Chapter Three
Encrypted Journal Entry -- Barbara Gordon
August 16th
I did a facial recognition comparison between Henry Lazenby's current driver's license and the Illinois DMV's files. It turns out that Henry Alan Lazenby was actually born Stephen Douglas Clark on Chicago's West Side (THAT part of his story checks out, at least).
Henry/Stephen is thirty-nine, single, and appears to have a checkered past. He has a lengthy juvenile criminal record -- primarily convictions for arson and vandalism -- that dates back to when he was a teenager. He's been in and out of jail, youth homes, and mental hospitals ever since. While in a mental hospital, he was diagnosed as having "paranormal abilities" (specifically, he was a pyrokinetic).
I ran a check on Chicago PD's files. There was a string of "mysterious" fires (like these recent fires, there was no use of accelerants) that took place during the time period when Stephen was a teenager. There is one difference between then and now, however -- THESE fires took place between the hours of three and six p.m. (which, as luck would have it, were the hours that elapsed between a young Stephen Clark getting out of school and his parents -- his mother, a housekeeper at a hotel; his father, a longshoreman -- coming home from work).
He attended Northwestern University and graduated with an undergraduate degree in English Education (In Illinois, they apparently seal one's juvenile records from public view). After graduation, he married an accountant named Lucy Webber and got a job teaching English in a local high school. During all this time, there were no "mysterious" fires reported (I'm wondering if married life calmed him down?).
Two years ago, he and his wife divorced. According to the court documents, it was a rather nasty divorce (Mrs. Clark accused her husband of physical abuse and mental cruelty. Mercifully, the couple never had a child). During and after the divorce proceedings, these "mysterious" fires started up again; if Stephen Clark is indeed behind these fires, I'm wondering if they might be triggered by stress? Could he be relapsing into his bad habits in the same manner that a recovering alcoholic might begin drinking again under stress?
"OK, we have a possible motive behind these fires as an adult," said Helena. "What about when he was a teenager?"
"I ran a background check on his parents," said Barbara. "His father was an alcoholic and a wife-beater with priors for spouse abuse. Stephen's parents divorced when he was fourteen. The … 'mysterious' … fires began at about that time."
"What would drive him to set fires?" asked Dinah.
"Divorce appears to be the common denominator here," Barbara replied. "In both cases, he might've felt a loss of control … a sense that his world was crashing down around him." Barbara paused. "He may be deriving a feeling of power from setting these fires."
"Sooo … what now?"
"There are too many correlations present to be mere coincidence," Barbara replied. "The fires cease when he's either incarcerated or committed." Barbara paused. "I'm convinced that there's a relationship … there aren't all that many pyrokinetics running around." Barbara paused once more. "I think it's best that we keep him under surveillance."
