LYS Podcast Episode 9

-Intro-

AMANDA MORRISON (AM V/O): When we left you last episode, we’d just discovered two things. The first thing, Nancy Robins, the executive who had been put in charge of the podcast network, but had cancelled the first iteration of this show way back when, appeared to be somehow connected to an organization we know very little about. An organization called ‘The Bolchester Alliance’. The second thing was that Colin had uncovered information that indicated the mysterious video we’ve been pursuing was going to be screened here in San Francisco, sometime this evening. We decided, no matter what, we were going to be at that screening. You’re listening to The Leap Year Society. I’m Amanda Morrison. Stay with us.

-End of Outro-

AM V/O: Before we get to that video and where we’re at with uncovering the screening time and location, we’re going to take a moment to look into what we know so far about The Bolchester Alliance. Colin, who you normally hear on the phone, was in San Francisco. He was here because he had a screening of that video to attend. He stopped by the studio.

AM: What can we say we know with some degree of certainty about The Bolchester Alliance?

CO: Well, from what we’ve been able to dig up so far, they appear to be a kind of extreme self-help or wellness-focused group.

AM: That’s it?

CO: It looks like there might be offices in Santa Fe, Buenos Aries, Toronto, Melbourne, Prague and Singapore, but confirmation is hard to come by.

AM: You don’t talk about the Bolchester Alliance.

CO: Apparently not. What about this woman, Nancy Robins?

AM: Nothing on Robins, outside of a webpage I found her name listed on. A website we believe is connected to the Bolchester Alliance.

CO: Findyournewpath.org.

AM: Yeah. She’s listed, or rather, was listed as a ‘special advisor’.

CO: Hmm, it’s strange.

AM: What?

CO: This website is so new.

AM: Yeah?

CO: Yeah, it was registered in June. There are a few cached versions of similar sites related to this organization, but it looks like the site you found is the only thing currently being update.

AM: There’s not much here.

CO: And you think Nancy Robins used to be listed in the “about” section?

AM: She is.

CO: Not anymore.

AM: What?

CO: Well if her name was there, it’s been removed.

AM: No it was there, I took a screen capture.

CO: Weird.

AM: Yeah.

CO: I’ll collect everything I can find from cached versions and anything connected to ‘Bolchester Alliance’ and send it to you.

AM: Thanks.

AM V/O: While Colin was digging into the Bolchester Alliance, Mitch was actually getting ready to do the same thing, except Mitch was going to do it in person.

AM: What’s going on?

MS: Well, that’s a good question.

AM: What do you mean?

MS: I think I’m on standby, but I’m not sure.

AM: Please explain.

MS: Ok well, when I woke up this morning there was a message on my phone.

AM: What message?

MS: It was just a URL. It was “walking on the path.com”

AM: Ok, and what was there?

MS: It was connected to a Tumblr. There was nothing there but a generic form. I entered the same email I’ve been using for my pseudonym, Miranda.

AM: And?

MS: And now I’m just waiting.

AM: You’ll let me know as soon as you hear anything?

MS: You know I will.

AM V/O: I went back to the studio and waited to hear from Mitch and/or Colin. While I was waiting, I did a deep-dive into some of the phenomena we’d been looking into. Anything that appeared like it might be related to Dr. Taylor’s research. It didn’t take long before I came across a very interesting story. On the 28th of February in 2013, a man was discovered unconscious and injured in a Palm Springs motel room. When he awoke in the hospital, he claimed he had no idea who he was. His ID indicated that he was a US citizen named Michael Boatwright, but that name meant nothing to the man in the hospital. Michael Thomas Boatwright was a Vietnam was vet from Florida, but the man who woke up in the hospital thought his name was Johan Ek. And, although his identification indicated he was American, this man spoke only Swedish. The official diagnosis was Transient Global Amnesia, a disorder that, according to medical professionals, can last for several months or longer. The doctors looking after the man believed he was living in a ‘dissociative fugue state’ and they really didn’t understand what was going on. Could he be faking his condition, or was this man a genuine medical mystery? Michael Boatwright spent five months at the hospital in California before he was eventually sent back to Sweden by the Riverside County Department of Mental Health. Back in Sweden, he disappeared into a regular life: moved to Uddevalla, a port city on the southwest coast, and worked as a tennis coach. His ability to speak English never returned but he was, by all accounts, happy in his new life. About a year after all of this, he gave an interview to his local paper, where he stated that he no longer felt like a stranger in his own country and that he felt that he’d been born again. So, why am I telling you this story? Well, two reasons. The first: this type of disorder is directly in-line with everything that both Dr. Weylen Taylor and Lane Kelly were looking into in their various experiments. And the second reason I’m telling you this story, is that the name Johan Ek is an anagram for Jan Hoke. Jan Hoke, you’ll remember, is the name of Patient 80. This led me back into all of our research surrounding Patient 80. It was while digging through everything yet again, that I found something new. In one of the records we found connected to the psychiatric hospital where Patient 80 was initially housed, was a document indicating a mix-up in records. According to this document, four patient records had been mixed up and were supposed to be modified immediately to reflect the proper subject numbers. Patient 45 was actually supposed to be Patient 54, and Patient 80 was actually Patient 81. Patient 80, Jan Hoke, Johan Ek, or Michael Boatwright was dead. He passed away in 2017 in Sweden. But we knew nothing about the man whose voice we’ve been hearing on those tapes throughout this series. As far as we knew, Patient 81 might still be alive. This made sense based on the voice in the recording. Patient 81’s voice didn’t sound like an older man, there was no trace of an accent, and his English was perfect. He sounded like a man in his late twenties or early thirties. If there was a possibility that Patient 81 might still be alive, I really wanted to speak with him to find out what he remembers about his time with Dr. Weylen Taylor. While I was uncovering this information about Patient 81, I received a call from Mitch. She told me I needed to get over to her place immediately. She lives about ten minutes away from the studio.

AM: What’s going on?

MS: I received a text about fifteen minutes ago.

AM: The Bolchester Alliance.

MS: Yeah it looks like it. I have a meeting.

AM: Really? That was fast.

MS: Yeah. It’s in an hour.

AM: Where is it?

MS: Pacific Heights.

AM: Any other details?

MS: No, just the time and the address. It’s on Pacific Ave. You wanna…you wanna tag along?

AM: Absolutely! But, I don’t think that’s a good idea.

MS: Yeah… Oh, uh did you bring the mic?

AM: Of course.

AM V/O: The reason Mitch needed me to come by was to bring a tiny hidden microphone we were going to place on her person so she could record whatever happened. While I was giving Mitch a crash course on how to work the hidden microphone set up, I received a text message.

AM: It’s Colin.

MS: When did he get into town?

AM: This morning. He says he has some news about the video.

MS: Yeah? What?

AM: He doesn’t say. You want me to call him?

MS: Uh…no I gotta run. Uh, but let me know as soon as you know what’s up.

AM: Will do!

AM V/O: So, Mitch was on her way to a meeting with the Bolchester Alliance. She promised she’d switch on her microphone as soon as she arrived. Colin and I waited together at the studio. It didn’t take long for Mitch to start broadcasting.

-Mitch Mic-

MS: Test test testing. Alright the levels on this thing look good. Hope you guys are getting this. Ok I’m about to head inside.

''The sounds of many people chattering can be heard in the background.''

MS: Man, this place is huge. There are some people near the front entrance. Ok, I’m going to stop talking to myself now. Wish me luck!

AM V/O: We’ll have more from that recording in a moment. Colin had found something interesting about Dr. Weylen Taylor and his mysterious locked room disappearance. Dr. Taylor allegedly disappeared from his house in San Francisco, which was under heavy surveillance at the time. Heavy surveillance owned and operated by Dr. Taylor himself. Colin and I were sitting in our studio in front of a bunch of scanned pages from two local newspapers. It was information related to Dr. Weylen Taylor’s disappearance. The two reports are similar: they both reference the locked room-style mystery at the centre of Dr. Taylor’s disappearance and they both focus on some kind of gambling debt scenario as one possible motive. The reason Colin was so interested in these reports, is the gambling reference.

CO: According to both articles, Taylor was playing a lot of online Texas Holdem Poker in the years leading up to his disappearance.

AM: Right, it’s a very popular game, isn’t it?

CO: It sure is, but I don’t think Weylen Taylor was all that interested in playing it.

AM: What do you mean?

CO: Well, I contacted the owner of one of the off-shore casinos he was allegedly gambling at.

AM: And?

CO: And they told me that as far as they were concerned, Weylen Taylor never had an account with them.

AM: What about the other casinos?

CO: That’s just it. The other casinos don’t actually exist.

AM: Did they ever exist?

CO: No.

AM: So, where did those reporters get that information?

CO: I was wondering the same thing so I called and asked them.

AM: What did they say?

CO: One of them no longer works at the paper and the other told me that they couldn’t remember their source, but that it was most likely the sister.

AM: Weylen Taylor has a sister?

CO: Allegedly, but I wasn’t able to get in touch earlier.

AM: Do we know how to get in touch now?

CO: We do. The reporter provided a number.

-Phone Call-

Helen Chow: Hello?

AM: Hello, is this Helen Taylor? Hello?

HC: Helen…Chow, Taylor was my maiden name.

AM: Oh.

HC: Who’s this?

AM: My name’s Amanda Morrison. I’m calling about your brother, Weylen.

HC: Huh. What about him?

AM: Well, I’m doing an investigative podcast series into a secret society and your brother’s work and disappearance might be connected somehow.

HC: Look, as far as I know my brother didn’t belong to any secret societies outside of a fraternity.

AM: Have you ever heard of something called The Bolchester Alliance?

HC: No, but it definitely sounds like some sort of cult to me.

AM: Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your brother’s disappearance?

HC: My brother and I were estranged, Ms…?

AM: Morrison.

HC: Morrison. I’m not interested in having anything to do with Weylen Taylor, I’m afraid. I’m sorry, I’m going to hang up now.

AM: Could you just tell me if you believe he was a gambler?

HC: He would never gamble at cards. My brother was a lot of things, but he was cheap. Unless he was certain that he’d win, he’d never risk so much as a dollar.

AM: So…what do you think happened to him?

HC: Well, I’d like to think he’d had enough of …torturing those poor people and he disappeared to make a fresh start somewhere else, but I really don’t know or care. Good day Ms. Morrison.

-End of Call-

AM V/O: I called back, but she was very firm. She would sign a release and allow us to air what you just heard, but there was no way she was going to talk further about her brother. I asked her if there was anybody else she could think of who might know her brother’s whereabouts, but she told me she couldn’t think of anyone. So, that was that. Dr. Weylen Taylor’s locked room mystery was just that. We had nothing…or so we thought. But we did have something: we had you, our listeners. We received an email from what appeared to be fans of this podcast, calling themselves “The Forgotten Friends of Fortune”. They sent us two video files. The first bit of video was from what the claimed was a cloud-based security company’s storage facility. It was exterior footage of Weylen Taylor’s residence dated the night of his disappearance.

CO: It’s been doctored.

AM: How can you tell?

CO: It’s easy, it’s clearly a loop.

AM: You’re sure?

CO: I’m positive. You can tell by the shadows, see? It’s a full moon and if you’re going to doctor footage of a moonlit night, you’re going to have to edit everything frame by frame. Rotoscoping, landscape sculpting, you’d need comparative footage to match the shadow movement. It’s doable, but it would be expensive and extremely time-consuming. It’s way easier to just loop it, like this. See? Nobody is going to go into it frame by frame and ask questions if there’s no reason.

AM: But the police had a reason. There’s no way they would just accept this fake footage.

CO: You think so?

AM: Well, what do you mean?

CO: I mean this footage came from a police server.

AM: Really?

CO: Yeah. The way the footage has been named and catalogued, it’s definitely from the police.

AM: Do you think they just accepted it as actual security footage?

CO: No, they knew it was fake.

AM: And they closed the case?

CO: I’m sure that helped them close the case.

AM: What do you mean?

CO: I mean, they had fake security camera footage and a motive for him to disappear.

AM: Gambling?

CO: Sure. They took this footage apart, found out it had been doctored; they’re still no closer to finding Dr. Taylor.

AM: So the police fed the reporter the story about the gambling.

CO: It fits like a glove.

AM: So, why did Weylen Taylor alter his video surveillance footage to cover his leaving?

CO: That’s a good question.

AM V/O: It was a good question, which leads me to the second bit of video footage we received from our listener, or listeners, calling themselves The Forgotten Friends of Fortune. This second video was also security footage. It was taken at a bar somewhere. We can make out a few men sitting and having a drink. A few other people mill about in the background, including a couple playing pool. It takes a moment to figure it out, but once you do, there’s no denying it. One of the people sitting in that bar is Weylen Taylor. At this point, I’d like to play you the last bit of audio I received from Mitch.

-Mitch Mic-

MS: Woah, there are a lot of people here. Oh man, you wouldn’t believe the art on the walls, it’s insane! Right, I’ve been checked in and we’re supposed to meet the person in charge in the large upstairs dining room. This whole vibe is kind of like Eyes Wide Shut without the masks, but man, everybody is so elegant and smart and…

Woman: Who are you talking to?

MS: Uh, it’s just a-

-Sound cuts out-

AM V/O: Colin and I were sitting in the studio. We’d just finished watching that video footage of the bar featuring Weylen Taylor and then listened to Mitch’s final audio transmission, when Colin received a text. It was what we’d been waiting for: it was the location for the top-secret screening of that video featuring the strange artifact. But we couldn’t possibly make that video screening. We had to find out what happened to Mitch. That’s what made what happened next feel even stranger.

AM: Where’s the screening?

CO: It’s not all that far away. It’s on Pacific.

AM: Wait, can I see your phone? It’s the same place!

CO: What do you mean?

AM: I mean, it’s the mansion in Pacific Heights! Mitch is already there!

AM V/O: Colin and I got into my car and made our way over to the address. It turns out the address was actually two numbers off. It was a large building on the same property. It was officially next door to the mansion, but it was all the same place.

CO: You can see it on the map, it’s an outbuilding connected to the main house via a walkway.

AM: This is so weird.

CO: Really weird. What are we going to do once we get there?

AM: I’m going to find Mitch and you’re going to get that video.

AM V/O: We pulled up to the mansion and got out of the car in a hurry. I ran way ahead of Colin. By the time he worked everything out with the valet, I’d already found Mitch. I had my phone in my pocket recording just in case.

MS: You’re here?

AM: Yeah I’m here! What happened to you?

MS: What do you mean?

AM: I mean, what happened to your audio feed?

MS: It’s not on?

AM: No.

MS: Oh…it must have fallen out. I’ll just plug it back in.

AM: It’s fine. What’s happening?

MS: Well, I have a meeting with somebody tomorrow. I think it’s important.

AM: I thought you’d been discovered. Somebody asked who you were talking to.

MS: Oh! Right! No, I just told her I was an actor practising a scene for an audition tomorrow.

AM: Then your mic cut out.

MS: Yeah, that makes sense. I was gesturing and you know, once I started pretending to be an actor.

AM: Colin’s here.

MS: Where?

AM: They’re showing that video next door.

MS: What?

AM: Yeah. Crazy, I know.

MS: Let’s go!

AM: It’s in that building right there.

MS: How do we get in?

AM: Just walk in like we belong I suppose.

MS: I’m game if you are.

AM: I think you should go back into the main house, just in case.

MS: Yeah? You sure?

AM: Yeah.

MS: Ok, but you call me at the first sign of anything weird.

AM: Will do.

MS: Ok.

Unknown Man: Excuse me.

AM: Yes?

UM: I’m going to have to ask you to leave.

AM: Oh, I’m actually meeting a friend.

UM: I think you’ll find your friend waiting for you in your car.

AM: I…

UM: Please?

''Sound of a car door shutting.''

CO: Where’s Mitch?

AM: I told her to go back inside.

CO: Let’s go.

AM: What about the video, did you see it?

CO: No.

AM: Damn it!

CO: It’s ok.

AM: What do you mean?

CO: I have it.

AM: You what?

CO: I left a phone I set up inside the room. As soon as they played that video file, I copied it.

AM: You have it.

CO: It’s right here.

AM: Where?

CO: It’s on a secure website for the world to see. They’re not going to be able to cover this up. You want to watch it now?

AM: How about we get out of here first?

CO: Mmhmm good idea.

AM V/O: If you’d like to watch that video, we’ve uploaded it to our website at lyspodcast.com. You’ve been listening to the Leap Year Society. Thank you for listening. I’m Amanda Morrison. We’ll be back with another series of episodes after a short hiatus. Remember, you can join the investigation and find all of the links and videos mentioned in the podcast on our website, lyspodcast.com.

-Outro-