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Name/Nickname: Alan Kincaid (AKA Alan Connor, John Doe, Alan Doe, Kinnie, Kooky Kincaid, Kooky Kinnie)
Gender: Male
Birthdate/"Permanent" Story Age/Astrological Sign: July 9, 1967; thirties/early forties; Cancer
Birthplace/Current Location: San Francisco, California; Minot, North Dakota
Height: 6'0"
Weight/Body Type: Slightly below average; lean/slender
Eyes: Green
Hair: Light brown, slightly graying on the sides; short
Race/Ethnic Background: Caucasian; Irish-American
Relationship Status: In relationship (Michelle Rosedale, girlfriend)
Orientation: Demi-heteroromantic demi-heterosexual (very rarely is romantically or sexually attracted to anyone, and then only after an emotional connection is formed)
Siblings: Patricia Connor (older sister), Calvin Connor (younger brother)
Profession: Police detective lieutenant, Minot (ND) Police Department
Distinguishing Characteristics: Typically emotionless attitude/appearance, deadpan voice, blunt/straightforward/terse, very difficult to anger/offend, walks with limp in left leg, left shin severely scarred, seems to have a bond with dogs
General Appearance: Blank facial expression and stare (often referred to as a "cyborg" or "robot"), always dresses formally on the job but wears tie slightly loosened at neck, prefers light-colored suits, uses knee brace on left leg and occasionally crutch/cane
First Appeared In: Minot
Character Summary: "Alan Kincaid" is the assumed/adopted name of Alan Connor, but considering that he has no memory of his real last name throughout much of the series, this will be regarded as the name by which he's best known. Also, for clarity, the names "Kincaid" and "Kinnie" usually refer to Alan, while "Sgt. Kincaid" usually refers to Mark; further clarification will be provided as needed.
Alan Connor was an unusual child in that he mostly played by himself, didn't cry often, and didn't speak at all until he was five; a battery of tests proved he was physically fit and seemed to possess no learning deficits. His first spoken words, addressed to his younger brother Calvin after he fought off an older child from bullying him, were, "Are you okay?" Their father didn't believe Calvin when he related the incident, but their mother sat Alan down and asked him why he'd never said anything before. Both parents were dumbfounded when Alan replied that he'd never had anything to say, yet. Mrs. Connor asked him to try to be more vocal in the future, just so they wouldn't have to worry so much about him; Alan seemed puzzled but agreed.
As the next several years passed, Alan excelled in school, coming across as incredibly bright for his age, and was enrolled in several advanced classes where he continued to do well, but still seemed mostly uninterested in social interaction with his peers. It's believed that this may be what drew unwanted attention to him, and one morning when his mother went to fetch him for breakfast, she found his bed empty, the window broken, and nine-year-old Alan missing. A ladder abandoned in the yard below told the rest of the story. Alan's disappearance was widely televised in the local area, his photo printed on numerous flyers and his parents begging for his return on news programs throughout the state, but no ransom was ever demanded, and nothing ever came of the case but false leads. It was as if Alan had fallen off the face of the Earth.
In reality, Alan was being shuttled from state to state, trading hands numerous times, his captors keeping him drugged throughout much of the trip so he couldn't clearly tell where he was or the passage of time/distance, although he tried. He ended up in the hands of Four P, a multi-branched cult specializing in drug running, prostitution, and human trafficking; for a time Alan had been observed from afar and was considered an ideal candidate for programming, due to his high intelligence, tendency toward social isolation, and what seemed to be a habit of "zoning out" or dissociating at will (Alan demonstrated this ability whenever staring at carousels in the park, or other revolving objects). Unfortunately, he proved to be not as ideal a candidate as had been hoped, as he was rather small for his age and had been judged as younger than nine years; the prime age of personality formation was past and attempts at programming alternate personalities failed. His captors handed him over to another branch of the cult where he was used in religious ceremonies and by sex traffickers; here, his tendency to dissociate and fall silent in a sort of trance served him well. He was particularly valued in a "scapegoat" ritual wherein he was bound to an inverted cross and his left leg stabbed with a specialized ceremonial knife, symbolically being punished for the other cultists' "sins." Alan gradually forgot his previous life and even his last name, though he managed to hold on to his first name and birthdate, repeating them endlessly in his head when alone.
After a year or two, an older cult member and former member of the police force came across Alan, being kept among other adolescents intended for Four P's use; he bought him and took him as his personal "pet," dressing him in a collar and muzzle; despite still being subjected to sexual abuse, here at least Alan wasn't drugged, stabbed, or tortured, and he learned to play the role of a pet very well. However, a few years later, he'd grown too old for his "owner's" tastes, and was sold back to Four P's traffickers, where the druggings and rituals resumed. Being in his mid-teens, he was no longer considered as valuable, and so his treatment worsened, and he was traded off to a minor branch of the cult for use in more rituals and pornographic films; plans were made to sacrifice him and then dispose of the body when he was no longer useful.
While he was being held in the hastily constructed cellar of a house and his abuse filmed by a few lesser members of the cult, they left him alone for a while, and he managed to pull himself loose from the altar, but was then too weak from drugs, malnutrition, and blood loss to do much else. A sudden burst of noise and shouting upstairs convinced him to hide; someone with a flashlight and gun descended into the cellar, and located him cowering behind the altar. The man seemed just as surprised to see him as Alan felt; he introduced himself as a police officer, and after several moments spent trying to convince Alan to trust him, he assisted him out from hiding and upstairs. Alan was overwhelmed by the numerous other police, social workers, and emergency vehicles present outside; he fought against being restrained on the stretcher, having an oxygen mask applied, and having an IV placed in his arm, the police officer calming him down and getting the EMTs to compromise each time. At the hospital, he was just as suspicious and defensive, snarling and lashing out at the nurses and doctors as the policeman intervened. The police officer accompanied him as a rape kit was performed and photographs of his injuries taken, telling Alan to keep hold of his hand and focus on him throughout the ordeal. They parted ways when Alan was wheeled away to surgery for work to be done on his leg.
Alan spent a few days in withdrawal (the surgeon brought him extra blankets to try to help with the shaking), then lapsed into a semi-catatonic state, refusing to eat, drink, or respond to any of the hospital staff, just spending the hours staring at his window. After a week, plans were made to forcibly place him on a feeding tube, but the staff psychiatrist decided to contact the police department and see if the primary investigating officer could be called back in. The Minot police captain, Don Bowen, arrived, followed by Sgt. Mark Kincaid, the officer behind the raid on the house where Alan was found; after the psychiatrist explained that Alan might have formed a connection with him following the rescue, Sgt. Kincaid agreed to try to speak with him. Alan acknowledged Sgt. Kincaid by looking at him, but didn't speak, and didn't drink when Sgt. Kincaid offered him a cup of juice from his food tray. Sgt. Kincaid looked at Alan's arms, then took a drink of the juice himself, and again offered the cup; after a brief pause, Alan took the cup and downed the entire drink. He finished off the other items on the food tray after Sgt. Kincaid tasted each one since it was now obvious that none were drugged. When Sgt. Kincaid introduced himself as Mark, and asked for any personal information Alan could give him, all Alan could tell him was that his first name was Alan, and his birthdate was July 9, 1967; he didn't remember anything else. Sgt. Kincaid expressed shock and dismay to the psychiatrist and Bowen about this--due to his size, everyone had judged Alan as around twelve or thirteen, when in truth he was almost seventeen, and not long from aging out of the foster system.
At the psychiatrist's recommendation, Sgt. Kincaid took an active part in Alan's recovery and rehabilitation at the hospital, as well as in his psychiatric treatment. Mark was cleared to take Alan into his own home rather than place him in the foster system, and Alan started treatment with a child psychologist to help him through the years of trauma inflicted by the cult. At the first session, when Alan spotted a mounted videocamera in the room, he reacted by knocking it violently to the floor; it took a few moments of reassurance from Mark and the psychologist to calm him down, with Mark explaining that a videocamera had also been found in the cellar room where Alan had originally been located, and numerous VHS tapes were located elsewhere in the house. Therapy sessions were recorded, with Mark usually watching from a one-way mirror (with Alan's knowledge) as Alan recounted what he could remember of his experiences in the cult. Many of the details coincided with the active police investigation which had led to Alan's rescue. Meanwhile, Alan was growing accustomed to life on the "outside," which led to several unusual incidents under Mark's care. After his first night spent there, Mark went to his bedroom and found him not in bed, but curled up on the closet floor. When Mark was using a knife to cut something in the kitchen and turned toward Alan with it still in his hand, Alan abruptly retreated under the kitchen counter, where he cowered for quite a while afterwards; Mark waited until Alan had gone to bed to gather all the knives and hide them in a cabinet. The most alarming incident was when Mark accidentally walked in on Alan using the bathtub; he quickly apologized and retreated, but Alan followed him into the living room, still wet and naked, and kissed him. Mark rebuffed his advances, wrapping him in a blanket and telling him he didn't need to do that and to get dressed, before scheduling an early appointment with the psychologist. In the session, when asked why he'd kissed Mark, Alan explained that, since Mark had made no moves on him yet, he expected to be sold to someone else soon, who might not treat him so well. Mark interrupted the session, telling Alan that he wasn't an object or a pet to be sold or given away when he was no longer wanted; he hugged the mute teenager and added, "Not everyone will hurt you. I know you don't believe me now, but I'll prove it to you." Mark didn't see it for himself, but the psychologist and the videocamera caught how Alan's eyes briefly grew wet before Mark broke away.
As he became more socialized, Alan started displaying unusual abilities, in particular speed-reading, an uncanny recall for details, and an eidetic memory; at the psychologist's request, he noticed various small changes that had been made to the office after he'd studied it for a few moments, and then made a series of drawings--one of a tree (he briefly studied the tree outside the office window, then drew it almost perfectly), one of a bridge (this one was quite amateurish in quality, since he hadn't yet seen a bridge), and one of a face--Alan sketched Mark's face from memory, again getting almost every detail right. He displayed certain deficits as well, especially in regard to interpersonal interactions, and interpreting things very literally. Although other people and their activities seemed to pique his curiosity, he showed little interest in interacting with them, and was prone to muteness, lack of emotional expression (Mark worried that he could be a sociopath, until the psychologist showed him the VHS recording where Mark told him he couldn't be sold), and unsettling staring. (An odd detail Mark noticed was that Alan seemed to share a connection with dogs, and they appeared to be drawn to him as well.) Despite these weaknesses, Alan began to adapt with patient explanations from Mark, and the psychologist remarked that he was doing much better than had been expected, considering the amount of abuse he'd gone through; he theorized that Alan's eccentricities were partly due to his trauma, but were also possibly part of his original personality. (Nowadays, he would be said to display traits of being on the autism spectrum, the former diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, but this wasn't an official diagnosis yet and/or was just starting to be understood when Alan was first in therapy, so he was never officially diagnosed.)
When Alan memorized the entire North Dakota criminal code, Mark's superior, Lt. Niko Lampinen, suggested that Alan might excel in law enforcement. Mark was reluctant to take the suggestion seriously, considering Alan too dysfunctional and uncomprehending of normal human behavior to hold down any sort of steady employment, but decided to let Alan choose for himself. Although Alan shared Mark's skepticism, he passed the police psychological exam, and managed to complete training, even despite his injured leg. Alan joined the Minot Police Department as a patrol officer, with Mark providing supervision. He seemed to be especially skilled at calming down victims and witnesses and convincing them to talk while barely saying anything, himself. He had a tendency to follow the law somewhat too literally at first, with Mark having to explain situations in which bending the rules might be permissible; also, his first experience with the media was nearly a disaster, when reporters swarmed around asking questions after a bust; upon seeing the cameras Alan froze, speechless, and Mark had to step forward to answer questions instead. Mark and Lampinen both advised Alan that in the future, he might need to make use of the media for his own ends, so he'd better get used to dealing with them. Alan taught Mark a lesson himself after Mark punched Neal Osborne, a reporter, for jokingly referring to Alan as a "gimp"; when Alan told Mark that what he'd done was irrational and he could get in trouble, and Mark said he knew, Alan asked him why he did it. Mark asked Alan if he knew what "gimp" meant (Alan did), and wasn't he offended? Alan replied, "Why would I be offended if it's true?" Mark realized he'd taken the comment far more personally than Alan had. (Alan stopped by Osborne's office to offer an apology on Mark's part; when Osborne said that he hadn't meant the "gimp" comment, Alan, on his way out, said, "Yes, you did.")
When Alan started looking into the files related to his own rescue, he realized that the case was no longer actively being worked on; he angrily confronted Mark about this, since Mark had promised that they would do what they could to punish the people responsible. Mark hinted that everything was not as it seemed with the case--another police detective had gone missing shortly before Alan was rescued, and the cult was believed responsible--and he was worried that they could target Alan next. He said that if Alan was truly interested in following up on the case, he should do so without Bowen's knowledge, not drawing attention to himself or asking for help unless he really needed it, and that if he wanted access to more resources, he should study for the detective's exam, and then the sergeant's, and then the lieutenant's, because the higher his position, the more he could get done. Alan wasn't particularly ambitious, being more interested in just doing his job, but took Mark's advice to heart, learning that some of the more important police work had to be done behind the scenes.
Mark became involved with a woman named Melissa, whom Alan avoided after she flirted with him; he suspected ulterior motives on Melissa's part but, having no concrete proof, said nothing. He also noticed a subtle change in Mark's attitude, the other officer seeming slightly more listless and distracted, though Mark insisted nothing was wrong and it was only the job, and further realizations about Alan's unpleasant past, that affected him. One night while Alan sat on the couch studying for the detective's exam, a bang from upstairs startled him; he ran up to the main bedroom and broke down the door (dislocating his shoulder in the process) to find Mark dead from a gunshot wound through the mouth. He contacted 911, then answered a pounding at the door to find neighbor Phil Falcon outside, asking what had happened; Phil was the second to see Mark's body before first responders arrived. Bowen, now the police chief, arrived as well, along with the medical examiner, Dr. Steiner; Bowen seemed suspicious about the scene, but all signs pointed toward Alan's story being accurate, with Dr. Steiner pointing out the broken-down door and Alan's dislocated shoulder, then advising Bowen to get Alan to the hospital for treatment. Bowen asked crime scene investigators to take over, and for Dr. Steiner to personally perform a full autopsy along with tox screen, before departing with Alan. It soon became clear that, despite the strangeness of the incident, and Mark not leaving behind a suicide note or ever expressing any suicidal intent, no other scenario was possible--Mark's bedroom door had been locked from the inside and there was no other way into the room aside from climbing in through a second-story window, accessible only with a ladder, and the windows were still closed and locked, the only available ladder stored away, dusty and unused, in a nearby shed, and no ladder markings on the lawn below the window. Alan's shoulder injury also corresponded with the damage to the outside of the bedroom door, and as Dr. Steiner pointed out, he likely wouldn't have had the strength or dexterity to fire a gun afterward. Still confused, Bowen apologized for suspecting Alan, to which Alan replied, "You were doing your job."
Since the Kincaid household was still temporarily considered a crime scene, Alan couldn't return there that night, and Bowen's wife, Mary, offered to let him stay with them. Alan met Bowen's two young daughters, Kyra and Zoe; the shy, sensitive Zoe noticed how Alan stared at her carousel music box. When the Kincaid house was cleared, he returned, finding it eerily silent, the bed upstairs stripped of its blankets and mattress; after sitting there for a few moments, he heard Mark's voice, and peered to the side, skin prickling; Mark was sitting at the other side of the room. He explained what Alan already knew--he was merely a dissociated part of Alan's mind, taking the form of somebody he knew well, something that had also occurred after Alan's owner had sold him. When Alan returned to work the next day, Bowen at first tried to convince him to take some time off; Alan interrupted him to say that "The house is too quiet." Bowen allowed him to stay, though kept him on desk duty until his shoulder healed and Bowen was sure he was mentally fit to return to patrol duty. Alan hinted to Bowen that he believed Mark's suicide was in fact orchestrated by the cult itself, with the now-missing Melissa acting as some sort of "bait" (originally intended for Alan) to lure him into killing himself; when Bowen dismissed the idea, he didn't bring it up again.
When he was eligible, Kincaid took the detective's exam and passed; Lampinen suggested to Bowen that he investigate domestic violence cases, as victims seemed to feel more at ease and willing to talk with him. Bowen wondered if Kincaid's abusive past could interfere with his ability to work in DV, but true to Lampinen's suggestion, he excelled. Kincaid was temporarily partnered with Hannah Knights, the first female detective in the Minot Police Department, who transferred there specifically to work with him, having learned of his reputation from others who were skeptical of his police skills. When she left to accept a post at the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Kincaid gave her a folder of Minot-area cases with cult or ritual angles, including the case that Mark had been working on, asking that she send him anything she could find on any related cases; Knights promised to do so, and the two remained in touch. After passing the sergeant's exam, Kincaid was contacted by Neal Osborne for information on an open case; Osborne promised to help Kincaid out with any cases he desired information on in the future. Remembering Mark's and Lampinen's advice on making use of the media, Kincaid anonymously sent an envelope of information about the case to Osborne's office, and earned another ally in his investigations. Upon his promotion to lieutenant, he took the retiring Lampinen's place, and fielded his first press conference; for a moment he froze before all the cameras, when Osborne raised his hand, and Kincaid called on him for a question. After that, press conferences started going as expected; at first city officials feared Kincaid's oddly dispassionate and blunt manner would turn people off ("You have to sell yourself," one adviser told him, to which he replied, "People can't be sold"), but to their surprise, his popularity increased. One downside of this and of his growing interest in investigating cult-related crimes was that he earned the nickname "Kooky Kincaid" or "Kooky Kinnie"; nobody dared use the name in front of him or Chief Bowen, though later on, Kincaid admitted that he'd long known of the nickname and it didn't bother him personally since it was "true."
Kincaid was heavily involved in a scandal which enveloped the Minot Police Department, when minor cultist Mitchell Barnes murdered July Lockett, an informant familiar with Kincaid's case, who was a former cultist herself. Mitch was found to be following the orders of Chad Jenner, an officer with the MPD and hitman for Four P. Jenner attempted killing another woman for seeming to know too much; Kincaid intervened and was shot. Jenner ended up confessing his role in the crimes and pleading guilty; he, Kincaid, and Mandie Armstead, a woman with loose ties to but no real affiliation with the cult, testified against Mitch in his trial, where he was found guilty. Kincaid briefly kept watch over Mandie during and following the trial in case of cult reprisals, though he requested another officer to take over the duty after Mandie sexually assaulted him (Kincaid dissociated into memories of his past abuse during the attack); he told no one of what had happened, but did advise any others who kept watch not to let themselves be alone with her. He oversaw Mandie going into hiding after Mitch was sentenced, and the whole affair was supposedly closed, though many suspicions remained regarding other possible cult connections in the police force. Kincaid visited Jenner in prison several times (against Bowen's wishes), and did learn various details about Four P's operations in the Minot area, but nothing conclusive that could shed light on Mark's suicide.
In the late Nineties, a detective from the Sheriff's Department, Max Kristeva, was transferred to the MPD, with the sheriff's intent for him to surreptitiously keep an eye on Kincaid's cult investigations, but this backfired when Kristeva took as much of an interest in the matter as Kincaid did. Through him Kincaid was introduced to Det. Michelle "Mike" Rosedale of the Rugby Police Department; the two formed a connection over the similarities of Kincaid's past with that of Rosedale's missing brother, Jason (Jay Campion), as well as certain personality characteristics (both of them needing their space, and being uncomfortable with excessive displays of emotion), and some time later started a relationship.
Kincaid often finds himself at odds with Chief Bowen, though Bowen has learned that Kincaid's instincts (actually, his minute observations, since Kincaid dislikes relying on instinct) are usually spot on, and has learned to give him some leeway. He has a (mostly rumored) reputation for having a spectacularly explosive temper, but this occurs so infrequently that most people have never witnessed it; even the most offensive comments aimed his way tend to elicit no reaction. He continued working on the combined Singer/Kincaid/Jenner case behind the scenes, making use of private contacts, until Kristeva could step in and take over, reigniting interest in the case; further discoveries lent credence to Kincaid's belief that Mark's suicide hadn't been what it seemed--Mark was found to have had traces of an unknown drug in his system, traces of which were also found in July Lockett--which eventually convinced Dr. Steiner to change the manner of death from "Suicide" to "Undetermined." In his spare time, Kristeva also started looking for Kincaid's previous identity in missing children databases, though Kincaid himself shows little interest in digging too much into his past; as he told Rosedale, "Sometimes people aren't meant to be found...just because you've found someone...doesn't mean they're not still lost."
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