Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.The rules for law and order create the boundaries for civil co-existence and, ideally, the backdrops for individuals, families, and companies to grow and thrive. Breaking these rules puts civil order at risk. And while murder is the Big Daddy of crimes, codified ordinances across municipal divisions, counties, states, and countries show the nearly endless ways there are to create mayhem. This season, we put our detective skills to the test. This is Season 8, Anything but Murder. This is Episode 8, where witness intimidation is the featured crime. This is Ace of Hearts by Margaret S. Hamilton“Ace of Hearts” is Margaret S. Hamilton’s third published short story set in New Orleans, a city she knows and loves, from the manicured acres of City Park to the potholed streets of the Lower Garden District. New Orleans is a city defined by food: fried oyster po’boys, Abita beer, beignets, and chicory coffee. A city of haunting jazz melodies and spectacular Mardi Gras parades. A city that survives adversity and thrives, like Calliope Hebert, the main character of this story.DELIBERATIONCallie is on a tight timeline with no room for error. She needs our help if she’s going to find the flash drive and save her mother. There are the potential locations for the flash drive:House of Rising Sun Dress sign, outside the door to Mama’s apartmentKrewe stiletto heel, in the dining room on the shelvesPin cushion, kept on Mama’s bedside tableLipstick tube, given by Mama’s sisterBroken flashlight, stored in Mama’s bedroom Here are the clues Callie has to work with:Ace downloaded business records from John Readon to a flash drive before he disappeared last SpringMama sold the house and moved the family to the duplex. The furniture is new. Only personal items and Mama’s dress business were movedCallie saw Mama shove something into the side of the house when she was hanging up her business signCallie’s aunt gave Mama the tube of lipstick when she came to the partyThe pin cushion was in the draw where Callie found the queen of hearts playing cardThe flashlight Callie tried to use when the lights went out didn’t turn on and sounded like there was something loose inside.When Callie asked her mother about the things Ace left, she didn’t seem to know where the information was. The only thing Ace said was “think about our wedding day.”The Reardon’s reported a rumor that the flash drive was hidden in the Krewe stilettos.Where should Callie look for the flash drive? About Witness IntimidationWitness intimidation is as old as crime itself. And it actually is a crime – witness intimidation, witness tampering. From the attorney general of Pennsylvania comes the very recent case of Dushawn Ellis who was facing charges of human trafficking. While in jail, he put out a $20,000 hit on the witness. Ellis approached another inmate of the county prison who knew the witness and used that connection and the bounty to video chat with the witness and personally make the threat. The witness held their ground and Ellis was charged with two counts of felony witness intimidation and one count of obstruction of justice. He was convicted by a jury in February 2024, was sentences to 8 ½ to 22 years. The original human trafficking was ongoing as of that time.
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