And That's Why We Drink - E89 Violent Tickling and a Hollywood Bonfire

Episode Date: October 14, 2018

Christine gets married this weekend (in other words, #christinegetsblaised) so we decided to release our most recent live episode from the Hollywood Improv! This is one of our fave live shows yet, and we can't wait to see more of you at our upcoming shows - see andthatswhywedrink.com for details. In this episode, Em covers the notorious Cecil Hotel, filled with doom, gloom, and vengeful ghosts. Meanwhile, Christine covers the batshit crazy unsolved Hollywood mystery of William Desmond Taylor. And that's why we drink! Get $60 off, that's $20 off your first 3 boxes, when you go to www.hellofresh.com/drink60 and enter promo code DRINK60 Get your own 11x14 Canvas People print for free (just pay shipping and handling) when you text DRINK to 484848 Visit www.stamps.com for up to $55 in free postage, a digital scale and a 4-week trial. Click the radio microphone and enter promo code DRINK Visit www.carbon38.com to get 20% off your purchase with promo code DRINK

Hey everybody, Christine here. I wanted to quickly mention that we have a couple new tour dates up. We have Kansas City, St. Louis, San Diego, and Asbury Park. So if you could go to our website, and that's whywedrink.com, click tour at the top and check out our links. That would be great, and that is where you will find all the links to our upcoming shows. Thanks, guys. All right.

I know you guys just heard me talking, but this is Christine again. If all has gone as planned, I am currently, as you hear this, eating a gigantic breakfast burrito and will hopefully never have to wear a giant poofy wedding dress ever again. burrito and will hopefully never have to wear a giant poofy wedding dress ever again. Because my wedding was yesterday and we had a lot going on in the week leading up to it, we decided to release a live episode today. It's our most recent show in Hollywood and it was maybe my favorite show so far. So the audio is pretty good. I know some people don't like to hear the live shows and I do get that, but give it a try for us. We really liked our topics and had so much fun researching for and performing this show. So give it a chance.

I don't think you'll regret it. If you do, then we're sorry. All right. Love you guys. Stay tuned. We'll release another new episode next week. And we can't wait to share how this wedding weekend went. Bye. Hello.

We made it onto the stage. That's step one, Em. I had a panic attack about two seconds ago, and then someone opened the door, and I freaked out. It was like a Scooby-Doo moment where you jumped into my arms. Well, I was trying to act really tough.

I was like, Christine, this is going to be fine. This is going to be fine. This is going to be fine. And then someone opened the door, and I was like, whoa! And I ran right into her. And then you called it a Zach Baggins move, which I would agree with that. And also, I get to Zach Baggins move. Yes. I would agree with that.

And also, I get to have my own milkshake. We have three milkshakes. Oh! Thank you, Hollywood Improv. This is great. I really know how to throw down. You didn't get any wine, though, so sorry. Why do you drink?

Let's start there. That's putting me really on the spot. I don't know. Why do you drink? That's putting me really on the spot. I don't know. Why do you drink? I drink because tomorrow is my last day at my day job.

That's why I drink, too. So as of 6 p.m. tomorrow, we will be professional podcasters. That's the most, like, millennial bullshit I ever heard Yeah I'm a full time podcaster I actually still lie to people when I go home and they're like what do you do? I'm like I work in TV it's no big thing I don't want to explain it I went home for a wedding and I was like

oh I have a podcast and they're like oh what else do you do? And I was like um that's it I'm always like it's fine I drink wine and stuff and they're like that doesn't make it sound better do you do? And I was like, uh... That's it. I'm always like, it's fine. I drink wine and stuff. And they're like, that doesn't make it sound better.

Okay. Who has listened to this week's podcast? The one that came out today. Like today's episode. So you heard that we're officially haunted by an actual demon. Oh yeah. Em fucked up big time, you guys. And brought an actual fucking demon into my home. So, if you haven't listened, spoiler alert,

we have a demon in Christine's house now. It's not good. Oh, Blaze, by the way, he's here somewhere and I haven't told him about it, so sorry. There's a demon in our house. I literally watched a painting lift off of the wall and then get thrown at my chair. And this is episode 86.

We don't make this shit up. Because, like, if we did, then we'd have a lot more interesting stuff to tell you. And we were using the EMF detector while I was telling my story. And I, this, I mean, you guys can think I'm, you know, you can not believe me or not. Whatever. But as I was reading a particular part that was very scary, I was like, I feel like someone's standing behind me, like leaning over me right now.

And then I looked to my right, and Eva's frantically waving and pointing at the EMF detector, and it's all the way to red. It's like freaking out. She's like, I didn't want to bother you. And I was like, classic Eva being so kind. And during all the editing, all the editing all the auto audio yeah we had so many tech problems something's going on so anyway sorry blaze um sorry about it so I wanted to let everyone know everyone that has listened if you're looking for an update we already have one almost

24 hours yeah even 24 hours later that's right um Harold the doll tweeted us yes which is a topic that we're gonna ignore that he called me a lady he can call me whatever the fuck he wants 24 hours later. That's right. Harold the doll tweeted us. Yes. Which is a topic that haunts us. We're going to ignore that he called me a lady. He can call me whatever the fuck he wants. He doesn't need to throw any more paintings at me. He's perfect and handsome. He can call me a bunny rabbit. I don't care.

So apparently Harold the doll is in LA. I know. And I sense the passive tone of he wants us to meet up with him. It's like that friend where you're like, oh, good, glad you're in town. So happy for you. I have dinner plans already.

That sounds so fun, but I'm so busy. Do we lie to Harold? I don't know. We're trying to figure it out. Also, what Eva told us is apparently, I said in the episode that, sorry, spoiler alert, but the doll has been cleansed from the demon. Right. Well, as of six days ago,

apparently that's not true. Yeah, he's like, yeah, try cleansing it. It's not working. And we were like, uh-oh. So... To be determined what happens next. TBD, there's a haunted doll in my house now. So wanted to give everyone the immediate update. So you're welcome. You're welcome.

You're welcome for whatever I've done to you. For going home with that story. Okay, who wants to hear a ghost story? I do. I'm ready. So, oh, did the lighting just get interesting? No, but no. Okay. That was my medication. Um, so this is a story that I, I did in, if you guys are, I don't know if you guys saw it, but on YouTube last year for our friendiversary, I took Christine to a lot of haunted places around L.A. And Gio was there, too. Gio was there. And I technically...

Oh, you got a drink. Sorry. I was like, why would I bring that up? I don't even know which milkshake I want. I got so many options. This one's mine. So I have technically covered this on YouTube for about 30 seconds,

but I want you to guess what story I'm covering. So here's a little visual. Okay. What the fuck is this? Oh, I see Black Dahlia. Oh, the Cecil Hotel! Did I get it? Yay!

Hey, I need a high five. Thank you. I was like, yeah, we're going to play a thing where you guess what it is and i'm like you know i won't guess it right like you just have to be prepared this time you would so i finally lived up to my your expectations of me so let's get going let's do it look at how ominous and foreboding it is i think it looks real pretty so it is, I'm just gonna tell everyone, if anyone lives here, it's at 640 South Main Street in LA. And it was built in June 1924, so it's a Gemini. Hells yeah it is!

And it was originally a... Foreboding and a Gemini, just like us. It was originally a former hotel for, like a very fancy hotel for businessmen and social elite. And the lobby alone cost over a million dollars. Damn. And then like a year later, the Great Depression hit. Five years later. So it had a good run, kind of.

And then by the 50s, over 10,000 people were homeless within a four mile radius of the Cecil Hotel. So no one was going there. No. a four mile radius of the Cecil Hotel. So no one was going there. No. Now it's seen, like, the area surrounding the hotel is pretty much in disrepair and it's becoming an area that is, it's basically becoming, in addition to Skid Row, so not a great place.

And it's now seen as a flop house, essentially. It used to be really beautiful and now it's just known as being incredibly haunted. And it shuts down often because nobody's willing to work there. And then they try to reopen it, and then it just shuts down again. Because it changed names, right? Yeah, I'll get there. So currently, so far, at least 16 confirmed deaths are in this hotel that are non-natural. That doesn't include natural deaths.

Oh my god. I know. Wait, how many people die there naturally? That seems... I don't have that number. Okay. So this was also the inspiration for season five of American Horror Story, the hotel. Really?

Yep. And... Is that one that's already out or no? Yeah. I'm sorry. I don't watch scary. This was like four seasons ago. I'm a big baby. Wait, really? Season five. Yeah. Oh, okay. So I'm just going to start rattling off the deaths. Let's do it. You know, something fun and light. So in 1929, a woman was taken to the hospital because for three days she was wandering around the hotel and she told them that her husband

had suddenly died and she didn't know what to do so she tried to poison herself and it didn't work so she was just aimlessly wandering around. And then she died. Oh no. You know, it just took longer. In 1931, there was a guy named

W.K. Norton and he checked into the Cecil under the name James Willis And he was found dead in his room After ingesting poison capsules And he is the earliest known suicide To happen on the property In 1932 A maid found

Benjamin who was 25 Benjamin Dodick And he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. In 1933, there was a guy who was fatally pinned against the hotel by a large truck. I'm like, why? We didn't say anything about trucks. I don't even hear it anymore when she gasps. No, I know. Me neither. trucks. I don't even hear it anymore when she gasps. No, I know. Me neither. In 1934, Lewis

Borden was found dead in his room at the Cecil after he slashed his own throat with a razor. What the fuck, Em? Sorry. In 1937, a woman named Grace fell from the ninth story window and her fall

was broken by telephone wires that wrapped around her as she fell. Like she landed on them and then she got stuck in them. Wait, she died that way? Yeah. I don't know if she got zapped.

No, I mean, I want to know too. That's a fair question. Yeah, I want to know too. I don't know if she got zapped but I did see the picture. Because you think, oh, she got caught in wires

like she'll survive. There's a picture which I did not show. Thank God. But she... Why? Sorry, guys. Why, though?

I mean, I don't know. Why, though? Well, basically, she landed in the middle of, like, a series of telephone wires. So she's kind of hanging on it. All right. Why would you ask that? Why would I act it but not show the picture? I'm sorry.

That wasn't tasteful. That's the second slogan of our podcast. I'm sorry, that wasn't tasteful. In 1937, Grace, nope, that's the telephone girl. In 1938, Roy Thompson, who was 35, he jumped from Cecil's top floor

and was found on the skylight of a neighboring building. Which is a far jump. I mean, I'm trying to picture that. It's not pretty. No. In 1939, a guy named Erwin Neblett, he... I'm sorry, rewind. Erwin Neblett?

Yeah. Sorry, that wasn't tasteful. It was the 30s. I'm trying to defend you. I'm like, it was the 30s. I mean, the names in my story are ridiculous, too. I've already told you about that. So, Erwin.

Right, Erwin, my friend. He was found dead in his room after ingesting poison. Oh, why do people keep doing that? In 1940, a year later, a woman named Dorothy also ingested poison in the hotel and died. So a lot of people are dying. Here's the next little slide.

Does anyone know a game called That's Why We Draw? Not everyone. I saw some people with blank stares. They've already shut down. They're like, I don't like this. They're like, why did my friend bring me here? So for every story that we do, we find three little prompts in our stories

that would make no sense, and you can't figure out what story we're talking about. It's just a random blurb in our story that we put out, and we hope that you guys will submit us drawings of what you think we're talking about, and then we pick our favorites, and that's how this works. So the first part of my story that has a little prompt is called A Woman Who Is Way Too Polite, and this was the winner. What does it say? I can't read it. It says, keep up the good work. You're doing great, sweetie. it says keep up the good work you're doing great sweetie that's me if someone killed me for sure did i am i am i screaming too loud yeah i'm sorry i'm sorry

i'm sorry you're so good at this yeah yeah yes so uh the reason blood on your clothes the reason that this was a prompt in the story is because in 1944 there was a woman named Dorothy who was 19 and she was sharing a room with a shoe salesman named Ben Levine. Me too. What a strange... Well, tell me if you're like this at all too. She was unaware

that she was pregnant. Let's hope not. Cheers! And she went into labor and did not want to disturb him while he's sleeping. Oh, Jesus, no. And so she went to the bathroom to give birth to the baby, and then it wasn't crying at first, so she thought the baby was dead. So she threw the baby out the window. So you're not like her.

Don't look at me like that. I'm sorry. But also, let's talk about how polite she was, So you're not like her. Don't look at me like that. I'm sorry I look like her. But also, let's talk about how polite she was, because someone was sleeping and she gave birth. She wasn't polite to that baby, though. That's fair. That's fair. But yeah, I get what you're saying.

I get where you're coming from. All right, moving on. In 1947, Robert Smith died after jumping from one of Cecil's seventh-floor windows. And also in 1947, the Smith died after jumping from one of Cecil's seventh floor windows. And also in 1947, the Black Dahlia was last seen alive in the Cecil Hotel. She went missing on January 9th and was found January 15th. And her, sorry guys, tortured and naked body was sheared in half at the midsection and left in Limerick Park. That is the most silent you guys have ever been.

Her body was found completely drained of blood and she was posed very intricately. I did this story, didn't I? Yes. Like way back in the beginning. Way yonder, yeah. Everyone's like, yeah. And I'm like, I don't even remember. I'm sure I did it at some point. Well, I'm glad I didn't ask, like, oh, do you like, yeah, and I'm like, I don't even remember. I'm sure I did at some point.

Well, I'm glad I didn't ask, like, oh, do you want to give us a little, like, blurb about Black Nile? No, I don't, because I don't know really anything. I think I summed it up pretty well. Thank you. It was horrible, yes. So, in 1954, a woman named Helen jumped out of the window from her seventh floor room. Oh, my God. And landed on the marquee sign.

So they didn't find her for a while, which was... Oh, she landed, like, in the... Oh, she landed like in the... Yeah, she like landed behind it. In 1962, a girl named Julia jumped from the window of the 8th floor room. Also in 1962, another woman named Pauline jumped from the window of the 9th floor

and landed on a pedestrian, killing him on impact. Fuck, dude. The guy's name was George that she landed on, and police initially thought that they had committed suicide together. However, George had his hands in his pocket, and he was still wearing his shoes, which would have fallen

upon impact. Oh, so they thought he jumped too, but he was... And then they found out, oh no, she just landed on him. That's really messed up. Oh, no. I feel like a broken record that people are just jumping a lot, but I just want to make sure everyone gets acknowledged. In 1964, a hotel worker discovered a woman named Pigeon Goldie.

Yeah, same. They found her dead in her room. She had been stabbed and beaten, and the room had been ransacked. And she had... That's a big drink. I was like, why? You guys are messed up. She earned her nickname because she fed the birds nearby in Pershing Square. That's really sad.

And near her body was the Dodgers cap that she always wore and a paper sack full of birdseed. Stop it. So they think she was on her way to go feed the birds. Stop it. So they think she was on her way to go feed the birds. Stop it. In 1975, a still unidentified woman jumped from the 12th floor window onto the 2nd floor roof, and so many people at this point in 1975

had jumped off the roof of the building that the next door building sued the Cecil for negligence of its guests. They were like, they're tired of watching this happen. Is that what they're saying? I've been watching this since 1924. You've got to do something.

We get it, you guys. Oh, it's so messed up. It gets worse because 10 years later in 1985, Richard Ramirez, a.k.a. the Night Stalker... Sorry, I forgot that he was even a part of this story. You had his photo up there. It didn't even occur to me. The Night Stalker lived in a room on the top floor of the hotel

during his killing spree when he murdered 13 people. He chose this hotel because of its reputation, and he said because it was total, unmitigated chaos, and so he could get away with being a little weird and off. A little weird. Just a little tiny bit weird. Sure. He would return from killing people,

and he would throw his bloody clothes in the dumpster out back, and then he would walk into the hotel half-naked up to his room. And because it was in such a, like, a not-so-great part of town, he was kind of easily unnoticed. They were like, oh, he's just half-naked. Sure. So he got away with it for a long time sure and basically yeah i was waiting for well i was kind of like that's not a thing that i really say unless it's warranted but that really i mean it happened that

one gave it right to me so ramirez uh seemed to have no MO about how he hurt people. His victims were men, women, and children. And he chose randomly and killed them with whatever was on handy, often after a sexual assault. Ugh. So he was influenced into this mentality as a kid by his cousin who bragged about torturing people in Vietnam and who also shot his wife to death in front of Ramirez.

So if that doesn't mess you up, I don't know what will. Caught after a single fingerprint, he ended up getting found by a mob and beaten in East LA. So it's like the nicest mob I've ever met. When they just beat him up, you're saying? Yeah, but then the police were able to catch him in the middle of the mall. Oh I see okay. Yeah got it. And so here's another one. Get ready guys. Oh man I don't know what this is gonna be

but a Disneyland nobody wants to go to. Two options because i liked them both so much are those black eyed kids yeah there's black eyed kids of one black eyed kid holding annabelle oh yeah well john wangacy is hanging out with robert oh and the amityville house is in the back. This one is so well done, though. Yeah, for the sake of how much effort, the art. I mean, this looks like it took a long time. I was just impressed. I mean, those are demonic. I don't know.

If you look at Mrs. Potts, there's someone standing in there with her little eyes. Oh, creepy. Okay. Thank you, Michelle and Kara and cara yeah thanks for that thanks thanks so in 1989 uh he was convicted of 13 counts of murder five accounts of attempted murder 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglary burglaries burgers you got it babe what was the thing that they said earlier? Good job, sweetie.

You're doing great, sweetie. Thank you. I said, you got it, babe. It's close enough. I don't know. Blaze is right there. So is Allison. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. So basically, he got convicted of a whole lot of things. And he was sentenced to death by the gas chamber.

And his reply in court was, no big deal, death always comes with the territory, I'll see you in Disneyland. Yeah, that is a Disneyland I don't want to go to. I was wondering where the fuck this would come into the story. Well, there it was.

So, in 1991, I know this sounds very true crime, but I promise ghosts show up. I just want to give you a full history. Good point. I heard it and I was like, people are probably wondering what's going on. Okay, so in 1991,

serial killer Jack Underwigger, remember him? He's Austrian. Or German. I don't remember. He's Austrian. He stayed at the hotel for five weeks

while he was an investigative journalist covering his own murders. That's one of my favorite stories to cover. He was murdering people and then fucking like, he was murdering sex workers and then like would report on them. And he would report on them in a way that like

he was like confusing the cops to tell them to go to different areas. Because he was like so close to the investigation. It was so fucked. So he was actually the murderer and writing articles covering his own case. And he murdered three sex workers in the hotel by strangling them with their own bras. Oh, God.

The final event, which I will talk about, is probably the most famous. In 2013, Elisa Lam was found inside one of the water supply tanks on the hotel roof after missing for three weeks. Inside one of the water supply tanks on the hotel roof after missing for three weeks. And they only found her because the guests were complaining about low water pressure and that the water tasted funny. I went on Yelp and I looked at the, remember when I did this story? I went on Yelp and looked at, like, people's reviews at that point. And they would post photos of the water. It's not good. It's not good, you guys. De it's not good it's not good it's not good it's not pretty so um she's that's quite a wild card story she kind of looks

possessed and she's in an elevator and pressing a lot of buttons and talking to someone who's not there and hiding behind corners elevator game she played the elevator game our favorite climbed into a water tank it was a whole thing and she a lot of people say that there's a lot of parallels to her and the Black Dahlia because each were women in their 20s traveling alone to L.A. from San Diego. They were last seen in that hotel and both went missing for several weeks before being found dead under very specific circumstances. So now we're done with the history. We can get into the ghost now.

How does it feel to do the true crime where you're like, oh, no one thinks're like oh no i felt weird because i didn't realize how much true crime there was and yeah it's not easy to make people laugh when you're talking about it's a very sensitive line you're we like you're always a tightrope with the true crime yeah yeah so um so basically since then it's been rebranded as a hotel called stay on main and no one will let them have it. Everyone's like, okay, it's a Cecil hotel. Every podcast I've listened to covering them is like, don't let them fool you, they're still the Cecil hotel. And the owner wants to turn it into a boutique hotel

with rental apartments in it, and I don't think that's going to work for them. Because we won't let it, apparently. Yeah. So, okay, now we can get to the ghost, guys. Ooh, it looks cool, though. It looks very nice. It looks it looks very fancy so fancy so creepy you guys want to like hang out yeah we're having a conversation will you please keep it down so uh it's known as the most haunted hotel in la

and people see i'm just gonna jump right into it do it um people see the apparition of black dahlia at the bar people have also had their drinks spilled on themselves without them holding the drink like it just gets that's just an excuse like a cat knocks it over that's like oops someone else did that it was a ghost it's usually after people have seen the black dahlia all right shadow so they assume it might be her. People are afraid to use the basement floor because they have seen shadow people chase them. They have felt arms grab them when they're walking alone. Someone will sit on your bed while you try to sleep.

There have been screams and crying from rooms where people were murdered. The faucets in the shower heads will turn on by themselves, and when you go in to check, they won't be on, but then when you're about to leave, they'll turn on while you're there, just to be like, you weren't wrong. They were wrong the whole time. There's the sound of pacing in your room and then pacing in the room's closet.

Oh, that's messed up. You can hear knocking coming from inside the closet. People have heard the hangers in the closet moving by themselves. There are knocks on the door and nobody will be out there, but if you look out the peephole, it'll still knock. Ew! That took me a second, but no, thank you. Hotel guests wake up to someone tugging their bedsheets, and they'll hear growls in their ears. They will have dreams where they feel a shadow person attacking them, and then they'll wake up and see something on them before it vanishes.

No, I don't really enjoy that. People have also lost their stuff from their baggage, and then they find it, like, in the elevator. That's funny. Or the weirdest thing that I've read... Like, I swear you brought my floss. Nope. I don't know why floss is the one thing that comes to mind.

The weird thing is that people have lost items in other people's rooms and vice versa, so they have to knock on each other's doors and give them back. What? Wait. They'll just lose it. How do they know it's in the other person's room? Well, the person that I read this story from, they were all on a family trip. Can you imagine a family trip to the Cecil Hotel?

So they're like, your floss ended up in my room, is what you're saying. Floors 7 and 8 apparently feel very uncomfortable, and you feel someone breathing on your neck when you walk through the halls. The sounds of windows, there's the sound of windows opening, or the door leading to

roof access heard opening when they're both locked shut, so they shouldn't open. Oh, which is where Lisa Lim was found, which is kind of fucking creepy. Yeah. And I think the windows opening by themselves is like they're reliving right before they jumped. Oh. Yeah.

Bummer. Bummer? Bummer. I don't know. I mean, bummer and a half. Really. People have been heard, or people have heard what they think are other people singing and humming and whistling, and then they try to approach them, and then there's nobody there, and then they'll get pushed down to the ground, and they'll hear it barking. And people have heard talking in rooms when they were empty when they checked,

and the sound of guests in a vacant room. And then they have also heard people singing in their showers and then gone and no one was in the shower. Several people have also seen someone sleeping in their bed. One person said he moved

the blanket. Oh, thank you. I'll wait I was finishing I was finishing this glass and I was like I bet you Eva's gonna go tell someone to bring it guys can we give a round of applause to Eva

also the Hollywood improv has just been so good to us forever I mean they gave us several milkshakes like I get to choose Also, the Hollywood Improv has just been so good to us forever. I mean, they gave us several milkshakes. I get to choose. They gave us so many milkshakes. It's great. It's the best.

Anyway. Thank you, everybody. Anyway, let me know when you're ready. Give me a minute. No, I'm ready. Just down the hatch. Everyone's watching. Bye, Christine.

Bye. See you later. I'm ready. Let's go. See you later. I'm ready. Let's go. Let's go. Let's move. Okay, where were we? Oh, yeah.

Wow, they're the best. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, here's a good one. So people have seen other people sleeping in their beds and then go to knock them over and then the blankets collapse. Ew, so they're like, who is that? And then it just vanishes? Doors have opened and luggage has been

taken out and then folded on the bed. Well, that's kind of nice, though. What if you're about to leave? Okay. Like you've checked out. I don't ever fold my clothes before I Well, okay. You're right. I mean, I don't ever fold my clothes before I... Well, okay, you're right.

I mean, I wouldn't hate it, but I also wouldn't know how to feel. I feel like it's that passive-aggressive roommate where you're like, I want to be mad, but you also clean my room without asking, like, should I be happy or mad? I don't know. I mean, that's happened to me a million times. I don't know. I don't know!

So there's also a spirit that while you're sleeping, he will try to hug you. That's really not cool. It seems not cool. Then part of you thinks it's kind of sweet. No, nobody thinks that. And then part of you is like, oh, shit. Because from the hug, then they try to hold you down and tickle you. Okay, F.

Nobody thinks that that's sweet. So violently tickling. Let's get into that. Oh, we gotta draw, and that's why we draw. Tis but a tickle wound. Oh my god, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. Tis but a tickle wound.

Indeed. Indeed. That's pretty good. Tis but a tickle wound. Indeed. So one guest said that this being violently tickled her feet, held her ankle down so her foot couldn't get away, and tickled her until she felt like her skin was being scratched off.

None of that is even from... That's true. No, that is my nightmare nightmare that is like actual torture a normal human being could try to tickle my foot and i would hate no yeah that's messed up there's nothing cute or sweet about that um people have also heard like a whispering chuckle like i don't know what that means but i'm assuming it's like like something sorry what was that? Like a panting. Like I imagine bad breaths involved. But so like while they're being tickled or like separately? Like while they're being tickled. No, like this is like a whole separate thing.

I imagine at least once it's happened combined, which is just the worst. That's what I was thinking. Some people have also felt their hair getting played with. Cute. One person felt their hair getting played with. Cute. One person felt to get yanked. Some have felt tugs on their clothes and even being pinched. There has been women's perfume that has followed people throughout the hotel. Lights in rooms will go on after you've turned them off,

or go off after you've turned them on. Basically, like, whatever you don't want, you get. Right. Cute. Oh, and also a ghost. And also that. Many people have seen shadow figures in their rooms. Same with the cleaning staff.

They will feel that there's a dark presence in there and that something's following them everywhere, and every now and then, they'll turn around, and after they've just cleaned the room, it's a total mess again. That's just mean. Just to be like, yeah, it was you. That's very rude. Sometimes at night, people hear someone screaming outside of the building as if they're jumping. Oh.

So there's been a lot of false calls in the past about, like, I think someone just jumped and no one did. Right, right, right. And the elevator that Elisa Lam was in supposedly feels very dark and many are afraid to ride the elevators alone. I would. I mean, me too. Yeah. So there aren't many pictures

documented of spirits, but in 2014, a year after the Elisa Lam story, there was one kid who was looking at the building and felt really weird about one window. Felt like it was staring at him.

And so we took a picture of the window and the picture literally made the news. It was on TV. Because it looks like there is a woman walking on the outer landing on the outside of the building. Like on the ledge? Ah!

So if you can't... It looks like she's climbing out the window. The blue part looks like a shoulder, and then you can see the arm, and you can see a head on top. It just looks like she's climbing out the window the blue part looks like a shoulder and then you can see like the arm and you can see a head on top it just looks like she's walking climbing out of the lid like on the ledge she's like just as if there were a balcony there oh no um so it made the news and i mean that's the only picture that they currently have of any spirits so out of all of this i wanted I wanted to leave on a light note. So there is one...

Can you believe it? So there's one soul out there who has had a great time at the Cecil Hotel. Who is it? You? No. It's someone we love. Is it Zach Bagelbates? It's not Zach Bagelbates.

I got really excited. Last year on our trip to Cecil Hotel... Oh, was it Gio? Baby Gio! I was joking! And at the Cecil Hotel, he enjoyed his very first puppuccino. Oh my god, my baby! He's involved in that.

He's like, no one talked to me. That was his first puppuccino He had a good time I can't believe you're the photo How are you accepting to tell a story now I'm really thrown off by this Well you're going to figure it out because that's the end of mine You want to go back

My sweet boy You want to go back? So sweet. My sweet boy. Oh, my sweet baboo. Sweet baboo. I don't know what Christine's story is, so Christine's story. I just hate that you do yours, and I'm so invested in it. You mean I nail it? Yes. You nail it, you kill it, you destroy it, and then it's my turn, and I'm so invested in it. You mean I nail it? Yes.

You nail it, you kill it, you destroy it, and then it's my turn, and I'm like, great, now Em gets to sit back and not have to worry, and now I have to suddenly be on my shit. So, look at me try. This is the story of a man named William Desmond Taylor. So does anyone know who that is? Oh, okay. I really didn't think anyone would know what that was. And I mean, 99% of the room does not. So, good.

So this story takes place around the same time, like the... Oh, good idea. Do that. Cool. This story takes place in Hollywood in the early 1900s. This is our pal. He's a pal. He's not an enemy? Cool. This story takes place in Hollywood in the early 1900s. This is our pal. He's a pal? He's not an enemy?

No, he's our pal. His name's William Desmond Taylor. All right. And so at the time, the movie industry was starting to take off. Hollywood was, like, you know, building itself. And this guy, William Desmond Taylor, his career was taking off. He directed his first film called The Awakening in 1914 and went on to direct more than 50 films for what is now known as a little something called Paramount Studios.

Oh, that guy. Yeah. So at the time, he was like a big wig in Hollywood. He was even made president of the Motion Picture Directors Association and was called the, quote, most dangerous man in cinema history for riding a horse at full gallop across a rope bridge

as part of his role as Captain Alvarez in a film. So, hold on. What a specific title. Bear with me. Bear with me. This is where I got my first, and that's why we draw. So if you could hit next for horse.

Okay, hold on. Everybody, let me explain. I said he rode his horse across a bridge, and it was like full gallop, super dangerous. And then I was like, how do I put that in words? And I wrote horse bridge, which really isn't technically. You should have typed in full gallop. Full gallop. Maybe, maybe.

So this is what I got for horse bridge. It's some horses it's bridge night for some horses and one's in a wheelchair it's a very inclusive group of horse bridge it is and you know i assume she has her skirt on, but not a shirt, and that's great. I mean, we're free. We're all free here. Exactly. And I really...

What is... Can you taste it? Yeah, I'll taste it. Make sure it's an alcoholic. Okay. This is a regular game we play. This is my dream job. Are we solid?

I can't tell. You want to just pass it around? I don't know. There might be booze in there. I can't tell. Is there booze in this? I mean, I'm going to drink it. This might be a good night for everyone.

It's going to get real weird. It's very good. It tastes like sugar. You should just drink it. Try it. I mean, I'm also, I'm a virgin to the alcohol, so I feel like if I taste it, I'll be like, ugh! Okay, taste it. Let me know. Oh, that's great. No, I think it's... Oh, I don't know if it's

alcoholic. I think it's pineapple juice. We'll find out in probably 20 minutes. Okay. Right, so Horsebridge. Okay, cool. alcoholic i think it's pineapple juice we'll find out in probably 20 minutes um okay right so horse bridge okay cool um so moving on yes so this is our guy um william desmond taylor so this takes place on the morning of february 2nd 1922 which by the way is two two two. Your lucky number. It's not good, though. Sorry. Oh. So, 2222 takes place in Westlake Park, which used to be a really affluent part of L.A., but isn't really

anymore. It's currently... So, this took place on Alvarado Street and Maryland Street, which is now a Dollar Tree. I looked on Google Maps to find out. There's also a Ross there, in case anyone needs to go shopping. It's about six miles east of here.

So at 7.30 in the morning, at the time it was like a super affluential, like very nice part of town. At 7.30 in the morning, Taylor's valet arrives at his usual time to make him breakfast, which, listen, don't get me started. That's his valet?

Yeah. Like the guy who drives his car? No, no, no. So he had a chauffeur who drives the car. The valet shows up to, like, make the breakfast and, like, make sure he gets to where he needs to go on time. Like, kind of, like, assisted him. Oh, I see.

You know. Okay. Eva, make me breakfast. Eva, be my valet. So, da-da-da-da-da, it's 7.30 in the morning. Okay, guy shows up to make him breakfast. He enters the apartment and he sees the feet of his boss on the ground,

walks around the corner and sees Taylor's body lying face up with blood around his mouth and just loses his goddamn mind and starts screaming and running through the complex. So he's acting like he should. Yes, exactly. Like, that shit crazy screaming. And I only the complex so he's acting like like he should yes exactly like goes that shit crazy screaming and i only say this because some people are like

well maybe he was involved and i was like i don't know it seems like he lost his goddamn mind so i don't guys if we die and he was like cool with it like maybe look around something's up even now you know you gotta scream scream a lot so basically everyone he lived with in this complex was also like a big wig hollywood type because it was like a very fancy area um so all these people of course like like 1920s fashion just like show up and like gather in his apartment before the police get there so there's just like 10 there's like 40 people in this apartment just kind of like oh what's going on here you know like not like paying any mind to like oh uh there's a dead body crime scene right exactly got it um so the crowd gathers um a guy a man walks up he's like i'm a doctor and he looks

at the guy at taylor and he goes oh he's had a stomach hemorrage. And the doctor was never seen again, probably due to embarrassment, because when the police got there, they turned the body over, and he had been shot in the back. And it had gone through his back and exited on the other side. So the guy just was, like, full of shit. So he never showed his face again. But anyway, point being, this guy, Taylor, this executive, had been basically shot in his

own apartment so uh it wasn't a robbery because investigators found his wallet which had 78 dollars in cash which by the way today is like 1100 a lot of money in cash how much was it then uh 78 dollars wow that's all i right? Okay. And he had like a silver cigarette case, diamond ring, like all the stuff that was super valuable in his house was still there, so they were like, it's probably not a robbery. They determined that his time of death was

the evening before around 8pm and he was 49 years old, which I only mention because 49's my lucky number and 22's your lucky number. This is a good lucky story. Something's wrong. That's all. So police arrive around 8 a.m.

Around 8.40 they determine the death was not natural causes like that guy thought. It was clearly he had been shot. And they believe his arms had been up and they believe that he had been shot during a hug. Like, during a hug, someone had shot him from behind. That's the saddest. Isn't that the most messed up thing?

Yeah. Yeah. I don't have anything funny to say. No, please don't try. That's just so sad. Yeah, it's really sad. So they thought he was mid-embrace, and someone pulled a gun and shot him mid-hug with a .38 caliber bullet.

And police also found a pink silk garment resembling a nightgown in one of his drawers. So they were like, maybe there was a woman involved. You never know if it was jealousy or whatever. So obviously this place is suddenly

full of photographers and reporters and all these people are showing up and no one is like cordoning off this crime scene um and another important tidbit before the police uh or reporters even showed up uh this guy the paramount studio manager charles ayton visited the crime scene just casually and removed a ton of evidence from the apartment literally in an attempt to minimize the scandal and they just were like we're not going to do anything about it

sorry I don't know yeah he just showed up and like messed with the crime scene and they were like well let's hope it's just you know not a big deal hopefully it was just little evidence some people think he even placed false evidence, including the nightgown. And one rumor said that he was caught burning papers and other evidence with other executives before the police could investigate. Which brings us to my second, and that's why we draw, which is a Hollywood bonfire.

Oh my god. Yeah. And this is by McKenna. And it's a Hollywood bonfire. Oh my god. Yeah. And this is by McKenna. And it's a Hollywood bonfire. Someone's burning the letters of the Hollywood sign and it says, How will people know this is Hollywood now? Yeah, how will they know?

Fair. And then one person says, Regret. Don't know. So I thought this was, someone's burning the Hollywood sign. So they did believe that some of them burned some of the evidence. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Where are we? Oh, not yet. All right. So one theory was that Taylor was actually gay And that this was being covered up by M's face My ears perked up I was like oh let's hear it One theory

Oh god I have so much wine in front of me Hold on This is truly the life My life's so good So one of the theories was that Taylor might have been gay And they were trying to cover it up And so they placed the evidence of the silky nightgown

and were burning maybe evidence that he was a homosexual. Making him look straight. Right. Got it. For the sake of Hollywood. Got it. But that's just one theory, and it wasn't really backed up by anything.

So, moving on. The detective sergeant at the time, Edward King, believed Paramount was taking measures to keep their movie stars silent, even though some of them had important information to the case. So whether that was that he was gay, or whether that was, like, anything else,

like he had relationships with anybody, they were trying to, like, minimize the scandal and, like, keep Hollywood, you know, clean of that shit. You know, like it is. There were some big names associated with his career at this point, though, which makes sense as to why they were

trying to get themselves involved. One of those people was a comedy star named Mabel Normand. That's the next picture. There she is. What a babe. She looks luxurious. She's a luxurious commodity.

She looks like Linda in the 30s. My mom would have had that hat. She does look like Linda. Yeah, she does. So Mabel was actually the last person to see Taylor alive. And she left his apartment at 7.45pm the night of the murder and was driven home by her chauffeur. Not her valet.

Not her valet. Easily confused. And this is where we get into the suspects of this story. So, things get fucking weird here. So please, just bear with me and let me have one drink. Please hold. Everybody take a drink, please. Elevator music. Oh. Elevator music.

Elevator music. Wait, that's so good. Let's add that to the drinking. Oh. Elevator music. Okay. Thank you. Okay.

Da-da-da. So, around 8 p.m. that night, the night that he was killed, his neighbor's actor, Douglas McLean, and his wife, Faith, say they heard a sound that could have been a gunshot but they thought maybe it was a car backfiring and the same noise was heard by the apartment manager but everyone kind of wrote it off

and Faith McLean looked out the window and spotted a man leaving Taylor's apartment and was kind of like watching it to see what was going on super nosy I mean that would have been me as a neighbor I get it. I'm not going to judge her.

I know. We would totally be doing that. We probably do do that. So she couldn't see his face, but she saw he was clean-shaven, white, about 5'9", dressed in dark clothing and a cap, and said he was, quote,

dressed like my idea of a motion picture burglar. Whatever the fuck that means. Love it. So the man turns and sees her looking at him but instead of like panicking or running away or whatever he turns back into the apartment walks back in as if he had forgotten something walks back out turns to her flashes a smile i know and then just walks away down an alley so she's like what the fuck is that, right? So around 8.15, like 15 minutes later,

Taylor's chauffeur moves his car into the garage. When he goes to drop off the keys, he's knocking at the door. Nobody answers. And the lights are on. So he's like, I don't know, maybe he fell asleep with the lights on. Like, it's super weird. And police later decided that that he had been actually been dead at that point so he had been dead somewhere between that 8 p.m and

like 8 15 p.m time period basically and the next morning police actually found six cigarette butts in the alley behind taylor's and the mclean's apartments um and strangely enough two men later testified that they were at a nearby gas station when an unknown man, no, two unknown men, sorry, no, two men testified. Hold on, let me figure out who's who. Two men testified. Eva, edit this out. Okay. I figured it out. I said it right the first time, and then I confused myself.

Two men testified they were at a nearby gas station when an unknown man asked them where William Desmond Taylor lived. And they were like, oh, sir, he lives on this road at this address. And I'm like, why would you do that? But whatever. So the man that they described was similar to the description that Faith McLean saw out of her window.

So basically, they think that same man had asked people around 6 p.m., hey, where does this guy live? and then showed up later that evening at his apartment i hear you so at taylor's life and career at this point remember we're in 1922 so turns out at the end of 1921 taylor had been receiving mysterious and unnerving phone calls with no one on the other end of the line. Super fishy. And then on December 4th, 1921, Taylor's home was robbed and his jewelry and special cigarettes were stolen.

Special. Special cigarettes mean they had golden tips. They weren't like funny cigarettes with like marijuana in them. They weren't silly. No. They didn't have any marijuana. Real deal.

They were just plain nicotine with a gold tip. Got it. Just to clarify. On December 27th of that year, 1921, Taylor received a package at his home. It was very strange. Was it a cigarette? It was some funny cigarettes. The package contained a pawn slip for the jewelry that had been stolen from his home.

And someone had pawned them, and it had the note, are you ready for this? Quote, so sorry to inconvenience you, even temporarily. Which I'm like, okay, people back then were just so polite.

It's like, oh, sorry I fucking robbed you of thousands of dollars. Also, observe the lesson of the fourth sale of assets. A Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year. Prosperous. So prosperous. Please. Sorry I stole all your money. You'll make it next time. Yeah. Anyway,

so that was a weird package she received. So let's get into the suspect. So remember Mabel, this lady right here. So Mabel herself, she was the last person to have seen Taylor alive. And some say he was madly in love with her, but it was unreciprocated. And she denied it herself. But investigators found a locket in Taylor's possession that had her photo in it engraved with the words,

To my dearest. So like, who knows? She also admitted that she and taylor had exchanged letters although those were missing when investigators searched uh taylor's apartment so they're probably part of the bonfire they they think that the yes exactly that the hollywood executives had like taken them out of the apartment um but they started being called the Blessed Baby Letters. Why? Because that was like the pet name that he gave her was Blessed Baby. Listen, here's the thing that I recommend to you. I googled Blessed Baby. Don't do that because what happened is now i get a lot of facebook ads for onesies

that are like hashtag blessed it's not good it's not good um and some people believe that the paramount guy like took the letters when he visited the crime scene and that there was something maybe but she even said later like the crime scene and that there was something maybe. But she even said later, like, people can read them. Like, there was nothing bad about them. So who knows? It turns out that Mabel actually had a heavy drug dependency at the time and was part of the drug epidemic that had taken over pretty much all of Hollywood. She had a very heavy cocaine dependence.

And Taylor himself was extremely anti-drug and was like trying really hard to help mabel fight her addiction and he had supposedly like even met with federal prosecutors shortly before his death and had said he would help like um find the people who were selling her drugs and like bring them down so some people believe that uh suppliers had hired a contract killer to take him out. It's like, we know you're trying to take us down and like, fuck you. So that's a possibility. Okay. So another major suspect was a good guy, not really, named Edward Sands.

So if we could hit next on the photos there he is so edward sands had been taylor's valet and cook valet and oh yeah okay he you know valley not the driver the chauffeur is the driver i heard valet and chauffeur and i was like wait there are different things i thought no no no no i got you come on em sorry um yes he was a valiant cook until seven months before taylor's death and when taylor was in europe sands actually was forging taylor's name on checks and stole more than five thousand dollars from him which was a shit ton of money in like the 20s um and so basically he had been like fired and was in big trouble and he had also taken jewelry and clothing before disappearing and he had been convicted for embezzlement forgery

and he was actually um convicted for serial desertion from the navy so like he's bad news bears like he's just not good news bad things are happening with this dude um and interestingly enough sans had also been snooping around in taylor's past before stealing from him so they found out that this guy his valet or whatever had been like going through his personal files and like taking personal information um and remember that package that Taylor had received on December 27th. So remember how it had a pawn slip in it from the stuff that was stolen from his own house? So the pawn slip was signed with the name William Dean Tanner instead of William Desmond Taylor.

So William Dean Tanner, which as the investigation would reveal, was William Desmond Taylor. So William Dean Tanner, which, as the investigation would reveal, was William Desmond Taylor's real name. Ooh. Dun, dun, dun. And he was not who he said he was. Oh, boy. Yep. So the package suggests that the thief,

possibly this guy, Sands, knew of Taylor's real identity and was using it to taunt him. So are you guys ready for the... Ooh, there's a moth. Are you guys ready for the biggest twist in this whole story? Yeah! And it's like, no, please help. I'm like, what is it?

Okay, so, turns out, Taylor had had a secret family that he had abandoned several years before who had no idea where he was. And he had just fucking left them on the East Coast and moved away and become a big Hollywood big shot. Wow. No. Yep. Yep, yep, yep, yep.

And whoever had stolen his jewelry and stuff and pawned it potentially knew of his real identity and was using it to taunt him by signing his real name on the pawn slip and then mailing it to him. Got it. So, he basically... Okay. The investigators started to dig into his past and they learned that

Taylor had actually been born in County... Thank you! Y'all. I got a drink this time. I'm so overwhelmed. Did you guys ever see I Love You Man and like Paul Red's High and he's like, why are there so many chairs

in this hotel room? I feel like that with these drinks. I don't know where to go. Please tip your servers because they are very good to me. Okay. Oh, there's the moth.

Oh, he's in my milkshake. Save it. Yowza. Christine, that's your milkshake. Thanks. You're welcome. So,

ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. The twist. You were at the twist. I just need an excuse to do that. Okay. So, The twist. You were at the twist. I just need an excuse to do that. Okay. So.

They started to dig into his past, right? Yes. And they found out that Taylor had actually been born in County Carlo, Ireland in 1872. And in 1890, after college, he left for a dude ranch in Kansas. Which sounds weird, but apparently there was a trend where some Anglo-Irish and English gentry would send their sons to

the United States to become, quote, gentlemen farmers. You know. You know. You know, as you do. In Kansas, rather than fall in love with farming, Taylor fell in love with acting and moved to New York, where he met and married a woman named Ethel May Hamilton

before having a daughter together in 1903. And he was known as very social. He was part of a yacht club. He was having affairs with many women. Yeah. The Hollywood dream. Yeah. He was a heavy drinker and was heavily depressed.

Oh. Same. Sorry, everyone. Let's all drink to depression. Correct. Correct, amen. Yes. Yes.

On October 23rd, 190808 at the age of 36 taylor abruptly vanished leaving gone leaving his wife and daughter behind oh right no clue where he went they thought maybe he died they thought maybe he had committed suicide nobody knew where the hell he went um and not much was known of those years following his disappearance except that now we know he traveled through Canada, Alaska, and the Northwest United States mining gold. Until he changed his name and reestablished himself as an actor

producer in Los Angeles. So this is where it gets fucking bonkers. No, it was super normal until now. Surprise. Taylor's family didn't know what had happened to him. They thought maybe

he had succumbed to suicide. They weren't sure what happened to him. Until one day, Ethel took her daughter to the movies. They go to the movies and the movie begins and well that's that's him on screen

as a main character so can you hit next on the thing so surprise it's your husband I didn't know how else to there he is I didn't know how else to... There it is. So, Danny drew this. Danny drew this for us,

and she said she didn't have her paint on her, so she had to draw it with Crayola crayons. And I was like, that's pretty goddamn impressive. And I just like that the stripper, like, the wig fell off. I just think it's very well done. So, surprise, it's your husband. This looks like us at the Chippendale show.

Yeah, I'm the one in the green shirt. That's like my eyes. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Blaze wants to kill me. So that's the one. Surprise, surprise, it's your husband. So that's how she literally found out her husband was A, still alive, and B, like a super famous and wealthy guy. Like, it's just so

fucked up. Yeah, I would be pissed that he, like, didn't come get us afterwards or anything. Completely! You're just like, nah. This was, like, over a decade later. He just fucking disappeared. Yeah, it's really messed up. And she had, in 1912, like, gotten a divorce, like, the divorce finalized, and it was a lot of work back

then, you know, because you had to, like, prove everything. Okay, point being, it's fucked up so i like how they saw a full one and they're like that's gonna go not enough i have to pee too oh not good news wow well that wine's gonna someone goes same yeah so police thought this guy Sands, right? So the valet who stole all the shit from his house and knew his full name and all this background information on him, they were like, oh, he's a good suspect, right?

I see the moth you're watching. I'm listening. He's a good suspect. It's more interesting than my story. I get it. No! So they thought Sands might have been the key suspect. So guess what they did? been, like, the key suspect. So guess what they did?

What? Oh, look at you go. I'm trying to catch up with you. What if that does have rum in it? Truly, it'll be a sight for everyone. Everyone's going to be like, oh, no. And I'm going to be like, oh, no. Wouldn't that be fun?

What if at every show we just, like, pretended you got drunk? That would be, you know, everyone would have a good time, wouldn you got drunk that would be you know everyone would have a good time wouldn't it would be a great time for me except me well no i wouldn't be drunk actually we'd be fine okay okay okay okay we're thinking too hard about this i'm just gonna keep drinking this i know i'm drawing everybody into our brainstorming sessions okay so but okay guess how they tried to get sans so the valet guy

they were like he might be the one guess how they tried to get him back to LA hmm to testify they were like oh guess what

here we found this woman who used to date him what if we have her be all like sexy and like message him quote unquote like send him

letters slide into his DMs. Slide into his fucking DMs in like slow-mo version of like, let's write him a letter with the post office. And maybe he'll show up.

Guess what? What? Did it work? He didn't show up. No. He was like, I'm not fucking stupid. Okay. So he didn't fall for it. He was like, I'm not fucking stupid. Okay. So he didn't fall for it. He was never seen again. So they were like, well, let's see who else could be possibly responsible.

Is there a cricket? Yeah. That's like the worst thing to hear on stage. Apparently I'm really fucking boring. Sorry. He's like, come on, bring it. He wasn't chirping during my story, I'll tell you that. I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. Just.

Here you go. I just know already. Love you. Name it. Love you. Mean it. Love you, mean it. I just know Blaze is in the audience now. I'm like, fuck, now I gotta go home. Like, comfort Christine.

Love you, mean it. Okay. I'm sorry, I'm just drunk. I... I never thought Em would use that excuse, and now here we are. Great. Now you finally get it.

So, whatever. Let's move on to the next. Let's move on to the next suspect. Okay? We're back in Hollywood, and there's this lady. If you could hit next for me, please. Thank you.

Oh, she looks nice. She's a hot tamale. So her name is Mary Miles Minter. Minter. She is a former child star and teen screen idol. Kind of like, what's her name who was in the show you brought up earlier today? Hannah Montana. Oh.

Yeah, Miley Cyrus. That's the one. Oh, yeah. I'm 8,000. I'm a grandfather. Okay. So Mary Miles Minter, she's a former child star,

and basically Taylor had kind of like helped her build her whole career up. Like she grew up as an actress under his like tutelage, basically and um it was rumored that she was in love with taylor it's not rumored it's like true fact she was in love with him but he was kind of like dude i'm too old like i'm old enough to be your father which incidentally she's like the same age as his daughter that he abandoned back in the day just saying but he was very much like dude no i'm, I'm not interested.

I'm old enough to be your father. I'm just trying to tutor you, et cetera, et cetera. However, they did find love letters from her to him in his apartment after his death. And some did believe that maybe a relationship began between 49-year-old Taylor and 19-year-old Minter when she was 17. So he was 47 and she was 17. However, most people believe that the love was unrequited and that Taylor said he was too old for her and wasn't interested.

So it's very unclear, but like most people, like a lot of the very gossipy newspapers kind of release like, oh, look at this crazy drama, but it's pretty well documented that he was like, no, I'm not interested. Who knows, but we can hope. We can

dream and we can hope. One of the letters that they found in his apartment read, quote, Oh, God. Dearest. This is what I'm, quote... Oh, God. What? Dearest. Wait, what? This is what I'm going to send to you soon. Ready? As long as you don't call me Blessed Baby, I'm good.

It's not much better, but it's like a little bit better, maybe. Dearest. Yeah, I'm ready. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you X, X, X, X, X X, X, X, X, X Yours always, Mary

Okay So that's alright And then they found some letters From Mary that were written in cryptogram code Which were written in secret code Secret Secret diagrams and codes that no one could decipher and then they deciphered them very easily oh okay oh okay and uh it turns out it was just her saying like i want to spend the rest of my life like sitting by the fire with you and kissing

your lips like it was just very like like an instagram caption that nobody wants it was very like a girl crush like a teenage crush like there was nothing any like there's nothing like lurid or like right super weird about it it was just like oh i just want to spend the rest of my life holding your hand but it was written in like weird cryptogram code um that makes it fun though at least there's like a guess what a twist guess what what This theory gets even fucking weirder. Stop it, Christine. So, turns out that the relationship between them was even more

sinister than they seemed because, remember that man that that woman face saw leaving the apartment and he hung his back and he was like, smile at her. So, some believe that this wasn't a man at all, but it was actually Minter's mother, Charlotte Shelby.

That's the twist I've been waiting for. Yes. Can you hit next on the photo? Oh, yeah. There she is. Oh, yeah. There she is. So when police looked into Shelby,

Charlotte Shelby, they found that she was a manipulative, overbearing stage mother who was described as, quote, you're going to love this, consumed by wanton greed. As some like to say, wanton greed. I mean, by some, I mean

M. Consumed by wanton greed. Over her daughter's career. Alright. Yep. That sounds like a wanton to me. Yeah. She was quite a wanton, I'll tell you why. So she had actually wanted to be an actress herself,

but had never been able to do it. So instead, she lived vicariously through her daughter, which, like, I mean, any TLC show will tell you that that's how that works. And... He said that she's my mom. What, what, what? He said that she's my mom.

It's her mom? What? It's her mom. What? It's her mom. Yeah, it is your mother, yes. Wait, it's like that surprise it's your husband. It's your mother. It's your mother. Woohoo!

So it turns out Mary's real name was Juliet, but her mother forced her to steal the identity of her dead cousin. What? forced her to steal the identity of her dead cousin. What? Because she wanted her to be old enough to act when she was a little child. So she made her steal the name and identity of her dead cousin to be old enough to act and be... Ew.

I know, it's fucked up. Wow, okay. So she, Charlotte Shelby, was allegedly outraged by the possible relationship between her daughter Mary and Taylor. So she reportedly

thought that Mary's career was being threatened and was trying to get in any possible get in the way of any possible thing that could ruin her, like, reputation or whatever. Right, right, right.

And it is reported that she and Taylor actually had several disagreements in person, and she had actually threatened to kill Taylor if he ever got close to Mary again. Ooh. Not good. And one of the most compelling pieces of circumstantial evidence was her gun which was a rare .38 caliber pistol and some unique bullets that just so happened to

match the bullets that killed Taylor yeah not good and she reportedly threw the pistol the second the information went public about like her gun matching she threw it that into a Louisiana bayou. So, like, yeah.

With class. With class. Like, meh. Southern class. Meh. Yeah, exactly. Several people who've studied the case, including a lot of authors who've written books about this,

believe that she is the most likely culprit and mary herself the daughter who was in love with taylor uh even accused her mother of the murder in later years saying quote my mother killed everything i ever loved i mean she was also super dramatic but yeah it sounds like a fallout boy lyric i mean i'm not gonna say it doesn't but yeah. It sounds like a Fall Out Boy lyric. I mean, I'm not going to say it doesn't. So as far as the theory goes, either Mary showed up to the apartment, hugged

him saying, some people think like she hugged him saying like, Alyssa and I forgive you, like this is an olive branch and like hugged him and then shot him right where like with the, from behind his behind his back and a fake fake act of forgiveness or she hired a contract killer to shoot him which again like um remember that woman saw like a man leaving the apartment and she said he looked like almost like he was wearing costume makeup yeah and so some people think that she was dressed up as a man.

And was kind of like covering. And that's why she kind of looked at her and like made it known that she was there. It's also important to note that the district attorney at the time was actually close with Shelby. And perhaps even her lover. It's not clear.

So that could explain why she may have gotten away with the murder, obviously. And despite a number of confessions, including one from an actress named Margaret Gibson on her death bed, which she was never linked to the murder case, but she just admitted that she

murdered him, and it is a little fishy. Okay. I don't know. Just take that for what it is. William Desmond Taylor's murder was never solved, and his murder did inspire some changes in Hollywood. So while sex and drugs had been fueling the industry up to this point, after his murder there was an outcry,

and the pendulum kind of swung in the opposite direction, and people like the conservative side of uh you know politics and social status kind of took over and they started selling this kind of like prude version of hollywood or people like there was one example like um this couple had a movie scene and they had to put it they hung a sheet in the room before they went to bed. What? Because, like, they wanted to make sure everyone knew they weren't in the same. Oh, my. You know, I mean, so it kind of swung in the opposite direction, for better or for worse. And studios started selling or adding morality clauses into their contracts as a way to keep things, like, above board. To be like, if you break this morality clause, clause, you're fucked and you're out of here.

And so that is the story of William Desmond Taylor. And I want to add real quick that I found a horoscope. A horoscope. So here's the thing. I don't know who the hell killed him. Because it's still unknown. It's still an unsolved mystery, right? Sure. But here's the thing. I don't know who the hell killed him because it's still unknown. It's still an unsolved mystery, right? Sure.

But here's the thing. Charlotte Shelby, the stage mom, she's a Scorpio, so I had to do it. No comment. I had to do it. I had to do it. I had to pick one, and I was like, well, she's a Scorpio.

Let's just do it. And also, I think... Well, obviously. I think the story about her is like pretty compelling she seems to be the most likely the evidence against her is pretty compelling and a lot of like authors

that have written books about this have like figured her as the main like got it suspect so let's do it here is the Scorpio horoscope for the week. And also baby G's. Thank you. Take a drink. I would drink, but I really

have to pee, so I'll do it afterward. Look out for conflict this week. Is someone in your family moving too slowly for you right now? Today, you should feel free to take control. They have a lot of faith in your judgment and it is likely that they have been waiting for you to tell them what to do all along.

Both of you can feel a part of this new phase in your relationship, even though you are the one leading it in a new direction. So don't worry about taking too much power. Now that you're aware of your own motivations, you can conquer everything in your path. So you should do it. And she did it. That's right. That's right. All right, you grab your rum drink and I'll grab my two wines. Wait, we can never actually ever clink and it sounds bad.

Wait, do it by the mic. This is literally what it's like in the street. Cheers. And that's what we drink. And. Okay. And. No, how do we do it?

I forget. And. That's why we. Drink. And that's why we dream!