Episode 205

"Cheryl" aired on May 9, 2016.

The Voice in Alex's Sleep Note
Nic expresses concern over Alex's latest sleep notes, and they address the voice repeating "Azazeel" on her last note, later revealed to be her own voice. Alex has no explanation, and Nic explains he also contacted Three Rivers Hospital to inquire about Simon Reese--if he could have been the source of the knocking also heard in the note--and the staff reported no strange activity on Simon's part. Nic suggests Alex take a holiday, but she's reluctant to leave during such a crucial time for developments in the show, though she does end up taking a three week break.

Nic investigates the meaning of Azazeel, revealing that it's the name of a fallen angel in an ancient Jewish text called the Book of Enoch.

Voice Messages from "Coralee"
Strand visits the studio and Nic and Alex play voicemail messages left by several women claiming to be Coralee. Strand believes one message, left by a computerized voice saying, "Richard Strand. Please don't worry. It's Taddycoram Dickens. I left you something beside the white chickens," could possibly be Coralee, as William Carlos Williams is her favorite poet and the Dickens character--Taddycoram's--real name is Harriet, which is also Coralee's real name (she changed it in high school).

Strand explains part of Coralee's wedding vows included a the poem The Red Wheelbarrow, which was the reference in the computerized voicemail message left for him.

Message from Keith Dabic
Alex receives an email from Keith saying he's passed the one-year mark of hearing the Unsound, and he believes he's still alive due to the discovery of a sound file that he attached; Alex postulates that Keith believes he found a cure for the Unsound. Nic dismisses the theory, as the Unsound is a myth and Keith has already demonstrated a clear obsession with the phenomenon.

Alex receives a second message from Keith with only a sound file attachment. Nic sends it to Dr. Pullman for analysis. He confirms the sound is man-made, and has audible sounds layered over an infrasound, a sound with a frequency under 20 hertz so it can't be heard by humans, but can still cause nausea, headaches and eardrum pain with prolonged exposure. He explains how an engineer, Vic Tandy, was working in a medical lab in the 80s when he started feeling sick and could see a shadowy figure standing in the corner of the lab. it was later discovered that a new fan that was installed near his desk was emitting this infrasound, which was the cause of the hallucination and sickness.

Alex receives a third message from Keith, this one only containing a photo of him in a large stone hallway or room. Nic looks into the geotagged information contained in the photo, and it's revealed that Keith is in the monastery in Glushka.

The Death of Maddie Franks
Nic receives confirmation from a friend at the coroner's office that the blood on the wall of the scene of her suicide wasn't Maddie's, and that there were signs and symbols on the wall under the blood.

Alex finally feels pushed over the edge, and agrees to a three-week vacation from the podcast. Her sleep notes afterwards remain unsettling, including one in which she dreams of seeing a silhouette of a woman hanging on a noose in her shower.

Strand's New Home
Alex visits Strand after he takes possession of his father's house; he says he was thinking of selling, but has decided to set up his office there. Alex explores and discovers the black tapes stacked on the floor of a small room, one labelled "Cheryl". Alex asks to see it and Strand agrees, after he shows her photos on a USB of his and Coralee's wedding at the Empress Hotel in Victoria.

The Cheryl Tape
After Alex discovers a tape labelled "Cheryl" in Strand's new home, he agrees to play it for her: it contains footage of a girl about six or seven years old, talking to a boy holding the camera. They're filming at night in their living room, and the girl is saying she can see the tall men outside. The boy says he can't see anything and opens the door, and the girl says he shouldn't have done that as "they" will want to come in. She says the tall men are now inside, and while she gestures to a corner of the room and says hello, the footage reveals nothing there. Strand confirms he was the boy filming, and the girl was a childhood friend. He admits he believed at the time he saw something in the room as well, but the closest explanation he can accept is that it was a shared hallucination.

Alex asks how Tannis Braun knew about the tape, and Strand says it was accidentally included in a collection of books that Tannis won at auction after Strand's father died. Braun sent it back to Strand, but Strand believes he only did so as a challenge to accept that Strand's insecurity in his inability to debunk the events on the tape led to his becoming a paranormal investigator.

Recurring Characters
Alex Reagan, producer and host

Nic Silver, producer

Dr. Richard Strand, paranormal investigator

Dr. Michael Pullman, structural acoustician