The Red Sandals (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
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What happened on the night of the robbery?
In 1984, in a small city in northeastern China, a security guard stood outside of a warehouse working an overnight shift. The guard heard a noise coming from some bushes nearby, but he didn't think much of it, because this was a safe town, and usually the hardest part of his job was just staying awake. But suddenly, two thieves in ski masks emerged from those bushes and they rushed the guard. They grabbed him and they slammed his head against the outside wall of the warehouse, and the guard fell to the ground in a daze. One of the thieves quickly gagged the guard, bound his hands and feet, and then told him he would need to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to stay alive. Terrified, the guard laid there and watched as these two thieves opened up the warehouse door and ran inside.
This robbery would shake the local community, but it was nothing in comparison to the horrific crimes it would set off and the gruesome discovery the police would soon make on the outskirts of town. But before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious delivered in story format, then you come to the right podcast because that's all we do and we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if that's of interest to you, please replace the cream inside the Follow Buttons Oreos with toothpaste. Okay, let's get into today's story.
On July 25th, 1984, a 35-year-old woman named Zhao Xiaolian stood in her doorway talking to an agitated man in Liaoyuan City in Northeastern China. The man was a friend of Zhao's husband, Li, and he kept pacing back and forth, and he was loud and very animated when he spoke.
Who was Zhao Xiaolian and what was her situation?
Zhao glanced over her shoulder and saw her seven-year-old daughter drawing a picture at a small table in the front room, and Zhao turned and asked her husband's friend to please keep his voice down. The man nodded and then did lower his voice and then told Zhao everything was going to be okay. By the end of the night, she wouldn't have to worry or keep the secret she was hiding anymore. She just needed to follow the instructions he had given her. The man then said goodbye and wished her luck. Zhao closed the door and just stood there in silence for a second. Then she forced a smile onto her face and turned and walked over to her daughter. Zhao was about 5 foot 3 inches tall, with black hair and dark brown eyes, and her daughter looked a lot like her.
Zhao told her daughter she could finish her drawing later, because for now, she was going to go stay with her uncle for a while. And right away, Zhao's daughter's face lit up and she ran to the door. Zhao followed her and slipped on her favorite pair of shoes. They were red sandals with a low heel. Then she took her daughter's hand and they both walked outside. The pair made their way through the neighborhood that lay on the outskirts of the city, not far from the surrounding mountains. Streets were lined with small gray wooden houses, and Zhao basically knew everybody who lived in these houses. This was a neighborhood where multiple generations of families had grown up right alongside each other.
Usually, that was something Zhao loved about this place, that sense of community. But now, all she could imagine were her neighbors staring out at her from their windows, trying to figure out the secret that she was hiding from everyone. After walking for a few more minutes, Zhao's daughter let go of her mother's hand and ran down the street to her uncle's house and then knocked on the door. As this happened, Zhao prayed her brother was actually home. In 1984, nobody where Zhao lived had a car. In fact, even bicycles were seen as a luxury. If people needed to travel for work, they could catch a bus or train from the city center, but typically they just walked everywhere. The people in this area at the time also did not have telephones.
So if they wanted to get in touch with somebody out of town, they wrote letters. And if they needed to talk to someone close by, they simply walked over to their house to see them. So it was not uncommon to show up at somebody's house unannounced and to find that nobody was home. But luckily, Zhao saw her brother open up his door and he hugged Zhao's daughter.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What happened on the night of the robbery?
0:00–2:12
2
Who was Zhao Xiaolian and what was her situation?
2:12–6:59
3
What gruesome discovery did the farmer make?
6:59–16:18
4
What led Detective Soon to suspect foul play?
16:18–21:50
5
What did Zhao's diary reveal about her life?
21:50–26:16
6
What inconsistencies were found in Zhao's husband Li's story?
26:16–40:30