Sword and scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

Lose a child that way, and that baby is an extension of her mother and the rest of her family, so they lost a child as well. I'm Some asshole said at some point that brevity is the essence of wit.

So we might as well get on with it.

This is episode 323 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. I'm Man yeah Hello. She turns on to Bolivar Street, like the car is driving itself.

She feels numb, too numb to be its driver. She's been here before too many

times to count, but today's different. Her stomach is unsettled. Why hasn't her daughter

Lisa responded to her in more than 15 hours. They have an understanding, she thinks.

If I don't hear from you, I'm coming to find you.

It's the way moms and daughters operate.

That bond is never truly broken.

The building comes into view at the far end of the block.

It looks like a regular two-story house,

maybe a little worn around the edges.

There's a lawn, not big,

but enough to push a mower across,

and a long, narrow sidewalk that stretches up to the sagging front porch.

It's the kind of porch you'd expect to creak under your feet, and it does, it does.

From where she parks, the trees at the dead end street are in full bloom, tall and still.

A thick line of woods makes the gray two-story house feel almost peaceful.

If you didn't know any better,

you'd think this was a residential house in a rural setting,

...