Talking Dateline: A Little Patch of Perfect

Summary

Dateline NBC: Talking Dateline – A Detailed Summary of "A Little Patch of Perfect"

Introduction

In the January 22, 2025, episode of Talking Dateline, host Andrea Canning engages in a deep discussion with renowned journalist Keith Morrison about their compelling true-crime story, "A Little Patch of Perfect." This episode delves into the mysterious death of Atlanta lawyer Gary Ferris, unraveling family secrets, legal battles, and unexpected courtroom revelations.

Overview of the Case

"A Little Patch of Perfect" centers on the unsettling death of Gary Ferris, a wealthy Atlanta lawyer found deceased in a burn pile on his expansive estate in 2018. Initially suspected to have succumbed to heatstroke or an accidental fall into the fire, further investigations uncovered a web of family tensions and hidden grudges, ultimately revealing that Gary was murdered by a member of his own family.

Family Dynamics and Financial Tensions

Andrea Canning and Keith Morrison explore the complex family dynamics that played a central role in Gary Ferris's demise. Gary, often referred to as "Big Daddy," was known for his generosity, frequently providing his adult children with financial support. However, this generosity also sowed seeds of resentment and dependency.

"Gary felt that some of his children were taking advantage of his generosity, particularly his two sons," Morrison explains (04:13).

The tension was further exacerbated by Melody Ferris, Gary's wife, whose extravagant spending habits clashed with Gary's more measured approach to financial support. This discord hinted at deeper marital strains, with Melody's behavior raising suspicions about her role in Gary's death.

Clues and Investigative Insights

A pivotal clue in the investigation was Gary's reliance on a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, essential for managing his sleep apnea. The absence of CPAP usage on the night of his death suggested that Gary was killed before his usual bedtime, thereby narrowing down the timeline of the crime.

"The fact that the CPAP machine was not used that night indicated that he was killed before his bedtime," Morrison notes (07:28).

Melody Ferris's Trial and Defense Strategies

The trial of Melody Ferris became a focal point of the discussion, marked by unconventional defense tactics. Melody's defense attorney introduced bags of "roc" (rock candy) to dramatize the challenges of moving a significantly larger man, Gary, suggesting that Melody might not have been physically capable of transporting his body to the burn pile. This strategy aimed to create reasonable doubt about her involvement.

"The prosecution decided not to address the issue of how he got onto the burn pile because they couldn't possibly know for sure," Morrison explains (14:24).

Exclusive Clip from Martha Jane Barton

A standout moment in the episode was an exclusive, unaired interview clip with Martha Jane Barton, Rusty's stepmother. Her heartfelt testimony provided a stark contrast to Melody Ferris's portrayal, painting Melody as a deceitful individual.

Martha Jane Barton (18:22): "Melody's not a bad person. She's really good to me. I know that she loves me, and she's probably upset with me now... I wanted to tell the truth."

This revelation significantly impacted the trial, presenting a "Perry Mason moment" where unexpected evidence or testimony can change the course of justice.

Audience Engagement and Producer Insights

Post-interview, Andrea Canning is joined by Keith Greenberg, the episode's producer, to address questions from the audience. Topics ranged from the logistics of the investigation to the legal nuances of the trial.

1. Joint Interviews with Brothers: Viewers questioned why Gary's brothers were interviewed together, which is atypical in suspect interrogations. Greenberg clarified that the joint interview occurred only two weeks after the murder, with initial interviews conducted separately (22:58).

2. Life Insurance and Financial Motives: Addressing concerns about life insurance as a potential motive, Greenberg confirmed that Gary had life insurance, a stake in a law firm partnership, and a 401k. While some assets have been distributed to the children, the situation remains unresolved (23:58).

3. Melody's Defense and Appeals: Viewers speculated about the possibility of Melody appealing her conviction. Greenberg affirmed that an automatic appeal is in process, with defense attorneys likely to argue inadequate representation— a common occurrence in such trials (26:19).

Conclusion

The episode of Talking Dateline provided an in-depth exploration of "A Little Patch of Perfect," shedding light on the intricate interplay of family dynamics, financial tensions, and legal strategies that culminated in the shocking revelation of Gary Ferris's murder. Through engaging dialogue, exclusive testimonies, and audience interaction, Andrea Canning and Keith Morrison deliver a comprehensive and captivating summary of this true-crime saga.

Notable Quotes

• "Nothing's ever perfect, Andrea. Behind that lovely facade, some people called this family, the Ferris wheel, they hated that." – Keith Morrison (02:21)

• "It's really great to interact with people who whose thought process is very much the same as ours." – Keith Greenberg (27:37)

Final Thoughts

For listeners who seek a gripping true-crime narrative filled with suspense, emotional depth, and courtroom drama, "A Little Patch of Perfect" offers a compelling case study. Talking Dateline successfully encapsulates the complexities of the story, making it accessible and engaging for both devoted fans and new audiences alike.

Transcript

[Keith Morrison]

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[Andrea Canning]

Hi everyone. I'm Andrea Canning and we are talking DATELINE today. I'm joined by Keith Morrison to discuss his latest episode, A Little Patch of Perfect. Hey, Keith.

[Keith Morrison]

Hello, Andrea. How are you?

[Andrea Canning]

Good. So if you haven't seen A Little Patch of Perfect, it's the episode right below this one on your Dateline podcast feed. So, so go there and listen to it or stream it on Peacock and then come back here. But first, a quick recap. When wealthy Atlanta lawyer Gary Ferris was found dead in a burn pile on his estate in 2018, police wondered if he had fainted from the heat and fallen into the fire while tending to it. But a further investigation revealed a family full of secrets and grudges and that Gary had been killed by one of his own. For this episode, Keith is going to share an extra clip from an interview with Martha Jane Barton, the woman whose last minute testimony surprised the courtroom. And later, one of the producers of this episode, Keith Greenberg, will be on to answer your questions about the show from social media. Okay, Keith, let's talk dateline.

[Keith Morrison]

All right.

[Andrea Canning]

So, okay, a little patch of perfect. You know those drone shots looking at that beautiful piece of property, beautiful house, beautiful land. It does look like a little patch of perfect. But yeah, it wasn't so perfect, was it?

[Keith Morrison]

You know, nothing's ever perfect, Andrea. I mean, we all like to strive for it. We imagine it. We fantasize about exactly the lovely country property we'd love to have with the mansion or the beautiful big house on it and our grown children taking part in the running of it. It's just a delightful idea of an idyllic family living out its days. But of course, nothing is ever perfect. And behind that lovely facade, some people called this family, the Ferris wheel, they hated that. And they still hate it.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, because the last name was Ferris.

[Keith Morrison]

That was Ferris. Yeah. They called them that because it was clearly a dysfunctional family. I mean, it's a wonderful place, a lovely big family, everybody with their roles, and yet there were secrets behind which could be deadly.

[Andrea Canning]

You, at one point, Keith, compared it to. Was it Agatha Christie or.

[Keith Morrison]

It was. It was one of the. Yeah, because I've always loved Agatha Christie. Who doesn't? Right. All of her books were based on a crime which occurred in a confined area with a limited number of people around, any one of whom could have been the culprit. And then it would be a process of, you know, clues pointing one direction, then the other direction, then the other direction. And that was this kind of story. It had to be somebody who had access to that particular piece of property, that piece of. Perfect on that weekend. And sure enough, all the children did.

[Andrea Canning]

Yes. And one thing that seemed very clear about this family was money was at the center for some of the family members. And Big Daddy or Gary, he certainly seemed to use money as, you know, maybe a controlling thing with some of the family members, but he was also generous at the same time.

[Keith Morrison]

Sure. That was certainly the source of conflict between Gary and his wife because he did make money available to the grown children whenever they required it. If they just asked him, he would turn over a credit card for something they couldn't afford or for some bill they couldn't pay. Just before all of this happened, he was going to pay for a vacation for his eldest son and his eldest son's family. They were all going to go off to Florida together. And his wife Melody was not happy about that. But all the children received this largesse from time to time. Most of the time, Gary, Big Daddy did not seem to resent it at all. He just opened his wallet and said, here's a credit card. Use it for what you need to use it. But he began to become somewhat resentful that he felt that some of them were taking advantage of him, the two sons perhaps more than the others. But. But it was a general thing. And I think he felt that same way about Melody, about his wife. So, yes, money was kind of a source of tension in the family.

[Andrea Canning]

You know, it's funny, I also thought of, like, how he gives money to the kids. And I was thinking how that starts at such a young age, right? That dance with your children about what do you give them? And they're always asking you for something and, like, when do you say yes. And when do you say no and when are you generous and when are you not? And like. Yeah, so it's. And I'm sure, you know, you having adult children, then it changes when they become adults.

[Keith Morrison]

Well, yes, but it'll change if you encourage the change. If you just go along like Gary did and keep shelling out the money, they're not going to turn it down, you know, especially if they're having some monetary difficulties themselves.

[Andrea Canning]

No. How do you handle that with your kids, Keith? I know they're getting on their own now and stuff, but, like, you know, it's that delicate. The delicate balance of. Yeah, that's good. Well, because you raised them well. Right?

[Keith Morrison]

Yeah. I'm not sure they would agree, but the, you know, there's, there's always a. I think in every family and you're coming up to it yourself is that period where, you know, how much responsibility are you going to take for yourself and how much are you going to lean on people who could make it easy for you? That's a, you know, that's a hard lesson to learn. And obviously Gary never taught that to his family.

[Andrea Canning]

No. And Melody was spending like crazy, so.

[Keith Morrison]

Yeah. And he didn't seem to mind Melody spending like crazy as long as she spent it on things for the ranch or for them or for himself. But he discovered along the way, several times, she would be with a boyfriend spending all Gary's money. So that's when he changed her from a credit card to a debit card so he could keep track of all the money she spent. And she did not like that. So there was a source of tension between the two of them.

[Andrea Canning]

One thing about Gary was I couldn't believe his health. Like, I mean, this guy is taking blood pressure medicine. He's drinking a 12 pack of Mountain Dew a day and two packs of cigarettes. How was he standing?

[Keith Morrison]

And he was huge. £300. 6, 4, 6, 5. A big, big man who did not exercise, did not look after himself. He couldn't sleep without a CPAP machine.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, he definitely had some, some health issues there. And the CPAP being used as a clue. So we've heard about Fitbits and, you know, different Apple watches and stuff. That's a new one for me, hearing that the CPAP machine came in into the investigation.

[Keith Morrison]

Right. Well, when, when, when, when someone suffers from sleep apnea and they have it bad quite often, a CPAP machine. I wish I could tell you what the letters stand for. I used to know and I've since forgotten, but it, it Helps regulate breathing. So Gary suffered from that and had for a long time, but he had been on the CPAP machine for quite a while and he needed it to the point where he never. Oops, hang on a second. Just to get rid of that.

[Andrea Canning]

Who is it, Keith? Tell us. Who's calling you?

[Keith Morrison]

It's one of my children.

[Andrea Canning]

Aw. See, their ears were burning, right?

[Keith Morrison]

They were, yeah. So he would never have been without his CPAP machine after a certain time of night, because he was very specific in his habits. So the fact that they were able to show that the CPAP machine was not used that night indicated that he was killed before his bedtime.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. The CPAP timeline. And are you interested in what CPAP stands for?

[Keith Morrison]

I am. You're going to tell me, aren't you?

[Andrea Canning]

Continuous Positive airway pressure.

[Keith Morrison]

Well, there you go. And perfectly appropriate letters for it, isn't it?

[Andrea Canning]

You learn something new every day on talking Dateline.

[Keith Morrison]

Busy on Google as I'm yammering away.

[Andrea Canning]

Right. So I want to talk about the. The timing of this, because Melody, when they were asking her, you know, did you hear any gunshots? And she's saying, well, it was so hard to tell because, you know, there were fireworks.

[Keith Morrison]

Sure.

[Andrea Canning]

And I was wondering if that was just very convenient for her to be able to say that, you know, fireworks were going off.

[Keith Morrison]

Could have been, could have been. But those gunshots happened, at least two of them. One in the kitchen and one either on the stairway to the basement or right down to the basement itself. And that was. That's an enclosed house, a.38 special, which would have made a heck of a noise, and you could not possibly have confused that with fireworks. So immediately the people who were questioning Earth realized that that was not possible, that she was telling a lie.

[Andrea Canning]

There had been things going on between Melody and Gary for a while, and one of the things that jumped out at me was when Gary said, you'll know what to tell Dateline if I die mysteriously.

[Keith Morrison]

Yes, exactly. Well, you know, we've been doing this for a while, haven't we?

[Andrea Canning]

Yes.

[Keith Morrison]

Gary felt as if Melody was possibly poisoning him. You know, in spite of all the other issues in their marriage, in spite of the fact that they lived on separate floors of this house, she still cooked the food and he still ate the food, and he began to feel ill, was taken to the hospital, and that's when he said that about Dateline. But that was very soon before, you know, his death.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. And one of the ways that he thought she might be trying to poison him was through the cast iron skillet with the chocolate chip cookies, which is like. Oh, my gosh. Really? You're gonna do it, like, through a cookie like that?

[Keith Morrison]

Well, he did love his sweets, you know, he liked to eat all the things and she knew he liked the cookies. Yeah.

[Andrea Canning]

I feel like there have just been so many poisonings lately. Like, does it feel like more to you than in the past?

[Keith Morrison]

I think you're just getting too close to them, Andrea.

[Andrea Canning]

Oh, my gosh. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Keith has a podcast exclusive clip from an interview with a surprise witness that shook up Melody's trial.

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[Andrea Canning]

One thing that really surprises me sometimes is these are these prosecutors who are willing to take cases that are not easy and go to trial. And I feel like this is one of those ones where you're really rolling the dice with how much evidence you have. I mean, it looks bad for Melody, but there's possible alternate suspects. There's not a lot of physical evidence Tying her to the crime.

[Keith Morrison]

Yeah, so to some degree that's true. And that's part of the reason possibly why it took so long. This occurred way back in 2018. Finally goes to trial toward the end of 2024. It's a long time. And part of it was Covid, of course, but part of it was, you know, they had to try to work it all out and you know, wait for very specific results from the medical examiner, wait for this, wait for that, try to get more evidence, more information. So yeah, it, it was something of a gamble. One of the mysteries of this story was how this 120 pound woman could somehow get this 300 pound man from the basement of their house to their burn pile, which was, you know, 50 yards away or so. You know, exactly how much I don't know, but it's a long way. And, and, and you, you know, she could never have lugged that man more than three or four feet, probably. If that dead weight is a very difficult thing to cart around.

[Andrea Canning]

That's why that trial was so interesting. When the defense attorney hauls out bags of roc.

[Keith Morrison]

Sure.

[Andrea Canning]

That's a first.

[Keith Morrison]

Well, trying to dramatize. And it was a technique that seemed pretty effective at the time. The prosecution decided not to address the issue of how he got onto the burn pile because they couldn't possibly know for sure.

[Andrea Canning]

Wasn't it that they thought she might have put his body on a tractor?

[Keith Morrison]

I heard two different views from some of the people involved. One there, they did have a back a tractor with a, with a lift on it with a shovel. So it would have seemed quite possible for somebody who knew how to use the tractor, and she certainly did, to scoop up his body and you know, carry it in the shovel across to the fire and then dump it in the middle. That's probably the most likely thing that happened. The tractor appeared to have been used that night. The other thing that one of her sons pointed out to me, Scott, in fact, he was looking around for a tow rope that they used to. If they had an animal who had died in the field or some such thing or a big heavy weight to move, they had this tow rope that was specifically designed for it and they would tow it around with an ATV vehicle that Melody was always using.

[Andrea Canning]

You know, the one thing about. What was her lover's name?

[Keith Morrison]

Rusty.

[Andrea Canning]

Rusty. He gave her second cell phone, then he. On his phone, he deleted her contact or changed the name Right. To xo.

[Keith Morrison]

Yeah.

[Andrea Canning]

Do people not know that you, that law enforcement can see that you've Done something to your phone.

[Keith Morrison]

Maybe it's just a slow, long learning curve, but you would think by now people would get it. Yeah.

[Andrea Canning]

So it was interesting. Yeah.

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The.

[Andrea Canning]

You know, how she tried to spin that tattoo, the xo. You know, we all think hugs and kisses and that this was our fresh start, you know, with the farm. And Gary and I love him so much, and, well, it turns out exo is also a beverage.

[Keith Morrison]

It was their little secret, hers and Rusty's. They enjoyed that beverage, but that was kind of, you know, the talisman of their relationship.

[Andrea Canning]

It's like Melody wanted the best of both worlds, you know, she wanted the farm, she liked the money. She probably felt comfortable, I guess, with Gary. They'd been together for so long. But then she had this lust, this desire to have, you know, romance and stray.

[Keith Morrison]

I got the impression doing this story, though, that she was only staying because it was a fountain of money.

[Andrea Canning]

Let's talk about Martha, maybe my favorite person in the show.

[Keith Morrison]

Yeah.

[Andrea Canning]

Martha was Rusty's stepmother.

[Keith Morrison]

Yes. Rusty's absolutely, impeccably honest stepmother. Honest to the point where she would, you know, give up the woman she had known for so many years, Melody, and whom she loved, I'm sure, for the sake of something she knew to be true.

[Andrea Canning]

We had this mid trial surprise. The Perry Mason moment.

[Keith Morrison]

Yes. And it's the first time I've encountered a real, genuine Perry Mason moment, which is, you know, something happens in the middle of the trial and they bring the witness in and it changes everything. I mean, that's phenomenal.

[Andrea Canning]

It was. And I loved how she searched everywhere for that gun in her house because she didn't want to get it wrong. You know, she. She wasn't looking to get these people in trouble. She wanted to get it right. Um, and they tried to use that argument that Martha was upset because she didn't want to be embarrassed, you know, that they were having this relationship and she couldn't show her face in town and all that. And I did not get that sense at all. I got the sen from Martha that she just wanted to do the right thing.

[Keith Morrison]

Yeah. That certainly is what the, you know, what the prosecutors believed, and it certainly made sense to me and Keith.

[Andrea Canning]

We have a clip from Martha that did not air on the show that we'd love to play for our listeners.

[Keith Morrison]

Great.

[Martha Jane Barton]

Melody's not a bad person. 100% bad. She was really good to me. I know that she loves me, and she's probably upset with me now, and I hope that when she settles down that she can remember the Good times that we've had and that she won't be upset with me. I don't want anybody to be upset with me. I wanted to tell the truth. And then I wanted my grandchildren, my great grandchildren, my nieces and nephews to always remember to tell the truth. It's just best you don't have to tell all these other things to support lies.

[Keith Morrison]

Lovely woman. Truly lovely woman.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hate to break it to her, though, but I'm guessing Melody probably is angry with her.

[Keith Morrison]

Not much doubt about that, I suspect. Yeah.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. It's funny, though. She. Martha says, well, she's not. She's not 100% bad, but, you know, she murdered her husband.

[Keith Morrison]

Her children were very good about that question of Melody's character, that when she, when they were growing up, she could be absolutely mesmerizing and delightful and they loved to be with her. But then it could turn on a dime and then you could have a terrible day and everybody would be in trouble.

[Andrea Canning]

I mean, they, they. One of them said, I was afraid of my mom growing up. Yeah, I mean, that's really sad.

[Keith Morrison]

And then at the end of the trial, the most astonishing thing I ever saw, truly, when it came time for sentencing of Melody and she sat there in the dock and went through this long screed about her son Scott being the guilty party, and really it was he who did it and not me. I just. I just. I mean, you know, anybody who is a parent who, looking at that, thinking, my God, could I do that to my child?

[Andrea Canning]

Oh, my gosh, I was dying when she said that.

[Keith Morrison]

Sure.

[Andrea Canning]

Thanks so much, Keith. Okay, after the break, I'll be joined by one of the producers of this episode, Keith Greenberg, to answer some of your questions from social media.

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[Andrea Canning]

All right, we're gonna go from one Keith to another with Keith Greenberg, producer of this episode. Hey, Keith.

[Keith Greenberg]

Hey, Andrea.

[Andrea Canning]

All right, so I this is one of my favorite parts of talking Dateline is hearing what the viewers think after the show's air. Lawanna Gilbert at kgirl8Lawanna, she had a question that I actually had when I was watching the show that I never got the chance to ask Keith Morrison. So I'm going to ask you, Keith. It was so unusual that after a murder, the brothers would be talking to law enforcement together. I would think it's like Detective 101. You separate anyone who, you know might have had a reason to do this or whatever, so you they don't influence each other.

[Keith Greenberg]

I'm glad you're making this point. There were numerous interviews done from the time of Gary's death. And we happened to see video of one interview that happened to have both brothers in it.

[Andrea Canning]

I was wondering, though, when did that interview happen? Was that the first interview? Was that later?

[Keith Greenberg]

It was not the first interview. The first interviews were done one on one on the property, and then there were interviews at the police station. And this was about two weeks or so after the murder.

[Andrea Canning]

Makes sense. Our next comment is from Sable, Genius at workrightcom. So we know Gary did not have a will despite being a lawyer, which is interesting. Despite having children and a wife. Sable wants to know if there were any secret or otherwise life insurance policies, despite Melody's claim that that Gary didn't have any, because that we all we know that life insurance is always such a big motive in these cases.

[Keith Greenberg]

Let me clarify and say that there was not a will that anyone I Spoke to was able to locate Gary, being a lawyer, may have had a will somewhere, but neither his family members nor his business associates could locate it. In terms of life insurance, yes, there was life insurance, and he did have a stake in the partnership with the law firm, as well as a 401k. And as of now, family members told me that the children have received some of those assets. But none of this is fully resolved yet.

[Andrea Canning]

This question from Jamal at jzell216. This is another question that I have. Or see, we're just on the same. Same wavelength as our viewers. The murder could have been planned. Jamal feels that around the time of the fireworks, you know, because it certainly gave Melody something to say. I, you know, there were fireworks going off. I don't know if it was, you know, I was hearing gunshots or fireworks, you know, so that's one part of Jamal's comments. And then also, it would take a lot to get a dead body of a man that size all the way out to the burn pit, which was really a big part of the episode.

[Keith Greenberg]

Yes, we are not sure if the fireworks were as loud as Melody claimed they were. And I'm wondering if this is just her covering for herself and saying, well, there were fireworks going off. So who could tell in terms of Gary's body and how it was transported? This was something that the prosecution deliberately left nebulous into the interpretation of the jurors. One juror theorized that when Gary was shot, he might have ran outside the door to his living quarters, which led to the hill that led directly at a steep incline to the burn pit, could have fallen and then been pushed into. Into the burn pit by the tractor.

[Andrea Canning]

All right, Linda Mitchell on Facebook. If Gary thought he was being poisoned, why didn't he tell his doctors at the hospital when he first took ill? I wonder if anything showed up in his lab work.

[Keith Greenberg]

I think he was the kind of guy that didn't really love going to doctors and going to hospitals. And he confided to family members that he believed that Melody may have been poisoning him, but he didn't tell the doctors that. And in fact, I was led to believe he was even a little bit embarrassed of it. And so he didn't mention anything to his doctors. And as one of the detectives pointed out, a special type of blood work would have had to have been done to check for poisoning. And because it was never requested, nobody just automatically says, hey, let's see if this guy is poisoned.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, Nikki Rogers on Facebook. Will there be an appeal?

[Keith Greenberg]

There will absolutely be an appeal. The appeal is automatic. And the appeal is now in the hands of a new set of attorneys who undoubtedly will say that she was inadequately represented. And I spoke to the defense attorneys and they said to me that's exactly what they anticipate. That's standard fare in this type of a trial.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, Keith, thank you for diving into this with us and answering our viewers very, very good questions. I'll say it again, very good questions. Thank you, Keith.

[Keith Greenberg]

And all questions that came up in the course of doing the story. So it's really great to interact with people who whose thought process is very much the same as ours.

[Andrea Canning]

Absolutely. Well, that is this edition of Talking dateline. Remember, if you have any questions for us about stories or about Dateline, you can reach us 24, 7 on social media, Dateline and Date. You can also record your questions as an audio message and send it to us over social media. And of course, we will see you Fridays on DATELINE on NBC. Thank you for listening.

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