A 9/11 Story: 1. Neighbours

Intrigue

This episode explores the personal connection between a San Diego property manager and the hijackers involved in the 9/11 attacks. It follow

Key takeaways

Holly Ratchford rented an apartment to two Saudi men in 2000 despite their lack of income proof.
The hijackers' identities were revealed to Holly by a reporter contacting her for a rental reference.

Main topics

9/11 terrorist attacks
FBI investigations

Notable quotes

I don't think I ever want to be as blindsided as I was by them not... being who they said they were.

Conclusion

A gripping look at how ordinary local interactions intersected with on

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Speaker 7 (0:06) It's late 2007, and while attending a Christmas party, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg meets a woman who would change the course of his company forever. Speaker 3 (0:14) She joined Facebook as chief of operations in 2008 and has been credited for making the company profitable. And Speaker 7 (0:21) herself enormously rich. Speaker 3 (0:22) On Good Bad Billionaire, we're exploring the life and fortune of billionaire tech leader Sheryl Sandberg. Speaker 7 (0:27) Listen now, search for Good Bad Billionaire wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Speaker 1 (0:39) Welcome to the Haunted Library. Have you come in search of a tale? This podcast invites you to browse the shelves and find stories that will linger long after you've left this place. From gothic masterpieces to pulpy penny dreadfuls, join me, Colin Morgan, with new episodes twice a week. Find The Haunted Library wherever you get your podcasts. At Speaker 6 (1:09) Parkwood, Speaker 4 (1:10) welcome has a smell. Speaker 4 (1:14) So you could Speaker 2 (1:14) smell those cookies when you would walk up to Parkwood. You could smell the cookie smell coming out of the office and it would waft all over the apartment. Speaker 4 (1:26) Parkwood, a modest apartment complex in San Diego. Speaker 6 (1:30) 175 units, two-story buildings, a grassy slope up from the street, a bench outside, and inside the rental office, Holly Ratchford. Speaker 6 (1:44) sitting in a glass cube beside the application forms and the paperwork. Speaker 4 (1:50) And her innovation, a little machine that bakes fresh cookies. Speaker 2 (1:55) And I always told my staff, when someone comes in here, this is their home. You make them feel like this is their home and they'll stay. In February 2000, two men walk in. I thought they Speaker 4 (2:07) were kind of nice, young looking men. They don't speak English, though that's not unusual at Parkwood. People come from everywhere. Speaker 6 (2:15) But they're with someone who does speak English, who already lives in the building, in fact, in apartment 152. However, there's Speaker 2 (2:25) a problem. The paperwork. They didn't meet the income criteria at all. They didn't have bank accounts. They had none of that. Speaker 6 (2:34) A one-bed apartment. Two polite young men. No bank account. No proof of income. Holly has to decide whether to let them in. Speaker 6 (2:47) Parkwood isn't just Holly's office. It's her home. She lives here too. This Speaker 4 (2:52) is where she's building a world for her, her three kids and everyone else. Speaker 2 (2:57) My kids and their friends would all come over and we'd all get popcorn and hang out in the bedroom and put pillows everywhere and watch movies and play video games and it was Speaker 4 (3:07) fun. So every applicant was a potential neighbour, maybe even Speaker 2 (3:12) a friend. I was really good at my paperwork but... That wasn't what made the job worth doing for me. For me, it was the interactions with the people. Speaker 4 (3:22) It sounds like it was a real family for you. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. She threw parties by the pool. And we would have a blast. Kept a parrot in her office. A parrot. Big, big parrot. In the office. Well, farewell. And, of course, those Speaker 6 (3:39) cookies. That's Holly at the start of the century, surrounded by people, certain she can read them. Today, 25 years on, Holly has built a very different