Opening theme (short version) begins

Leanne:

Wasting Company Time presents Tell No Tales, season two. Episode 8.5: I Loved Him More Than Anything

Opening theme (short version) ends

[SFX: Doorbell rings, pause, then rings again multiple times]

JULIA

Riley!

RILEY

Well, they should answer faster.

[SFX: Door opens]

KARA

Hi! You’re Leo’s friends?

RILEY

Sort of.

JULIA

Yes, I’m Julia, they’re Riley. Kara, I’m assuming?

KARA

Yeah, that’s me, please come in. This is my wife, Lynne.

LYNNE

He’s in the living room, reading. You told us not to tell him anything yet, so we haven’t. But I need you to tell me this is something, before we get his hopes up.

RILEY

We’re pretty sure it is. I’m the researcher, it’s my job to be sure. But we’ll ask a few innocuous questions first, just in case.

LYNNE

That’s fine, it’s just… he’s been through a lot.

JULIA

We get it, we really do.

LYNNE

Alright then. Come on in. Stephen?

[SFX: Whiteboard squeaks]

LYNNE

Yeah, these are friends of Leo’s. They have the same recorder, they were um… they were wondering if they could ask you some questions about… uh…

JULIA

There’s a club in SoHo we’re researching for a queer activist group looking to preserve the old building. We have reason to believe you were a patron there during your life and want to ask a few questions about the club itself, if that’s okay?

[SFX: Whiteboard squeaking]

JULIA

Great! It’s really nice to finally meet you, by the way. Riley, can you-

[SFX: Recording ends]

[SFX: Recording begins]

JULIA

Right, so Riley’s done editing it, we’re going to play it back and then we’ll stick around and ask some, y’know, follow-up questions based on what we hear.

LYNNE

Alright. Kara?

KARA

I’m okay. Go on.

LYNNE

(SOFTLY) We’ll be here for him, whatever happens. It’ll be okay.

KARA

I know. I love you. We’ll be okay.

[SFX: Laptop trackpad clicks]

JULIA

(ON RECORDING) Alright, Stephen, the club we want to ask you about is the Coronation Club in SoHo, might have also been known as the Carnation Club. Can you tell me if you were ever a patron there?

STEPHEN

(LAUGHS) Oh, very much so. I think of it often. It wasn’t quite my scene, but it made Arthur happy, and we found such a family there. I was always content to lead our lives as quietly and privately as we needed to, to be left in peace. But the people there, they had fire in them. They wanted action, they wanted to seize what was owed to us, not willing to simply take what they could and get by. I admired them all so deeply for that, even if it was somewhat terrifying to me.

RILEY

Alright, well, we didn’t think this through really because our next questions kind of rely on your answer to that being yes. Can you, er, can you let us know on the whiteboard, if your answer was yes? Or that, yeah, a smiley face works too I suppose. Okay great, so can you tell us about how you first came across the club?

STEPHEN

It was Arthur who brought me along. He had been a regular there for years before we met. Well, before we got to know each other, at least. Arthur and I always ran in the same circles, ever since we were very young. After years of fundraisers and galas and all of that, he approached me. Saw something in me that at the time, I was deeply ashamed to have been seen. But he was brave where I was not, and he told me he was like me. We started seeking each other out at every event, and I fell for him in a way I hadn’t even thought possible, back then. Eventually, he asked me to sneak away with him. There was a place he wanted to show me, he promised it would light up my world (LAUGHS) it certainly did something like that. I only cared about the way he lit up when he showed me the club. Like he was presenting a hidden wonder of the world for my eyes only. I loved the place only because he loved it. And I loved him more than anything.

JULIA

And can you tell us about some of your most notable experiences there? We just want to get an idea of what the Carnation Club meant to people.

STEPHEN

Well, there was my first time there, seeing Arthur show me this whole new world. It was a place we could escape to, away from our parents’ constant gaze. It was… (A LITTLE EMBARRASSED) It was actually where we kissed, for the first time. The first place we were able to, after months of falling for each other, the first place we were safe to. After a few years, it was on the dance floor that he asked me to move in with him. He told me he didn’t care what our parents said, that we could take our savings and spend the rest of our lives together, he said let them whisper about the confirmed bachelors over in Islington if they liked. That was as close to a proposal as we were ever permitted, and it was everything to me. How could I have ever said no?

RILEY

(NO LONGER ON RECORDING) Fuck me. It, yeah, it lines up with everything he told us.

LYNNE

It does? Are you sure?

JULIA

It really does. It’s exactly the same. It’s definitely him. I… Do any of you mind if we tell him?

KARA

Please do.

JULIA

Alright, Stephen. I’m going to keep the recorder off for a moment to let you react to this in privacy. I’m sorry for being cryptic, we just had to be sure before we told you this. The spirit of Arthur Holloway is currently tethered to the Carnation Club. He asked us to leave Carnations on the grave of his partner, Stephen Pritchard. His story of how you met matches up with yours, so it feels safe to assume it isn’t a coincidence. He’s doing well. He misses you, of course. But he’s found a community, just like you have.

RILEY

When you’re ready, we can turn the recorder back on, and anything you’d like to say, we’ll make sure he gets it.

LYNNE

Give him a moment to process, please.

KARA

Let’s um… let’s go to the kitchen or something.

JULIA

Yeah, of course, it’s a lot. We’ll come back in whenever you’re ready, Stephen.

Closing theme (short version) begins

Leanne:

This episode of Tell No Tales was written and produced by Leanne Egan. In it, you heard the voices of Shannon Kelly as Julia, Phil Thompson as Riley, Cris Caserini as Kara, Brogan F as Lynne, and Cameron Gergett as Stephen. Thank you for listening, and remember: the dead don’t bite.

Closing theme (short version) ends