Please note that this episode contains mature and potentially
triggering. Subject matter.
What happens when you blow the lid off a pressure cooker that's
been brewing for two decades? A lot of things at once,
apparently. This is the crime at Camp
Ashwood Episode 12 with a capital P The police had read
June's letter to Veronica and I backwards and forwards.
By the time it reached our hands, Rick's keychain was
pulled from his hands, and within minutes he was in cuffs.
The lock box was exactly where June had said it would be in the
attic, and she'd been right to be afraid of what was inside.
Countless letters written in curly popular girl handwriting
from a teenage Sadie to her fully adult math teacher
declaring her love and detailing their sexual encounters.
Underneath that was a torn chunk of her trademark blonde hair
attached to this. The other half of the
heart-shaped best friend necklace with the littlest of
diamonds in it that I'd saved up for ages to buy for Sadie and me
all those years ago. A missing puzzle piece found
just like that. I've been wearing my half for
the last 20 years and it has seen better days.
It's tarnished and scuffed in places the bee, and best faded
from years of nervously fidgeting with it whenever I
thought of her. Sadie's half has been locked
away, untouched and still perfect, with a capital P.
Hey, they're done in there for now.
OK. He did good, all right.
He's confessed to everything, cracked like an egg.
I think he was just so shocked that they found him after all
these years when he'd assumed he'd gone away with it.
Makes me sick that he probably thought he was some kind of
criminal mastermind, and there's no telling what June has
probably gone through being married to him, but he's going
to be behind bars for the rest of his life at a minimum.
Did he say why? Why he did it, I mean her to
say. I don't know that we'll ever
really know. She's not here to tell us, and I
don't believe anything that asshole says.
Look who showed up. Beautiful night.
Hey, what's wrong? With you we've.
Been talking about this for years, and now that we're
finally doing it, you're acting like I stole your favorite GI
Joe. Or something.
And anyway, I should be the one mad at you.
Why the hell does June Harper think you're her boyfriend, Rick
Rick? Shut up, Sadie.
Jeez. Look, I think it's clear you're
just too young to understand how relationships or the world
works. When we talked about doing this
and getting you out of Asheville together, it was a fantasy, OK?
And I went along with it because I felt sorry for you, with your
dad being such a Dick and everything.
I care about you, obviously, but.
But what? You're the one who said we
should run away together long before I'd even thought of it.
Now you're saying it's something I pulled out of my ass.
Why are you being like this? I'm being an adult, Sadie.
And you know what I have been seeing June.
Then what are you doing with me in this?
Canoe, I wanted to come out tonight and just talk to you.
So you agreed to a time to meet with me during the dance, a time
that I explicitly told you that I was ready to finally do it,
leave town with you, the thing you've been talking about.
But actually what you wanted to do was break up with me.
Well, I don't understand. Rick, there's nothing to
understand. But you said.
Sadie, let this go. Oh, I see how it is.
You took me here in the middle of the night, alone on a lake,
while everyone who actually cares about me is out of
earshot. So you could break my heart
without me making. A seat, Sadie.
You know what, Rick? I know you're older than me and
you've held all the cards in this thing between us because
you think you know more about love and life than I do.
But actually, I just realized that you don't know shit.
And maybe I have been naive about things, but I have always
had good intentions. I follow my heart and damn it, I
try to see the good in things. And I have friends that I've had
my whole life back at that dance who love me to death, and I love
them back the same way. So I do know a lot more about
real love. And honestly, right now, I think
the only mistake I ever made was letting you talk me into giving
it to you when I knew it was wrong, when I knew it wasn't
even legal. You're my teacher, Rick.
And if you think you're going to drag me out on some boat and
talk me into letting you treat me like crap and lie to me and
expect me to bite my tongue to protect you, then you have
seriously misunderstood who I am.
I am going to sing it from the fucking rooftop.
But even if we'll never know what happened, we know that Rick
did it. We can put her to rest or go for
real this time. It wasn't at the point of this
whole search. If I'm being really honest, part
of me was still holding out hope.
She was alive. I know they found her hand in
the lake in 2003, but you can live without a hand and all her
talk about getting out of town and going off to live some new
life. I think maybe when I started
this whole thing, some part of me thought I might be getting to
the end of a rainbow and finding her in a Vegas show, made-up to
the nines and working under a fake name.
That maybe this whole time she'd been out there in the world
living. That I could have smoothed her
out and finally reunited us. Could even be furious at her for
creating this ruse and causing so much pain, but so absolutely
fucking thrilled that she was still alive that I would have
gotten over it and forgiven her right away.
I. Guess that's the one downside to
solving an unsolved case. Now we know for sure.
I have spent so long wondering, I'm not sure what to do with
knowing where do I even go from here.
What are you doing tomorrow? So this is it, huh?
Their parents had the headstone put in after they found Sadie's
hand. Sadie Cameron Sunshine on a
cloudy day. Well, they got that part right.
Do you come up here a lot? I tried it once a year or so on
her birthday. Since her parents passed, I've
been doing it a little more. What do you?
Do Lee Flowers. She loved magnolias.
I remember. So I get those from my yard
sometimes. I'll sit here and listen to
music. She liked things like that.
Do you talk to her? I do.
I thought you might like to today.
I can give you some privacy too, if you'd like.
Yeah. Hey CD, I got him.
I'm sorry it took so long. I'll talk to you later, Virgo.
Hey, do you want to maybe get dinner sometime, see a movie or
something? Like real friends.
I would love that and maybe Paul and I can have you and Mike
over. That sounds nice, actually.
It's a double date. See you, Margo.
See you Veronica. Hey Sadie.
God, this feels so weird. I don't know if you're in there
or listening, or anyway, I guess if you are listening, you know
that I came back to Asheville to try and solve the story behind
your passing. And like Veronica said, we got
him Rick Klein. And I know he was your teacher
and that he must have lied to you about so many things and
that things at home were not good for you, that you were
running away. I know all these things about
you now that you hid from me back then, and I hope you're OK
with that. I hope you know that if and when
I had found all of this out at any point, I still would have
loved you. That I still do.
They found your necklace when they searched Rick's house.
The other half of mine, I I don't know if you remember, but
it's two hearts that fit together like a puzzle.
I have both of them around my neck now, and I'm never going to
take them off. I just want you to know that
that I wish you were actually here, but you're with me
anyways. Always.
I sat up by Sadie's grave for a good hour before I could get
back in the car. I was going to drive home
because it's starting to dawn on me that I need to get back to my
life, grab drinks with Veronica, check out the local farmers
markets and go on a date with my husband.
It's time. I know it, but knowing it didn't
stop me from taking that hard left turn to the old Ashwood
campgrounds on my way home. We rushed through here so
quickly the other day that I didn't really get to see it.
All the old cabins, still in rows, empty in the summer, the
places where we told each other ghost stories, now feel like a
true ghost town. It's funny though, all these
years of feeling haunted by what happened to Sadie, of feeling
haunted by her, it's been a weight on me.
But something about living with her ghost, of staying in the
past with her was nice, comforting, and I'm glad we
solved the case and gladder, that Rick is going to be behind
the bars where he can't hurt anyone else.
But I'm not happy. I didn't feel some big rush of
joy like I thought I would when he was brought in.
There was no moment of elation, no celebration.
There was just peace. And peace, by its nature, is an
enormous triumph that unfortunately feels very small.
It's just there, floating, no fireworks.
And maybe if I'm leaving behind a part of the teenager that's
been trapped inside me waiting for this to be resolved, being
at peace is just about the best place I could be.
I think it's good enough for me, but for Sadie, who was larger
than life and all about the fireworks, I'm going to have to
do a little more. Which is why I called Mr. And
Misses Mackenzie today, the old owners of Ashwood, and asked
them what they thought about me starting to camp back up again.
They said I could shoot for next summer and I said that sounded
perfect. High in the village mountains
you'll find my memories among the birds and trees.
The place where I am free at Ashwood, my home away from home
and all the friends I've made. The best of all was you.
A sister over smarts, a piece of living proof let all year long
awaiting those sweets on the nights you were far away.
But always on my side, right in my memories among the birds and
trees. A place where I am free.
I had Ashwood, my home away from home.
Thank you for listening to the crime at Camp Ashwood and
especially for following us all the way to this, the series
finale. We hope you have enjoyed
listening to this project as much as we've enjoyed creating
it. The Crime at Camp Ashwood was
produced by Dragon Hunter Productions and New Girl
Pictures. The series was created, written,
produced and edited by. Laura Hunter Drago The podcast's
artwork was created by Hannah Dobbs.
The role of Sadie Cameron was played by Halle Smith.
The role of Veronica Hughes was played by Misha Brooks, the role
of June Harper was played by Deborah Lee Smith and the role
of Margot Engel was played by Laura Hunter Drago.
All performers appeared courtesy.
Of Sag AFTRA, Home Away from Home.
The song that closes the series was written by Laura Hunter
Drago and performed by Hallie Smith as a piece.
Of bonus content. The fully produced.
Song is now available. On all major music platforms,
search home away from home. The Crime at Camp Ashwood Song
If you'd like to support us so we can keep making more projects
like this one, click the support link in the Show Notes.
To learn more about this and all our projects, visit
ourwebsitesdragonhunterproductions.com and New.
Girlpictures.com.