FicWad

Chapter 7: Know thy shadow



When the police lab issues the results of the evidence collected at Pete's residence, it turns out that there are only his and Moe's fingerprints on the notepad. A third fingerprint that showed up in various places of Peter's bedroom turns out to belong to his cleaning lady. On the trash can her fingerprints were found again, as well as Pete's.

"It seems that the intertruder was wearing gloves when she entered your house and moved around in it," Pete is told on the phone. "I'm afraid but we don't have any tangible evidence that allows us to follow any leads... But let me assure you that we're doing everything humanly possible in order to throw light on the identity of the culprit, Mr. Wentz."

In addition to his throbbing headache he also feels his heart sinking down to his knees.

"Mr. Wentz?" the officer tries to assure himself of Pete's presence.

"She's contacted my mother," the bassist finally says.

"When was that? How did she contact your mother?"

Peter explains that just 10 minutes ago his mother called, telling him that a girl with a husky voice who referred to herself as Phebe had just phoned her. First she was talking about what a special person Pete was and then she wanted to 'warn' his mother about his Moranne because she supposedly exerts bad influence on her son.

The man hasn't told Mrs. Wentz about the voice messages on his sidekick or the intrusion of his home. I can't have her worry about this, she already worries too much about me.

"We're sending somebody right over to her place, Mr. Wentz. One of our men has to talk to her and record all the information she can give us right away."

Pete tells him the address.

"Also, would you mind coming over to the station, Mr. Wentz? As soon as possible. In the light of this repeated obvious invasion of your privacy it seems sensible that you talk to an expert," the police officer says.





Half an hour later Pete is at the police station. The senior officer that came to see him at his house introduces the man to a tall slim female in a police uniform, who looks a few years older than the bassist.

"Officer Kirsh is one of our top detectives. She's familiarized herself with the circumstances of your case and is assigned to your personal protection, Mr. Wentz."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Wentz," Kirsh says cooly and extends her hand.

Still baffled, Pete shakes her hand which feels exceptionally cold.

"Assigned to my personal protection? Are you giving me a babysitter?" he asks confused and slightly irritated.

"Mr. Wentz, in a case such as this, when the stalker has already broken into your home and has become a serious threat to your personal safety - and that of your family -, not having a competent detective protecting you equals putting yourself into jeopardy."

Pete is obviously not impressed by the male officer's reply.

"I suppose you don't wish to put yourself into jeopardy," the man points out. The dismissive attitude of his counterpart annoys him.

"No," Peter answers flatly.

The senior detective exchanges a glance with Kirsh, who interprets it correctly.

"Let's go, Mr. Wentz. We're expected and we shouldn't lose any time," she walks towards the exit without making eye contact with him.

He hurries after her, demanding to know where they are heading for.

Outside she stops and tells him to follow her in his car. "We're seeing a psychologist who frequently works with our department," she explains briefly and gets into her vehicle.

"A psychologist?! But I'm alright. I'm not cracking because some teeny girl steals one of my hoodies!"

"Mr. Wentz, would you please stop trying to argue with me? I have orders and this is the standard procedure in a case such as yours. We're not seeing Dr. Morley because of your mental state but to learn something about the psyche of your stalker so we can adapt our course of action to the situation at hand as best as possible."

Stalker, stalker. All Pete hears these days is 'your stalker'. Why are people blowing this out proportion? This kid is most definitely harmless. What is she gonna do?

Kirsh hasn't waited for Pete's reply but has started the car and is now driving past him.

"Fuck you..." he grumbles and gets into his car.

After a short drive they arrive in front of a five-story building. Kirsh rings the bell next to a name plate that reads /Dr. Thomas Morley, psychologist/.

"Officer Krish and Mr. Wentz," she speaks into the intercom that emits faint static noise.

Immediately the door buzzes and Kirsh pushes it open. Pete follows her.

A moment later they enter the psychologist's waiting room. The receptionist greets them and tells them they can enter the doctor's office right away.

"Thank you," Kirsh replies and knocks at the black door.

Upon hearing "Enter" she makes a step aside and indicates for Pete to go first.

The man has decided to just do what he's told for now, even if he's not happy with the situation.

Behind a desk a middle-aged man rises from his chair and extends his hand.

"My name's Thomas Morley. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Wentz." He points at a wooden chair opposite of him, "Please have a seat.

"Hi," Pete shakes his hand and then sits down.

"The name's Kirsh. I've been assigned to protect Mr. Wentz," the officer introduces herself and retires to a corner of the room, near the door.

"Yes, it would make sense that you also hear what I have to tell Mr. Wentz," Dr. Morley nods and smiles at her.

Pete is annoyed. People are wasting his time. He's not even supposed to be here, he's supposed to be on his way to an interview with Andy.

"Can we get this over with? I don't have a lot of time," he spits out impatiently.

"I understand that you're a very busy man, Mr. Wentz," Dr. Morley replies calmly. "But this is important. It's difficult to make an acurate judgment as to how serious this situation really is for now, but please believe me, it's essential that you don't underestimate the danger a neurotic stalker can pose to your personal safety."

"I am here, aren't I?"

Kirsh sighs softly in the back of the room. I'll get back at Maxwell and the rest of them. I return from my maternity leave and the first case I get is babysitting a whiny narcississtic rockstar kid.

"Yes, of course. So let's start, shall we," Dr. Morley folds his hands on the desk. This Peter Wentz is a little impatient, nothing that he couldn't deal with. The boy will be grateful he heard something about the psyche of stalkers in the end.

Pete doesn't reply, just stares blankly at the wall behind the psychologist.

"First of all, you have to know that stalker isn't stalker. There's several different types," the man begins his explanations. "I'll start with what we call 'intimacy seekers' because this seems what your case is all about."

He pauses to give Pete the chance to acknowledge what he's just said.

"Sure," the bassist replies after a while. He's going to miss the interview.

"The intimacy seeker wants to establish an intimate relationship with her victim - I very much assume that your stalker is a female. From what you've told the police..."

"Yeah, it's a chick."

Dr. Morley nods and continues, "To those kinds of stalkers their victims are their soulmates; they believe that you were 'meant' for them. They may even believe that you love them back. Any sort of response, even a negative one, encourages them. They are very resistant to changing their beliefs about their victim's love for them."

Pete laughs out loud, "Are you telling me that psycho-girl thinks I am in love with her?"

"I'm afraid that could very well be," the doctor answers.

"Ha, that's just fucking hilarious."

"Intimacy seekers are usually shy and isolated people who live alone and lack any sort of intimate relationships in their lives. They may suffer from schizophrenia. If your stalker is in fact what we refer to as 'erotomaniac', she will twist and change your words to make them sound as if you do love her. She focusses all her energy on the imagined romance between the two of you, it's the most important part of her life. They often suffer from bipolar and borderline personality disorders. Also, I am afraid to say, that eurotomaniacs often target celebrities."

"Fuck..." Pete drags out as he takes in the information from the psychologist.

"Also, you want to be careful when dealing with them. They are usually not violent but if they feel rejected by their victim they can become threatening."

Pete remembers the last e-mail he's sent to Phebe. Whoops.

"Threatening in how far?" he inquires.

"Well," Dr. Morley leans back and crosses one leg over the other. "It's hard to give you a global answer on that question, Mr. Wentz. Some of them don't even display violent behavior at all. Others, however, may threaten to harm their victim if he or she refuses to start a relationship with them, or may threaten to do harm to themselves. And some may even put those threats into effect..."

Pete's pupils widen at the doctor's explanation. And Kirsh is supposed to protect him? Has she even been trained for such kind of situations?

The bassist turns around and looks at the police officer.

She notices the shock in his eyes. Look who's lost the wind in his sails now, Mr. Bigshot.

"Don't worry, Mr. Wentz," she pushes her jacket to the side and exposes her gun resting in the holster. "I aim like a sniper and I had special training in close combat. You're safe with me."

Pete grunts ambiguously and twists his upper body and head back into their former position, facing the psychologist, "What else do I need to know, doc?"

"Like I said, the intimacy seeker is just one of many types of stalkers. Is there anybody that could want to harm you? Somebody from your past?" Dr. Morley asks.

"No-one that I can think of. But I tend to piss people off, sometimes even without noticing," Pete replies a bit meekly.

"You see, I think we could also be dealing with a 'rejected stalker'. Would you happen to have an ex-girlfriend who never accepted that the relationship is over?"

"Ha... one?" Pete rolls his eyes.

In her corner Kirsh mimicks his eye movement silently. It surprises me that he hasn't been threatened before.

Dr. Morley fakes amusement at the man's remark and continues to explain, "Upon feeling pushed away, the rejected person will stalk after their partner and try to make them continue the relationship or seek revenge. Often the stalker's goal may vary, depending on the responses of the victim."

"So, what's the best way to handle a situation like this then?" Krish wants to shorten the lecture and get to the interesting part: What's the procedure?

"Since the idea is to pressure the victim to the extent that they will give in and enter another relationship with the ex or to simply frighten and distress him or her to get even, it's usually the best idea not to convey the impression that the stalker's pressure tactics are working. - This generally holds true for all the different kinds of stalkers. If they sense that their actions are fruitful it will only cause them to go on or even increase the level of harassment." The psychologist pauses and pulls up the left corner of his mouth in an attempt to grin, "To put it more mundanely: You have to be as cool as a cucumber."

Pete isn't the mood for supposedly funny comments about his situation. When he walked in here half an hour ago he was feeling confident that this little situation could be taken care of in a matter of a few hours. Find the chick and put her behind bars. You can't go around and threaten people.

But if it were that easy he wouldn't have to have Kirsh around him 24 hours a day. This fucking stalker-kid is the reason why he's got a second person on his heels, following him everywhere he goes and watching him non-stop.

"Mr. Wentz," Dr. Morley pulls Pete out of his bitter thoughts into the present again. "Is there anybody else, apart from ex-girlfriends, who might be holding a grudge against you?"

The bassist shrugs, "Not that I know of... but I'm not sure of anything anymore."

"I am asking this because there's also the type which we call the'resentful stalker'. This is a person who stalks to get revenge against somebody who has upset them. It also happens that the chosen victim isn't the actual person who has humiliated or otherwise hurt the stalker, but is only being viewed as simliar to the oppressor by the stalker. Resentful stalkers may project their anger on a substitute person because the real tormentor is out of reach due to physical distance or their death. It's a personal vendetta."

Pete just sits there, overwhelemed and helpless.

"To me the evidence of your case points towards the 'intimacy seeker'. She hasn't referred to a previous relationship with you. Of course, this could be a ruse, trying to pass herself off as somebody else to trick you into meeting her. A 'resentful stalker' may also try to deceive you into believing they are somebody else than they really are to make it more difficult to trace the threats back to them."

"What you're saying is that this stalker could be anyone? Not even necessarily a woman?" Kirsh joins in again.

Pete's still too busy processing all the information to ask further questions.

"It would be too early to exclude the idea of it being somebody from Mr. Wentz's contacts. In 8 out of 10 cases the stalker is an acquaintance of the victim, often even a very close one that nobody would suspect. I'm leaning towards the suspicion that this really is a stranger to Mr. Wentz, trying to build up a relationship based on their fixed idea that they belong together because of the way she views him in the media and through his online presence... but occasionally very calculating and adroit individuals manage to intentionally plant wrong clues to falsify the psychological profile that's being drawn up of them; so I highly suggest that you take an hour or two to go through your little black book and think about people who could have a reason to want to harm you, Mr. Wentz," the psychologist's eyes wander between the police officer and Pete's face and finally settle on the bassist.