Life is a Circus (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

0:00Hello fans of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious. I'm here today to tell you all about what it actually means now that we've moved over to the SiriusXM family. Big picture, it means we are going to make more content for you. Right now, you get one YouTube video a week on Saturday. Well, what we're going to do now is we're going to have the Saturday upload be the same, but then also the MrBallen podcast. Well, we've begun already filming those episodes like a YouTube video. So that's a second piece of content every week. Then there's two other shows that you guys don't even know about yet, which means on any given week, you could have up to four new video pieces of content on the Mr.

0:39Bolland channel. And also all these pieces of content will double as podcasts as well. This new content schedule is going to start early next year. Also, there's one other thing I want to clarify, which is the state of Mr. Bolland's Medical Mysteries and Redacted. Those shows were created in collaboration with Wondery, But now we're partnered with Sirius, and so we're not going to be making any new episodes of either of those shows. For now, if you want to hear my podcast episodes one week early and ad-free, make sure to subscribe to SiriusXM Podcast Plus on Apple Podcasts, or visit SiriusXM.com slash podcast plus to listen with Spotify or another app of your choice.

1:19Keep on the lookout for more announcements in the coming weeks. Thank you. On a cold evening in early February of 2010, a group of friends gathered around the table at a restaurant in a French ski resort. They had spent their whole day out on the slopes skiing and snowboarding, and they were now warming up by the fire with some warm drinks. Just then, one of their cell phones buzzed, and when this person looked down at their phone, they immediately frowned. Then they excused themselves from the group and stepped away to go talk. When this person came back from that conversation, They were visibly pale and their hands were shaking.

1:55And so the others who noticed this, they asked them, like, what was wrong? But this person just shook their head, grabbed their coat, and said they had to leave right now. Someone they cared deeply about needed their help. But before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right show because that's all we do. So, if that's of interest to you, please sneak into the Follow Buttons house and replace their foam in their mattress with rocks. Okay, let's get into today's story.

2:50Adobe Firefly is the all-in-one creative studio with AI-powered image and video generation for today's creative process. Built for creators of every kind, Firefly helps you generate, edit, and experiment fast. Because the asks aren't getting smaller, the budgets aren't getting bigger, and the timelines, ugh, yeah, still tight. With all the best creative AI models in one place, Firefly brings your ideas to life. Unlock a better way to make with Adobe Firefly. Insurance isn't one size fits all. That's why drivers have trusted Progressive's Name Your Price tool for years. Just tell Progressive what you want to pay, and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget.

3:31Visit Progressive.com to find a car insurance rate that works for you. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. On the afternoon of Saturday, February 6th, 2010, 61-year-old Alan Lelou set up the ironing board behind the couch in the living room of a little house outside the town of Chartres in northern France. From the kitchen, he could smell the beef bourguignon simmering on the stove, but Alan and the 37-year-old woman who was cooking the beef bourguignon were not talking. The woman's name was Alexandra Nicola, and Alan had actually bought this house for her and her 10-year-old daughter.

4:13Alexandra used to be Alan's assistant, but over the years, they had developed a really close relationship that was much more like father to daughter. Now, Alexandra had not worked for Alan in a number of years, but, you know, they remained close. And also, you know, remember, Alan literally bought her this house. And so as a result of this bond they had, Alan found himself visiting her quite a bit at this house, you know, helping out where he could, and he also paid for her car and also for their vacations. And Alan could afford to be this generous because he was a very successful, high-powered producer of circus shows, which were a huge moneymaker in France.

4:51Lots of companies booked circus shows for end-of-the-year parties for their employees, and Alan had lots of major contracts. And so as a result, Alan's office was in this fancy chateau in the countryside, and his wife actually lived in this luxury ski town near the Swiss border, and Alan was constantly traveling all over Europe for work. But this life could also be a grind. Just in the past 24 hours, Alan had traveled more than 1 ,200 miles, meeting with potential clients and scouting new performers. So he put a lot of value on the time where he could escape to Alexandra's house, where he could recharge in the quiet of the suburbs, and obviously spend time with somebody he cared a lot about.

5:33Now, Alan knew all of his friends and co-workers thought that he and Alexandra were blatantly having an affair here. And he was sure that's what his own wife assumed too. And this was fair, because after all, Alan did have lots of extramarital relationships. He also engaged with sex workers all the time, and he really didn't even try to hide any of it. He and his wife, Elizabeth, they lived in separate homes, and they sort of had this understanding that she can have this life, and he can have this life in exchange. However, Alan's relationship with Alexandra really was different. It had always been platonic.

6:12They'd never even kissed or held hands. Alan had no kids of his own, and he genuinely enjoyed playing the role of, you know, doting father and grandfather to Alexandra and her daughter, respectively. But now, they were in this big fight, and Alan was anxious to repair it. Alexandra's daughter was out of the house for the weekend, so he and Alexandra had planned to have this nice dinner tonight before Alan had to head out again on business on Sunday afternoon. But Alan, somewhat stupidly, had brought up Alexandra's past, and they'd ended up getting into this horrible fight, and just continued to yell at each other ever since.

6:50Alexandra was very defensive about her troubled history. When she was a young woman, she had moved to Paris, and she had fallen in love, and she had had a baby. But the baby had tragically died, and her relationship with her love had fallen apart, and so she had spiraled into very self-destructive behavior. By the time Alan finally met her in 2002, so this is eight years before they were in this house having this big fight, you know, Alexandra was really struggling. By this point, she had a two-year-old daughter, and she was really struggling to provide for her because all she could muster in terms of work was like this combination of minimum wage jobs and side hustles.

7:29And so when Alan had hired her as his, you know, full-time secretary, it had completely transformed her life. But, you know, deep down, sometimes she seemed more resentful of Alan's power than grateful for his help. It's like he had total control over her well-being, and she didn't necessarily like that. And so with that as context, Alan left the ironing board and walked into the kitchen, hoping that Alexandra had cooled down enough that they could actually have a real conversation here. And so once he was in the kitchen, he sort of looked over at Alexandra and couldn't really tell where she was at.

8:04and then he turned, opened up the fridge, and just kind of stared inside of it, not really looking for any food or drink or anything. You know, he was just hoping that Alexandra would say something to him. And to his relief, Alexandra did turn around and kind of playfully swung her dish towel at him, telling him that he had to wait for dinner. She didn't seem mad at him anymore, so Alan felt very relieved, and he smiled and closed the fridge, and then he told her to come sit with him and have some wine while they waited for the laundry to dry so she could iron it. A few minutes later, they both sat down on the sofa with their wine glasses, and Alexandra asked Alan how business was going.

8:41He told her it was good, which technically it was. His company was on track to bring in around 4 million euros that year, which is the equivalent of about 5 million US dollars. But despite how things looked on paper, Alan was pretty stressed. He made the majority of his money through contracts with companies, But he was not the only person competing for those lucrative contracts. His number one competitor was another circus owner whose name was Michel De La Rue. And recently, Michel had been beating Alan on one contract after another. And it was starting to feel to Alan like Michel was actually targeting Alan's contracts, trying to steal them from him rather than trying to cultivate his own clients.

9:27Alan told Alexandra that on Monday, he had a very important meeting in Vichy, which is a city in central France about a four-hour drive south of Alexandra's house. At this meeting, Alan was hoping to win a big contract, as long as Michel didn't steal it out from under him. Alexandra put her hand on Alan's arm and told him, don't worry. She said she was sure his meeting on Monday would be a huge success and they could celebrate in a few weeks on the ski trip that he had booked for the two of them and her daughter. Then she put down her now empty wine glass and went to go do the laundry. As Alexandra disappeared into the back of the house, Alan just kind of sat by himself for a minute.

10:07He was looking forward to the vacation that she had mentioned, in part because Alexandra had been a lot busier lately with her new boyfriend, a 42-year-old IT engineer from Paris named Eve Bernard. Now, Alan and Eve got along just fine, but he could tell that, you know, Alexandra and Eve were getting pretty serious. They might even get married. And Alan couldn't help but worry that eventually, if that happened, Eve might start to resent him for sort of stepping in as this paternal figure in Alexandra's life, that perhaps he would come off as being sort of overbearing. But he was not going to let that fear wreck the evening.

10:46So as Alexandra came back now with the laundry, picked up a book from the coffee table, and took the last sip of his wine, The rest of the weekend passed by quickly, and by Sunday afternoon, Alan was back in his car, headed back out of town. But what no one would realize until much later was there was actually a second car following closely behind him.

11:14The following day, on the morning of Monday, February 8th, Alan Leeloo's wife, Elizabeth, was drinking a coffee inside her home in the mountains when her phone rang. She picked it up, and she heard the voice of Alan's assistant, Sylvie. And Sylvie sounded very worried. And she said she was calling to see if Elizabeth had heard from her husband recently. And this was pretty strange, because Alan was not the type of person to just disappear from work without telling his secretary. So Elizabeth told Sylvie that no, you know, she hadn't heard from Alan in a few days. And then she asked Sylvie, like, why?

11:49What's going on here? And as Elizabeth listened to Sylvie's answer, she felt herself growing really nervous. Because apparently, Alan had this very important meeting in Vichy that morning, but he had not shown up for it. In fact, he'd never even checked into the hotel in Vichy where he was supposed to be staying. Sylvie said she had already reached out to several of Alan's friends and business contacts, but nobody had heard from him. And he was not answering the repeated phone calls to both of his cell phones, which appeared to be turned off. None of this made any sense to Elizabeth. Alan was famous for spending entire days on his various phones.

12:31She couldn't even recall a time when he'd been unreachable, even briefly. So Elizabeth told Sylvie she was glad she called, but she would take it from here. Then Elizabeth hung up the phone with Sylvie and called the police.

12:53Chime is banking built for you, not the 1%. They have thousands of fee-free ATMs, because why pay to get your own money? Plus, with the Chime card, get travel perks like airport lounge access and 5 % cash back on things like gas or groceries. Upgrade to the Chime checking account. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee-free today. Head to Chime.com slash ballin. That is Chime.com slash ballin. It only takes a few minutes to sign up. Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services for Chime Card provided by Chime's bank partners.

13:29optional products and services may have fees or charges. Stated cash back for Chime Prime only, no minimum balance required. For more information on travel perks, go to chime.com slash disclosures. We all have our own time-saving hacks for everyday life, and I'm always looking for little ways to save time. Whether it's just ordering things online instead of making another trip to the store, or taking care of a few small tasks while I'm already waiting on something else. Those little time-savers add up pretty quickly. But if you're a business owner, how can you save time hiring? ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter has a new feature that quickly lets you see the most interested, qualified candidates first, so you save time by meeting the right people faster.

14:12And right now, you can try it for free at ziprecruiter.com slash ballin. Their powerful matching technology finds qualified candidates quickly, and these candidates can tell you in their own words why they're interested in your job. No wonder ZipRecruiter is the number one rated hiring site based on G2. Save time and meet great candidates sooner with ZipRecruiter. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash ballin. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash ballin. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter.

14:51A week and a half later, on February 19th, a young police officer knocked on the front door of a little house outside the town of Chartres in northern France. Now, up until this point, Alan's case had been treated as a simple missing persons case, with the local police in Alan's wife's hometown handling the inquiry, which was pretty basic. But now, enough time had passed without Alan being found and no evidence coming in, that the original report had been kicked over to the crime division because they were thinking this could potentially be a kidnapping or something worse. This young officer was here at this home because it was the last place Alan was known to be before he went missing.

15:34The door of the home opened and a thin blonde woman looked out. The officer asked her if her name was Alexandra Nicola and she said yes. When he explained to her why he was there. Alexandra looked immediately concerned and invited him inside. And as she led him into her living room and offered him a seat on her couch, the officer looked around, taking stock of the space. It was clean, but a bit cluttered, with toys that appeared to belong to a young girl scattered about. The officer scanned for any signs of a physical fight or violence of some kind, like damage to the walls or the furniture, but there was nothing that stood out, nothing concerning.

16:10Alexandra began asking the officer pretty anxiously all these questions about, you know, what was going on with Alan? Was he hurt? Was he in some kind of danger? Like, what do you know? But the young officer just shook his head and said, for now, they really didn't know much. He was just here to try to build a timeline of Alan's last known movements. And so speaking of that, he asked Alexandra to please walk him through what she remembered about her last interaction with Alan. The officer took careful notes as Alexandra began to rattle off all the details she could remember. She said that Alan was like a surrogate father to her, and he had come over on the evening of Friday, February 5th.

16:48He had been there on Friday, also on Saturday and Sunday, and then he had taken off on that Sunday because he had to go to Vichy for this big meeting on Monday. She told the officer that after he left for that meeting, she hadn't heard from him, but that was pretty typical. She said their relationship was not remotely romantic, it really was platonic, and he didn't always check in the way a spouse would. This is more like really close friends. The officer nodded while he wrote down what she said. Alexandra seemed very helpful and appropriately worried, but he was suspicious of the idea that she and Alan were not romantically involved at all.

17:27So before he left, he asked to see the rest of her house, in part just to see what her reaction would be. If she said no or got defensive, he would probe a bit more deeply. But she immediately agreed, and she actually took him all around the house, showing him anywhere he wanted to go. And what he found is the rest of the house seemed just as normal as the living room and the entryway. She eventually brought the officer back to the door and promised him she would call if Alan reached out. And so after leaving Alexandra's house, to be thorough, the officer actually went door to door up and down Alexandra's street, asking her neighbors what they remembered about that particular weekend and over the past several days, seeing if there was anything that contradicted what Alexandra had said.

18:13But everybody more or less confirmed Alexandra's story. Alan was indeed a regular visitor in the neighborhood, and several people did remember seeing him on the weekend in question and said that really nothing had seemed off. So eventually, the officer just left and went back to the station, and when he got there, he wrote a report highlighting Alan's last known destination of Vichy. Over the next week, police in Vichy, as well as in the ski town where Alan's wife lived, followed up on the loose threads of the investigation. They pored over Alan's cell phone history and his bank account and credit card transactions, which all showed no activity after he left Alexandra's house on February 7th.

18:58They also spoke to his business connections and his friends, but no one had heard anything. And they even put in a request to the car company, Audi, for the GPS data that was stored in Alan's car, which was an Audi Q7. Now, the investigators knew it was entirely possible that Alan had chosen to disappear. I mean, he was very wealthy, he had lots of connections, you know, that was a possibility, that he had basically chosen to be gone. And if that was the case, it would be pretty difficult to find him. However, it was a lot harder to hide a car that logged all of its travel data. And so whether Alan's disappearance was voluntary, accidental, or the result of foul play, the police knew finding his Audi was likely the best hope they had of knowing where to even look for Alan.

19:52On February 26, 2010, so 19 days since Alan was reported missing, a detective named Pierre Marton stood in a secure impound lot in the city of Orléans, France, looking at Alan's gray Audi Q7. The GPS data that police had requested from Audi had come back a few days earlier, and it had led detectives to a surprising place. So again, the last place where Alan was known to have been before he vanished was leaving the home of his surrogate daughter, Alexandra Nicola, near Chartres, France, and heading to Vichy, France for a business meeting. But his Audi had not been found in Chartres or Vichy. Instead, it had been discovered in the parking lot of a train station in Orléans, which was in between those two cities.

20:41And so to the police, it sort of looked like he had gotten halfway to his destination and just stopped. Now, when they found this car, the first thing they did is they just put it under surveillance for two days to see if maybe Alan or somebody else would return to it. For context, the parking lot where this car was was in a pretty rough area where violent crime and sex work were pretty common. So, I mean, any number of people could potentially, you know, break into this car or who knows what. It just seemed like a seedy area where something might happen here if we keep watching. But nobody had shown up.

21:17So finally, they just towed the car to the impound lot for forensic technicians to process it and look for evidence. And Detective Marton was here to watch that process. The forensic techs circled the vehicle and began taking photos of the outside and also dusting for fingerprints. There was no visible damage anywhere on the outside of the car, and there were no traces of any effort to try to break into the car. Plus, Allen's briefcase and luggage were clearly still inside the car, which meant, you know, the fact the car was found where it was was likely not a product of a robbery. This didn't seem like somebody just stole his car, it's here, and it has nothing to do with Alan's disappearance.

21:57It seems like how this car got here is connected in some way to what happened to Alan. And, you know, sort of going down that path, it seemed more and more likely that what happened to Alan probably fell into the category of foul play. However, when the technicians opened up the car doors and began dusting for prints inside, the upholstery was disappointingly clean, which doesn't exactly sort of enhance the idea that foul play happened here. It just sort of seems like what's going on. But after a few minutes, after, you know, kind of thoroughly scanning the inside of the car, one of the techs pushed the button near the driver's side that opened up the trunk.

22:39And then after it was open, Detective Marton walked around to the back to look inside and see what was in there. And what he saw was this bulky object wrapped in a pink sheet. And right away, Martin had this sinking feeling in his chest as one of the techs reached forward with a gloved hand and pulled the sheet back. And pretty much immediately, Marton's suspicions were confirmed. Underneath that pink sheet was a body. A man's body, fully clothed and curled in the fetal position. There was no doubt this was Alan Leeloo. But there was no visible blood or wounds or bruises anywhere on his body, and there was no blood in the trunk.

23:21When Detective Marton reached in to try to move Alan's body to further examine him, he found his body was already incredibly rigid with rigor mortis. The coroner told Marton that she would hopefully have some answers for him after she did the autopsy. The weather over the past few weeks had been pretty cold, which was good for evidence collection because it basically meant the trunk had sort of acted like a refrigerator and preserved Alan's soft tissue. As the coroner wheeled the body away, Marton just stood there staring at the now empty trunk. He had no theories about when or why or even how Alan had died.

23:59All he knew was that this was now officially a murder investigation.

24:12Pet parent guilt isn't something that's talked about much, but it's a feeling we all know well. When daily life gets in the way, it can feel impossible to measure up to our beloved pet's unconditional love. Traveling for work is never the hard part. Leaving behind my six cats and three dogs is. My daily routine goes from loud and chaotic to way too quiet. But one thing I never compromise on is their health and nutrition. Every one of them is on Hills Pet Nutrition, so I know they're getting exactly what they need to stay happy and strong. And so even when I'm away, missing all the barking, the purring, the non-stop attention, I still have peace of mind.

24:49Because they're not just pets, they're family. But you're doing better than you think you are, And Hills Pet Nutrition is here to help make this whole pet parenting thing easier with science-led nutrition to support their unique needs and lifelong health. You can feel confident that you're doing right by your pet and taking care of them with guilt-free meals they can't get enough of. Because you're only human, there's Hills. Science does more. Ready to give more love than humanly possible? Find your pet's new favorite food at hillspet.com slash ballin. That's hillspet.com slash ballin. Shipping is one of those business expenses that people tend to set and forget.

25:24But those costs can quietly add up over time, and many businesses don't realize they're overpaying. That's why ShipStation stood out to me. It's built to simplify the entire shipping process while helping you find better rates along the way. ShipStation automatically compares rates across UPS, USPS, and FedEx on every order with savings up to 90%. ShipStation is an end-to-end order fulfillment platform for e-commerce businesses, built to handle your entire shipping workflow so your team can focus on growth. Everything from order management to inventory and returns is centralized in one platform.