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No Escape Episode One: The Escape Room Murder · Slice of Crimes | Serial Crime Story & Audio Drama

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Slice of Crimes is a fictionalized true crime podcast that delves into complex
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and sometimes difficult stories.
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Topics may include discussions and descriptions of violence,
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abuse, self-harm, sexual assault, suicide, and other sensitive subjects,
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as well as occasional strong language.
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Please listen with care and discretion.
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This podcast may not be suitable for all audiences, especially young listeners.
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Music.
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The pig has ever heard exactly as it seems seems.
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Spice of crimes.
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Infinite banks hello sleuths i'm kc i am writer and creator of slice of crimes
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a podcast for those of us intrigued by true crime i'm also the narrator and
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host i like to call myself the resident sleuth.
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Since I'll be guiding everyone along the way as the case unfolds,
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I'm grateful you are here and excited to share this.
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My very first podcast, and actually, my very first episode of Slice of Crimes with you.
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I sure hope you find yourself enthralled and curious enough to come back for more.
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Okay, without further ado, this story is called No Escape.
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It will unfold in seven episodes, plus an epilogue. This is episode one, The Escape Room Murder.
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Welcome to Slice of Crimes. I'm Casey, your resident slice sleuth,
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and today I'll dive into a chilling tale of mystery and murder that unfolds
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in the most unexpected place, an escape room.
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Five teenagers enter the game with a thirst for competition,
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but only four walk out unscathed. It was a frigid Saturday afternoon,
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January 14th, 2017, in Riverton, Colorado.
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The cold seemed to wrap around the small town like a shroud,
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chilling the bones of its residents as they bustled through their weekend errands.
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Riverton, with its modest population of just under 4,000, carried the weight
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of familiarity, where everyone knew everyone.
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Were hard to keep, though many tried. Scandals often festered in the shadows,
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exposed when someone unexpectedly decided to shine a light in that direction.
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In the heart of town stood the Riverton Mall, a two-story structure that served
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as the center of weekend activity.
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On any given Saturday, the corridors echoed with laughter, chatter,
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and the click-clack of shoes against the worn tile floors.
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Nestled in an inconspicuous corner on the second floor was a small but popular attraction.
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Escape Haven.
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Despite its unassuming appearance, this escape room venue had gained a reputation
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for elaborate themes and intricate puzzles that promised to test even the sharpest minds.
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For the five friends gathering there that day, it was the perfect stage for
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their competitive spirits.
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Some came to play, others to blow off steam, all came to win.
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The unequivocal leader of the group was Jenner Smith, Riverton High's star lacrosse
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player, with a cocky grin and a swagger that dared anyone to challenge him.
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His identical twin brother Jenkins trailed behind, always in Jenner's shadow,
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but seemingly content to stay there for the most part.
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Maya Canton, Jenner's girlfriend, stood by his side almost dutifully,
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her smile bright, but her eyes revealing the worry of unspoken conflict. Behind them.
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Jenner's best friend and fellow lacrosse player, a star in his own right,
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whose easygoing demeanor masked the unease that had been gnawing at him for a good long while now.
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And then there was Meyer Smith, their enigmatic companion who had joined the
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Smith family quite recently under tragic circumstances.
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His demeanor was odd, quirky, yet somehow charming, confusing the others who found him unsettling.
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The group often hung out, whether at school or after hours, and especially on
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weekends as they began counting down the days till graduation,
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when time together would become rare.
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Except for Maya, who was still a junior, they were seniors, anxiously awaiting
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their chance to escape the small town that had cradled them for so long.
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There were some indications their tight-knit bond was fraying around the edges.
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Some of them had complicated choices to make soon.
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For all of them, goodbye meant leaving behind the security of knowing your friends always had your back.
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It seems that may have been a false sense of security anyway.
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That day, like many before it, seemed ordinary enough.
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They entered escape haven together, all of them in a seemingly carefree, light-hearted mood.
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They were there to have fun, to burn some time on a frosty weekend afternoon,
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and to challenge each other in friendly competition.
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But not everyone in the group had the same agenda, because beneath that playful
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surface lurked secrets.
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They thought were buried deep enough to remain untouched. But in Riverton,
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like so many small towns, secrets had a way of surfacing at the most inconvenient times.
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Escape Haven's reputation for creating immersive experiences didn't disappoint.
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The room they chose, the enchanted castle, boasted seven interconnected chambers,
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each more complex than the last.
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Velvet tapestries lined the walls, and ornate chandeliers cast flickering shadows
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on floors elaborately painted to look like ancient stone.
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It was all quite medieval feeling in a Disney sort of way.
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Maya made it clear to the rest of them that the poorly lit rooms and dark shadows creeped her out.
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Jenner wasn't about to take her on as a partner. He wanted to win,
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not babysit his girlfriend.
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Myers handed her a flashlight. Where he got it, or why he had a flashlight,
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was like many things about him, a mystery.
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As the five of them waited in the holding area, which, in keeping with the theme,
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was designed as a drawbridge just outside the castle doors, it was easy to forget
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that just outside these walls, the mall hummed with normalcy.
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Inside, it was a world of puzzles and riddles where the goal was simple,
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solve the clues, unlock the doors, and emerge as the victor.
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But this group wasn't here to play nice. The competition between them ran deeper
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than most realized, and they refused to form teams.
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Instead, they opted to face the challenge alone, each entering the first room one by one.
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Behind every playful remark was a sharp edge of tension, An unspoken contest
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to see who would rise to the top.
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All five would begin the game, but by the time they'd unlocked their final door,
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only four would walk out alive.
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Time seemed to stretch and slow in the dimly lit corridors of the escape room.
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More than an hour had crawled by before the first of the friends finally emerged
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from the castle's back doorway.
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Claiming victory over the.
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Music.
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Some sort of prank expecting Jenner to sneak up behind them because he'd finished so quickly.
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Then, they convinced themselves it was a rare moment where the golden boy,
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the one who always excelled, might have finally met his match.
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Nobody expected Jenner to lose, yet as the minutes bled into more and more minutes,
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concern began to seep into their bravado.
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Then, outright disbelief.
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Music.
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Jenner wasn't coming out,
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exchanging nervous glances the group approached the front
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desk together nobody wanted to lose sight of anyone since Jenner disappeared
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Maya reiterated her feeling the castle was creepy the guys all decided Jenner
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must have gotten hurt because it was dark Jenkins shared his opinion that it
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was kind of ironic after teasing Maya or maybe it was karma,
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Eddie Young, the 16-year-old employee who had checked them in,
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appeared from behind the counter.
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He didn't bother to hide his disinterest or lack of concern as he continued
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scrolling on his iPhone while walking the group to the front of the castle.
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He dissolved into uncertainty as he led the friends back into the labyrinth
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of rooms, and they still didn't find Jenner.
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He didn't answer when they called out to him either.
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Without the surround sound music and voice track Playing in each room,
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the silence was jarring to their already frazzled nerves.
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The only sound that broke through the stillness was their voices,
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each desperately calling out their friend's name.
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Music.
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Only answer were the echoes of their own voices bouncing off the chamber walls,
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and it dawned on them all at once, something was very wrong.
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Silence followed them as they retraced their steps, and for some reason they
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all remained dead silent when they entered the third room.
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They may have been holding their breath.
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Music.
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Jenner Smith lay motionless on
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the floor, his athletic frame reduced to a grotesque tableau of violence.
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The once invincible star of Riverton High was lifeless, forever altered by the
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sharp edge of someone's hatred.
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Plunged into his chest, an antique knife gleamed dully under the dim light,
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its ornate handle an unsettling contrast to the brutality of the act.
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But it was his face that froze them in horror. His once handsome features had
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been grotesquely mutilated, carved into a macabre Glasgow smile.
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The corners of his mouth had been sliced clean through to his ears,
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turning his final expression into a permanent, twisted grin of death.
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Panic erupted like a dam breaking, and nobody acted rationally.
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All of them lost control of their senses and apparently of their bodies.
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Well, they were scared for themselves, scared for each other,
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and scared of each other.
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They jostled one another. Someone pushed, another tripped, confusion and terror, reading chaos.
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Accusations flew like daggers. By the time the detectives arrived,
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the scene was a chaotic mess of bloody footprints, tear-streaked faces,
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and stories that overlapped and wildly contradicted each other.
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Jenner's death had transformed the friends into suspects, and the air was electric
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with fear and suspicion.
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Detective Sarah McAllister arrived,
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her sharp eyes taking in the mess with a practice calm.
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Behind her, Detective Mike Ramirez
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followed, his brow furrowed in a mix of frustration and determination.
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They quickly cordoned off the escape room, pulling the teens apart like pieces
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of a puzzle they had yet to solve.
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Each one placed in a separate room, their choking sobs muffled behind closed
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doors as the detectives began their work.
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The knife, which they initially believed to be part of the escape room's decor,
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quickly revealed itself to be far more sinister.
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Its handle was etched with unique markings, ornate, antique designs that would
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soon prove crucial in identifying its origin.
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Even more disturbing was the duct tape. A loose, bloodied strip clung to Jenner's
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chin, evidence that his mouth had been sealed before the mutilation.
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His nostrils, too, had been taped shut, suffocating him in silence before the final act of violence.
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His wrists and ankles bore the harsh red marks of zip ties further bound with
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layers of more duct tape that told a story of methodical cruelty,
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but also explained how he was incapacitated and silenced immediately.
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They secured the scene before it became further desecrated.
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McAllister knelt beside the body,
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her gloved fingers tracing the intricate markings on the antique knife.
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She couldn't quite put her finger on the intricate rose embossed in the handle of the silver knife.
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Sterling, perhaps, or pewter, not stainless, she thought.
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She snapped photos of the whole knife and a close-up of the rose emblem with her iPhone.
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As soon as she had time, she would run it through that new technology she had
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recently discovered, Google Lens.
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She would be able to trace the origin of that knife soon enough.
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Detective Ramirez examined the scene, trying to track down where the tape came from.
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He was certain someone had the rest of the roll stashed away.
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His eyes continued sweeping the room for any clue that could unveil the killer.
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Ramirez was an observer of people, expressions, and body language.
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He studied the eyes and listened intently, a man of few words until he formed his gut feeling.
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He'd already noted some disturbing details.
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The brief statements that followed were a tangled web of half-truths,
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confusion, and suspicion.
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Each teen swore they hadn't seen Jenner since entering the escape room.
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They also all swore they hadn't seen each other until they finished and escaped.
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Their stories twisted when it came to the order in which they exited,
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leaving that critical detail unanswered for the time being.
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The only thing they all agreed on, no one was bloody when they first stepped
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back into the escape room's exit area.
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McAllister noted that they all had selective memories and convenient gaps in their accounts.
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Ramirez, his senses on high alert, noted they were all displaying a mixture
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of anxiety, fear, and fear.
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Of course, shock. McAllister took down their brief statements in her notebook.
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All the conversations were to be continued down at the station.
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Her expertise in interrogation would be put to the test.
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She had a few tricks up her sleeve already, and she had already determined the
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order she wanted to have them come in.
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First, Maya, McAllister would drive her straight to the station.
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She wasn't sure she'd hold up much longer.
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She'd have Blake come in right after Maya.
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He too appeared on the verge of
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breakdown. She'd likely have to extend the interviews over a couple days.
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But Myers would be up next. She'd need to be on the top of her game with Myers.
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It was already clear he didn't appreciate being questioned, to say the least.
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And then she'd need some time to gather all her information thus far.
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She expected the stories to conflict and hoped to fill in the gaps and tie up
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the loose ends with Jenkins and his dad.
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Separately, of course. Her instincts told her to talk to Jenkins last,
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give him time to mentally run through the day several times.
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She was counting on him to come through with some strong insight and provide
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the nuances she would need to reveal the truth.
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Her interview with Eddie Young, the employee who had checked the teens in at
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the front desk and had unknowingly led them to the scene of the murder,
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would take place on site before she left with Maya.
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She didn't think she'd need too long with him. Meanwhile, Ramirez would be analyzing
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all the surveillance video available and take it back to the station.
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She knew he'd work through the night. She also knew she couldn't do that herself.
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She had to be fresh and on point for every single interview over the next couple days.
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Coffee alone wouldn't cut it.
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McAllister and Ramirez gathered the kids and instructed them to head directly
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home and to avoid talking about the case, especially to each other.
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The detectives weren't naive.
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They understood teenagers usually weren't big rule followers,
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and these particular teens had proven they definitely were not.
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As they left, McAllister instructed each teen to check out with Ramirez.
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He would confirm their addresses, home phone numbers, and collect their mobile phones for processing.
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Naturally, the teens protested, but Ramirez quickly shut them down,
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explaining that the phones were evidence.
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He warned them that noncompliance would only give him grounds to suspect them
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further, and he could easily get a court order to confiscate the phones anyway.
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The thought of spending a night in jail wasn't appealing, and the idea of starting
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off on the wrong foot with the detective was even worse.
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No one wanted to risk having the murder pinned on them just because Ramirez
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didn't believe their story.
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Ramirez then asked each of them to describe Jenner's demeanor before entering the escape room.
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He was trying to assess Jenner's state of mind, whether he was blissfully unaware
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or frightened for his life, to help determine the next steps in the investigation.
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Maya Canten, her face pale and her hands trembling, described Jenner as confident
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and excited before they entered the room.
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Yet her words were hollow, as though the weight of what she had seen had drained
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her of everything but shock.
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Ramirez found her statement to be a throwaway, devoid of detail,
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and not revealing much of anything.
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Ramirez also categorized her statement as a lie.
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Winston, wide-eyed and visibly shaking, expressed his opinion that Jenner was
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quiet before entering the room.
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And he is not a quiet guy. He made sure to mention Jenner was his best friend.
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He loved him and he would never hurt him.
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Blake was near panic and quick to deny fear, Ramirez concluded.
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Jenkins Smith, the surviving twin, sat stone-faced, his grief tightly controlled,
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more focused on protecting Maya than mourning the brother, who had been his other half,
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refused to talk to Ramirez, instead turning to Maya to ask if she were still
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cold, and offering to buy her an escape room sweatshirt to cover up.
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Ramirez was intrigued by his behavior. Was he diverting attention from himself
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or protecting Maya, or both?
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It was obvious he wanted to think things through before he spoke to the police.
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Ramirez labeled him deceptive.
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And then there was Meyer Smith, calm, collected, his expression unnervingly
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serene in the midst of chaos.
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Asking the detective if he had any suspects in mind, Ramirez found this cavalier,
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since it was obvious any one of them could be the culprit.
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As an afterthought, he mentions Jenner was his usual cocky self, controlling the game.
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It was that unsettling composure that made the detective's eyes linger on him a little longer.
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Ultimately, Ramirez's gut told him this one was trying hard to be mysterious.
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So far, it was working. The teens' carefully crafted personas were unraveling,
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each hiding behind layers of lies and secrets,
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slowly be exposed. And detectives McAllister and Ramirez were certain it was
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only a matter of time before one of them cracked.
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And that's a wrap on episode one. Any developing theories yet on what led to
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Jenner Smith's untimely demise?
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Join me next time for episode two, where I'll dig deeper into the lives of the
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witnesses, or should I say suspects, and you'll hear firsthand what they have to say.
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Until then, stay sharp and remember, nothing is ever exactly as it seems.
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Infinite thanks for listening.
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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,
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no worries, you're not alone.
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But before you go, remember, the mystery doesn't end here enjoyed this episode?
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Show some love share slice of crimes with your friends,
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that's probably you your five star ratings and killer reviews help keep these
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investigations coming and I couldn't do it without you got your own theories? burning questions?
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Or maybe a case you think I should tackle next? I'm all ears 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.