I've said
it before and it remains true today: I have a lot of time on my
hands.
While I
have had a few "security" jobs over the past year, I have not worked as I
had in my previous capacity since Raychel's murder. Her death took
my career with her. I am not bitching about it. I understand.
Who would hire a bodyguard whose last client was murdered? Even
worse is the fact that the murder remains unsolved. I suppose this
web site (and my own contributions to it) don't help people forget my
failing.
When
Laura Douglass wrote
"By New Eyes" to
announce that she wanted to hire a private investigator, I knew I had to
volunteer. Although I am not by trade a private investigator, I
believed that my extensive knowledge of Raychel and the principals of
the case made me an ideal choice. I also saw it as a chance to
personally atone for leaving Raychel's side. I accept that others
may not either understand or forgive, but I had to do it for myself.
Laura
practically laughed out loud when I called her to offer my services.
She referred to me as "compromised." I remember that word
specifically. It didn't sound like a word she knew the definition
of. If she did, I don't think she could have used it
with a straight face. Perhaps it is what I know about her that
makes me "compromised." So Laura bought what she wanted, a person
who doesn't know Raychel, her friends, or her. I hope Nick Graves
is capable of handling this investigation. I would really hate to
see Laura throw her own money out the window to an investigator whose
deepest insight is about how to pad his fee.
Just in
case Mr. Graves doesn't know who he is dealing with, I have decided to
add my services to his investigation. Although it would have been
nice to be paid for my work, I don't need Laura's approval to start my
own "off the record" investigation. After all, I have a lot of
free time to fill up. I need action.
To keep
from treading on Graves, I will restrict my investigation to two tracks.
The first track is information I already know which I learned from my
interactions with Raychel and her other acquaintances. The second
track is the aftermath of Raychel's murder. Raychel's death had a
significant impact on those of us who knew her. I would hate to
see Nick Graves lose sight of how different people are now compared to
how they were only a year ago.
Speaking
of the aftermath of Raychel's murder, I would like to clarify something
that appeared in Geoffrey MacIntyre's article,
"Day in Replay." As much as I loved
Geoffrey (briefly), I am disappointed in him. While I did say
those things on the night of Raychel's murder, I do not believe them
now. Geoffrey knows I do not believe Kyle is responsible for
Raychel's murder and he passed off the comments I made back then (in a
very emotional state) to make it look like I still feel he is
responsible. It was a low blow and I resent being used as the
instrument of Geoffrey's personal revenge.
Now on
with the investigation!
I am sure
most of you are aware of Raychel's drug use during the last few years of
her life. It has also been mentioned that Kyle helped Raychel
break her addiction. Very little, however, has been made of the
pattern of Raychel's drug use. I thought it would be interesting
if I let you in on my observations about her use. Since I was
close to Raychel for the last eight months of her life, I have a very
good perspective on this subject.
|
"As
much of a manipulator as Raychel was, she should have known what
Laura was doing. Maybe Raychel knew what was Laura was doing,
and still chose to do drugs with her." |
It really
isn't a difficult pattern to expose. All you need is the basic
knowledge and the stones to say it. I do: Whenever Raychel
visited Laura Douglass, she went there so she could do drugs.
Simple. Since Kyle was the person who kept Raychel off drugs, she
had to temporarily dispose of him so she could do what she wanted.
Many of the fights that Kyle and Raychel had were started by Raychel so
she could run off to Laura and do drugs.
Perhaps
this is what Laura was afraid I would expose if I was put in charge of
her murder investigation. Oh, well.
Laura was
using drugs to control Raychel so that she would never leave her behind.
Laura knew that Raychel was talented. Laura also knew that Raychel
was dirt poor. The only way Raychel could afford drugs was by
maintaining contact with Laura. As much of a manipulator as
Raychel was, she should have known what Laura was doing. Maybe
Raychel knew what was Laura was doing, and still chose to do drugs with
her. She didn't often discuss her drug use. Most of what I
have learned about this subject I learned from watching.
Actually,
Laura wasn't the only person involved in drugging Raychel. There
were others who were afraid of losing Raychel. After my limited
discussions with Raychel, I determined that there were three people
involved: Laura Douglass, Lance Wagner, and Ken Kincaid.
Raychel
got her first really good tastes for cocaine and heroin when she came to
Safehaven and joined The Bleeders. After Laura learned how
talented Raychel was, she took Raychel into her home (see
Laura's first Q&A
Response). It was during this time that Laura began using her
wealth to buy whatever drugs Raychel required.
By the
time Lance Wagner spoke with her for the first time, Raychel was a full
blown drug addict. Still, he was so sure that Raychel was his Muse
that he wanted her under any circumstances. Lance knew that
Raychel was dependent on Laura for drugs, and let her go there whenever
she wanted. He was afraid of Raychel's response if he forced her
to choose between him and drugs. Lance didn't actively participate
in Laura's plan, but he played right into it. Was Lance jealous of
Laura? Yes, because he didn't have the finances to compete with
Laura. He could not himself supply Raychel with drugs, but Laura
could. Lance enabled Raychel and Laura at the same time.
This
pattern continued uninterrupted from August of 1997 when Raychel first
joined The Bleeders until March of 1999 when Kyle McAllister kidnapped
Raychel during a meeting of The Bleeders. Since he told me that he
will be discussing that next week, I will withhold any further
discussion of that night.
|
"Had
Laura still needed Lance to keep Raychel down, she would have kept
financing him. Instead, Lance found himself short of that
supplemental money she sent with Raychel for rent, groceries, or
anything." |
After
Raychel and Kyle came back to The Bleeders, Laura realized that she
needed to change her tactics. Raychel was now a songwriter,
working with Kyle McAllister. Since Kyle hated Laura (and her
drugs), Laura needed to give the appearance of being helpful. So
she involved a friend of hers in the music business. At the time,
Ken Kincaid was the owner of Terror Trax, an independent music label.
Whether she intended it or not, Ken fell for Raychel.
With Ken
now safely on Laura's line (with Raychel as the bait) Laura knew
that she didn't need Lance any longer. Losing Lance didn't require
an action, just a lack of support. Had Laura still needed Lance to
keep Raychel down, she would have kept financing him. Instead,
Lance found himself short of that supplemental money she sent with
Raychel for rent, groceries, or anything. Lance was left drifting
by Laura. He was still a member of The Bleeders. He just
wasn't sponsored the way he had been when he served as Raychel's
part-time caretaker. I guess to Laura, Lance failed in his duties.
Laura hit
a home run with her decision to involve Ken Kincaid.
Professionally, Ken was the type of person Raychel and Kyle needed to
proceed to the next level. Personally, Ken was mad for Raychel.
Even better for Laura, Kyle knew it but couldn't do anything about it
because he needed Ken, too. With Ken (either knowingly or
unknowingly) charged with the separation of Kyle and Raychel,
Laura only had to wait for Raychel to come back to her. The
reasoning was that one side had to win. Either Ken would succeed
in separating Raychel and Kyle (and Laura would remain a loved friend
for introducing them) or Kyle would blow the record deal with Ken (and
Raychel would spurn Kyle for doing so and return to Laura).
But Ken
didn't do what Laura thought he would do. When pressed by Kyle for
total creative control, Ken gave it to him. When Kyle demanded no
outsiders assist in the recording, Ken agreed. Ken gave Kyle what
he wanted. Where Laura had expected open conflict, Ken rolled
over. And damned if he didn't get what he wanted.
Contrary
to his earlier statements, Raychel and Ken did have an affair behind
Kyle's back. Raychel told me.
That
previous denial is what made Ken Kincaid so interesting to me. So much so I
just had to begin following him.
You know
what I learned? Ken Kincaid is a boring man. He works at
Terror Trax five days a week, leaves promptly at 5:03 PM each day.
The interns (he should really pay them a little better) know of the
tension between him and Geoffrey. Apparently they hate each other
more now than they did when Raychel was murdered. Ken doesn't
leave his office much, just calls people on the phone constantly.
This despite the fact that his responsibilities lie solely inside the
building. I'd love to know who he's talking to, but phone taps
aren't in the cards. Would you like to talk about it openly, Ken?
But it is
at night where Ken become more interesting to me. Example: Did you
know that Ken goes to bars? I had no idea. Certainly a man
with his money would have access to liquor at home. Instead, he
chooses to go to the same bar most nights. That bar is Safehaven.
While I cannot enter Safehaven without being instantly recognized, I do
have friends among The Bleeders. Those friends tell me that Ken
spends a great deal of time with Laura, and has been for some time now.
That did
not come as a surprise to me. After all, I have followed them to
Laura's home. While using binoculars to peep into Laura's windows
might be considered intrusion of privacy, I can say that I know which
window is Laura's bedroom window. I can freely say that I have
seen that light go out several times without Ken Kincaid leaving Laura's
home. For a person who said that she did not keep many regular
lovers, I am surprised. Perhaps she meant that she only keeps one.
Nick
Graves, I hope you're reading this. If you have a shred of
integrity, you will consider this as part of your investigation.
For the rest of you, know this: Lately,
I've been watching Ken Kincaid. Tomorrow it may be you.
Hopefully, you don't have anything to hide.
