Patterns In Life And Death

In the course of being a  P.I. over several years, you learn to identify patterns that repeat themselves over time.
Liars remain liars, cheats remain cheats, thieves remain thieves.
These patterns play out over and over again until your response, as a P.I. is almost automatic -- if you think he/she is cheating, they are.
When you think they are lying to your face and they have lied before, they probably are.
When you think your spouse/partner/significant other is verbally or physically abusive, you are probably right.
And when you  think someone is stalking you, they are.

Behavorists know often the truth lies in repeat patterns.
And the most certain predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
It's like a a pattern I first saw, many moons ago, when I first learned to scuba dive.

We were off the beach of Edmonds Washington, a public park with a jetty to the right off the ferry docks. Scuba diving classes and certifications are often conducted there for all kinds of reasons, one being the proximity to everything, including Emergency Response.... another being the Underwater Park there.

The Edmonds Underwater Park is a blast.
Looking from above it, on the ferry, all you see is buoys, lines and markers above water indicating divers or  something else is going on down below the surface. Occassionaly you see groups of divers suited, heads gathered around  an instructor or two, before they begin their descent... or  re-grouping after their ascent.

There are items below the sea surface people have put there for the pleasure of divers and fish.
There's an underwater playground with a jungle gym I love to do whirlies on.
You'll find a whole sunken boat to explore and swim through in the weightless water.
On Halloween, there's an underwater pumpkin carving contest.
It's a great place to play.

On this one day, however, I was playing underwater just a little too long, entertained by a sea otter when I strayed from my dive partner. When the sea other swam straight toward my face, then knocked the regulator out of my mouth, I didn't think it nearly as funny as he thought it was.  He was spinning in circles and my regulator, breathing appartatus,  was spinning with him.

I, careful not to swallow nor panic, instinctively applied "sea otter, seal, octopus counter-measures."

I found, then put my regulator back in my mouth and bit down hard on it.I felt the adrenalin rush kick in as I breathed more than I usually do.
I kept breathing fast and hard until it occurred to me to look at the air I had left, I was low.
I was disoriented.
I was also alone   because I couldn't see my dive buddy and  the sea otter had moved on to other fish in his sea, leaving  murkey waters in his wake to surround me.

It was mid-winter. I was in a wet suit and I began to get cold.
Peeing is always a good for a warm up in a wet suit in the cold  winter waters of the Pacific Northwest. My option in that department was gone the minute the otter got my regulator.
I shivered and got my bearings.
There was a ferry to my left.
I could hear its engines start up, I knew the boat's pull was strong enough in the waters way beyond it to suck me in like a strand of seaweed.

I chose to avoid the path which would turn me to minced meat and swam away from the ferrry.
I used my compass and pointed towards shore.  The water  dark, I wasn't sure how far out I was  and slowed my breathing so my air would hold out. I knew I'd move faster underwater and untlimately the tide, which was in my favor, would assist.
It didn't take long until I saw the familiar, comforting pattern.

The patterns were  lines in the sand... the sea's version of shape shift-shifting footprints.
They look like layers of the same color sentiment in wave-shaped patterns.
Know how to read them and they will  lead you to shore.
Hopefully, friendly shores.

To be a successfull P.I., life is much the same way.
Every person and situation on this planet is unique...
created by a  complex, set of biological components and psychological factors...
shaped into patterns by parents during infancy, thru childhood and beyond.
Some kids have it good.
Some have it very bad.
Inbetween are varying shades of grey.

There is no one pattern to anything when it comes to human behavior.
No one can truly predict what some people will do when they snap.
When they decide indeed they have had enough, they will snap.
They either implode or explode.

The story I am linking you to hit home.
Though she's not my daughter, my sister, my friend, I am familiar with this case.
She, her family did resist him every step of the way.
Still, there was nothing anyone could do to  to stop him.
Because sadly, Dexter is just fiction.

And  while maybe it's only under water where you can find those lines that lead you to shore when you're lost, they don't always lead you to a safe home.

The  following link from the Seattle Times tells you today's story far better than I ever could.
Lesson learned?
Never, ever,  under-estimate the power of a stalker.

Follow this link from the Seattle Times On-Line:

"Infatuated Man Shoots Teacher"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011204661_teachershot27m.html