Chapter 2
College was a total shock. First, I was away from my home for the first time in my life. Second, I was immersed in a campus culture that was ever evolving. It took me a few weeks to get used to college life. I was on my own, and was supposedly responsible for myself and my own actions. But there were lots of little rules and regulations involved with going to college, and living in dorms.
It was during a heavy snowstorm around December, that I heard a couple students discussing 'possibility versus probability'. It was fascinating. I couldn't help myself. I went over and asked if I could listen and join in. They said sure, the more the merrier.
That was how I met Levy Goldman and John Gilchrist. Both were heavily into the sciences, and both were immediately on a 'convert the new guy' roll... me being 'the new guy'.
I knew from the first time in high school when I ran across computers, that this is what I wanted to major in when I got to college. While John and Levy didn't downplay the importance of computers, they were 'gee whiz' kind of smart.
I was drawn to these two, and soon we were friends. I would sit and listen to them postulating ideas, from the serious to the ridiculous. I even tossed in a few things, from time to time, to let them know I was alive. When they got into these discussions, they tended to forget things around them.
It was in early February when I tossed out my own improbable idea to these two science students. What if someone had the ability to, say, look at an area and 'see' what had gone on there; anywhere from hours to days, weeks, months, or even years ago.
Levy asked me what I meant by 'see'.
So I told him what I meant, outlining my abilities, just not saying I could do it. That started the two on the possibilities of such an ability. They quickly covered what I already knew, and started in on things I had never even considered! I loved it!
John was all for using such an ability in crime fighting, discovering secrets of the past, and looking for missing persons (particularly children). Levy was more interested in the mechanism of 'how'.
"How could such a gift work?" he pondered.
I sat back and soaked up all the good ideas. I desperately promised myself to write some of this stuff down. For three days we talked of nothing but my ability, with them not knowing it was a real situation for me.
As was usual with these two, on day four something else came along. The topic was switched again. I mentally sighed at this. There was no way I could nudge them back onto my abilities unless I came up with a good reason. There was no reason I could think of except the obvious one, which was that I could do it.
Was I ready to let this out? I had decided long ago to keep this ability of mine secret. I was still nervous about what could happen if it became common knowledge that I could do something like this.
John had had a good idea with his 'finding' missing persons idea. I just needed to figure out how to give the proper authorities the information they needed, without becoming suspect number one, or involve my parents.
First, I looked into unsolved crimes of the past. I needed something that I could point the authorities at, from a 'safe distance'. I needed to be able to supply a prime suspect for them. I had seen enough science fiction on TV to know that 'the psychic' was always a prime suspect at first.
If I worked this right, I could create credibility without becoming a suspect at all. This meant I would have to find some older crimes, which ruled me out automatically as a suspect. I then had to keep suspicion from falling on my family. Police, being what they are; would immediately jump to the conclusion that I must have heard something from my parents, or someone close to me, who had admitted to the crime.
So I decided on a slow introduction. I became busy with following three cases from the past. The first was a college student who disappeared a little over twenty years ago. Angela Wheeler had been a junior who went missing in '75. There was an investigation that went nowhere, and the case remained open as a missing persons case.
It was actually a murder. I watched the entire thing, and was disgusted. The police had even questioned the killer. The killer had an alibi, and the police didn't know she was dead, so the police were stymied. As was normal with cases with no body, it went to a back burner. The police went on to other crimes.
I wrote, in exact detail, what had happened. I described the murder in detail, even to where the body was buried. To top it off, I named the killer, and said that there was DNA evidence on the body, as she had struggled. There were hairs, and other evidence, buried with her.
I also sent a copy to the local paper, just to nudge the police if they needed it. They didn't. I had been sure to include information the police knew, but which had not been made public. I quoted two of the officers who were investigating the disappearance of her, word for word, on something they had said. The quote was overheard by enough fellow officers still working on the force, to make it seem that it might be a fellow officer giving out this information.
I signed it: 'The Psychic'. What the hell? Who would believe the truth at this point in time? Also, who said my talent was not derived from the psychic?
Two days later there was a big article in the paper as the police, acting on an anonymous tip, discovered the body of missing college student Angela Wheeler. A week after that, armed with results from DNA and other items found at the gravesite, an arrest had been made. When confronted with that evidence, and a portion of the anonymous letter that described in detail what he had done, the man confessed. Hell, he thought he had been seen and now someone had finally come forward about the murder. In a way, he was right.
I had already solved the next case. It was a missing child. This one was not a murder. It was a kidnapping of recent vintage. I followed all the players, and soon had everything I needed. I typed it up, and signed it 'The Psychic'. I sent it, sat back, and let the police work. The same day the police announced a break in the Milton kidnapping case, the child was returned to his mother. Two suspects were placed into custody, one being the father.
I settled down and got heavily into my studies. Spring break was approaching, and I wanted nothing to interfere with my visit home. I did have one other solution for the police, though. It was also an older case. I dropped it off in a mailbox, just before I caught my ride home. One of the guys was headed my way, and would take me to just fifty miles short of home. I would take the bus the rest of the way.
That last hundred feet up the drive to my house, seemed to last forever. I had been back for Christmas break, but still, it had seemed I had been gone forever. Mom met me at the door, hugging me tightly. I smiled, but that smile faded as I saw the look on her face.
"What's wrong, Mom?" I asked, suddenly concerned.
"Your father took a turn for the worse, last night. He is in the hospital, and is not expected to survive the night. I am so glad you got back when you did. You can say goodbye to him," she said, with a catch in her throat.
And so it was. We buried Dad in the spring of '95. He died a day after I got home. I told Mom I was going to take time off from school to stay with her, but she would not hear of it. I finished out my break, and tried to stay with her. Despite my protests, she drove me to the airport. I caught a commuter plane back to the airport closest to my college.
It was hard concentrating on studies and school, at first. Levy and John were a big help. I still did not have a girlfriend, being so busy with my studies, and my new occupation of crime buster. I still wanted to find out how I did what I did.
Maybe it was my dad's death that was the catalyst. I got John and Levy together, and told them of my abilities. They just stared at me. It took some time, but I convinced them. Then I explained what I wanted, and why I had told them. I had also sworn them to secrecy.
Once I had proved my abilities to both their satisfaction, they became excited! I listened and their excitement got me excited, too! Levy was already cataloging tests he wanted to run on me, and John was asking questions about how far into the past I could see.
It was three weeks later, and I was being confronted by John about helping victims... again! I was frustrated.
"Ok, John. Suppose I do it your way. I solve this or that missing person case. There is always another one. How do I prioritize which case is more important? When do I get time for myself? According to the schedule you have here, I go from case to case to case. No time for myself, nor even my studies. Did you plan on letting me finish school? Am I not allowed to get an education, just because I can do something no one else can?" I asked angrily.
John had the grace to look embarrassed.
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. But surely we can work something out! You have a gift, a strong gift that can help law enforcement, and victims. You can help solve cases and problems," John said excitedly.
"John. You're totally forgetting something. It is HIS gift. Not yours, not mine. He asked our help to find out how he does this, and how best to utilize it," Levy said in his reasonable tone.
While he nodded agreement, I could tell John was frustrated with the answer both Levy and I gave him. John was very pro-active in several things. He was a believer in the rights of individuals, an advocate for victim's rights. He believed it was everyone's duty to help law enforcement, in any possible way, when it involved children. This went up to and including giving up personal rights, in order to facilitate help for children.
In other words, he was your basic brainwashed liberal. Still, he was a very smart person in all other respects, and I liked and respected him. His view was abhorrent to me, though. It was an erosion of personal rights, and he did not see that. All he saw was children needing to be protected.
Levy filled me in a little on John's past. Apparently he had been abused by someone when he was a child, and it still angered him greatly. I understood where John was coming from, but I did not want to see my rights shot away in favor of other people's rights. The national news was already full of groups that were trying to get laws passed for extra protection for specific groups. They were calling them 'hate crime' laws.
Edited by TeNderLoin