Episode five of eight. Elaine plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse while Vince, Madge, and Crandall try to uncover the meaning of a mysterious phrase.
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The Mutual Audio Network
Spoken Signal Podcast: Agents, Episode 5(080524)
(upbeat music) This episode is brought to you by Experian. Are you paying for subscriptions you don't use, but can't find the time or energy to cancel them? Experian could cancel unwanted subscriptions for you, saving you an average of $270 per year, and plenty of time. Download the Experian app. Results will vary, not all subscriptions are eligible. Savings are not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected payment account required. This is Monday, Matinee, on the Mutual Audio Network. Come on, let's all go to the lobby, because people are staring at us listening to these shows while we're in the theater. - The following audio drama is rated PG-13, suggesting that all children under the age of 13 should listen accompanied with an adult. - All right, you bastard, time to wake up and fess up. Who sent you? - Dr. Margolis? - Yes? - Hi, I'm Claire Burke. I'm with the new Midwest Herald. - Ms. Burke, this room is off limits. How did you get past the guard? - Oh, your guard seems to take a lot of bathroom breaks. He must keep himself pretty hydrated. - Well, I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave. - Is this the man, the one who shot up K&MW last night? - Who is he? - Ms. Burke, all I can say is that we have a John Doe who is fighting to recover from three gunshot wounds. If there's a story here, he is the only one who can tell it. And as you can see, he is in no condition. - Right, well, in that case, how about I ask you a few questions? - I just told you literally everything I know about this man. - We'll talk about other things then. Your work here, your background. - Is that newsworthy? - Could be. Sometimes you go looking for a scoop and find a human interest story instead. - How are you around blood and guts? - Little queasy, maybe. - Well, I'm due for a visit to the trauma ward. You're welcome to keep up as long as you can. (upbeat music) - Spoken signal audio drama presents Agents by Robert Arnold. Episode five, stage 11. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Wow, so this was radio's office on a mess. How did he ever get any work done? Sorry, I'm not speaking ill, I just-- - What did you want to ask me about, Mr. Harris? - Right, stage 11. - Which is? - It's something radio asked me to remember. It seemed important. Does it mean anything to you? - Hmm, coming from him, maybe? The K&MW transmitting station runs our broadcast signal through 10 amplifier stages to get it up to strength. But as far as I know, there is no stage 11. - Weird, where is the transmitting station? - Way out in the countryside. A radio was in charge of the guys out there. You want me to get one of them on the phone? - Sure, that would be great. (upbeat music) - Ringing, there you go. And just to warn you, they can be a little-- - What? - Yeah. - Hello, yes, this is Vincent Harris. I know you don't know me, but Claude Fellows gave me some information that I need to ask you about. - Uh-huh. - What can you tell me about stage 11? - Who did you say this was? - I'm Vincent Harris. I'm here at K&MW with Madge Preston. - Sorry, pal. Unless Claude tells me otherwise, stage 11's got nothing to do with you. - But-- (phone ringing) He hung up. - I'm not surprised. It's kind of like a lighthouse out there, and the guys who run it are the crazy keepers. - He said he wouldn't talk to anybody but radio, but he knew what I meant, I'm sure of it. - Wait, what did he say exactly? He said, unless Claude tells him otherwise, stage 11's got nothing to do with me. - Unless Claude tells him. Huh, you know, those guys really are isolated out there, and the station hasn't put out a statement yet about the shooting. It's possible the transmission engineers haven't gotten wind of it. - So? - So they may not realize radio's been killed. They may still be expecting to hear from him. - Okay, but does that help us? It's not like we have another Claude for them to talk to. - Sure, we do. - And can you squeeze my hand, please, Mr. Wallace? - Good, that's good. - So you got your degree at NMU. - And I've been working here ever since. - That's an awfully quick biography, Doctor. How about any particularly memorable cases? Any patients that stand out? None that I can think of. You're making good progress, Mr. Wallace. Keep it up, the nurse will be by to check on you. No special cases in 10 years. Come on, Doctor. I'm interested in your story. Why are you being so tight-lipped? Officially? Because it's against hospital policy to talk to the press about our patients current or past. And unofficially? Unofficially. And with all due respect, Miss Burke. At this point, the Herald isn't much more than an outlet for the party. It reports their truth, not the truth. Why would I tell you anything that risks shining a spotlight on me for good or ill? - I'm not out to get you, Doctor. - Great, then leave me alone. - Doctor Margolis, one more thing. What can you tell me about a Mr. Jonas? - Excuse me. - Does that name ring a bell? - I believe he's some kind of radio character. - Have you ever met someone who calls himself that in real life? - I told you, Miss Burke, I can't discuss patient information with you. - He's not a patient. As near as I can figure, he's some kind of underground ringleader, presents himself as a crime fighter, patterned after the fictional character. He orchestrates a group of volunteer agents to do his bidding, which lately has involved bringing down misbehaving party leaders. Sounds a little fanciful. - I thought so too, at first. But I found traces of him all over. Why in the world are you asking me about it? - Because one of those traces points directly to you. Remember Edward Lindman? He was a territory health official whose own medical records were leaked, much to his embarrassment. I looked into it. The only way those records could have come out would have been through you. I told you, doctor, I'm not out to get you. - Then what exactly do you want? - Just the truth. The truth. Some of us still care about it. What do you say? Where's the guard? - What? - The guard, the guard outside John Doe's room. Where is he? - Probably just took another, hey, Dr. Margolis. - Damn it, he's gone. - The guard? - The patient, John Doe, he's gone. April, call security. We need to lock down this building now. - You were smart to call me for this. - You don't even know what we're doing, Lawrence. - No, but I know you were smart to call me. - Good morning, Mr. Harris. Terrible about our friend Claude, isn't it? - Yeah, sure is. - We're hoping the news hasn't made it out to the transmission station just yet. Those guys are sitting on something that Claude wanted Vince here to know. - So, match things, you can call them as radio. - Ah, say no more. - Well, I'd like to say a little more. - Play it off like you're him, okay? And ask about stage 11. - On it. (eerie music) (phone beeping) - Should we? - Shh, just listen. (phone beeping) - Hello? - Gene. - Yeah, it's me. - Hey, a chump, just checking in. - All quiet on the western front, boss. - Those high pressure systems aren't scrambling my signal, are they? - Yeah, we're all right. - Good deal. Hey, Gene, I need to talk to you about something. Stage 11. - Yeah, some guy just called up here asking about it. You put him up to it. - Sure did, chump, that was a test. Good thing you passed, or you'd be out on your butt right now. - If there's one thing I'm smart enough to do, boss, it's follow your direction. - All right, so tell me. - What for? You forget or something? - Nah, chump, I need to make sure you didn't forget. - What's with all the tests today, boss? All right, you ready? - Yep. - 14, 26, three, 38, 17, zero. - You did it, Gene. All right, take care now. Don't believe any of the lousy things they say about you. - Yeah, I'll see you, Claude. Just like that. - That was incredible. - I guess we were smart to call you. - Well, congratulations. You now have what appears to be a list of random numbers. I hope you know what to do with it. - I don't have the first idea. - Maybe it's some kind of code? - Or a password, a combination. - A combination. Is there a safe in here? And if there was, could we possibly find it in all this junk? - Well, anyway, we should look around for some kind of clue. At least until we have a better idea. I'll start digging over here. Lawrence, why don't you-- - Oh, sorry, my dear match, but that's it for me. I've got two shows coming up this afternoon. First one goes on in an hour. - And? - And I need to spend some time getting myself centered. An actor has his process, you know. Good luck, you two. - I'll start over here. (soft music) - Still recovering from his wounds, but don't be fooled. You should consider him extremely dangerous. Got it? - Got it, doctor. All right, everyone, listen up. Here's the situation. - Have they found the guard? - Not yet, which either means he's been hurt, or else he was in on it. - And you really think John Doe is still somewhere in the hospital? - He's wounded, and the whole staff was briefed on him so they know what he looks like. I don't see how he could have slipped out without being spotted. - So what happens now? - Well, the police force is on the way to sweep the building. Until then, hospital security is implementing a lockdown. No one in or out. So it looks like you're stuck here a while longer, Miss Burke. Oh, what are you gonna do? - I still have patients to take care of, so I'm going to take care of them. - All right, mind if I keep tagging along? I thought for sure I'd proven myself a lousy interview subject. - We can skip the interview if you want. In fact, you don't have to say a word. - Then what's the point of shadowing me? - Are you really gonna make me? - Fine, there's a murderer loose in the building, doctor. I'm a little freaked out, and I'd rather not be on my own, okay? Faint-heartedness is a strange treat in a news reporter, Miss Burke. All right, then, let's get going. Until tomorrow, Mr. Schwartz. - I don't think that guy's gonna make it. - He'll make it? He's in good hands and improving every day. Are you enjoying your time in the trauma ward, Miss Burke? - It's a little less gross than I imagined. I still don't see the police. - They should be here any minute. Who's next on our list? - Mrs. Marshall, 4/12. - Right here. Mrs. Marshall? Hello? - It looks like nobody's home. - I don't know where else she could be. She can barely get around. Let me check the bathroom. She may have fallen. - Mrs. Marshall? It's Dr. Margolese. Are you in there? I'm coming in, okay? Mrs. Marshall, are you? - Hey there, Doc. Look what I picked up. Seems like a real sharp scalpel. Send your pal away or the old lady here helps me dull it. Understand? - Nurse, Mrs. Marshall is fine. Will you head back down the hall and see to Mr. Schwartz? - Nurse. - What did you forget? - Don't argue with me, please, nurse. Just go. - Sure, sure. You've got no reason to hurt her. - No, but I got a reason to hurt you. Imagine that, waking up here and realizing, I know you. You're the one who broke up our little party last night, aren't you? What exactly were you doing at that radio station, Doc? - We can talk about this in a reasonable-- - We can. Or else I can just finish what I started last night. Finish it right here. - I guess that all depends on what you want. You've got a far better chance of getting out of this hospital with me than without me. - Hmm, and you may have a point. Okay, the old lady can stay here, but you and me see about making a quiet getaway. Good. Now open the door. Just a little lookout. Tell me what you see. And remember, this knife is not moving from your throat, so don't do anything stupid. - Haven't reported when they get to the entrance. Tom, where are we with the door to door sweep the building? - Well? - Hospital security officers. - Looking for me? - Who do you think? They've got the whole building on lockdown. The police force will be here any second to conduct a sweep. - Then maybe you and me need to find a backway out of here. - There's an elevator-- - Hold still. - There's an elevator from this floor that opens directly into the parking garage. You need my badge to access it. We should go quickly. This room isn't safe. - What do you mean? - Mrs. Marshall was being treated for botulism. It's deadly and it's highly transmissible. If you come into contact with anything that has her blood on it, like say that IV, you pulled out of her arm. - Now why in the world would I-- - Ugh! - Ah, ah, she struck me! She struck me with a dirty needle! You're crazy! - Listen to me. The bacteria is already coursing through your veins. Within minutes, your insides will start to liquefy. We may still be able to save you, but we have to act now. - Ugh, fine! Go, go! - Johnston, we've got him, he's in here. - Don't move you. Good work, Doc. Eastman, we got him. - Oh God, God! I can feel it! Help me! Help me! - Oh, turns out you're pretty brave after all, Miss Burke. Thank you for not leaving me alone with him. - I got the message. What was really in that IV, Doc? - Vitamins. Honestly, you did him a favor. - Anything? - Sure, I found the answer 10 minutes ago. I just didn't tell you. - Ah, we've been looking for hours. I think we may be on the wrong track. - Well, we can't just quit. - Well, you can? What's your stake in all this? Man, you must have other things to do. - My stake? Claude was my friend. - Of course, sorry. Okay, I'll start sifting through this next precarious tower of junk. - Well, I've done it again. - Crandall? - I thought you were centering yourself. - That's exactly what I was doing, my old friend. I centered, I gave one amazing performance as Dr. Krasha, then I began re-centering myself to take on the mantle of the mysterious Mr. Jonas. And in the calmness of my mind, something came to me. Is that computer on? Great, watch this. The Adventures of Mr. Jonas, season four, episode 17, Jonas intercepts a code that appears, appears, to be nothing more than a string of random numbers. - And? - And of course they weren't random at all. They were coordinates. He entered them into the official new Midwest territory mapping system, as I am doing with your numbers right now, and voila. - What is it? - It looks like someone's house. - Yep, some little house way out in Cedarville. - Okay, who's? - Beats me. In the show, the numbers led to a mad scientist who was feeding people to his pedanaconda, so Mr. Jonas. - Hang on. Engineering, uh-huh. Yeah, he's here. Vic says you're on in five. - Tell Vic I have never missed an entrance. - Hear that, Vic? Vic says you've missed plenty. He'll be there. Okay, so the numbers point to a house? - Wait a minute, that's a different phone than the one we use to call the transmission station. - Right, this one is a dedicated line to our two production studios. - Kind of an emergency hotline for tech issues. - Okay, so regular phone, studio phone, what's that one? - You know, I don't know. (tense music) No dial tone, let me see those numbers. One, four, two, six, three, three, eight, one, seven, zero. - Well, how about that? - It opened. - Is there anything inside? - Yep. - The prison has some limited hospital facilities, so they moved him there. Of course he's not talking. - I can't believe all that. I'm just glad you're all right. - Thanks. Why don't we celebrate by walking into another dangerous situation? - I'm sorry. I told Mag and Lauren they should steer clear. I don't want to involve them any more than they already are, but they made me promise not to come alone. - I'm teasing. We're trusting each other. Remember, if you're here, I'm here. All right, this is the house. What do you want to do? - I guess we should knock first. (knocking on door) (knocking on door) Hello? Anybody home? - It's locked. - Should we try the key you found hidden in the phone? - All right. It works. - Hello? Hello? - It's dark, hang on. (screaming) - Hello. - Stay back. Stay back or I'll beat your brains out. I swear I will. - Hey, lady, relax. We just-- - I mean it. I hurt you. - Hang on, hang on. I know you. You're a Madeline Stevenson. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Episode Five of Agents was written by Robert Arnold and featured the voices of Marcus Brown as Vince, Kilby Yabro as Elaine, Mandy Martin as Burke, Renee Davis-Bream as Madge, Steven Brown as Crandall, Chris Jowers as Radio, Kendall Carcher as John Doe, and Jude Knight as Madeline. Additional Voices by Kendall Carcher, Ashley Trevathan and Gabriel Kestrel. Principal Dialogue recorded by Daniel Lin at Archer Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Original Score by Eric Jorgensen. Sound Effects by Robert Arnold with additional sounds from freesound.org and soundstripe.com. Artwork by Shane Dermott. Special thanks to Kalman Benshot, Karen Stron and Marcus Brown. Assistant directed by Karen Stron. Produced and directed by Robert Arnold. To learn more about spoken signal audio drama, here are our other productions and get in touch. Visit us at SpokenSignal.com. (upbeat music) - Hi there, are you a fan of all things horror? - Yeah, you are? - Well, in that case, find Tuesday Terrace which is the mutual audio feed that comes out on a Tuesday, believe it or not. Shark Horror, I know. But if you subscribe there, you'll find amazing horror fiction audio in your player every Tuesday. Yeah. Tuesday Terrace, subscribe to the Mutual Audio Network. - The Mutual Audio Drama Network, where we listen and imagine together. (bell chimes) (gentle music)