NIC: From Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale, it’s Tanis. I’m Nic Silver. We’re telling the story of Tanis in order, every two weeks, so if you haven’t listened to the first eight episodes, go back and start there. We’ll try not to get too far ahead by the time you get back.
NIC: Every once in a while, I feel like I need to check in with my friend and producing partner, Alex Reagan. Alex always comes up with good questions. She had a couple of really interesting ones this week.
NIC: Alex and I continued our discussion, moving on to the difficult nature of discovering Tanis and why if it, in fact, actually exists, Tanis is so hard to…pin down.
NIC: Last week, we visited Raywood, an abandoned lumber town in Washington that during its brief existence was embroiled in a mysterious, missing children controversy. Plus, Morgan Miller revealed that Tara Reynolds’ brother, Sam, was missing. Taken or influenced, she believes, by a loose organization she and Meerkatnip are calling The Cult of Tanis. Meerkatnip sent me the address of a duplex in Everett, Washington that she believes could be the center of operations for the cult. There’s more on The Cult of Tanis coming up, but first, we’re headed back to 1958 where a career criminal on the run for forgery and violation of The Mann Act was arrested in Laredo, Texas and returned to Los Angeles to serve ten years he had remaining on a suspended sentence.
NIC: After a year spent in unsuccessful appeals, the model inmate was transferred from Los Angeles to the United States Penitentiary at McNeil Island in Washington State in the south Puget Sound.
NIC: While imprisoned on the island, Phil Kaufman, the infamous road manager later responsible for stealing Gram Parson’s corpse in order to fulfill a late-night, drunken pact, told a reporter that this inmate related a story about his transfer from California to Washington- how the ferry was unable to go directly to the island, and instead had to stop for repairs, leaving the guards and their prisoner to take a land journey miles up the coast to another ferry that would cross over from above. It was during the land portion of this trip, the inmate told Kaufman, something happened. He started hearing something he referred to as “the voice.”
The guards responsible for the inmate’s transfer reported something, as well. Upon arriving at the prison, they both complained of experiencing a kind of “general unwellness” along with some short-term memory loss. The inmate was sent back to California, but by all accounts was never the same. In fact, before his release, he requested permission to stay inside the prison- the inmate did not want to leave. Eventually, he was released, and made his way to San Francisco, expounding a philosophy allegedly borrowed form Scientology, the inmate’s religion according to his intake documents, and something else, something known as The Process Church that he studied in prison. The former inmate quickly established himself as a kind of guru in San Francisco.
NIC: It wasn’t long after this that the former inmate would be arrested again. This time, however, it wasn’t for passing a bad check. This time it was for arguably the most infamous and bloody, violent series of murders in California’s history. The inmate’s name was Charles Manson.
NIC: So is there some connection between the McNeil Island Penitentiary and Tanis? Charles Manson was housed there from 1961 to 1966, and after his imprisonment he went back to California, formed the Family, and committed some of the most horrific and infamous murders in American history, effectively, killing the optimism and innocence of the 1960’s. But if McNeil Island was connected to Tanis, wouldn’t there be reports of other incidents related to the prison’s population? Or is it possible that something happened on the way to the island? Meerkatnip dug up the Manson connection, but she wasn’t able to find anything else that felt directly or indirectly related to Tanis and Charles Manson. Except, there was something about the guards- the guards who drove Manson to McNeil Island and complained of feeling somewhat off after the experience were both, separately involved in violent incidents within six months of that prison transfer. One jumped to his death from the balcony of a high rise hotel, the other murdered his entire family on Christmas Eve before finally, turning a shotgun on himself.
NIC: It was interesting, but it didn’t seem all that strange to me- the fact that the missing Raywood children never had kids of their own. That is, until I looked at the national averages. It was definitely out of the ordinary. At one point in my investigation, I’d uncovered seven missing children, but after speaking with MK’s friend, that number had grown to nine, and he intimated that he believed strongly that there were probably additional disappearances that had gone unreported. In addition to a lack of offspring, all nine of the children have reportedly never married, which also struck me as a bit…odd and was also way off the national average. I called the woman MK put me in touch with, Marnie Corrigan. She was the mother of two of the Raywood children who had gone missing.
NIC: I spoke with Meerkatnip again. She thought maybe her friend had promised to send Marnie Corrigan some Home Depot gift cards. There was also something else that came up.
NIC: So, we have a cluster of events taking place or allegedly taking place along one particular line of latitude. I felt like if I could just find a way to find the longitude, we’d be really close to finding…something. So, I called Geoff van Sant to see if there was anything at all he could think of, any way of getting more information about his brother, Carl, and the people who purchased Carl’s remarkable collection of cassette tapes,
NIC: So, it turns out Geoff's call display isn’t exactly standard issue. Carl made a few…modifications. No unlisted numbers could get through, no proxies, no cloaking of any kind at all. What this means is- the party calling in, let’s say the NSA for example, would believe their security measures were in place, that their number wasn’t visible or would read ‘unknown.’ In reality, however, Carl’s special device would display the actual number you were calling from. No matter how many proxies or rerouting circuits you used. MK was impressed.
NIC: Turns out I didn’t need to hire a Navy Seal, after all, at least not yet. Which is good news considering we’re currently trying to find the budget to bring on another intern. The reason I didn’t need security to protect me from TeslaNova at the moment is because TeslaNova was sitting across from me eating perfectly golden, Belgian french fries after dipping them into a frosty metal container that held an ice-cold vanilla milkshake. I’ll back up.
NIC: I stepped out of the Pacific Northwest Stories studio and ran into a tall man in an elegant suit. The man opened the rear driver’s side door of a long, silver Mercedes. When I saw who was sitting in the back of that car I turned on my phone’s voice recorder.
NIC: Cameron Ellis received a call while we were eating. Well, he was eating and I was busy wishing I was eating. He hung up and told me that he had a number and an address for the people who’d been following me. In what he called a gesture of good faith, he wrote an address down on the back of his business card. The address he’d written down looked familiar. It was the duplex in Everett, the possible location MK found for the Cult of Tanis. After finishing the plate of french fries, I called Morgan Miller and the two of us drove to Everett to pay them a visit.
NIC: I should clarify that Gwendolyn was alone. Morgan told me later that members of this group often refer to themselves as plural. She said it was “some creepy ass shit.” Her words, not mine. Gwendolyn was apparently close friends with Sam’s girlfriend, Arcadia. Morgan believes they were working together, Gwendolyn and Arcadia, to try and abduct Sam for some reason. Gwendolyn led us into the living room and told us Sam would be right out. She offered us dandelion tea. I politely declined. Morgan glared and made some caustic remark about Kool-Aid.
NIC: I saw Sam Reynolds through the hall as he was led up into the kitchen from the basement. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved waffle shirt and loose fitting jeans. He looked pretty relaxed, maybe even a bit stoned. He gave me a confused smile and wave before he was quickly ushered into an adjacent room. Once they realized we’d spotted Sam, or after Sam saw the two of us, I’m not sure which, they, or Sam, agreed to a brief meeting.
Morgan and I were eventually allowed to speak with Sam alone. He was quiet, reserved, but seemed otherwise fine. He said that he was staying with Arcadia by choice, he assured us he wasn’t drugged or coerced, that he believed they were close to finding Tara. When I pressed him on what he meant by that, he said he wasn’t able to say at the moment. That’s when Gwendolyn and Arcadia reentered the room. They took him by hand and led him away with Morgan yelling after them, threatening to call the police.
NIC: Morgan was right. I went back, but they didn’t let me see Sam. Standing in the living room were two young men I hadn’t seen before. They were extremely tall and fit. It was clear they were some kind of security. I left Everett worried about Sam Reynolds and concerned that my search for Tanis had entered a new phase- the real life phase. What began with a short story and a yearning for mystery- a conceptual, esoteric, ancient myth to be specific had now moved into the world of hypnosis, body guards, billionaires, and real life threats. I wasn’t certain where to go or what to do next, so I decided, in the interim, I’d continue my search for HaidaGurl.
NIC: Melanie Nedved is eastern European with intense, cool blue eyes that betray a fierce intelligence. She put the kettle on and motioned for me to sit down.
NIC: Next week along with the Grackles, I’ll have updates on Sam Reynolds and the ongoing search for his sister, Tara. It’s Tanis. I’m Nic Silver. We’ll be back again in two weeks. Until then, keep looking.
Tanis is produced by Terry Miles. Produced, mixed, and edited by me, Nic Silver. Executive producers Terry Miles and Paul Bae. As always, listen to The Black Tapes Podcast at theblacktapespodcast.com
NIC: For legal and safety reasons, we've elected to change some names, and leave others out entirely. We don't do this very often, but we're not willing to compromise people's safety for any reason.
Thanks again for listening to Tanis.
NIC: Every once in a while, I feel like I need to check in with my friend and producing partner, Alex Reagan. Alex always comes up with good questions. She had a couple of really interesting ones this week.
- NIC: What’s up?
- ALEX: (laughing) You know what’s up.
- NIC: Right. We just launched season two of The Black Tapes.
- ALEX: Yeah. We certainly did.
- NIC: How did it feel? Digging back in?
- ALEX: Oh, it was- it was good. Interesting. As always.
- NIC: This season is definitely going to be interesting.
- ALEX: Yeah…speaking of interesting, I have a Tanis question.
- NIC: I kind of thought you might.
- ALEX: So, given the darkness surrounding the myth of Tanis-
- NIC: It can feel dark, at times, definitely, yeah.
- ALEX: Right, well, so I’m wondering why somebody would want to find it.
- NIC: Somebody being me?
- ALEX: Maybe.
- NIC: Well, although it is true that the majority of the stories surrounding Tanis are predominately darker, there are a number of potentially positive elements. I mean, Nicolas Flamel’s immortality, Vincent Pardow’s suggestion of some kind of miracle cure, alleged rock music inspiration, plus the fountain of youth mythology is interwoven pretty deeply with Tanis.
- ALEX: Right.
NIC: Alex and I continued our discussion, moving on to the difficult nature of discovering Tanis and why if it, in fact, actually exists, Tanis is so hard to…pin down.
- NIC: Maybe it’s not supposed to be easy.
- ALEX: Hm? What do you mean by that?
- NIC: Well, there are certain warnings…indicators that you have to- that you’re punished somehow if you don’t discover- or go about discovering Tanis…the right way.
- ALEX: Okay. Could you expand on that a little?
- NIC: I can’t, right now. But I will say that there’s a lot more to come regarding these kind of things on the next episodes.
- ALEX: Nic, it sounds like you know a bit more than you’re letting on.
- NIC: Well, I’m not sure how much of that’s true, but I will say that Meerkatnip hasn’t been the only one doing serious detective work.
- ALEX: Oh, I know! You like to deflect credit and compliments, but I can see you behind absolutely everything you’re digging up on Tanis.
- NIC: I don’t deflect. Do I?
- ALEX: Nic.
- NIC: Not all the time.
- ALEX: Well, not a hundred percent of the time, no.
- NIC: Anyway, we have some pretty cool revelations coming up, I think.
- ALEX: So, what? I just have to keep listening?
- NIC: You just have to keep listening.
NIC: Last week, we visited Raywood, an abandoned lumber town in Washington that during its brief existence was embroiled in a mysterious, missing children controversy. Plus, Morgan Miller revealed that Tara Reynolds’ brother, Sam, was missing. Taken or influenced, she believes, by a loose organization she and Meerkatnip are calling The Cult of Tanis. Meerkatnip sent me the address of a duplex in Everett, Washington that she believes could be the center of operations for the cult. There’s more on The Cult of Tanis coming up, but first, we’re headed back to 1958 where a career criminal on the run for forgery and violation of The Mann Act was arrested in Laredo, Texas and returned to Los Angeles to serve ten years he had remaining on a suspended sentence.
NIC: After a year spent in unsuccessful appeals, the model inmate was transferred from Los Angeles to the United States Penitentiary at McNeil Island in Washington State in the south Puget Sound.
NIC: While imprisoned on the island, Phil Kaufman, the infamous road manager later responsible for stealing Gram Parson’s corpse in order to fulfill a late-night, drunken pact, told a reporter that this inmate related a story about his transfer from California to Washington- how the ferry was unable to go directly to the island, and instead had to stop for repairs, leaving the guards and their prisoner to take a land journey miles up the coast to another ferry that would cross over from above. It was during the land portion of this trip, the inmate told Kaufman, something happened. He started hearing something he referred to as “the voice.”
The guards responsible for the inmate’s transfer reported something, as well. Upon arriving at the prison, they both complained of experiencing a kind of “general unwellness” along with some short-term memory loss. The inmate was sent back to California, but by all accounts was never the same. In fact, before his release, he requested permission to stay inside the prison- the inmate did not want to leave. Eventually, he was released, and made his way to San Francisco, expounding a philosophy allegedly borrowed form Scientology, the inmate’s religion according to his intake documents, and something else, something known as The Process Church that he studied in prison. The former inmate quickly established himself as a kind of guru in San Francisco.
NIC: It wasn’t long after this that the former inmate would be arrested again. This time, however, it wasn’t for passing a bad check. This time it was for arguably the most infamous and bloody, violent series of murders in California’s history. The inmate’s name was Charles Manson.
NIC: So is there some connection between the McNeil Island Penitentiary and Tanis? Charles Manson was housed there from 1961 to 1966, and after his imprisonment he went back to California, formed the Family, and committed some of the most horrific and infamous murders in American history, effectively, killing the optimism and innocence of the 1960’s. But if McNeil Island was connected to Tanis, wouldn’t there be reports of other incidents related to the prison’s population? Or is it possible that something happened on the way to the island? Meerkatnip dug up the Manson connection, but she wasn’t able to find anything else that felt directly or indirectly related to Tanis and Charles Manson. Except, there was something about the guards- the guards who drove Manson to McNeil Island and complained of feeling somewhat off after the experience were both, separately involved in violent incidents within six months of that prison transfer. One jumped to his death from the balcony of a high rise hotel, the other murdered his entire family on Christmas Eve before finally, turning a shotgun on himself.
- NIC: Hello?
- MK: Okay, so my friend came up with a few things.
- NIC: Oh, hey, MK. How are you?
- MK: (pause) Are we doing that?
- NIC: What?
- MK: Like, small talk. Are we doing that?
- NIC: Well, I’m not sure greetings are considered small talk.
- MK: No?
- NIC: Not exclusively. I mean, I didn’t ask about the weather.
- MK: It’s raining. Would you like to hear about the families of the missing Raywood children?
- NIC: Yes, I would, thank you.
- MK: I just sent you contact information for one of the mothers of the missing kids, I thought you’d rather hear it from her, you know? For your show.
- NIC: Yeah, I would, thank you. Thanks-
- MK: No problem. (sigh) There’s something else- something she might not know or tell you, though.
- NIC: About the kids who went missing?
- MK: The ones who came back.
- NIC: What about them?
- MK: None of them ever had children of their own.
- NIC: Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it?
- MK: Mm. Not my department.
- NIC: (laughs) Right. Well, thanks for that- for this.
- MK: Mm-hmm.
- NIC: Um…listen, what about Tanis?
- MK: (frustrated sigh) What about it?
- NIC: Well, do you think there might be something to all this stuff? Something strange and mysterious? Something-
- MK: It-it’s too soon to tell.
- NIC: Right…
- MK: Yeah. Okay, I gotta run.
- NIC: Okay, well, there’s-
- (Skype disconnects.)
NIC: It was interesting, but it didn’t seem all that strange to me- the fact that the missing Raywood children never had kids of their own. That is, until I looked at the national averages. It was definitely out of the ordinary. At one point in my investigation, I’d uncovered seven missing children, but after speaking with MK’s friend, that number had grown to nine, and he intimated that he believed strongly that there were probably additional disappearances that had gone unreported. In addition to a lack of offspring, all nine of the children have reportedly never married, which also struck me as a bit…odd and was also way off the national average. I called the woman MK put me in touch with, Marnie Corrigan. She was the mother of two of the Raywood children who had gone missing.
- (phone ringing)
- CORRIGAN: Hello?
- NIC: Hi, Marnie?
- CORRIGAN: Yep.
- NIC: It’s Nic Silver calling.
- CORRIGAN: Yeah, hi. (clears throat)
- NIC: So, I understand you don’t have much time, so I’ll dive right in, if that’s okay.
- CORRIGAN: Yeah, that’s fine.
- NIC: Thanks. Okay, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about your children, Samantha and Jason.
- CORRIGAN: Yes? (clearing throat again)
- NIC: So, when they came back…from…the woods-
- CORRIGAN: They didn’t come back.
- NIC: I’m sorry?
- CORRIGAN: Whatever came back from the woods, it wasn’t my children.
- NIC: Wh-what do you mean?
- CORRIGAN: (sighs heavily) They were different. They looked like my children, but they were- back then we described it like…they were like…Xeroxed copies, like lighter somehow. Faded, not as present, you know?
- NIC: Mm-hmm.
- CORRIGAN: They were just- they were different is the best way to put it. They were just different.
- NIC: Okay, you- just now you used the phrase “we described it like,” um…does this mean you spoke with the other parents?
- CORRIGAN: Yeah. It was the same way with them. Right after it happened, we started meeting in the church basement to talk, to try and support each other, but when they evacuated Raywood we just lost touch.
- NIC: I’d love to speak with your children if you- if you don’t mind forwarding that contact information.
- CORRIGAN: I don’t know where they are.
- NIC: You don’t know where they are?
- CORRIGAN: No.
- NIC: You have no idea?
- CORRIGAN: Look, how do I get those gift cards?
- NIC: Wh- um…
- CORRIGAN: The man on the phone told me I was getting some Home Depot gift cards, so-
- NIC: This is…a documentary series, a podcast called Tanis…it’s not…
- CORRIGAN: Wh…but…what…I’m …look…
- NIC: A podcast, it’s-
- CORRIGAN: Home Depot. Look, I was promised Home Depot, so…
- NIC: Um…
NIC: I spoke with Meerkatnip again. She thought maybe her friend had promised to send Marnie Corrigan some Home Depot gift cards. There was also something else that came up.
- (phone ringing)
- MK: Hey. I don’t have long, I’m waiting for a call.
- NIC: Okay, well I’ve been thinking, and I feel like the rabbit holes of Tanis’s effects are so compelling that they sometimes pull me away from my search for the…the geographical center of the place, the thing itself.
- MK: Okay? So what does that mean?
- NIC: Well, I think we need to focus on finding Tanis on a map.
- MK: A map of Tanis?
- NIC: A map to Tanis, I think.
- MK: Well, what kind of map?
- NIC: Well, that’s where I was hoping you might be able to help.
- MK: I might need more information.
- NIC: (scoffs) Right, okay. Well, we both believe that Carl’s audio of that numbers station tape, tape number 47, contained a measurement of latitude that began with the number 47.
- MK: Yeah, okay.
- NIC: And we believe this because of all the strange events you found clustered around that part of the map.
- MK: Yeah. Right.
- NIC: Okay, so…well, I’m looking at the map of the area. The map you left pinned to the wall above my turntable…
- MK: Mm-hmm. And?
- NIC: And there doesn’t appear to be a corresponding longitude that matches up with the cluster of events, I just- there are a few of things here and there-
- MK: Right, but there are probably a couple of reasons for that.
- NIC: Okay?
- MK: Firstly, we don’t have a specific measurement of longitude to explore any of the- what you call significant events that might be clustered there.
- NIC: Right. And if Tanis moves around-
- MK: Right. It migrates every four hundred years or so.
- NIC: Well not just that- but some of the research indicates that it moves or the center of it moves around within the local area.
- MK: That sounds unlikely.
- NIC: (laughs) Yeah, agreed. But that does appear to be the consensus.
- MK: Look, it seems to me that all of the measurements, or clues, or whatever, are you know…
- NIC: Approximations?
- MK: Yeah, exactly, approximations.
- NIC: Right, so I dunno, do you have any thoughts or ideas how I might be able get closer to the geography of Tanis?
- MK: I don’t know. Keep looking?
- NIC: Oh, thanks. That’s really-
- (Skype disconnects)
- NIC: …great.
NIC: So, we have a cluster of events taking place or allegedly taking place along one particular line of latitude. I felt like if I could just find a way to find the longitude, we’d be really close to finding…something. So, I called Geoff van Sant to see if there was anything at all he could think of, any way of getting more information about his brother, Carl, and the people who purchased Carl’s remarkable collection of cassette tapes,
- (phone ringing)
- VAN SANT: Hello.
- NIC: Hey, Geoff, it’s Nic.
- VAN SANT: Hey, buddy. What’s up?
- NIC: Oh, you know, just working on a few new angles.
- VAN SANT: (laughs) Oh yeah? How’s it going?
- NIC: Well, that’s why I’m calling.
- VAN SANT: Yeah?
- NIC: Yeah. I think it might be time to grab that beer.
- VAN SANT: (laughing) Really?
- NIC: Yeah.
- VAN SANT: Okay! Sounds good.
- VAN SANT: So…uh…what’s the occasion? What’s going on?
- NIC: Well, I’ve been working on a bunch of stuff.
- VAN SANT: Yeah, like Tanis stuff?
- NIC: Definitely Tanis stuff.
- VAN SANT: Right.
- NIC: We dug up what we believe, what I believe, is a significant geographic clue from one of Carl’s cassette tapes.
- VAN SANT: Okay. Cool…great!
- NIC: No, it’s good, but it only really gave us half of the location.
- VAN SANT: I dunno know what that means.
- NIC: Well, it gave us a latitude and we’re still searching for a-
- VAN SANT: Oh yeah, okay.
- NIC: -longitude.
- VAN SANT: Okay.
- NIC: But, you know, if you listen to a lot of stories about this thing, it moves around anyway, so I dunno.
- VAN SANT: So, what? You want my help with that?
- (both laughing)
- NIC: Yeah, well, I guess what I’m asking is can you think of anything about the people who purchased Carl’s things?
- VAN SANT: Oh, okay.
- NIC: Like is there a description? Did they mention who they might work for? I know you said they didn’t leave a card-
- VAN SANT: No, they didn’t leave a card. I don’t know- they- I don’t- I don’t remember anything in particular about them. There was- there was a man and a woman, they just looked like kind of important, like well-dressed but not rich.
- NIC: Yeah.
- VAN SANT: And they were white.
- NIC: (laughs) Okay. All right.
- VAN SANT: That’s about it. Sorry, man.
- NIC: No, no, hey, it’s fine. I appreciate- I appreciate it. So, how’s everything else going? Did you- did you rent out the basement suite?
- VAN SANT: Yeah! I- uh…man, don’t rent to first timers! Don’t rent to people who just got in a relationship with each other!
- NIC: (laughing) Good to know!
- VAN SANT: Because, man, I had to kick these kids out…after like a month, it was horrible.
- NIC: Oh…
- VAN SANT: But, uh, you know what? There is one thing?
- NIC: Yeah?
- VAN SANT: Maybe your hacker friend can use it?
- NIC: Okay, what is it?
- VAN SANT: A phone number, actually.
- NIC: They left you a phone number?!
- VAN SANT: No, actually, that’s why I didn’t think of it. Cause they didn’t leave a phone number but a number came up on my call display.
- NIC: Yeah, that’s great! I appreciate it.
- VAN SANT: Yeah, no problem. Hey! You play darts?
- NIC: Um….
- VAN SANT: Yeah, you heard me.
- NIC: I…I could play darts..
- VAN SANT: Play some darts? Alright! Finish that beer.
- NIC: Yeah.
- VAN SANT: You’re kind of nursing it a little bit.
- NIC: (laughs) Okay.
- VAN SANT: Get a couple more beers.
- NIC: Yeah?
- VAN SANT: On YOU!
- NIC: Okay!
- VAN SANT: For bringing that phone number.
- NIC: Okay.
- VAN SANT: DARTS!
NIC: So, it turns out Geoff's call display isn’t exactly standard issue. Carl made a few…modifications. No unlisted numbers could get through, no proxies, no cloaking of any kind at all. What this means is- the party calling in, let’s say the NSA for example, would believe their security measures were in place, that their number wasn’t visible or would read ‘unknown.’ In reality, however, Carl’s special device would display the actual number you were calling from. No matter how many proxies or rerouting circuits you used. MK was impressed.
- MK: Hmm. I’m impressed.
- NIC: Yeah, Carl wasn’t allowed anywhere near a computer, but he was, by all accounts, pretty good with electronics.
- MK: The number belongs to a courier company.
- NIC: Oh, well, that’s disappointing.
- MK: Mmm…not really.
- NIC: No?
- MK: Nope. This particular courier company does over 70% of its work for one company.
- NIC: TeslaNova Corporation.
- MK: Yahtzee.
- NIC: I think I’m going to have to pay them another visit.
- MK: Mmm, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea, at least not until you have a bit more…protection.
- NIC: Yeah, I guess you’re right. I should probably call a lawyer.
- MK: See, I was thinking more like an ex-Navy Seal or something.
- NIC: Really?
- MK: Yeah. Think about it.
- NIC: Okay.
NIC: Turns out I didn’t need to hire a Navy Seal, after all, at least not yet. Which is good news considering we’re currently trying to find the budget to bring on another intern. The reason I didn’t need security to protect me from TeslaNova at the moment is because TeslaNova was sitting across from me eating perfectly golden, Belgian french fries after dipping them into a frosty metal container that held an ice-cold vanilla milkshake. I’ll back up.
NIC: I stepped out of the Pacific Northwest Stories studio and ran into a tall man in an elegant suit. The man opened the rear driver’s side door of a long, silver Mercedes. When I saw who was sitting in the back of that car I turned on my phone’s voice recorder.
- (Car door opens)
- NIC: I’m recording this.
- ELLIS: I figured that might be the case.
- NIC: I also dialed 9-1-1.
- ELLIS: You’re not going to need the police, Nicodemus. Please, get in the car.
- NIC: Really?! I’ve seen Three Days of the Condor.
- ELLIS: Okay. (car door closes) I’ll walk across the street to that coffee shop.
- NIC: ALONE.
- ELLIS: Yes, alone.
- NIC: And I have your permission to continue recording your voice? Nothing is off the record?
- ELLIS: (long pause) Fine.
- NIC: Wait. Not the coffee shop. The diner over there.
- ELLIS: Okay, whatever you like.
- NIC: Okay.
-
- (footsteps walking to diner)
- ELLIS: I ordered french fries and a milkshake, you want anything?
- NIC: Um…no, thanks.
- ELLIS: Suit yourself.
- NIC: Why are you having me followed?
- ELLIS: You really did just watch Seven Days at the Condor.
- NIC: It’s three.
- ELLIS: Pardon me?
- NIC: It’s THREE Days of the Condor.
- ELLIS: Riiight, Three Days of the Condor. Twelve Angry Men. Seven Samurai. Although, I prefer The Magnificent Seven, and I love Kurosawa. Strange, I know.
- NIC: Yeah, that’s really interesting. Somebody from your company called to meet me because I was digging into certain things-
- ELLIS: Tanis?
- NIC: Right, Tanis. And your people have been following me, waiting outside my place, threatening the Pacific Northwest Stories with legal action-
- ELLIS: Not me, I’m afraid.
- NIC: Pardon?
- ELLIS: All I did was have my assistant call and set up a meeting you decided against attending.
- NIC: Your lawyers called Pacific Northwest Stories.
- ELLIS: The TeslaNova legal team called because on your podcast it was mentioned of a connection between our company and…some other entities. It was pretty by the book stuff, at no point did anybody threaten legal action. Are you sure you don’t want anything? I ordered a lot.
- NIC: Why did you want to meet with me?
- ELLIS: Because I want you to stop.
- NIC: To stop?
- ELLIS: The podcast. Tanis. I want you to stop. Right now.
- NIC: Or what?
- ELLIS: I’m not threatening you, Nic, I’m asking you. I’m very willing to bribe you, as well, but something tells me that’s not the most effective option.
- NIC: So, what is it about the show? Why do you want me to stop?
- ELLIS: Because you don’t understand what’s happening.
- NIC: Tanis?
- ELLIS: What you’re calling Tanis, yes.
- NIC: So, tell me.
- ELLIS: Stop attracting attention, and I’ll consider it.
- NIC: How about tell me, and I’ll consider…stopping attracting attention?
NIC: Cameron Ellis received a call while we were eating. Well, he was eating and I was busy wishing I was eating. He hung up and told me that he had a number and an address for the people who’d been following me. In what he called a gesture of good faith, he wrote an address down on the back of his business card. The address he’d written down looked familiar. It was the duplex in Everett, the possible location MK found for the Cult of Tanis. After finishing the plate of french fries, I called Morgan Miller and the two of us drove to Everett to pay them a visit.
- NIC: I think this is it.
- MILLER: Alright, let’s go.
- NIC: Well, wait. Shouldn’t we have a plan or something?
- NIC: We’ll…react? That’s the plan?
- MILLER: Yes.
- NIC: Well…Okay, but I’ll knock.
- MILLER: (placatingly) Okay.
- NIC: Okay.
- (knocking, door opens)
- NIC: Hello-
- MILLER: Gwen.
- GWENDOLYN: Hi.
- NIC: Uh…hi.
- GWENDOLYN: Our name is Gwendolyn. We understand you’re looking for Samuel?
- MILLER: Sam.
- NIC: Yes, that’s right, we’re looking for Sam Reynolds.
- (door shuts)
NIC: I should clarify that Gwendolyn was alone. Morgan told me later that members of this group often refer to themselves as plural. She said it was “some creepy ass shit.” Her words, not mine. Gwendolyn was apparently close friends with Sam’s girlfriend, Arcadia. Morgan believes they were working together, Gwendolyn and Arcadia, to try and abduct Sam for some reason. Gwendolyn led us into the living room and told us Sam would be right out. She offered us dandelion tea. I politely declined. Morgan glared and made some caustic remark about Kool-Aid.
- GWENDOLYN: I’m sorry. Sam isn’t feeling up to visitors, at this time.
- MILLER: What?!
- NIC: But…I mean-
- GWENDOLYN: If you’d like to come back tomorrow, we could-
- MILLER: Bring him up here!
- NIC: We- it’s just that we came all the way down from Seattle, if we could just seem him for a few minutes-
- GWENDOLYN: We take personal desires and feelings very seriously here.
- NIC(?): (whispered) Hey.
- NIC: Sam? Hello, Sam?!
NIC: I saw Sam Reynolds through the hall as he was led up into the kitchen from the basement. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved waffle shirt and loose fitting jeans. He looked pretty relaxed, maybe even a bit stoned. He gave me a confused smile and wave before he was quickly ushered into an adjacent room. Once they realized we’d spotted Sam, or after Sam saw the two of us, I’m not sure which, they, or Sam, agreed to a brief meeting.
Morgan and I were eventually allowed to speak with Sam alone. He was quiet, reserved, but seemed otherwise fine. He said that he was staying with Arcadia by choice, he assured us he wasn’t drugged or coerced, that he believed they were close to finding Tara. When I pressed him on what he meant by that, he said he wasn’t able to say at the moment. That’s when Gwendolyn and Arcadia reentered the room. They took him by hand and led him away with Morgan yelling after them, threatening to call the police.
- NIC: So, are you going to call the police?
- MILLER: No. They won’t do anything other than scare these idiots into moving somewhere new. We’re better off knowing where they are for now.
- NIC: So what do you think is going on with Sam?
- MILLER: Hypnosis.
- NIC: Really?
- MILLER: Yes, really.
- NIC: I’m sorry, but I’ve never been a believer in hypnosis, it’s kind of- it seems like bending spoons or something.
- MILLER: Well, not the way that these people do it.
- NIC: How do they do it?
- MILLER: Young, incredibly accommodating, beautiful members of the opposite sex, constant low doses of LSD, MDMA, sleep deprivation, these people could give the CIA a run for their money.
- NIC: Well…I think- we should go back in there and try to talk Sam into coming with us.
- MILLER: They’re not gonna let that happen.
- NIC: Well, I’m going back.
- MILLER: Suit yourself.
- ALEX: Day four. The sound of something or someone crying was coming from everywhere at once. It was guttural and melancholy, but sounded darkly musical, at times. Or maybe strangely musical is a better description. Otherworldly, perhaps. Lately it’s hard to keep my thoughts from wondering. There are magical things. Sleep isn’t restful when it comes and it barely comes anymore. The Blur is a constant inside me. I’m not used to it, but it’s become…part of me. Like a sickness. I was walking and trying to find the source of the strange crying or groaning sounds. I don’t remember how long I’d been walking, maybe minutes, maybe hours, but I found myself in a clearing surrounded by dark, reddish trees. Maybe cedar. It was hard to make out in the dim moonlight. Was it moonlight? Even that was hard to tell. I couldn’t find the moon in the sky.
- I moved closer to one of the trees, there was a kind of deep, red sap. The groaning was louder here. This particular tree had a huge knot in the middle. As I moved closer, I realized that the sap wasn’t actually sap. It was a kind of soft, bloody liquid flesh. And the knot wasn’t a knot. It was a twisted, human face. It turned and the moaning sound sent a deep shock through my body, I almost lost control of my bladder. It was the Zealot’s face in a kind of twisted, broken scream. I woke up in total darkness. There are dangerous things. But what was really alarming wasn’t that I’d been dreaming. It was that it was morning. The sun should’ve been out. I could hear the birds and a distant river, but it was black. There was no light. It was daytime, of that much I was certain. The combination of the sounds of the day and the complete darkness was unnerving, terrifying actually. My heart started pounding, the Blur rushing like dark blood to meet itself in my head. A ringing in my ears so loud I knew I was going to pass out from the pain, and then I heard the voice of the Runner calling us. Distant. Getting closer.
- The ringing suddenly changed into a thick, loud clicking rumble in my head, and then…I could see. The forest was there and the sounds of the morning, which had faded with the ringing, slowly returned to the world. Had my eyes been closed? Was the Blur in control? The Runner told us that we were very close now, and under no circumstances, no matter how badly we wanted to, were we to turn around. If we turned to look behind us, we might never make it back. The three of us looked at each other and then started after the Runner, toward the sound of the river, toward the Calm, toward Tanis.
NIC: Morgan was right. I went back, but they didn’t let me see Sam. Standing in the living room were two young men I hadn’t seen before. They were extremely tall and fit. It was clear they were some kind of security. I left Everett worried about Sam Reynolds and concerned that my search for Tanis had entered a new phase- the real life phase. What began with a short story and a yearning for mystery- a conceptual, esoteric, ancient myth to be specific had now moved into the world of hypnosis, body guards, billionaires, and real life threats. I wasn’t certain where to go or what to do next, so I decided, in the interim, I’d continue my search for HaidaGurl.
- (knocking, door opening)
- NEDVED: Hello?
- NIC: Hello. Veronika Pillman?
- NEDVED: She’s not here.
- NIC: Oh, do you have any idea when she might be back?
- NEDVED: I don’t.
- NIC: Oh- I’m sorry! Do you have any idea where I might be able to find her?
- NEDVED: Who are you?
- NIC: Well, my name’s Nic Silver. I’m producing a- it’s a podcast, it’s a documentary series-
- NEDVED: Ooh, you left a note on the door.
- NIC: Yeah. That was me.
- NEDVED: Uh…what’s that thing? You’re recording now?
- NIC: The- uh…yeah, this is a portable recorder.
- NEDVED: Mm.
- NIC: Yeah.
- NEDVED: Okay, you can come in.
- NIC: Yeah?
- NEDVED: Yep. Come. Go ahead.
- NIC: Okay.
- NEDVED: Downstairs.
- NIC: Okay, thank you.
NIC: Melanie Nedved is eastern European with intense, cool blue eyes that betray a fierce intelligence. She put the kettle on and motioned for me to sit down.
- NEDVED: Veronika left a few months ago.
- NIC: And she didn’t say where she was going?
- NEDVED: Sorry, maybe left was the wrong word. She went out to walk Monkey.
- NIC: The dog’s name is Monkey?
- NEDVED: Yes.
- NIC: So is- so she went out to walk the dog and she didn’t come back?
- NEDVED: No, she didn’t.
- NIC: And she’s Veronika dog?
- NEDVED: She’s mine. She likes you. She doesn’t like a lot of people.
- NIC: Well, the feeling’s mutual. I love dogs, so-
- NEDVED: So, what do you want with Veronika?
- NIC: Well, I’m not exactly sure. To be honest, I- I suppose I’d like to ask her whether or not she was working at a top secret environmental research facility in the Pacific Northwest.
- NEDVED: Wow.
- NIC: Yeah, it’s all very cloak and dagger, I know.
- NEDVED: Yeah, it certainly sounds like it.
- NIC: Okay, well…um…if you hear from Veronika, could you give me a call?
- NEDVED: Sure.
- NIC: Okay. Great. Thank you so much for taking the time out to speak with me. I know that it was kind of- it’s kind of crazy.
- NEDVED: It was fun.
- NIC: Great. Okay! Um…
- NEDVED: I-I could take you somewhere!
- NIC: I’m sorry?
- NEDVED: I could take you into the woods. To see the Grackles.
- NIC: Um…the Grackles? Birds?
- NEDVED: It’s what they call themselves.
- NIC: The Grackles?
- NEDVED: Yes.
- NIC: Um…and what are the Grackles?
- NEDVED: Um…it-it’s complicated. I’d have to show you.
- NIC: Okay.
-
NIC: Next week along with the Grackles, I’ll have updates on Sam Reynolds and the ongoing search for his sister, Tara. It’s Tanis. I’m Nic Silver. We’ll be back again in two weeks. Until then, keep looking.
Tanis is produced by Terry Miles. Produced, mixed, and edited by me, Nic Silver. Executive producers Terry Miles and Paul Bae. As always, listen to The Black Tapes Podcast at theblacktapespodcast.com
NIC: For legal and safety reasons, we've elected to change some names, and leave others out entirely. We don't do this very often, but we're not willing to compromise people's safety for any reason.
Thanks again for listening to Tanis.