That evening, while Penelope was being tormented again, Paul was waiting for Bruce to go out for the night so he could search Bruce's room for clues. It was roughly the same time that Penelope was being tormented again but Paul didn't know that. Penelope hadn't rung him so he had no idea of what was going on. He was just looking out of the window waiting for Bruce to go outside the door, but he hadn't yet. Paul began to wonder if Bruce was going to go out at all. He had just eaten a tuna sandwich and hoped to have something more filling when he had searched Bruce's room. He was suddenly surprised by a knock at the door. He went over to the door and opened it. He saw Bruce at the door. He began to wonder, as he never saw Bruce leave or enter the building. Paul reached for the spare keys before Bruce interrupted him.
"Don't worry Paul, I haven't forgotten my key this time." Bruce said. Paul laughed and closed the spare key cupboard.
"Hi Bruce, what did you want?" Paul asked.
"I was wondering if you wanted to come to the restaurant with me."
"You go out to eat?"
"All the time. I like the atmosphere in restaurants."
"Oh, right."
"So did you want to come?"
"I was actually waiting for a phone call." This was a half-lie. Paul was half-expecting Penelope to give him a ring but he wasn't sure. Besides, now that he knew that Bruce was going out, he could search his apartment. Bruce nodded understandingly although he didn't know Paul's true intentions.
"Ok. Hope Penelope's stalker is caught soon."
"So do I Bruce, so do I." With a friendly wave, Bruce left the front door. Paul looked back to the window and watched carefully as Bruce walked out of view. This was the moment that he had been waiting for. He opened up the spare key box again and pulled out the master keys. He left his room and went up to Bruce's room. When he went inside, he found that the room was incredibly tidy. The walls were exactly the same as that in Penelope's room. There were very little differences between this and Paul's normal room. There was a table, some chairs, a couch and a TV/Video combo. There was also a cabinet in the room. The cabinet was made of high quality wood and had a lock on the front. Paul decided to open the cabinet but it was locked. Paul decided not to break the cabinet open for moral reasons. He did notice some XXX magazines on top of the cabinet but didn't think much of it. He couldn't seem to find anything that could link Bruce to stalking Penelope and was about to leave the room when his nose twitched. He could smell something burning. It smelt like a mixture of plastic and paper. The smell was coming from a metal box on the table that he had overlooked. Paul had a look in the box and saw some parcel packing, some bubble wrap and some notepaper burning steadily. The writing on the parcel packaging and the notepaper had burned so much that it was very illegible. Paul could tell that whatever was being delivered by these packages was fragile and very important, but he could see nothing of that description in the room.
"What could he have received in the mail from this type of packaging?" Paul thought to himself. He also tried reading one of the notes that was in the small bonfire. Most of it was illegible but he could make out some words. The words in question were 'Video', 'Payment', 'Cheque' and '000'. Paul assumed that the '000' was part of a much larger number that he couldn't work out.
"What is this all about?" Paul thought to himself. What he had found in Bruce's room was very limited. He could not work out anything from what he had found in the room. He decided to return to his room, leaving no evidence that he had been snooping around.
As soon as Paul returned to his room, he went into the kitchen to prepare some proper dinner. He was disappointed that he wasn't able to figure out anything from snooping around in Bruce's room that would help catch Penelope's stalker. He tried to put it out of his mind and began to fry some fish. He was still curious as to why Bruce would be burning some packages and letters. There had to be a logical reason for the burning, since it was considered bad practice to create a bonfire inside. When the fish were ready, he went into the lounge with the fish on a plate and turned the telly on before sitting down to eat. In his mind, Paul began trying to piece the clues that he had discovered so far. He knew that Penelope had a builder come round about a week ago. It was possible that the builder secretly installed the cameras but it wasn't known how long that the cameras had been in Penelope's room. The only way to find that out would be to find the recordings and get Penelope to put a date on them. Whether Penelope would be willing to do this was another matter. It was also a matter of whether they actually found the tapes at all, if they existed. The search of Bruce's room didn't come up with much evidence. There was no telling what the parcels he was receiving contained or who sent them, but it was curious as to why he was burning them. It appeared that he didn't want anybody reading them. The question was why? There was also the love letter sent by Claude cat. It was so cheesy and slightly perverted. There was also the disc sent by the stalker. Whoever was behind this was obviously skilled with electricity, so it appeared that the builder was a prime suspect at the moment, unless Penelope had an electrician at the same time. Bruce didn't mention an electrician but that doesn't rule out the possibility, especially if Bruce didn't see the electrician. Paul would have to ask Penelope when he next spoke to her. The fluff on the disc was also questionable. Paul couldn't recognise the fluff, and he couldn't call the police, as it would put Sylvester's life in danger. There was also the point of Penelope being followed in the alleyway. Her stalker must know the area well and be a good stealth artist to be able to do that. Paul had finished his food during this thought process without realising until he noticed the empty plate. Before he could wash up, there was an interruption. It was the letterbox. A single letter had been posted. It was addressed to Paul rather than Penelope. Paul picked up the letter and opened it. Inside was a single piece of notepaper, but the message inside was not favourable.
"Paul, I know that you are defending your sister. I know that you have found the cameras that I placed in the room. I am giving you a warning. I know where Penelope is now and I will be going there to get her. Don't try to stop me. Right now, I am seeing the colour red. If you warn your sister, then what will happen to her and Sylvester will be much worse than the original intention." Paul began to shiver as he read the note. Penelope was now in even more danger. He had to ignore the threat and warn her immediately. However, there was something about the note that did strike him; the word color had been spelt incorrectly. This was another thing he would have to tell Penelope, as it was obviously a clue. He reached for the phone but was stopped by a sudden fear. The fear was about Penelope's own safety. If he warned her, she would be in even greater danger. He didn't know what to do. He eventually decided to wait for Penelope to ring before telling her what he had learned. In the mean time, he went into the kitchen to wash up. While he was doing this, he heard a noise from the living room. It sounded like the window was being opened. He looked over his shoulder quickly but couldn't see anything. He ignored it and continued with the washing up, until he heard another noise. This also sounded like the window. He was now curious. He went into the living room but couldn't see anything. He went to the window and was able to catch a glimpse of a black car leaving the scene. It moved so fast that he couldn't recognise it. He didn't think much of it though, until he noticed that the two discs and the letter he had just received had disappeared. Some intruder had stolen them. Paul had to tell Penelope of this development. He dared not call the police just in case it was Penelope's stalker that had taken the items. He was curious as to why the stalker would steal his own threat letter though. He began wondering who did sneak into his room and take the items.
While this was going on, Penelope was getting over the shock of what had just happened to her at Sylvester's house. She wanted to know who cut the power cable to the house and why they would do it. It was lucky that they had been able to fire up the back-up generator and get power back. She was sitting on the sofa trying to figure things out in her head as well. She had absolutely no idea of who her tormentor was, though she had begun to suspect the builder she had in. She also had an electrician at the same time to do some electric work as well. It was possible that the electrician had installed the cameras in her room but the question was whether the electrician had been paid by a third party or whether he did it for himself. When her stalker was found, she would have to ask. She had her mobile phone next to her. She decided to give Paul a ring. She had to tell him about what had happened. When she dialled Paul's mobile phone, her heart began racing. She didn't know how Paul would react to the fact that she was still having trouble from her stalker. She didn't want him to worry anymore than he was but if her stalker was going to be captured, she had to tell her. She wasn't listening properly while she was thinking so was caught off-guard when Paul answered the phone.
"Hello Penelope?" Penelope nearly jumped out of her skin but almost immediately realised that it was Paul.
"Paul, how are you?"
"I'm fine, what about you?"
"I'm still having trouble."
"What do you mean?"
"Earlier, Sylvester went to drop his son off to see a friend. While he was gone, I think I had trouble from my stalker."
"Again? What happened?"
"He cut the power cable and I think he tried to gain entry. I don't know why he didn't get in."
"Be thankful that he didn't."
"Agreed."
"We've had a few developments up this end."
"In what way?"
"I went snooping around Bruce's room on a hunch and found that he was burning some parcel paper and some notes."
"He was burning them?"
"Yes. I made out some of it. I made out the words 'Video', 'Payment', 'Cheque' and '000'. I've no idea of what it means though."
"He shouldn't be burning anything at all."
"But there are a couple more things. Firstly, a couple of clues were stolen while I was washing up."
"Stolen?"
"While I was washing up, somebody crept into the room and stole the two CD's and a letter that I'd received."
"Did you see who it was?"
"I went to the window and saw a black vehicle move away at high speed."
"I think I know who the intruder was. Don't worry about it. But what about the letter?"
"It was a threat letter addressed to me warning me to stay out of the stalker's way. But there was something unusual about the letter though."
"What do you mean?"
"The word color was spelt incorrectly."
"Was it?"
"Whoever wrote the letter used the English spelling of c, o, l, o, u, r. Someone from America wouldn't make that mistake."
"So whoever my stalker is doesn't come from America." Paul then suddenly hit upon the solution. He suddenly remembered a certain clue a while back and was suddenly able to piece everything together.
"Penelope, I've just figured everything out. Come over here now and I'll explain."
A/N: Sorry for the delay, I had writer's block. Anyway, the next chapter I will reveal the identity of the stalker. If you want to have your final guess, do so now.