James was sitting down at the kitchen table wondering what the real connection was between him and the wraith when he heard a terrible explosion outside the apartment. Instinctively he knew that it had something to do with the crazed man that stalked him. He rushed to the window and felt his heart sink. Below him, his Mazda was a blazing inferno, wreathed in flame and dying right in front of his eyes.
Shattered glass littered the parking lot from when the explosion sent his windows flying outward in small fragments. Fortunately for the other cars, James had parked far enough away from them that they were not in danger of experiencing the same fate. Another thing that James was grateful for was that it appeared as if nobody had been too close to the car when it blew. He could only imagine the sort of injury that could have been incurred by the flying glass alone.
A large crowd had gathered around his car by the time he rushed out the door and down the stairs. One of the neighbors was already on the phone with emergency dispatch. James was glad that somebody had thought to do that. He had been too shocked by the sight of his car in flames to have realized the need to alert the authorities. Even as he stood there with his eyes transfixed on what had once been a nice car, he doubted how much good it would do to have the authorities come.
His faith in law enforcement had been shaken lately due to his encounters with Detective Sweeny. He almost let out a sarcastic smile as he anticipated being accused in a roundabout way of blowing up his own car. He knew that it seemed crazy, but he felt certain that such a thing was imminent.
"Wow, man, what happened?" Jennifer's neighbor, Frank Stewart, asked.
"I have no idea." James said, still somewhat in shock. "I was upstairs in the kitchen when I heard the explosion. By the time I made it down here, the rest of you were already gathered around. Did anybody see it happen?"
"I don't know." Frank said. "I will ask around for you."
"Thanks.." James said and returned his eyes to the funeral pyre of his car.
It did not take very long for the sound of approaching sirens to fill the air. In no time, a fire truck and several police cars had the place lit up with their flashing lights. While the fire-fighters worked on putting out the blaze, police pushed everybody back and set up a perimeter. Once they felt the immediate danger of onlookers getting hurt was out of the way, the police began to question everybody present about what had happened.
James let them know that he had been in his kitchen at the time and came rushing out to see his car in flames. Frank came forward with a young college girl that said she had been walking toward the apartment to meet her boyfriend when the car exploded, but she couldn't remember seeing anybody around it at the time. An officer took their names and statements and then asked them to sit off to the side in case they needed to be questioned further.
After about half an hour, the officer returned. By this time, James' Mazda was nothing more than a soaked wreck. There was nothing left to really identify what sort of make and model it had originally been. James had watched the efforts of the fire-fighters in a sort of stupor. He had known that they would not be able to do anything to save his car, but secretly he had held onto a foolish hope that once they had put out the flames, there would be enough left intact that he could repair it and use it once more.
"Mr. Harper, I have been told that you are a person of interest in another investigation." The officer said. "I am going to need you to stay here and wait for a detective to came and ask you some more questions about this incident. As for you, Ms. Swanson, you are free to go."
The college girl got up from the sidewalk she had been sitting on and glanced warily at James. It seemed that she did not like the idea of sitting next to someone that was considered a person of interest in any investigation. James couldn't blame her. It had not been all that long ago that he would have shared her sentiments. He had no desire to mingle with those who took up residence on the south side of the law either. Unfortunately, he could not explain to her that he was only being thrown into this other investigation because of the stupidity of a detective with an itchy face.
About fifteen minutes later, a tan sedan pulled up, and Todd Sweeny got out. He looked around the area, spotted James, and headed straight for him. He smiled congenially as he approached. If James had not already been on guard, he might have taken the facial expression of the detective to mean that he was only going to say something about the weather and then move on. James knew better by now though.
"You lead quite an eventful life, Mr. Harper." Sweeny said. "It seems like I am no longer able to go about my day without needing to come and see what sort of trouble you have landed yourself in."
"I have already told you that I didn't land myself in any trouble, detective." James answered. "I am being targeted by some sort of madman that you should be spending your time trying to catch rather than focusing all of your attention on me."
"So you think that this was done by the man that threatened you?" Sweeny asked. It was obvious that he knew the answer to that, but apparently he wanted to hear James say it.
"Yes, of course I do." James said. "Who else would feel the desire to blow up my car? I already told you that he said he would take away everything that I held dear."
"So, you view your car as something precious to you?"
"No. Not really. A car is just a car." James said. "I do, however, need to be able to get around town and travel. From that standpoint, I guess you could say that the function of the car is precious to me."
"Did you happen to see this man anywhere around here?" Sweeny asked.
"No. I was in the apartment when it happened. By the time I got down here, there was a crowd of people, but I did not see him. I think he would have wanted me to see him if he had stuck around." James replied.
"Ok." Detective Sweeny said, closing his notebook. "I just wanted to hear you say it. Sometimes I can hear if there is more to a story than a person is saying when I listen carefully. In your case, there is nothing more. Your story checks out with all of the other witnesses too. They all said that you came down after the explosion and seemed to be struck with panic and shock."
"So you don't think I blew up my own car? I thought for sure that was where you were going to go with this." James said.
"No, I don't think you would do that." Sweeny said. "I know that I told you yesterday that criminals sometimes do strange things that defy logic, but in this case I am inclined to believe you. In fact, I guess you could say that this sort of gives you credibility for what you were saying yesterday. If there really is a man out there that wants to make you suffer, it is within reason that he would want to destroy your car."
"Thank you." James said, somewhat sarcastically. He was relieved to hear that the detective was finally taking him seriously, but he was still frustrated that it had taken this long. "By the way, I have more to tell you about the strange man that wants to kill me."
"Oh?" Sweeny asked, reaching for his notebook again. "What would that be?"
"I think he is related to me somehow. Maybe even twin." James answered.
"How did you come by this idea?" Sweeny asked. "Surely you would have recognized the man yesterday if he was a relative."
"I know it sounds crazy, but the thought occurred to me last night, so I went to ask my mom about it this morning. She has cancer, so I tried not to upset her by telling her all of the details, but even asking her about a brother set her off. She said something about a wraith and then started crying. That was when her hospice nurse kicked me out for upsetting her too much." James answered.
"So you think that she knows more about this guy, let's call him the wraith for now, than she is telling you?" Sweeny asked.
"Yes, I do." James said. "I wanted to press a little more, but I felt guilty."
"Would you mind if I asked her some questions?" Sweeny asked. "She might be more inclined to answer me if I let her know that you could be in danger. Keep in mind that having a police detective asking her about a possible twin may just upset her more than you ever could."
"Actually, I think it would be better if you were the one to ask." James said, feeling guilty for involving his mother like this. She certainly did not need the stress. "As difficult as it might be for her, you could probably think of better questions to ask. You know, being a detective and all."
James gave Sweeny the address and told him the best times to talk to her. Sweeny thanked him and returned to his car. He thought about the explosion some more, and then made a call. James may have relaxed into thinking that he was no longer a person of interest, but Sweeny was not ready to write him off just yet. Something told him that he needed to be paying extra close attention to Mr. Harper. He scratched at the side of his face as he thought about this, and then he turned the key in the ignition and drove off.