On the 30th Halloween is in the air, we have small pumpkins to carve and cookies to make. Morgan has friends coming over to get into costume and then they are all going to a Halloween party.
Both detectives come over the house to talk with Morgan about the recent events. They have a new thermal imaging scope, which they want to become a little more accustomed to, in hopes of having a successful stakeout. We have some stalking times recorded that seem consistent and very promising, and maybe between the four of us we can actually get a good picture, or even more.
After the conversation with Morgan, and the paperwork was finished, we went outside with their new thermal imaging scope and Steve’s. We had offered the use of ours any time, but department rules did not allow that, so it was great that they now also had something that could “see” through the darkness.
What was not so great was that after many attempts to turn it on and waiting for warm up Detective Glassmire discovered, to his embarrassment, that it had no batteries. Easy solution, we always keep a wide selection on hand, so Steve asked what they needed. Only again this was a problem, Detective Glassmire said it was against the rules to use our batteries (this is starting to get a little ridiculous at this point). They were brand new, still in the package, but Detective Glassmire had to say no, and that was the end of the ‘getting accustomed’ attempt.
It was doubly bad because Morgan was on hand for the whole fiasco. After we said our goodbyes, Morgan chimed in with a question, she wondered if we really thought she was supposed to count on those two to catch her stalker – and feel safe about it. We had to agree with her that it had not been their best week from failed promises, from being too busy, to no batteries, which Morgan equated to hoping they had bullets in their guns, in case they ever needed them.
We told her it was a sign to become even more proactive. And Steve said we would. He and Morgan had already decided that she would never drive home again, at night, unless he was there to follow in his truck. He would position himself to see her come by and fall in only after he was sure she was not being followed. They had done this before, but now it was an every time without fail routine. Morgan wondered if he had a gun in his truck, and Steve told her no, he did not think that was warranted. He would follow, and call the sheriffs, she would go home, their plan seemed simple and safe enough.
Morgan was happy, and giggling, and it had been a while since we had a group of her friends over the house. It was fun having them over, they carved pumpkins, Morgan roasted the pumpkin seeds, and they all got dressed up. The part where Steve got into position, and followed her home went great, she did not even know he was back there until Steve showed up in the driveway right after her.
On Monday the 31st, there was another Halloween party, but this time Morgan called it an evening a little earlier, and came home under the watchful eye of her father behind her again. We all went to sleep, and she had a friend staying over on the couch.
At 2:01 am there was a loud noise, Morgan later described as a really different noise, but very loud. Her male friend took to the task and scouted out the entire neighborhood. Steve joined in and after a short cold walk outside, both of them came back in. Winter was in the air, and I wished for the snow to come soon. Then there would be footprints and I believed that might mean no more stalker – I hoped!
