planet incarceration. Baxter arranges an IRS tip to freeze accounts. Singa invokes an eight-hour delay. and Baxter schedule return to interview at 4 a.m.

Roarke reports tax and financial issues tying Eilur to insider trading and to Markin-related financial misconduct. Eve considers using Eilur’s father but is told he is in France and wants time.

Tara (02:06:35.171)
I just want to say that like

sing it.

I feel bad for Tzinga. I really do. But I always feel bad for the guys who are dealing with the worst fucking criminals though.

AJ (02:06:44.182)
Yeah, I feel bad for him too.

AJ (02:06:49.73)
But you know, dude, you got choices.

AJ (02:06:59.496)
did you see that? Yeah, did you see that?

Tara (02:07:01.007)
Because they never know.

AJ (02:07:09.41)
Reiner’s son, his lawyer, bowed out. Well, his lawyer, by the way, Tara, was the same as Ellen Jackson, same person that defended, Karen Reed.

Tara (02:07:12.557)
No, no.

Tara (02:07:26.431)
yeah.

AJ (02:07:27.47)
And, um, he is like, I’m going to defend Nick Reiner, blah, blah, blah. And then just, uh, last, I think it was last week, first part of last week, there was a court, uh, appearance. And he said, you know, I’ve talked to my client and we’ve decided to, you know, bow out and let the, uh, public defender handle it. And people were speculating was that because.

Tara (02:07:48.299)
AJ (02:07:52.844)
the other two children aren’t gonna allow him to use any of the family money to defend himself or is it just because they’re gonna go for a, know, insanity plea and it’s not something that he needs to be involved in or I don’t know.

Tara (02:08:13.711)
That’s wild.

AJ (02:08:17.228)
It is wild. Do want me to do chapter 22 and then you can pick it up on like day five. Okay. So chapter 22 Rorke locates the panel van and the rented garage space. Feeny recovers Isler Banks’ exchange. Banks threatened exposure demanded $250,000 because he’s a dumb ass. Banks threatened exposure demanded $250,000.

Tara (02:08:22.701)
Sure. Yeah. Look at you.

Tara (02:08:41.657)
Come ass.

AJ (02:08:46.848)
Eyler offered $100,000 and they arranged to meet at 3 a.m. at the reservoir. Dude. Like, does somebody really need to tell you don’t meet somebody to blackmail them at 3 a.m. at the reservoir? Somebody really needs to tell you that?

Tara (02:09:02.159)
You know what sounds like a good idea? Not that. Jesus. Wild.

AJ (02:09:05.662)
Not that. The opposite of that. Yeah. What a dumbass. Roarke finds a target list. Paul Rogan, Wayne Dembe, Tybur Chenowitz, Miller Filbert, Eve alerts Baxter about Filbert and alerts Salazar. I know. Tybur. But come on, know, did you heard some of the names nowadays?

Tara (02:09:24.185)
Sorry, some of these fucking names.

Tara (02:09:29.775)
Typer.

Tara (02:09:34.447)
I know, I know. she’s here with it. She does a great job.

AJ (02:09:35.621)
Okay

Yeah. Yeah. even Roark respond to the Chenoweth’s residents near their own Roark bypasses security. requests backup Roark locates occupants and scans for explosives. Inside Tyler, Tybur Chenoweth’s and wife are tied up and bloodied. Tybur wears a suicide vest. He tells Eve the killer has the detonator

and to get his wife and son out. Eve follows footsteps to the roof garden. Silverman holds six-year-old August with a combat knife to his throat and wears riot gear. Eve attempts negotiation, then shoots as sirens distract Silverman. The shot catches the outer edge of the child and causes Silverman to drop him. Silverman attacks Eve and they fight with multiple injuries.

And later, after they’ve got the guy true heart says to Eve, I checked on the kid, well the whole family, but I wanted to make sure August was doing okay. He got on the link to thank me for taking him to his mom. And he said, I thought you’d like to know a ninja woman saved him. Ninja woman Eve let out a snorting laugh. It hurt her bruised chest a little but it was worth it. Love that part.

Tara (02:10:57.561)
So good.

Tara (02:11:07.285)
I do, love that part too. Ninja woman.

AJ (02:11:09.324)
Yeah.

Ninja Woman.

Tara (02:11:14.716)
Ahem. Okay.

and day five, Friday after midnight. Chapter 23, Roarke defuses the vest, sells our secures it in a safe box. The perpetrators next planned action forced Chenovitz to go to the townhouse Eiler bought where a crew was scheduled for rehab and detonate with five additional charges set for chain reaction, insurance fraud, buy, overinsure, destroy, collect.

Silverman’s motivation includes perceived betrayal by the military. concludes the partnership dynamic. Eyler provided funds and financial planning. Silverman provided tactics and explosives. They exploited the hero narrative for profit. Reginald Eyler contacts Eve. Eve informs him Lucy’s Eyler and Silverman are booked as co-conspirators on 18 murders and related charges. She states both face 18 consecutive life sentences.

and notes cooperation may affect where sentences are served. The interview plan is Eve and Baxter with Lucius Eiler and Eve and Trueheart with Silverman. Anna Whitney observes for Rosalind Pearson. Singha objects to interview timing. Eve notes he invoked the eight hour delay at 8 p.m. and that all Eiler accounts are frozen by the IRS. Eve offers Lucius a single opportunity for on-planet incarceration.

a complete confession with full details. She informs him that the Chenovitz family is safe and she has Silverman in custody. proceeds to Silverman. Silverman waives counsel. He complains the army deemed him unfit post-attack. Eve states he used compensation and pension on drugs and gambling and refused veteran support services. He admits to building the bombs.

AJ (02:12:49.934)
you

AJ (02:13:05.462)
you

Tara (02:13:13.529)
describes target selection and operational details and says Lucius wanted casualties kept low. How dare he? Eve tells him he disgraced Terry Eyler’s values. Mirror flags Silverman is high suicide risk. Eve tells Lucius Silverman, she, Eve tells Lucius that Silverman has implicated him. Lucius claims Rogan and Denby could have gone to police and that harming families was a bluff.

AJ (02:13:21.132)
Hahaha

Tara (02:13:42.221)
He distances himself from physical assaults, blames Silverman for Banks’ murder, and portrays himself as restraining Silverman. Whitney places Eve on medical leave until Monday morning.

Lily has a lot to say right now.

AJ (02:13:59.042)
Hahaha

Tara (02:14:01.325)
Ugh.

AJ (02:14:01.932)
Yeah, she really does. She’s like, I’m over it.

Tara (02:14:06.735)
So then Eve has the day of recovery. Right. And then on Sunday we get an epilogue.

AJ (02:14:10.094)
Thank you.

AJ (02:14:16.524)
Which is really fun. It’s a fun little upload.

Tara (02:14:17.963)
It’s a really fun epilogue. love it. So even even Roark watched the Oscars coverage. Peabody appears on the red carpet. McNabb attends with her. Mavis introduces them on camera, gives a shout out to Dallas and Roark and performs. Nadine wins best adapted screenplay for the ICO agenda. And thanks Dallas, stating she is sharing the award. Captain Nadine’s. And from the book.

And the Oscar goes to Nadine first, the ICOV agenda. Holy shit, Jesus, she won, she won? This is a moment. Eve watched, dumbstruck, as Jake planted a big one on Nadine, as Mavis bounced and squealed, as Peabody actually jumped up to dance. And Nadine, elegant and sleek, hands shaking some, walked to the stage, climbed the stairs, hugged two people she probably didn’t know, clutched the gold statue.

she managed, God, I’m just, I wrote something in case and I left it in my purse. So here goes. She’s crying a little, Eve noted. Nadine was thanking the Academy, the cast, the crew, the director, her friends and talking really fast. She only has so much time. Now we gave you a shout out Dallas and Roarke on the red carpet. Here’s another. You’re the reason, both of you. But Dallas, as much as you’re going to hate this being Dallas,

This is as much yours as mine. I’m putting it in my place, but it’s yours too. I’m sharing this amazing award with the smartest, bravest, most dedicated cop and frustrating person I know. Thanks. Holy crap. Thanks. And that, Roarke said, is my very favorite acceptance speech in the history of them. Jesus, Eve scrubbed at her face. Between her and Mavis, they’ve got me dripping. I’m glad for her. I really am. I have to be, but Christ on a tricycle, Roarke, this is going to be a peen in my ass.

as if it wasn’t enough of one before. He laughed, hugged her in. Just think what a pain in your ass it would be if it wins Best Picture. Don’t say that. Don’t think that. Don’t put that out there. To Nadine, he said. She huffed but clinked. OK, but that’s it. One’s enough. No more. Well, we’ll wait and see, won’t we? The ICOV agenda took five Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay.

Tara (02:16:41.379)
Best director, best cinematography, best actress and the big guns, best picture. A little shell shocked, Eve dragged herself into bed. It’ll never end now, never end. On a laugh, Roarke snuggled her in, kissed the back of her neck. There, there. Bite me, she muttered.

AJ (02:16:59.244)
Hahaha

Tara (02:17:01.071)
it’s so good. And also, I just love Eve. Eve is so happy for her friends, even though she does not get it. She’s like, I don’t fucking understand what this is about, but OK, sure.

AJ (02:17:08.63)
Yeah. Yeah.

AJ (02:17:15.246)
Well, and also she’s like, she’s told him like, it’s already too many people, you know, talking about the damn ICOV book and you know, if it wins, it’s going to be even more and like, yeah, I can, you know, I get it. She’s a little overly dramatic about it, but I get it.

Tara (02:17:34.863)
That’s our Eve.

AJ (02:17:36.288)
Yeah. So, okay. So, commendations, do you have commendations or a commendation?

Tara (02:17:47.631)
I maybe…

Tara (02:17:53.593)
Maybe Rhoda. I feel like she was pretty badass. Aw, damn, sorry.

AJ (02:17:55.906)
That’s what I was going to say too. No, I have to think of it that no, no, no, I’ll, I’ll think of another one. But Rhoda, yes, she was very bad ass in this one.

Tara (02:18:02.287)
Yeah, I Rona was great Yeah, big fan You never know she could potentially make an appearance again in the future, but yeah a big fan Awesome yeah, I thought she was awesome

AJ (02:18:20.835)
Yeah.

I am going to give a commendation to, Melody, Paul, Paul’s daughter, cause she actually was a rock star too in this one.

Tara (02:18:32.348)
yes.

Tara (02:18:37.303)
Yes, she was.

is great.

AJ (02:18:41.932)
Yeah, she’s really great. okay, any other thoughts?

Tara (02:18:49.135)
Well, I think I think we talked very briefly about this this was not either of our favorite book But I didn’t hate this book a lot of lovely moments and So I’ll take that but not my favorite book I think

AJ (02:18:58.018)
Mm-hmm.

Tara (02:19:15.991)
I think that I was like extra upset about the way these two handled themselves. Like these bad guys, like they just, like no one who died except for Banks sucked. A lot of good people died. you know, and also the section where like there’s all the destroyed artwork and like,

AJ (02:19:27.651)
Yeah.

AJ (02:19:35.213)
Yeah.

Tara (02:19:45.999)
you know, Peabody says, you know, oh, that’s a crime. And and, you know, Eva saying things like, yeah, you know, whatever, but also murder. But like, there is something about destroying the work that goes into the art. And it is it is a crime. Like you were talking on, you know, you’re talking before about the guy restoring paintings and like what?

AJ (02:20:00.834)
Yeah.

AJ (02:20:10.68)
Yeah.

AJ (02:20:14.622)
It’s, you know, it’s funny because once you say that, so in our briefing room, we were talking about, was, I’ve been watching this YouTube channel, Bumgartner Restoration, and they restore paintings. And there was one that I watched where literally Tara, this guy got a call from a museum. And the museum’s like, hey, so we’ve got this painting by this fairly, you know,

with this fairly well-known Dutch painter or something like that. But it’s in really bad shape. It’s been ripped and it’s been, you and it just doesn’t fit in with our museum anymore. just because of the fact that this guy wasn’t hugely famous and the painting’s in such bad shape, we can’t really sell it for much.

Do you want it? And he was saying in this video, you know, I have so many paintings here. Like I can’t take in every single painting that, you know, somebody wants to give me because I guess people give them paintings all the time and like, I don’t even want it, but you can have it if you want to restore it. And he’s got like a warehouse full of those. But he said they told him, well, okay, I mean, if you don’t want it, I guess we just throw it in the trash.

And he was like, okay, if you’re just going to throw the trash and give it to me, because he’s like, I just cannot see somebody’s work go into the trash. You know? And I guess it was during a time where they were kind of slow. They didn’t have any other projects going on. So he, and you know, I mean, he’s making videos. So he, guess he figured like, I got to make a video about something.

Tara (02:21:43.384)
Right!

Tara (02:21:48.504)
No.

AJ (02:22:07.458)
So he went into his warehouse and he saw that painting and he’s like, I’m gonna restore this painting that they were gonna throw in the trash. And he restored it and it was like beautiful. It’s beautiful. It came out gorgeous. You know, and…

Tara (02:22:19.585)
that’s so cool.

AJ (02:22:25.746)
he was saying either somebody’s gonna buy it from me or I’ll just keep it but at least now you know it’s not gonna go in the trash and you know maybe somebody will find it and really Lily is like going she’s like having feelings but yeah but yeah he’s like he was saying like just like you were saying I I just cannot see somebody’s art go in the trash

Tara (02:22:39.769)
She’s like, I know you’re almost, she has feelings.

AJ (02:22:54.984)
And it does seem wrong. You know. So this, which is why Eve didn’t trash Bella’s artwork and instead put it on the refrigerator. So there’s a kind of a parallel there in some way.

Tara (02:22:55.087)
I’m so wrong.

Tara (02:23:08.505)
Right?

Tara (02:23:17.007)
Well, Bella is probably just an art prodigy though. So there’s also that.

AJ (02:23:22.164)
Yeah, obviously. Obviously. So should we go on to podcast business at this point?

Tara (02:23:27.823)
Obviously.

Tara (02:23:35.054)
Yeah.

AJ (02:23:36.366)
Okay.

Tara (02:23:37.401)
do it.

AJ (02:23:40.935)
we’re still having more earthquakes.

I’m just not feeling them. these are, yeah, so these are in the, they, they’ve been in, I don’t know if you know this area. It’s a little east of Palm Springs, Indio, California is a little east of Palm Springs. It’s kind of in between Palm Springs and Joshua tree national park. anyway, so.

Tara (02:23:47.565)
You’re just not feeling them.

Tara (02:24:02.328)
Okay.

Tara (02:24:10.273)
Okay.

AJ (02:24:13.674)
You know, you have one big one and then there’s usually a lot of aftershocks.

So, so yeah. And the one that that we felt or that I felt that one.

AJ (02:24:32.622)
time was 4.9.

Tara (02:24:37.871)
I did I could

AJ (02:24:38.516)
It’s only it see also what what matters is how deep they are. They’re more on the surface, you feel them more. And this was one point nine miles. From the surface. So which is probably why I felt it more.

Tara (02:24:46.957)
Okay.

AJ (02:25:00.096)
and the rest of them were like three miles down.

So that’s why you don’t really, yeah.

Tara (02:25:05.357)
wild.

AJ (02:25:08.832)
Anyhoo, so I picked up my phone because I was going to talk about podcast business.

Tara (02:25:12.911)
podcast business.

AJ (02:25:16.686)
So I believe we have a new patron. Melissa. She just paid for the year at the rookie level, think. Officer level, sorry, that’s the officer level. So thank you, Melissa, we appreciate it.

Tara (02:25:34.52)
Okay.

AJ (02:25:44.312)
We got a couple of…

Comment, so our last episode I posted on our Patreon and Pansy Walker commented on it. I love the chaos of Pepe. I mean, that was, he is really chaos.

Tara (02:26:05.465)
he is chaos, yeah.

AJ (02:26:14.528)
So I got a email from Lisa, who is the one that sent us the list of questions. And then last week she sent us an email also. And I was saying like, maybe she needs to come on the show.

Tara (02:26:27.117)
Yeah.

Tara (02:26:38.629)
yeah, did you ask her?

AJ (02:26:40.146)
I didn’t ask her, yet, but, the message says, thank you heaps. I only recently started listening, but I’m a decades long fan of the series. I’m very much enjoying listening to current and past episodes. I never knew I could enjoy listening to reviews of crappy reviews. What a remarkably fun experience. I really enjoyed the latest book. It was filled with great character interactions with all of our favorites.

Tara (02:26:59.439)
You

AJ (02:27:07.764)
I too am glad the Big House project is completed and I’m looking forward to the housewarming parties that will be coming. As for the characters I’d like to see again, I have to say Kevin and Nixie. I’d love for the family to go on vacation and have a little visit with Roarke and Eve, just to learn how they’re both getting along and how the parents are doing with their family life now. Are any other listeners interested in these two characters? Just curious. I think that’s…

Frequently mentioned that people would like to see Nixie again and Kevin Well, yeah, and she says well, thanks again for your time and efforts creating this podcast and associated content you rock AJ sincerely Lisa So thank you. Thank you, Lisa and just a little while ago. I I rocked in real time

Tara (02:27:40.547)
Yeah, people at Nixie, which they should.

Tara (02:27:52.833)
I agree, you do, Rock.

Tara (02:27:59.343)
As witnessed.

AJ (02:28:05.528)
Tara’s like, please don’t mention earthquakes ever again. Here’s the interesting thing though, Tara. On our website, and I honestly completely forgot I’d done this, there’s a service online called SpeakPipe.

you put little button or whatever on your website and people can use SpeakPipe to send messages like voicemails to you. I don’t even know if anybody’s ever, think a couple of people have used it. But Lisa decided to use it and send us a voicemail as well as her, know.

Tara (02:28:39.128)
Okay.

Tara (02:28:45.955)
Okay.

Tara (02:28:51.023)
AJ (02:28:56.936)
email. So should we listen to her voicemail?

Tara (02:29:00.429)
Yes.

AJ (02:29:04.29)
Let’s turn it let’s turn my all the way up in here Hi AJ hi Tara, my name is Lisa I live in Eugene, Oregon. I’m 60 years old and I’ve been listening to Nora Roberts in death series for as long as they’ve been audio audible so decades and I just wanted to thank you. I just sent you a message telling you how much I appreciate your content and what you’re doing. I only just found you

And anyway, I just had the thought when I read your site that I would be happy to be a guest. I would be happy to talk about this series that I love. And an idea for a future topic is the transportation. I would love a episode dedicated to all of the different kinds of transportation that

work and Eve do and their reactions as well as the people in the cars with both of them and their reactions because honestly some of the best lines are said in the flying apparatuses and in the cars. So that said, that’s my idea. I’d love to chat about it and I hope you guys are having a great day and a great winter. Bye.

Tara (02:30:34.095)
Oh my God, I love that. Lisa, I have been to Eugene, Oregon, actually. I had a friend that got married at Lincoln City Beach and she had a friend who lived in Eugene and he went over there for dinner the day after the wedding. I didn’t see anything but this woman’s house, but it was in Eugene.

AJ (02:30:34.392)
So.

AJ (02:30:44.153)
Have I been a Eugene Hart?

AJ (02:31:01.004)
Well, you saw things when you drove, right? You had to pass by things. She passed by a lot of things that I’m sure were spectacular.

Tara (02:31:03.267)
Yes, I did.

It was, I loved Oregon. thought it still the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen in my entire life was on that beach in Lincoln city. So, yay.

AJ (02:31:11.403)
Oregon’s great.

AJ (02:31:21.656)
I have been to Portland. Yeah. So yeah, we’re gonna have to set that up. So I’ll get in touch with you and we’ll try to maybe set up a time, a day and time to get together and talk about transportation in death.

Tara (02:31:24.685)
I’ve been to the airport in Portland. That’s about it. That’s that’s all I got.

Tara (02:31:35.075)
Yes.

Tara (02:31:47.491)
Love it.

AJ (02:31:49.398)
Yeah, that should be fun. And I cannot do any more because Lily’s driving me completely insane. So I guess, yeah, she’s like, it’s time to end this show. It’s time to end this episode. I get it, honestly. I know I’ve heard you. Yes, it’s time. Yeah. So.

Tara (02:32:00.377)
Lily is done.

Tara (02:32:09.347)
We got you babes,

AJ (02:32:17.44)
Anyway, what was I going to say? So if you need to get in touch with us or tell us your idea for an episode, or if you want to be a guest on the show, you can do that by apparently going on our website and looking for that speak pipe. I don’t, I honestly, I had forgotten that I had even done that. And it’s probably on, I would guess on our contact us page.

Tara (02:32:32.192)
Ahem.

Tara (02:32:37.635)
you

AJ (02:32:48.622)
Yes. Oh, there is. See, look at there. There’s a little button there saying, aren’t I clever? Nobody ever uses it. Lisa used it though. So that’s great. You can do that or you can go, you can send us an email at show at podcast and def.com. You can call the number that’s 205-476-2753.

Tara (02:32:51.118)
Yeah.

Tara (02:32:55.672)
You’re so smart.

AJ (02:33:16.962)
That spells out 2054 RORC. Go on our Facebook page, go on any of our social medias, TikTok or Instagram or Blue Sky or any of those, and get in touch with us in any way you can because we really love to, when you all get in touch with us, tell us your ideas for the show. We love that. And I think that’s it.

Tara (02:33:41.039)
We love that.

AJ (02:33:45.322)
this episode unless you have anything else to say, Tara?

Tara (02:33:48.535)
I don’t, Lily definitely does, but yeah, so.

AJ (02:33:51.586)
Lily had a lot to say, of course not now. bet any amount of money we’re gonna end this episode and I’m gonna go out there and she’s gonna be like snoozing.

AJ (02:34:03.407)
Honestly, that’s how it happens. Anyway, so I guess that’s it for this episode of podcasts and death then. So for podcasts and death, this is AJ.

Tara (02:34:15.385)
This is Tara.

AJ (02:34:17.182)
And we’ll see you next week, Bye.

Tara (02:34:19.183)
Bye guys.