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The Only Suspect

The Only Suspect

Released Wednesday, 12th December 2018
 1 person rated this episode
The Only Suspect

The Only Suspect

The Only Suspect

The Only Suspect

Wednesday, 12th December 2018
 1 person rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

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0:01

A note to the listener. The following

0:03

story contains some adult content and language.

0:16

Once was a square, such

0:18

a square, little square, and

0:20

he loved the trim triangle. But

0:24

she was a flirt, and around a skirt vainly

0:27

she made him dangle. Oh,

0:29

he wanted the wed, and he had no dread

0:31

at the mess that woes and wrangles, for

0:34

he thought that his fate was to pro cuiriate

0:37

cute little squares and triangles. That's

0:41

a good one. Girl

0:45

has a dream. Girl moves to tinseltown.

0:48

Girl gets a day job where girl meets

0:50

doctor, renowned playboy doctor.

0:52

The doctor falls for the girl. Maybe the girl rejects

0:55

the doctor. The doctor doesn't like that because the

0:57

doctor is used to getting what he wants. The

0:59

girl is later found dissected in a parking

1:01

lot. Must have been the doctor. That's

1:05

the only theory that I've ever read about the prime

1:07

suspect in the Angel of Vine case. And

1:10

unfortunately for Dr Adler Harrison, it

1:12

was the only theory that anyone read. Montgomery,

1:16

Palmer and the detectives in the investigation had

1:18

nothing. They were grasping

1:20

at straws from the get go, and due

1:22

to the geographic happenstance of Marlene

1:24

and Adler's respective workplaces. Adler

1:28

was the longest straw, and

1:30

so the media paid more attention to the possibility

1:32

of his guilt than his actual exoneration. This

1:36

led to the end of a prominent medical

1:38

career and any aspirations as a Hollywood

1:40

socialite. Harrison

1:42

was doctor to the Stars. He

1:44

ran with the original rat pack, which

1:46

did not include Sammy and Dean. By the way,

1:49

Sinatra recall Bogard, Hepburn,

1:51

Spencer, Tracy. The list goes on. He

1:54

was hob nobbing with royalty,

1:57

but once Confidential magazine to follow up

2:00

off piece labeling him the Surgeon Slasher,

2:03

he became an instant pariah, ousted

2:06

from high society as well as their annual

2:08

physicals, and so Adler

2:10

Harrison disappeared from the public eye along

2:12

with his practice. But

2:14

if Adler Harrison really is innocent, then

2:18

why is he standing in the office of the man who might

2:20

know where Marlene Marie Evans was the night of her

2:22

death from

2:29

Vox Populai and the Los Angeles.

2:31

Harold, this is the Angel

2:34

of Vine. My

2:37

old heart ain't

2:41

gaining no ground

2:46

because my angels

2:50

appies

2:59

here. Drop up the script.

3:02

Oh no, no, need to get up. I could just hand it right

3:04

to it. I'm

3:07

sorry, he just ship. Should

3:10

I call security? You're Adler, Harrison Adler.

3:13

Should I call security? No? Not if you

3:15

want to keep your job you want. I don't think

3:17

Leonard shouted be too happy to know that just any random

3:20

stranger could get into his office. All right, just

3:22

calm down, that won't

3:25

be necessary, imagin Just close

3:27

the door and go back to work. Yes, Adler,

3:33

who are you? Doesn't concern you,

3:36

says the man who's breaking and entering.

3:38

What are you doing here? You don't get

3:40

to ask the questions right now? You're not supposed

3:43

to be in here? What were you looking

3:45

for in there? Where the hell do you get

3:47

off telling me where I am

3:49

and am not supposed to be? So you're

3:51

saying, that's Leonard Show secretary. That's

3:53

what you're telling me. Sure you want to stick

3:55

to that story. That's

3:58

not show secretary. That is

4:01

Mr Shaw's secretary. Why

4:03

wouldn't you think she was his girl? His

4:06

girl? You Hollywood people have got

4:08

a strange way of thinking. Because

4:11

she calls you Adler genius twice,

4:14

you should tell your lookout to be a little more formal.

4:17

Mr Harrison ah

4:22

Shaw is not going to improve of this. Have

4:25

you two shacking up? Shall

4:28

send you to spy on me? No,

4:30

you didn't send me, but she'll get caught eventually.

4:34

Actually never met the man towards

4:37

the plan you do ransack in the office

4:39

running away together. What if

4:42

you don't tell me why

4:44

you're here? I may change my mind about that call

4:46

to security. What

4:50

the hell I'm

4:52

invested getting a murder? Yeah?

4:56

Funny, I should find you here, don't you thank you? Murder?

4:59

Well? What the hell would Leonard Shawn know about a murder?

5:02

I don't know yet, but I wouldn't share

5:04

that with you if I did. Fair

5:07

enough, I went she I'm going to

5:09

be back. I don't know. Well,

5:12

seeing as I'm already here, maybe you can clear

5:15

up a few things for me. I would

5:17

rather we do this elsewhere. You're

5:19

afraid of image and all of a sudden, we

5:22

can talk to my office. Your

5:24

office, Yes, my office. I'm

5:26

the studios doctor, not a damn production liey.

5:30

Congratulations, Yeah,

5:32

sure, I can't wait to see what you've done

5:34

with the place. From

5:43

here, they take a long, silent walk

5:45

across the lot to Adler's office. All

5:48

you can hear are their footsteps and

5:50

a bicycle ball at one point, to which Adler

5:52

responds, good morning. It

5:56

felt very intense, and I'll admit

5:58

that that maybe that's because of all the

6:00

questions running rampant through my mind while listening

6:02

to it for the first time. But

6:04

why wouldn't it be tense? This

6:07

man was a potential killer who

6:09

had either a sixth sense of humor or

6:11

an involuntary sense of irony, because

6:14

the only thing he asked Hank on the walk was

6:16

this, have you seen that new picture?

6:18

Twelve angry men? I

6:20

have not. Mhm, you

6:23

should? Everyone should. I

6:28

want to take a moment here to acknowledge those

6:30

of you who have followed the angel le Vine prior

6:32

to this podcast and have been waiting very patiently

6:35

for this part of the story. Immediately

6:38

following our first episode,

6:40

I started getting tweets and emails like

6:43

it was Dr Harrison, wasn't it? Oh, come on, you

6:45

can tell me? Or is there

6:47

anything new with Adler Harrison. The

6:49

most popular sentiment by far was similar

6:52

to this, please tell me there's a tape

6:54

of Adler Harrison's confession. Please.

6:57

Almost every character of that tweet was any

7:00

and I get it even I jumped

7:02

the gun and brought up Adler's involvement more than a few

7:04

times prior to this episode. Actually,

7:07

I would cite his name while recording these little

7:09

transitions, and my producer would tell

7:11

me I couldn't because anyone unfamiliar with

7:13

the case wouldn't understand what the hell I was talking

7:15

about. Well, here we

7:17

are. We're finally going to get everyone caught

7:20

up. It's the attraction

7:22

to the unknown. Here, the

7:24

what if. Let's

7:26

say that everything that we can research in

7:28

this case about dr Adler Harrison is

7:30

analogous to your typical Sunday

7:32

flea market. Right. You go back,

7:35

maybe not every week, but often enough

7:37

that you're sure you've seen everything it has

7:39

to offer. Um rusted

7:41

soft drink signs, stainless steel lighters,

7:43

and loose pezz Dispenser's restored

7:46

mid century living room set, a radio flyer

7:48

full of old toys. But you

7:50

you can't help but look around, just in case

7:52

there's something you may have missed, maybe

7:54

some unknown treasure, something that looks

7:56

like junk, but it it's actually worth a

7:58

fortune. The seven all our oil painting

8:01

that turned out to be an original renoir. But

8:05

that's the thing. No matter

8:07

how many times you go back, there's

8:09

never a rent war. It's always

8:11

the same information as before. But

8:15

there is an almost rabid fascination

8:17

with Adler. Theorists

8:19

and self proclaimed fanatics of this

8:21

case have gone as far as to create anagrams

8:24

from his name, as if that were

8:26

going to uncover some long lost clue.

8:29

And if you can tell me the significance of overran

8:32

harmless adrenaline, I will personally

8:35

let you host the final episode of this podcast.

8:39

So why, hm, why

8:42

are we so sure that he did it? It

8:44

isn't because the press of the police told us

8:47

that he was the most logical suspect. It's

8:51

because he was the most logical

8:53

suspect exhibiting.

8:58

Marlen Murray Evans worked part time as a

9:00

receptionist for a pediatrist in the

9:02

same medical building that housed Adler's practice.

9:06

What got the attention of the police was

9:08

Exhibit B numerous accounts

9:11

of Marlene and Adler seen together around

9:13

the common areas of the building Exhibit

9:16

C. One very specific

9:18

account was that of Anderson Lobli, one of

9:20

the security guards at Midway Hospital. He

9:23

recalls Adler visibly upset

9:25

while talking to Marlene He said he remembered

9:27

thinking he would have to intervene when Adler grabbed

9:30

her by the arm. But Exhibit

9:32

D was what led to his arrest,

9:35

the fact that he wasn't just any old doctor.

9:38

One. He had access to

9:41

both pentobarbital and cicco barbatal,

9:43

the drugs found in marlene system. Two.

9:47

Adler's father, Dr Richard Harrison,

9:49

was a neurosurgeon who studied under one of

9:51

the pioneers of neurosurgery, Harvey

9:53

Cushing, so we can assume that from an early

9:55

age Adler was exposed to knowledge

9:57

of the human spine. Three.

10:01

Adler was set to follow in his father's footsteps

10:03

after medical school, so he would have been well

10:06

versed in anatomy, dissection, and the

10:08

ability to deftly wield sharp surgical

10:10

instruments. Four.

10:14

Neurosurgery was in its infant stage. Back

10:17

surgery required large posterior

10:19

incisions, or more graphically, cutting

10:21

through the muscle and tissue of the back.

10:24

It's a reach, but it was similar enough

10:27

to the way Marley Marie Evans was mutilated that

10:29

the detectives arrested Adler in his office

10:31

three days after she was found. But

10:34

with a lack of evidence and a decent alibi

10:37

that placed him out of town at the time of the murder.

10:40

They couldn't hold him.

10:42

Adler Harrison was released from police custody

10:44

and became a dead end the moment he walked

10:46

out of that precinct. So

10:52

where were are you at night? You're not even

10:54

slightly amazing. I wasn't trying to be

10:57

Okay, who are you, thank brag.

11:00

I'm a private investigator who

11:02

hired you. Where were you the night of the murder?

11:05

You're kidding? You said, wait until we were in

11:07

your office. We're in your office. Now, where

11:09

were you? I was cleared, not

11:12

by me, you weren't. Don't

11:14

make me ask you again. I

11:21

was in Phoenix. Yeah, yeah, I read

11:23

the statement from the surgeon at Northern Mount Hospital.

11:26

What the part I missed was what you were doing there?

11:30

I can't answer that. Don't give me that doctor

11:32

patient confidentiality speech you gave

11:34

the detectives. I'm not a cup

11:37

and I don't have to behave like one. How

11:40

would you like drink talk? My

11:45

patient was shooting a movie

11:47

on location and felt ill. Then

11:49

I have doctors in Phoenix. You

11:52

must know who some of my patients

11:54

were, and it is essential

11:57

to them, not only to them, to their employers

12:00

at their reputations remain

12:02

protective. I don't care about patients, studios,

12:04

and reputations. The only thing I care about right

12:07

now is that I'm not talking to the man who killed

12:09

an innocent woman. Oh Christ, will you shut

12:11

your trap already? Bonanza

12:14

Airlines round trip. I wasn't

12:16

anywhere near Los Angeles. You

12:18

told me to shoot anything again, and you're gonna

12:21

taste that disk. You

12:25

always keep your boarding passes? Uh

12:27

No, But under the whirlwind of circumstances

12:29

I returned to I thought it would be best to hold onto

12:31

that one. Smart. It

12:34

was an emergency appendect to me. Okay, while

12:37

they were filming, my patient experienced an abdominal

12:39

pain severe enough that he fell off his horse. Why

12:42

wouldn't you just tell the cops that, Oh

12:45

come on, and he was a leading man, a cowboy

12:47

falling off his horse. Can you imagine Hopper's headlines?

12:49

No, I took my

12:52

job very seriously, and

12:55

I still do what happened that day

12:57

you grabbed Marline. I never

12:59

grabbed her. I don't know why Anderson.

13:02

I don't know why he would say that, other than he's yearning

13:06

for the spotlight. You

13:08

know how it is when you rent a cops. But

13:11

you did have an altercation. She

13:13

was always flirtatious,

13:17

a lovely smile. I thought

13:19

we were flirtatious. It was

13:21

wrong, I guess she uh if you had heard

13:23

about my reputation, went too many stories

13:26

about nights out on the strip. And she wouldn't

13:28

accompany me to dinner. She was afraid

13:30

that people would immediately assume the wrong idea of

13:32

her. I told her she was being ridiculous.

13:36

She didn't deserve that, and

13:39

she just left the way she was. You saw

13:41

the crime scene photos, Yeah,

13:46

the first thing they showed me when they brought me in to

13:51

quote Detective Perkins, Maybe

13:53

this will shake you up. What

13:57

can you tell me about Leonard Shaw? What

13:59

do you I don't know. He's quite the entertainer

14:02

I hear, mm hmm. It

14:05

was not for a while now, Well

14:08

then it must be pretty quiet and bell air these

14:10

days from what I heard about those parties. What

14:15

what was that? What that's

14:17

smirk? Let's smirk? You smirk

14:20

just now? What didn't smirked?

14:23

What aren't you telling me you

14:25

are out of here? Don't you ship ad at me? What?

14:29

Doctor patient confidentiality. He's

14:33

sick, yeah, and

14:35

he pays me a lot of money to

14:38

make sure that stays out of the papers. Well,

14:41

I need to see him. Well, I wish you the

14:43

best of luck in your endeavors. I

14:46

need to ask him some questions, Adler, And

14:49

you want me to do? What? Interrupt his ranting

14:51

to say, Oh, Leonard, this p

14:53

I just broke into your office and he wants to give you the third

14:55

degree in the privacy of your own home. I

14:58

think you should hear him out. I mean, m

15:00

hm. He would certainly

15:02

find the energy to crack a Brandy snifter across

15:04

my skull. I don't really care how you get

15:06

me in there. Give him

15:09

this and tell him I won't take

15:11

up much of his time. What could

15:13

he possibly have to offer you? Sorry,

15:17

investigator client confidentiality.

15:28

Now, to all the devotees, theorists

15:30

and fanatics, I

15:32

don't know what to tell you, and I

15:35

have a feeling many of you maybe in doubt after

15:37

all, and I'm playing devil's advocate here. We

15:39

can't see what Adler placed on the desk. We

15:42

don't know if the boarding pass was real, right it

15:46

was his alibi checked

15:49

out? And you don't have to take my

15:51

word for it. Take Hanks.

15:57

Oh no, there's no way you're

15:59

getting me up in one of those things. He

16:03

sunny legs, looking better. Yeah,

16:07

the old lady says, you can hardly notice a limp anymore.

16:09

How's she doing? Same? Old ready

16:12

to pop? I tell you, hoping

16:14

for a little boy, just out for healthy with ten

16:16

fingers and ten toes. You know it. Hank's

16:19

staying out of trouble. You know who I am.

16:22

The more bars, the more more

16:24

cop bars. Anyway, Well that makes two

16:26

of us. How's that doing it? I

16:29

haven't heard from him. Yanked him right

16:31

off the street after all of that, stuck him

16:33

trapped in a box. Those guys were

16:35

killed. It wasn't gonna let

16:37

that happen. You're a good kid, always

16:40

been a good kid. You just gotta stop

16:42

stepping in piles of trouble. No more

16:45

of that for me, Hank. I promised you guys,

16:47

straight and narrow, good boy. I mean,

16:50

other than this, this doesn't

16:52

count. Do you get the list?

16:55

Yep? That's

16:58

the one. YEA got it? What

17:02

can I see? It's Sonny? Oh

17:04

oh yeah, yeah,

17:08

and uh he got what you're looking for, the

17:11

son of a bitch was in Phoenix. Yeah,

17:15

yeah, it does here

17:18

you go for your troubles. Oh yeah, if

17:21

I spotty? Are you sure you're

17:24

better? Positive? Before I changed my mind? Put

17:26

that list back where you found it. You

17:28

gotta heck, let's see how to add

17:30

for me, will you? And thanks? Come

17:37

on, Hank, thank you. Headler

17:40

didn't do it, then, who the hell did? That's

17:43

the sixty four question, sounder,

17:47

bitch, Let's

17:50

see how much of this we got left? No

17:55

Shaw, no more Adler,

17:59

no their leads. The

18:03

five tapes that follow are of Hank from

18:05

his office. He's talking

18:08

to himself, pacing, cursing, racking

18:10

his brain to the point of mental exhaustion. On

18:13

one tape, he falls asleep, and it's nothing but snoring

18:15

for four hours. He

18:17

tries to make sense out of literally

18:19

nothing, everything short of anagrams of Adler's

18:22

name. He goes over every

18:24

detail we've covered so far, and

18:27

then he goes over all of it again. He

18:29

reads the autopsy, Perkins crime scene

18:31

report, picks apart every sentence

18:34

of Adler's file, and the only conclusion

18:36

that he comes to is that someone, at

18:38

one point everyone is

18:40

lying to him. He starts to sound

18:43

a little desperate and juvenile, sometimes

18:45

drunk and incredibly onely. I

18:48

felt sorry for him,

18:50

but that faded quickly when I remember that Hank

18:52

had a family through all of this, his

18:55

wife Lois, seven year old Phillis,

18:58

and her younger sister Arlene. In

19:01

my own mental exhaustion, my marathon

19:03

of listening to tape after tape, I

19:06

still had no idea how long it had been

19:08

since he'd been home, and

19:10

I remembered my exchange with Phyllis. My

19:14

mother used to say, all he cared about was

19:16

that dead girl met and Angel.

19:19

It makes more sense now. Gi

19:22

was a tough cookie, all

19:26

right, Maybe the mccombo or the truck. Are

19:30

you kidding me? It's gonna have any idea?

19:32

What the hell you're talking about it? You're

19:35

an idiot, damn

19:39

it. Two

19:44

little girls you've fostered. Calm down,

19:47

What the hell did you? You don't forget about

19:49

me? I don't care about me. You can tell me to

19:51

go to hell for all though. All I care about but what they

19:53

missed? You working, always working

19:55

for? What? Take her home? What you

19:58

like? Other propos lives better than yours? This

20:01

of this, piles and piles of ship

20:07

and who's watching the kids look at

20:09

this thing. Damn it. This wasn't cheap, the kids

20:12

of the dotty It's not been the damn thing.

20:14

Well, why do you even need to turn it on? You had

20:16

no business bringing it down here. And I'm on a case.

20:18

Hen turn that thing off. I think better

20:21

with it on. There's too many thoughts to

20:23

connect that I don't know when something's gonna

20:25

click. You're worry me, man, This

20:27

this is the work. Ain't not gonna worry

20:29

about what says? You've been hold maybe

20:31

five times in the past month. It's able.

20:35

Have you been sleeping here when I got to explain

20:37

myself to you now too? And

20:41

I had a lead. Go home,

20:43

Hank, see your daughters,

20:53

and this is the work. Yeah.

21:10

I can only assume that Hank made an occasional

21:12

appearance at home because there were no further visits

21:15

from Lois or ed. That

21:17

said, the next eleven tapes

21:20

of Hank are more of the same of what I described

21:22

earlier. He sounds almost manic

21:24

at times as he airs his frustrations. Eleven

21:28

tapes weeks

21:30

of self imposed mental torture over a lack

21:33

of clairvoyance. What am I missing? What am I

21:35

not seeing? What

21:37

he couldn't have seen were the two

21:39

looming phone calls that would change everything.

21:50

Hey Briggs Hello.

22:02

The Angel Levine is a podcast produced

22:04

by Vox Populi on behalf of the Los

22:07

Angeles Harold. Thank

22:10

you for listening to the Angel of Vine. If

22:12

you'd like to support us, please leave us a

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Angel of Vine is available on Apple Podcasts,

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the Angel of Vine, please check out our bonus

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cast interviews, behind the scenes stories,

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more. Go to Stitcher Premium dot com

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Angel to get your first month of Stitcher

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Premium free. The Angel

22:43

of Vine is directed by E Ryan Martz, written

22:46

by Oliver Vacare, Story by e Ryan

22:48

Marts, Jason Salwalt and Oliver Vacare.

22:51

Sound designed by Joel Robbie and Matt Tamarillo.

22:54

Produced by Vox Populi in association

22:56

with Forever Dog Podcast Network. This

22:58

episode's performances is by Joe

23:01

Manganello, Constant Zimmer Camilla

23:03

Luddington, Mike Colter, Misha

23:06

Collins, Matthew Mercer, Rebecca

23:08

Field, Delaney, Helen Cree,

23:11

Summer, and Oliver Vakare. Angelis

23:13

is performed by Desy Dennis Dylan piano

23:16

and arrangement by James Harper. Composed

23:19

by Matt Dennis, lyrics by Earl Brent

23:23

from downtown Los Angeles. This

23:25

has been the angel le Vine. You'll

23:28

hear more from us soon. Oh

23:37

is my a Joe?

23:41

Excuse

23:47

me? While

23:53

live DEEPPI.

24:01

His is

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