The murder mystery podcast the story unfolds each week.
Will you guess the killer? Hi this is MF Callagher.
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all her social media accounts. Thanks for listening.
I'll see you soon on the Murder Mystery podcast.
It's the Berlin execution episode 1.
The traffic gets denser as Olivia St and her daughter Poppy
approached the Velodrome Stadium in Berlin.
The place is a mass of people, cars and taxis all hurrying
towards the venue for the same reason.
This is the last European gig that the global singing * Iris
is doing on her Second World tour and Poppy has been looking
forward to tonight since Olivia got her tickets at Christmas.
After Poppy's friend Amelia caught the flu last week, Poppy
asked Olivia to come with her and she'd said.
It'll be a good opportunity for you to listen to something else
apart from your Millennium stuff, mum.
They queue up and a large man wearing black looks at their
tickets, then locks a wristband on each of them to allow the
women into the venue. Their seats are halfway down the
rows and on an aisle. Poppy tells Olivia about her
favourite Iris tracks and how this woman from Korea has
redefined music. As they talk, an announcement
comes over the speakers saying that there is a slight delay and
that Iris will be on stage at 8:00 PM.
Olivia volunteers to go and get drinks and snacks while they
wait and leaves her daughter reading the special edition
concert programme. The refreshment kiosks nearest
to their seats are overflowing with people who had the same
idea to get drinks. While they wait.
Olivia walks further around the outer corridor in search of more
outlets and finds one that is quieter.
As she is waiting for her drinks to be made, the door opens near
to her and a man and woman walk out to have some privacy from
whomever is inside. They both look angry.
The woman is as tall as the man. They both have a mop of black
hair. They slam the door shut behind
them and stand close to each other, trying to speak quietly
but failing as Olivia can hear every word.
She's. Not going on.
Says the woman. She's going on Hannah.
If I have to drag her on myself, you can't.
Treat her like this, Dachau. She's sensitive.
It's the contract. Which bit of that do you not
understand? If she doesn't appear, we're
liable for all the venue's costs.
It's not my fault you negotiated.
A bloody stupid. Deal Is it?
You've got 10 minutes to decide or.
I'll do it for you. He sighs loudly, turns the
handle of the door and disappears back inside, leaving
the woman alone. The barista making Olivia's
coffees has some problem with the machine and has to throw
away the first cups and do a second batch.
Just before the new coffees are ready, the door opens again and
a man in his 30s with a tattoo of some sort of an animal on his
right arm comes out in a. Panic.
Hannah Istaco. What about him?
Come and. See, it's.
Urgent Why the panic? Max.
The man leans in towards the woman and whispers something,
but Olivia can't hear the words. They hurry back through the
door, leaving it slightly ajar. The barista hands Olivia the
coffees and she takes a wide route so she can get a view of
what's going on behind the door. A long white corridor stretches
into the distance. There's no one insight at first.
Then a young woman runs out from a room on one side and makes her
way towards Olivia. She is crying and wiping her
open palms down the sides of her short silver dress.
She only sees Olivia standing in the doorway when they're a few
feet apart. The young woman stops in her
tracks. Are you with blue coat?
She says no, says Olivia. Are you all?
Right. The young woman shakes her head.
Has something happened? I didn't mean to, didn't mean to
what? He's been dreadful to me.
Says the young. Woman, there's no one who can
help me here and everyone on the tour is trying to undermine me.
Who's been dreadful to you? My manager.
You're. Iris, aren't you?
Says Olivia. The young woman nods.
He's dead, she says, then stops, as though saying the words out
loud have made it more real. But I didn't kill him.
They think I did it. Not if there's no evidence.
Says Olivia. What do you mean the police need
evidence to prove crimes? How do you know I'm a lawyer?
Will you be my lawyer? I don't want to go to prison.
I can't. Operate in Germany.
I'd need a licence. Iris frowns and wipes her palms
again on her clothing. Look I can help a bit.
I'm Olivia have this. She offers her one of the
coffees. Is there somewhere we can sit
down? The tall and angry woman from
earlier has appeared at the far end of the white corridor.
She is walking furiously towards them.
The police are coming. Iris, don't go anywhere.
Who's this? The woman looks at Olivia.
I'm Olivia, she says. I'm advising Iris informally on
her situation. You a lawyer, says the woman.
Just giving friendly. Advice.
Who is she? Says the woman, turning to Iris.
She's helping me because there's no one else.
Iris's eyes flare and the woman visibly takes umbrage.
The singer turns to Olivia. Come down here.
She pushes past the angry woman and leads Olivia to one of the
two doors next to each other on the left hand side of the
corridor. Iris opens one of the doors but
stops in her tracks. Sorry, my mistake.
That's the stairs to the car park.
She closes the door and opens the next one.
This room turns out to be her dressing room.
The angry woman follows them down and is going to walk into
the room, but Iris makes a point of shutting the door before she
arrives. They find chairs and sit amongst
the costume changes and make up that fill the room.
Tell me what? Happened, says Olivia.
I heard Deco arguing with Hannah.
That's the woman who spoke to us just now.
Iris looks up at Olivia, then continues.
The next thing I know, Max comes running along the corridor
saying Daca's been attacked. He went off to find Hannah and I
went to find Daca. He was lying in a pool of blood.
I knelt down to see if he was breathing and got covered in it.
She holds up her hands to show the red sticky stain across her
fingers. Iris takes a deep breath and
looks serious. He's been my manager since the
beginning when we were both nobodies.
She wipes tears from her eyes, leaving a smudge of blood on her
skin. He used to be a kind man, but in
this last year he became horrible, a bully to everyone,
including me, even though I was the goose loin, the golden egg.
Did you raise? The issue with anyone?
Says Olivia. No, he's been loyal to me.
I owe him everything. What happened after you found
the body? Says Olivia.
Some guy from the sand crew came along and saw me and said I
thought you'd kill him one day. I panicked and ran out.
Then I met you outside. Olivia watches the young woman,
trying to assess her ability to lie and wondering if such a
coherent story can all be true. Have you got a?
Picture of him, she says. Iris nods and finds an image on
her phone. Olivia takes a photo of it with
her own device. There's a knock on the door and
a German police officer is there.
When Olivia opens it, he says that his inspector has told him
to take Aris to police headquarters.
When Olivia says that she would like to accompany Aris as she is
only 19, he agrees. They are taken into the bowels
of the concrete corridors and passageways that form a matrix
of tunnels beneath the stadium. Olivia phones Poppy as they
approach the police car. Poppy, it's mum.
Where are you? You've been ages getting
coffees. The concert's not happening.
Says Olivia. What?
How do you know? I'll tell you later, but go out
and get a taxi. To Berlin.
Police headquarters. It's on Platts de Luftbrooker.
I'll. Meet you there as something
happened. Go and get the taxi now before
everyone else knows the. Concert's cancelled.
As there'll be a long queue then.
The police complex is a vast yellow building to the South of
the city with rows of identical windows and two wings that form
an arc. The police car arrives in a
basement car park and they take a lift to the fifth floor.
Iris and Olivia are shown to an interview room and given machine
coffee. 10 minutes later the door bursts open and a dark
haired woman in her 40s hurries in.
Iris, I'm Astrid Fisher, your lawyer.
The Blue Coat Records CEO telephoned me and told me what
had happened. She looks at Olivia.
And you are? Olivia St Frau Fisher.
I'm a lawyer. But not licenced.
For Germany. Why are you here?
Aris asked me to come along as a.
Friend Astrid smiles, but there is no warmth behind her eyes.
To give her moral support. Olivia adds.
I'd like to speak to my client alone, Miss St.
She smiles again, no more emotionally.
Olivia tells Aris that she'll wait in the cafe area, one floor
down. A few minutes after Olivia takes
a seat in the cafe, Poppy messages to ask where she is.
As the girl has arrived at reception downstairs, the lift
doors open. A minute later, Poppy steps out
and immediately launches into an update on what had happened in
the stadium. There was an announcement as I
left saying all the tickets would be valid for a future
concert, so at least we'll see her.
You're going to see her before that, says Olivia.
What do you mean? It's cancelled, isn't it?
Let me tell you why we're. Here, Olivia pauses and looks at
her daughter directly. I'm helping Iris.
What? Poppy shrieks.
No way, ma'am. What you doing for her?
This is confidential. Poppy, she says, and opens her
eyes wide. Yeah, yeah, of course.
A man in Iris team died tonight. They're questioning everybody,
including her. About what happened and what are
you going to do for her? Says Poppy.
Moral support? Really.
I met her and she said that there's no one on the tour that
she can speak to. Do you think she killed this
guy? She says not.
Are you going to represent her in court then?
I can't in this country. I can advise.
Her though, she's talking to her German lawyer now.
Can we meet her? Says Poppy.
Yeah, as soon as the lawyer has finished, the police may want to
question her tonight. Too.
So it could be a long wait. OK, no problem, Poppy.
'S in a slight daze at the idea of meeting Iris.
Her mother can see that, but she says nothing.
The clock in the cafe shows gone midnight when a policewoman
pushes open the door from the stairs and tells them that
Frowline Iris Tarney can leave now and that she's travelling
back to her hotel and has asked that Olivia goes with her.
She's Australian mum. Says Poppy as they follow the
policewoman back upstairs. In case you were thinking that
Tarney's not a very Korean name. When they arrive at the
interview room, Iris is alone. This is Poppy, my daughter.
She says to the singer. Hi.
Poppy is unusually reticent, and Iris smiles weakly.
You're going. Back to the hotel, they said,
Will you come with me? I don't want to be alone.
My record label, Blue Coat Records, book more rooms than
they need and half of them are empty so you can stay in them.
The taxi only takes 15 minutes before it drops the three women
outside the Ritz Carlton Hotel that overlooks the trees and
Criss crossing paths of the Grosser Tiergarten Park near the
Brandenburg Gate in the centre of Berlin.
The staff are suitably attentive as Iris appears through the main
doors and the party is whisked up to the 11th floor suite.
Poppy tries but fails to keep her reaction in check as they
walk into the 200 square foot hotel suite.
Within 10 seconds. A knock on the door brings
coffee and cake, which Iris had ordered as she passed the
doorman on the way in. It's like.
A whole flat. Says Poppy.
Two bedrooms and a fitness room. Crazy.
I mean lovely. You don't have to say that.
I'm tired of everyone around me saying everything's wonderful or
I'm wonderful or the new single is wonderful.
Poppy can't think what to say. Are you surrounded by yes men?
Says Olivia. Iris nods.
I just need a shutter reality every so often like it was when
I wasn't famous. I need people to tell me the
truth, not what they think I want to hear.
Don't you like your music course?
I love my music. I love singing and writing and
the fans. She stops and smiles.
At Poppy. But inside I'm still the same
girl I always was. I expect you're.
Tired. Why don't you?
Get some sleep and we can talk in the.
Morning. Do you want to stay in the other
room, Poppy? Says Aris.
It'll be nice to have company, OK?
Is all Poppy can think of to say.
Order pyjamas and clothes on room service there anything you
like? Blue coat or pie?
She turns to Olivia. There's another room on the 10th
floor, Olivia, if you'd like that.
Thank you. Hang on.
Says Aris. She calls down to reception and
tells them to send someone up to meet Olivia at the room with a
key card. They walk to the door and just
before she turns the handle, Olivia says.
Did the police tell you to get back for more interviews?
They just said to stay in Berlin.
The next gig is in Australia and not for two weeks, so I had time
off anyway. You asked me to help you.
What I can do is help you think Poppy and I are only here for a
couple. Of days but.
We can chat and help you explore what happened tonight.
Get your brain straight. I didn't do it.
She says. I know, but like I said before,
the law is about evidence, but if there are any suspicions then
we need to prove. Your innocence.
If you think there are useful people I can talk to and
encourage. Them to give witness statements
then tell me in the. Morning.
I can feed all of that into. Your German lawyer, Iris frowns.
I don't like Estrid. She says.
If Dan Macklin is paying her, there'll be something dodgy
about her. He's the CEO of Bluecoat, isn't
he? Yeah, well, she's a
professional. They can't just make stuff up.
I'll see you tomorrow. Olivia goes out and Iris walks
to the windows. She can hear Poppy's voice
spiralling out of the second bedroom, ordering clothes from
reception. After a minute, Poppy returns
and stands next to Iris without looking away from the city laid
out in front of her, the singer says.
Poppy, Poppy, I need you to be more confidante.
Why is that? I think I've done something
terrible.