The next day, Thomas accompanied Sean to school, as he had done ever since the stranger started calling him. Conveniently Sean's middle school was only three blocks away from Saint Mary's high school, the place where Thomas worked as a Janitor, although he wasn't going to work today; he had an appointment at the local police station.

"Dad?" Thomas faintly heard his son ask, as they approached the middle school, also named Saint Mary's.

"What is it, Sean?"

"Who is the one calling you every night?"

Thomas was torn. He didn't want to lie to his son; his only family left in the world, but neither did he want to him to be scared or worried about the caller.

"It's, uh... Can we wait and then talk about it when we get home? Thomas inclined.

"Allright" Sean responded, well knowing that their future discussion wouldn't withhold many an answer "Can I have a hug?"

Thomas was relieved at how quickly Sean let it go and quickly embraced him before setting off towards the police station.

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Sean went up the steps toward the front door of Saint Mary's middle school. The name always made him reminisce of his mother, whose name coincidentally also was Mary. She died about 2 years ago. His father didn't like to talk about it, because he suspected Mary might had been thinking about leaving him for a richer man. He wasn't aware that Sean knew, but Sean was a very smart kid. He could see the jealousy in his father's eyes when his mother talked about this new refined friend of hers. The man in the suit.

Sean got almost completely lost in thought when he heard a familiar and comforting voice from behind.

"Hey there, little guy"

It was Stacy Petrelli, his one and only friend in the entire school. It was a weird friendship at that, seeing as she was 14; 4 years older than him. She was meant to start High School last year, but decided to stay in the 8th grade of her old middle school. Not because she was lacking academically; quite the contrary, in fact. Much like Sean, Stacy was an extremely gifted student, but also socially awkward. She was scared of High School not on an academic level, but a social one.

Given that she was the only girl Sean had ever truly been able to relate to, he had developed a crush on her. A crush that he knew was not reciprocated, as she clearly saw him as a younger brother.

"What are you up to?" She asked with an enticing smile.

"I thought about going to my classroom before it's too late; albeit I love detention, per chance mine father doth not" Sean tried to use what he thought of as fancy words, in an attempt to appear funny. An attempt that proved successful, as Lucy started cackling. Sean always enjoyed that.

Both he and Lucy decided to go to class.

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Time: 8:19 AM.

The Mysterious Man was anxious.

Walking around in broad daylight was risky business, after all those phone calls he had made to Thomas Bowman. Bowman had told him last night that he had informed the police, after all.

And what he if was discovered?

He was standing on the sidewalk at the park, on the other side of the street from Saint Mary's middle school, wearing a trench coat with a matching hat. Too conspicuous? Perhaps.

He was watching Sean Bowman, the target, talk to some girl, who then went into the school with him.

Friends perhaps? Didn't look like classmates.
He took note of her appearance, in case it might be useful.

Time was running out. He couldn't keep playing this game. He had to get a hold of Sean Bowman. Soon.

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"Damn it! How long do I have to put up with this?" Police Captain Stone was angry "We're the police, for crying out loud! Not a Goddamn animal shelter!"

"I understand sir, but 22 is an awful lot of pets to go missing over two weeks and I..."

"No! I repeatedly tell everyone in this town that we fight crime; we do not, I repeat: DO NOT save kitties from tall trees! If you think you can prove there's an actual crime, do it on your own time, you hear me?"

"I... Yes sir" Officer Lux replied with a sigh and left Captain Stone's office. Lux was young and naive, but he had his heart in the right place and Stone knew that. He felt bad that he had to take such a harsh tone with the boy, but it was necessary. If there ain't no crime, don't waste ya' time, as Stone always said. Stone had a reputation of being a hard-ass around the station, which he was particularly proud of, so he was most certainly not going to jeopardize it by initiating an investigation on missing pets, when there was crimes to be handled and law-breakers to be arrested.

He was standing in his office, reminiscing about his younger days, when he was a soft boy, like Lux, when someone knocked on his door and stepped inside.

"Sir?"

It was Ms. Petrelli, his secretary. Truth be told, she wasn't much of a secretary, as she had little to no typing skills, nor had she any experience maintaining a schedule. Stone liked to pretend that the reason he hired her was pity, given that she was a single parent without High School education, but truthfully he hired her out of attraction. Stone was nearly 53 years old, but had never had wife or kids and even though Ms. Petrelli was more than 20 years younger than him, he considered her to be his last chance.

"Sir, there's a Mr. Bowman here to see you."

"Oh, very well Marjorie. Send him in."

Stone was excited about Bowman's visit. Evidently some freak had been calling and threatening his child, which finally signaled some real crime in the city. Anything would be better than searching for lost dogs named Sparky or Courage. Stupid.

"Captain Stone?" A man with messy hair and a thin beard stood before him.

"Mr. Bowman. Sit down." Captain Stone made a gesture towards a chair in front of his desk, as he as down in his own behind it. Naturally Stone had made sure that his chair would always be the taller one, so that he appeared more powerful to his visitors. Captain Stone began:

"So, Mr. Bowman. You said on the phone that a stranger has been calling you every other night to threaten your son."

"Yes. There's this... Strange man calling. He says all this weird stuff; I don't quite get what he's talking about all the time, but he says he's gonna to take my son and that... That we're both gonna die."

Mr. Bowman seemed very shook up about the whole situation. It was definitely not a prank.

"Where's your son now?" Captain Stone asked.

"Uh, he... He's in school. I told the teachers to keep an eye on him until I come to pick him up."

"Aha... Well, if there's a crazy nut-job runnin' around threatening you and your children, you might not wanna wander alone. Do you have any friends or family you could stay with for a time?"

"No. None at all."

"Don't worry about that, Mr. Bowman. I think I have a solution to that issue."

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Captain Stone let Thomas Bowman out of his office. God, he was a real man. He had muscle, looked smart and was always nice to her. Thomas Bowman, that is. Which is the exact reason Marjorie liked him.

"Hi, Thomas – so what are you doing later?" She asked him in her most well-concealed seductive tone of voice.

"Uhm, hi Miss Petrelli. I'll just be taking care of my son" Thomas replied awkwardly.

"Oh, Thomas, don't be silly. Call me Marjorie." She playfully told him, not at all aware that he had barely taken notice of her. They had only talked 5 times, including this one, in the 6 years she had lived in the town, but she felt like they made an instant connection.

During the time her daughter, Stacy, tried to avoid going to High School, Marjorie had to go to several meetings at Thomas's work place and mistook what was in fact a mere observation, for seductive flirting, when he commented on her deep blue eyes.

"Uh, okay... I will from now on then" Thomas said with a nervous smile, as he made way for the exit, but was abruptly halted by Captain Stone.

"Mr. Bowman, I forgot. Can I have your phone? Next time he calls, maybe we can track him." Stone asked Thomas.

"Uh, sure, I have it here in my jacket pock-" Thomas had a grim look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Stone asked.

Thomas looked straight at him: "someone must have taken my phone."

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Sean felt guilty. He felt bad that he used the excuse of wanting a hug, in order to steal his father's phone out of his jacket pocket. He was in the middle of class, but he couldn't wait anymore – he was determined to find out who had been calling his father.