Christmas Stalkings
The twins celebrated their fifteenth
birthdays on the evening of December fifth, having a number of friends over for
dinner; Phil Houston, Terry Van Doren, Gerry Weathers, Caroline Smith, Cadet
Jim Connors, just to name a few. They had invited Billy Masters to join them;
unfortunately, Billy could not make it for some reason.
Kelly’s remarkable performance in
mid-December’s ballet performance made her parents feel very proud. In fact,
the entire group of performers danced exceptionally well.
The nights grew longer and the days
waned shorter as winter grasped the season with its cold hands. Christmas
decorations went up on Bay Area homes and their lights filled the surrounding
cities with holiday cheer.
One evening the family went for a
drive down San Pablo Avenue to El Cerrito’s Moser Lane, turning right to drive
up the steep hill to see a special Christmas display that has been around since
1951. Returning to Berkeley, the family drove slowly along the Arlington
Boulevard to gaze upon the myriads of lights around the San Francisco Bay from
the road’s wondrous hillside vantage point.
Another evening they drove an hour
away to Vacaville’s Arlene Drive, called Candy Cane Lane and Shady Glen
Avenue, called Lollipop Lane during Christmas, to see the decorated houses
there. They were mesmerized by the displays of lights and figurines covering
every house and yard on both blocks.
Suzie Chow had traveled to Norway
for Christmas to visit Uncle Jim while Uncle Kevin, Aunt Sara and little Philip
vacationed for two weeks at a cabin near Lake Tahoe.
The season brought a series of
complaints to the police regarding a possible stalker in the area around the
university campus and along Telegraph Avenue. The Dance children decided time
had arrived for them to help solve another mystery.
“What do you think about this
stalker, Becca?” Robert questioned his sister.
“He could be dangerous, don’t you
think?”
“He? We cannot be one hundred
percent certain it is a male. Statistically you are probably correct since all
of the victims are women, two of which stated that they were sure the stalker
was a man. And I do agree, the individual is, or could become dangerous.”
“Let’s go ask Kell what she thinks,”
Rebecca suggested, “I think she is down in the basement.”
The twins found Kelly, as usual,
reading one of the books from their library.
“Kell,” said Robert.
“Yes, Robert.”
“Do you have any insights on this
stalker who is reportedly around the area?”
“I have only read about it in the
newspaper and I saw it covered by that Investigative Journalist, Poppy Fields,
on the TV news a few times, so I don’t really have a lot of information so far.
Let’s check out the facts available.”
Robert ran upstairs to get the
week’s newspapers from the recycle bin and bring them back for closer
examination. The three divided them up and started cutting all articles related
to the stalker out of the papers.
Kelly mentioned, “Don’t forget to
look in the Letters to the Editor and Public Opinion sections also.”
“Why those sections?” questioned
Robert.
“Because the perpetrator or someone
who knows who it is, may have written something about it. Anyway, it can’t
hurt.”
“Ok.”
Together they checked all the local
newspapers; the ones mom always brought home from Oakland and Alameda, along with
their father’s San Francisco papers. The San Francisco papers featured a number
of articles related to the stalker, the victims and details concerning
locations. Once completing the process of organizing the letters into groups,
they taped them to their large mobile whiteboard. The board revolved 360
degrees, enabling them to use one side for information and the other for
prospective avenues of action. Robert drew a horizontal line across the board
for writing the progression of facts down. On the other side of the board the
girls taped up the articles and studied them for similarities.
“It appears the stalkings are all
centered along Telegraph Avenue and certain sections of the U. C. campus,”
Kelly remarked.
Rebecca concurred, “The articles all
agree on that point.”
Kelly continued, “Sproul Plaza near
the Martin Luther King Student Union building, one near the Sather Gate on
Bancroft Way directly across from Telegraph, two music stores and the hat
store; all these places that have reported a stalker.”
“What about the victims, anything
about them, Kell?”
“This article says each saw the
person following them at least two times over the past two to three weeks and
that the stalker vanished as soon as noticed by the victims.”
“Great,” Robert said, “I want to set
up a map of the area and mark these spots off. Let’s head over to the map store
on Bancroft and get a detailed one of the area.”
“Sounds like a plan,” responded
Rebecca.
Robert added, “When we get back I
can finish the time line and transfer the info onto the map.”
The trio informed their parents they
were going out for a little while to do some shopping together and should be
back within an hour and a half, or so.
Rebecca commented, “Chilly,” as the
trio crossed over their front lawn.
“A bit,” Robert agreed.
“If we walk fast we’ll warm up
quicker,” Kelly suggested, “but not too fast for me.”
Walking briskly, Rebecca commented,
“My bet is that this stalker is familiar and comfortable with the area.”
“It appears that way, or at least
familiar enough with the area to be able to disappear quickly once noticed,”
said Robert.
Kelly stated, “Stalking follows a
progressive line from non-delusional to delusional.”
“But,” Rebecca asked, “do you think
we can figure out who it is and what type of person they are?”
“I am not completely sure if we will
be able to determine with total accuracy whether the stalker is a domestic,
non-domestic, or an erotomanic, but I doubt they are a domestic stalker.”
“An ero what?” Robert asked, with a
scrunched up puzzled face.
“An erotomanic person, one who
suffers from erotomania, also called de Clerambault's syndrome,” answered
Kelly.
“Explain, please, in English.”
“Well, if the person was a domestic
stalker there would be more obvious leads for the police. The domestic stalker
generally bothers a former boyfriend or girlfriend; family member; coworker,
you know, people they know and who know them.”
“What about the non-domestic and
the, ero... eromaniac?” questioned Robert.
Laughing, Kelly replied,
“Erotomania, Robert, not maniac.”
“Sorry.”
“The non-domestic stalker usually
targets a female and has come into contact with the victim in one way or
another. The victim may not even know they have had contact with the person,
but eventually the stalker makes some sort of contact with them.”
“I see.”
“The erotomanic individual is
usually obsessed with the person they are stalking. Like celebrities, media
people, public officials, people like that, though they do often stalk
strangers. The stalking itself results from some sort of emotional-psychological
conflict involving a fanaticized romantic relationship between the stalker and
the victim.”
Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the
information, Rebecca interrupted, “We’re almost there.”
Approaching the crosswalk at
Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way placed the three directly across from the
university area where some of the victims had observed the stalker.
A myriad of street vendors along the
sidewalks on both sides of the road eagerly sold their wares to the tourists
and holiday shoppers.
As they crossed Telegraph Avenue,
Rebecca commented, “Holiday shoppers are out in full force.”
“A lot of them,” added Robert.
A little further down Bancroft
they entered the store to search for a detailed map of that section of town,
one that included the nearby streets and the campus area. Fortunately, this
store had about every type of map one could want; topographical, Forrest
Service, world, city and special large wall maps.
“This is perfect,” Rebecca said,
carefully spreading a large wall map out on a counter. “This is the perfect
tool for us to use to help with our investigation.”
“Let’s buy it,” Kelly exclaimed.
“Ok,” said Robert, removing his
wallet from his pocket.
“When we get home we can chip in
some money to help,” both his sisters promised.
“Thanks.”
“We’re a team, you know, Robert,”
stated Kelly.
“We sure are, sis.”
Rebecca commented, “Mr. Walkinhawk’s
store is in-between the sightings on Telegraph, maybe he can help in some way.”
They purchased the map then stopped
by Mr. Walkinhawk’s bookstore to talk to him about their plan.
“Hey, my favorite customers.”
“Good day, Mr. Walkinhawk,” greeted
Kelly.
Robert asked him, “Do you have a
minute to talk?”
“Sure, for you three I have more
than a minute.”
They discussed their plan with their
friend and he agreed to help in any way he could. He informed them that at
least three of the victims looked very similar in appearance, tall, thin, long
black hair and very pretty.
“Thanks, Mr. Walkinhawk,” replied
Kelly.
“Any time,” he responded.
Once home, Robert cleared a
spot on the basement wall large enough for the map’s placement, then he started
logging the locations of the reported stalker’s appearances with the dates and
times listed, creating a very handy reference to have along with the timeline
on the whiteboard.
“Now,” Robert said slowly, thinking
out loud, “we need a plan of action, a mode of operation… a--”
Kelly interrupted, “We get the hint,
Robert.”
“I know,” Kelly replied, “Webcams,
that’s the answer.”
“Webcams?” Rebecca questioned, “Oh,
yes, I see, to take photos of the area. But it is a very large area.”
“We will need multiple webcams set
up at different locations that take photographs at different times,” Kelly
determined.
Robert added, “And they need to be
saving all images on their prospective computer hard-drives.”
“I have another idea,” Kelly said,
“If we can get Jim Connors to help us we may be able to get the Student Union
on campus to set up one or two in the Sather Gate and Sproul Plaza areas, one
on each end, at the plaza side of the Sather walkway and Student Union building
facing the plaza.”
Perplexed, Robert commented, “The
campus police station is also right there on the side of Sproul Hall, that’s
seems a bit strange.”
“It is,” Rebecca concurred, “The
stalker is taking a chance on being observed by the police in that area.”
“Maybe the person doesn’t know that
they have an office there,” surmised Kelly.
Robert said, “I’ll make a note of
that on the board. There may be something about it that will make more sense
later.”
Over the next couple of days the
twins and Kelly made contact with Mr. Walkinhawk again and Cadet Jim Connors.
They continued developing their plan in more detail. They found out that Jim
Connors had a friend whose brother was a member of the Student Union and who
also studied video production, photography and other related topics. The
friend’s brother secured permission to set up webcams on campus for a project
called Campus Life at Christmas. Mr. Walkinhawk contacted his fellow business
associates along Telegraph Avenue. All agreed to help by setting up webcams in
the first and second story windows of their stores. The cams were set for
varying times in the hope that this would produce a better chance to spot
someone who appeared suspicious, slightly out of place with the surroundings,
or who happened to be in the area when another complaint was reported.
The day before Christmas, two
different women reported a stalker following them from store to store along
Telegraph Avenue. This was consistent with the other reported stalkings. Both
women had long black hair. Robert, Rebecca and Kelly read this information in
the next morning’s newspaper just before opening their Christmas presents.
“More eggnog anyone?” Mrs. Dance
asked her family.
Robert replied swiftly, “Yes, mom, I
want some.”
While ripping another present’s
wrapping off, Rebecca replied, “Me too.”
“Wow!” Robert said loudly,
“walkie-talkies, with GPS receivers.”
“I got a pair too,” cheered Rebecca.
“And mine must be here,” Kelly said,
opening a package matching the ones opened by her brother and sister.
“The GPS receiver lets us transmit
digital location data to each other,” Robert read from the pamphlet to the rest
of the family.
“Your father and I thought you three
would enjoy those gifts. We remembered how much fun it was for you, Robert,
when you made that cell phone for your science project, the one with the
special GPS system in it.”
“Now we have six walkie-talkies with
GPS,” Kelly proclaimed, “There are enough for our whole family to use and still
have an extra one.”
Robert continued reading the
instruction pamphlet, “These have a range of eight miles.”
“This is the best Christmas ever,”
Kelly said.
Digital cameras, walkie-talkies,
board games, clothes, books from Uncle Jim and one each from Suzie Chow, a
special Christmas indeed. Mom even received a laminator for a present. Mr.
Dance told her it was a new waffle iron as a joke before she opened it.
After opening gifts and enjoying a
late breakfast together, the family spent the day relaxing and enjoying their
presents. They all tried out the walkie-talkies together; Robert went up into
the attic, Rebecca to the basement, mom to the kitchen, dad to his study and
Kelly to the garage. “Communications are loud and clear,” Dad reported,
followed in turn by the others.
Later that day the kids checked the
range of their new devices by spreading out around the area of their
neighborhood.
“This is clearer than a cell phone,”
Robert remarked to his sisters over the walkie-talkie.
“I agree,” Rebecca replied, “How
about you, Kell?”
“Loud and clear, Roger, over.”
“Copy, sis.”
Once back home they decided to learn
a police or military alphabet for official radio transmissions. Rebecca
downloaded a few from the Internet and after careful consideration and
additional research; they decided to use a standard military one that is
currently in use around the world.
“It is called a phonetic alphabet,”
Rebecca said, while printing it out.
A: ALPHA
B: BRAVO
C: CHARLIE
D: DELTA
E: ECHO
F: FOXTROT
G: GOLF
H: HOTEL
I: INDIA
J: JULIET
K: KILO
L: LIMA
M: MIKE
N: NOVEMBER
O: OSCAR
P: PAPA
Q: QUEBEC
R: ROMEO
S: SIERRA
T: TANGO
U: UNIFORM
V: VICTOR
W: WHISKY
X: X-RAY
Y: YANKEE
Z: ZULU
This would come in very handy should
they one day need to report any letters of the alphabet to one another over the
radio and would eliminate errors when transmitting due to background noise.
“What about the numbers?” Rebecca
asked, “I haven’t found anything on them yet.”
“I think they are the same,” replied
Robert.
Kelly interrupted, “I watched a
movie where they used ‘niner’ for the number nine. Maybe that made it clearer
to understand.”
“Ok, we’ll use it too, niner, and
always separate the numbers into single ones, not ‘ninety-nine’, but ‘niner,
niner’. I think that will help a lot.”
Rebecca responded, “Sounds great to
me.”
Over the next couple of days, the
kids read more about the stalker still being in the area and following some of
the same women in the same areas as before.
Robert suggested to his sisters
that, “We’d better go and check the hard-drives for the photos saved from the
webcams.”
“Ok,” replied Rebecca.
“The stores should all be open
today,” added Kelly.
They spent a good portion of the day
checking the video photos from several of the locations. One certain individual
appeared to be the only one gazing in the direction of where the women were at
the times of the complaints; a male taking photos with a cell phone. The youths
downloaded the pertinent photos onto a CD. Later that evening, they met with
Jim Connors, his friend and the friend’s brother to check out the campus webcam
photos. They noted that the same individual appeared in those photos; hanging around
the plaza area the same days as each of those complaints were reported. They
decided to have Cadet Connors turn the CD with the photos over to the local
police rather than the campus police, just in case there happened to be a
connection in some way.
“Have a Happy New Year, Jim,”
Rebecca said, as the trio departed.
“You too, all of you, and say Happy
New Year to your parents for me.”
“We will.”
“And thanks for coming up with this
plan. I hope this helps find the stalker.”
“We do too,” Kelly said, “then
people can rest a bit and not worry about this anymore.”
“Time will tell,” Robert added,
“Time will tell.”
The trio hurried home as fast as
they could, making their way along the streets as the fog started rolling in to
downtown Berkeley. It looked like it will be a nice evening to be home.
“Where have you three been?” their
mother questioned the trio entering the front door.
“We were down at the campus looking
at some webcam photos with Cadet Connors and two of his friends,” Rebecca
replied, “Happy New Year, he said to tell you.”
“Ok, but if you are ever planning to
be late in the future, please call us. We worry a bit more, with this stalker
out there, you know.”
“Ok, sorry mom,” said Kelly.
“Dinner will be ready in five
minutes,” their father informed them, “Better hurry and wash up.”
“Ok.”
After hanging up their coats in the
hall closet the kids rushed to the bathroom to wash their hands, very hungry
after having such a busy day.
The next Saturday morning during
breakfast, Mr. Dance read to his family from the morning newspaper, “A suspect
has been questioned due to the ingenuity of three local youths who secured the
help of a local police cadet, Jim Connors, and some local businesses and a
university student. I wonder who those three youths could be. Hum, Jim Connors,
that name sure sounds familiar.”
The kids all stared at each other
with surprised looks on their faces.
“And the article also says that the
individual suffered from psychiatric problems. He was on out-patient treatment
and his brother, a campus police officer, positively identified his brother
from surveillance photos taken by a series of webcams. This is very ingenious
indeed,” Mr. Dance commented, “using a series of webcams.”
“Does it say anything else, dad?”
inquired Kelly.
“It appears that the stalker’s
brother would take him out to lunch on Telegraph Avenue frequently. They always
met by the police office near Sproul Plaza on campus and,” he took a breath,
“here is something interesting... on occasion, they were joined by the brother’s
wife, who is tall, thin, has long black hair and treated the fellow very
special. It says the alleged stalker suffered a head injury a few years ago
while serving in the military and that his brother and sister in-law were
vacationing during the period the stalking took place.”
“That’s too bad,” Kelly said sadly,
“He was probably just lonely. Do you think he will get into trouble, dad?”
“I seriously doubt that any of the
victims will wish to press charges once they learn all of the facts.”
“Do you think he will be a stalker
again?” Rebecca asked.
“It’s hard to say, but probably not,
once his brother and sister in-law explain things to him.”
On the morning of New Year’s Eve the
family telephoned Uncle Jim and Suzie in Norway to see how they were. “Norway is
nine hours ahead in time than California,” stated their father.
According to Uncle Jim, Norwegians
celebrate New Year’s Eve with fireworks throughout the whole country. “The
entire sky is lit up with colorful explosions of light for over an hour!”
Around ten-thirty that evening, the
Dance’s drove over to the Embarcadero in San Francisco to watch a special
mid-night fireworks display.
During the clock’s final stroke of the
year they shouted, “Happy New Year!”
Next Chapter
Chapter Nineteen: Five Finger Discount
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