Latest / Slice of Crimes | Serial Crime Story & Audio Drama / Heartbreak in Hartville Episode 6: Heart of Darkness

Transcript

Heartbreak in Hartville Episode 6: Heart of Darkness · Slice of Crimes | Serial Crime Story & Audio Drama

0:00
Music.
0:37
Heartbreak in heartville episode six
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heart of darkness hey all you sleuths
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out there casey here and i'm so ready to get to the heart of the matter duke
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and maggie hart have both completed their polygraph exams they found the process
0:55
both daunting and draining and both emerge feeling guilty and brimming with self-doubt.
1:02
Will they turn to each other or turn on each other?
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Before we find out, let's check out the results of the next polygraph exams coming right up.
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Mary steps into the tiny room where the polygraph machine and an imposing woman
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were taking up a majority of the space.
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Instantly claustrophobic, her breathing begins to sound more like panting,
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and she is desperately searching for an exit strategy.
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In fact, she appears as frantic-looking as she did when she emerged from the
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forest and faced Duke and Maggie the day Daisy disappeared.
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Mary has always been described as buttoned up, never without a plan,
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always hoping for the best, and prepared for the worst.
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The envy of her friends for her pleasant demeanor, her soothing aura,
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and her unique ability to create calm in the midst of chaos.
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So who was this woman being hooked up to the polygraph? It was a version of
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Mary Marks nobody would recognize.
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Maybe Maggie's right. Mary's becoming unhinged. After a series of questions
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similar to those Duke and Maggie answered, the polygraph examiner asks one last question of Mary.
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Mary Marks, have you been truthful about everything related to Daisy Hart's disappearance?
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Yes, I have. The machine tells a different story.
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When the test concludes, the results are undeniable, deception detected.
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As soon as Mary hears those two words, her frantic discomfort and claustrophobia abruptly shift.
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She's no longer moving about frenetically, releasing uncontrolled nervous energy.
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Instead, she suddenly appears reserved and controlled.
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So strange, more odd behavior from Mary.
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Maggie's even more worried about her best friend now. She's withdrawn completely.
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Mary's demeanor greatly concerns Dane, too. His wife needs him,
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yet he hasn't been able to reach her effectively despite his many attempts,
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and now she's shut down, gone silent.
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There is no other way to characterize her behavior than erratic.
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Mary is behaving erratically, and it's rubbing off on Dane, who is up next for the polygraph.
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He's not sure he can settle down, but he has no choice.
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Refusing the polygraph now would cast all suspicion on him, and he has had enough of that.
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Finally, Dane takes his seat. The room is silent, cold.
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Dane meets the examiner's gaze, attempting not to look away,
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not to appear weak. He is unable.
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Like the others, he is asked a predetermined set of questions.
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Dane actually feels himself physically and mentally relaxing further with each query.
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He is relieved, believing it's going well for him. The final question is the same as Mary's.
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Dane Marks, have you been truthful about everything related to Daisy Hart's disappearance? Yes.
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When the test concludes, he receives the same result his wife had, deception detected.
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Dane's heart races, but he remains outwardly calm. He knows what this looks
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like, but he also knows that polygraphs aren't foolproof.
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Still, the result is enough to send shockwaves through the room. Of course it does.
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The two people closest to the hearts have both failed their tests,
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and the implications are both painful and terrifying.
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Dane, what are you and Mary hiding? I can't bear this.
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Before Dane can answer, the private investigator, Bronson, steps in, his expression grave.
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He lays out the case he's been building against Dane, connecting the dots between
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the other missing girls, the child pornography charge, and Dane's birth name, Daniel Manning.
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There's a pattern here, Duke. These other missing girls, the child porn charge, it's all connected.
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And that name, Daniel Manning, it's Dane's original name from when he was a
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kid in foster care, before he changed it and tried to erase his own history.
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And as you know, part of that history is criminal but sealed. We can't ignore this.
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He just failed the polygraph.
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Duke's mind races, struggling to reconcile the friend he's known for years,
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with accusations being laid out before him.
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He knows Dane's past well, even the juvenile conviction.
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No one else knows the details. Not even Mary knew what he was convicted of or
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why, But that was Dane's youth, his escape from abuse, and he could not envision
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his best friend ever hurting a kid after what he went through.
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Duke was so sure. Was he wrong?
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Dane was like a brother to him. Was he blind to what was right in front of him?
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It felt impossible, but the pieces were fitting together too neatly to dismiss.
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Dane, did you move the camera? Are you covering for something? Is that why Mary lied?
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Are you kidding me, Duke? You think I'm some kind of criminal mastermind?
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I moved the camera because I was working on the ladder. I told you that.
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And Mary, she's just scared. Okay? We all are.
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But I swear, I didn't do anything. I wouldn't ever. I love Daisy.
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What Duke knows, and so does Maggie, because he had told her everything years
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ago, is that Duke's juvenile conviction was for kidnapping.
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And if the PI had known that, if the conviction wasn't sealed,
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Bronson would be convinced beyond any doubt that Dane was not only responsible
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for Daisy's disappearance, he was the serial predator he has been after for years.
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Before things can escalate further, Robbins announces the teacher is out of
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the hospital and has been called back in for another round of questioning and polygraph.
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He sends the four of them to another room to hash it out.
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He can listen to the recording later and find out what more they pull out of each other.
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He needs to focus on the teacher, Emily, now. She's nervous but determined to clear her name.
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First of all, I spoke to your boyfriend, and he assured me he is getting back
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here by tomorrow morning and coming straight in to see me.
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It's in your best interest that happens.
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So I really hope I don't have to chase him down. Yes, sir, he understands.
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Music.
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I didn't lie. I swear I didn't. But there's something else.
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Something else? This is no time to be holding back information.
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It's about my car. Emily reveals a detail she hadn't mentioned before about
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the driver's sidecar seat.
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When she got in the car, the seat was pushed back too far.
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Both she and her boyfriend are short, always driving with the seat all the way
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forward. but it was back pretty far the day Emily was missing and the keys were in the ignition.
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Her boyfriend always left them under the driver's side mat.
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It set off an alarm in the back of her head at the time but her concern was
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dwarfed by Daisy's disappearance.
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She decided it wasn't important at the time not with everything else going on
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and then she forgot about it but now with the blood found in the car it seems crucial.
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Why didn't you say anything earlier?
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Because I didn't think it mattered. Daisy was missing, and who was I to bother
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the police about a car seat, and it's not like my keys were gone.
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But now, now it seems important, because there's blood in there.
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And I swear, my boyfriend dropped the car off and drove straight to the airport with his friend.
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They were in such a hurry to make their flight to Cancun.
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Robbins sends her back to the polygraph after she shares this new information
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with him. This time, there is no deception detected.
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Robbins has more questions ready for her. Who else knew the keys were in the car?
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Who had the opportunity to move the seat and leave blood behind?
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Dane knew. And Mary knew. Dane saw my boyfriend when he was up on the ladder working.
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He called out to him, told him to let me know where the keys were.
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Then when Dane saw Mary, he asked her to let me know. And she did.
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I asked my boyfriend about this, and he told me he'd asked Dane to tell me the
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keys would be under the mat like always. So I know for sure.
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New information. It's up to Robbins to determine the implications and significance.
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As he wrapped up the interview with Emily, his mind shifted back to Duke, Maggie, Dane, and Mary.
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He hoped he would soon glean new information from them as well.
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He had left them with only their thoughts, their secrets, their distrust of one another.
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Duke no longer has tolerance for Mary and Dane. Everything he thought he knew
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about his best friend seems to have been a carefully crafted facade, and he felt duped.
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The flippant way Dane so easily tossed out lies was actually terrifying.
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How could Duke have dismissed a cold streak then ran so deep in his best friend?
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The level of agitation Duke now experienced in the presence of Dane was disturbing
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and highly distracting.
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He had heard the saying, seeing red, but this was his first time experiencing
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the phenomenon. His blood pressure was off the charts.
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Once Maggie and Duke had settled into a space where they didn't have to see
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or hear Dane and Mary, he was able to recapture his mental focus and shake off his agitated state.
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Maggie remained tense, huddled in her chair, knees to her chest,
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arms wrapped tightly around her legs, consumed with guilt.
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The polygraph test her inconclusive result
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she should have realized that's the best she'd ever do especially with mary
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calling her a hypocrite in front of everyone she's not sure why mary said that
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but now is not the time or place deflecting like that is detracting from saving
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daisy and that's all that should matter right now,
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the four of them have been separated into two rooms
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a husband and wife in each room cold folding chairs are all they offered the
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police are making no pretense of treating them like victims they are all suspects
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and all suspicious of each other as well the detective hopes to catch any secrets
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the couples share between them,
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As Maggie speaks, she leans on Duke, grasping his warm hands,
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hoping to garner strength to keep going.
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None of this is saving Daisy. She's missing and she's lost in all this mess.
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She's the innocent victim. We are not helping.
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They are not helping. Nobody is helping.
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Duke is holding on for dear life, trying to maintain trust in the people he loves.
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Maggie's hands are like ice. They feel tiny and fragile in his.
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He doesn't recall ever feeling this way, like Maggie was weaker than himself.
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He wants to trust Maggie.
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He believes she doesn't know what happened to Daisy.
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But that meltdown about the baby bluebird, was it a psychic premonition or psychotic
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episode? How did she just show up there?
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Can Mother's intuition really run that deep?
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He refuses to let his mind go there, chalking it up to mom guilt,
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a guilt Maggie has always struggled with whenever work took her away from time with Daisy.
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But he is coming to understand that beneath guilt, truth often lies buried.
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Maggie, you're just feeling guilty. That's all it is. You're strong,
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but always too hard on yourself. It's creating doubt.
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We're all doubting ourselves right now. It's hard not to.
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I'm strong, Duke, but not this strong. I'm not strong enough to find out our
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best friends are monsters.
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Are they, Duke? Are they monsters?
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Dane hurt Daisy if Mary is covering for him. Then yes, they're both monsters.
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I can hardly think about it, but what if they both know what happened?
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Like an accident and they didn't want to get in trouble?
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I've thought of that too. They need to prove to us they don't know where she is.
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And they need to be talking to Emily, the teacher, her boyfriend too. They know her best.
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They need to stop worrying about themselves and start thinking about Daisy.
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Only Daisy matters.
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The boyfriend? Oh, no, no, no, Duke. Daisy could be in Mexico.
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Emily's boyfriend and some guy nobody even knows. They could have her,
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the car, Duke. They need to bring her back. Are the police checking that?
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Maggie, they're checking everything. All we can do right now,
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you and I, Maggie, all we can do is make sure we are telling the truth,
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not leaving anything out. That's the best way we can help Daisy.
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What are you saying? You think I'm not doing everything I should be? You don't believe me?
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Duke, please. This is hard enough. I can't lose you and Daisy.
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I need you, both of you. I love you.
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Duke pulls Maggie to him, folding her in his arms. They held each other close
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enough to feel their heartbeats sink, heart to heart.
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If the strength of their love was enough to bring Daisy home.
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They would see her very soon.
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While Duke tries to hold the pieces together, in the next room over,
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Mary's world is spiraling out of control.
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She and Dane are the only ones in the room, but they're hardly together,
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each in a chair shoved in opposite corners.
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The vastness between them is obvious.
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Mary knows she lied about why she didn't want to call the police right away.
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The truth is buried deep, hidden beneath layers of deception that are starting to crack.
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Dane knows her so well. He's sensing her breaking. She tries to turn it all back on him.
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Dane, you went along with me. I know you didn't like what I did.
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Buying time. You didn't agree with it.
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Music.
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But I disagree with what you did. I feel like now you're blaming me.
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But I blame you. maybe that makes us even Mary I'm worried about you you're
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not making sense you're talking in circles,
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I did what you asked against my better judgment because I didn't want you to
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feel guilty I figured you needed to try to find her to make up for losing her I don't know.
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Music.
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That's your story now? Of course you would blame me. I guess you know now.
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I'm not backing you up anymore. I could never trust you or believe you ever
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again. What are you saying?
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Mary, you're scaring me. What's going on with you? I'm scaring you?
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I'm not the one on some list with some fake name or whatever.
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Mary, I don't keep secrets from you. I don't have secrets. You know that, Mary. I love you.
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The stress is getting to us all. Everybody has secrets.
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Some people just have bigger ones than other people. And some people just have too many.
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Dane is confused and surprised by the depth and intensity of Mary's anger.
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She is saying things he could never imagine her saying.
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Her words are painful to him. And she knows that tearing them apart,
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especially when they are finally going to become a complete family soon,
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is the worst punishment she can dole out to Dane.
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His years in foster care damaged him beyond repair in some ways.
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Mary, Duke, Maggie, and Daisy were his salve.
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His wounds remained closed with them in his life. They are his family.
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And Dane knew Mary hadn't shared their news with Duke and Maggie yet.
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But they were finally going to be parents.
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The IVF finally worked. Mary had told him last week, but afraid of another miscarriage,
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They held their news to themselves.
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Now they cannot share anyway. With Daisy missing, there's no place for their joy. It is so unfair.
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He feels guilty for even having that last thought.
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Mary knows the stakes are high, and every moment brings the truth closer to the surface.
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She's desperate to keep it hidden, but the pressure is mounting,
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and the lies she's told are starting to unravel.
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Who is suffering most? Mary? Dane? Maggie? Duke?
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Seems there's plenty of pain for them all to share.
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Dane knows he was complicit.
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Dane went along with Mary's lie about why they didn't call the police right
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away. He wanted to. He knew it was the right thing to do.
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But when Mary started shaking, bleeding from where she'd been chewing on her
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nail, a habit he had never known Mary to have, with her always perfect manicure,
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saw the fear in her eyes and couldn't bring himself to argue.
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Mary was on outside duty. She'd handed the kids over to Emily,
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and she was terrified that she was at fault.
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He wanted to protect her, even though he knew they were losing precious time,
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an hour they would never get back.
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When a kid goes missing, you call 911 first, and then you start looking.
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We run a school. We know this. Everybody knows this. It looks bad. It is bad.
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The walls are closing in on Danemark's. His desire to protect Mary may have cost him everything.
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The guilt is eating him alive, and the secrets he's kept about his past are no longer behind him.
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They are emerging, rising to the forefront of his existence.
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They will ruin him.
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The polygraph didn't just reveal his deception, it revealed the cracks in a
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facade he carefully constructed that's about to come crashing down.
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That's it for episode six. It looks like the truth in Hartville isn't just elusive,
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it's painful, dangerous.
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Betrayal and deception have started to fill the cracks, spreading through what
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once seemed like the perfect life in Hartville.
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The desperate search for Daisy Hart is no longer just about finding a beloved missing girl.
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It's about unearthing dark secrets that have been buried far too long.
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But for some, not long enough.
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These secrets are poised to rip open old wounds and tear apart lives. But what about Daisy?
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Is anyone keeping a secret about Daisy?
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Join me next time as the lines between friend and foe blur beyond recognition.
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Think you've got it all figured out?
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Crack the case? Ready to bring Daisy home?
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Well, before you get too confident, let me remind you.
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On Slice of Crimes, nothing is ever exactly as it seems.
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Infinite thanks.
20:55
Hey, sleuths. I know some of you are anxious to crack this case.
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Maybe a peek forward will help you out. If so, keep listening after the outro
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where I'm sharing a small sliver, not a whole slice of what episode seven will be serving up.
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How do you feel after an episode of Slice of Crimes?
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One step closer to the truth? If you haven't cracked the case yet,
21:19
no worries, you're not alone.
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But before you go, remember, the mystery doesn't end here.
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Enjoyed this episode? Show some love, share Slice of Crimes with your friends,
21:30
family, or even that neighbor who's a little too interested in true crime.
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Oh wait, that's probably you. Your five-star ratings and killer reviews help
21:40
keep these investigations coming. And I couldn't do it without you.
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Got your own theories? Burning questions? Or maybe a case you think I should
21:49
tackle next? I'm all ears.
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Send your ideas and suggestions my way.
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The more you engage, the sharper my sleuthing gets.
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So until next time, fellow sleuths, keep your wits about you.
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Stay curious. Stay sharp.
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You never know what the next slice of crime will serve up. And trust me,
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you won't want to miss it.
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Infinite thanks for listening today and for tuning in next week.
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Here you go, sleuths. Hope this sliver of episode 7 satiates your appetite.
22:23
Music.
22:32
The last thing Detective Robbins expected was exactly what he found atop a pile
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of mail delivered while he was questioning Emily.
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He had only stopped by his office to jot down a few notes and pull his thoughts
22:45
together before reassembling the four ex-best friends in the same room.
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He had a whole lot more to think about. A ransom note.
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It was handwritten, and as Robbins quickly noticed, hand-delivered,
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there were no postage stamps or markings.
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He stared at it for a moment, resisting the urge to touch it.
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Instead, he grabbed a pair of gloves and carefully picked up the envelope.
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The absence of fingerprints was almost a given, but Robbins wasn't about to take any chances.
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He opened the envelope with a letter opener and pulled out a single sheet of stationery.
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The envelope's inscription, written in bold black block lettering,
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delivered a clear message.
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Detective Robert Robbins, if they want Daisy back, read this to them now.
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Otherwise, the note was a conundrum. Robbins was sure of one thing immediately.
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This ransom note needed to lead to a resolution, not a tangent.
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Robin's heart raced as he read the note, then briskly walked it down the hall for analysis.
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He swabbed for DNA, checked for prints, nothing, no immediate clues,
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and DNA results would take time.
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Still, as Robin's prepared to face Duke, Maggie, Dane, and Mary again,
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this time he wasn't just dealing with deception, guilt, or tension.
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He was about to confront them with the unthinkable, a ransom demand.
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Music.