That's Really Creepy

Vera hadn't originally intended to tell anyone other than the detectives about her stalker. She certainly didn't want to worry Tilly.

Casey ended up involved in this entirely by chance. He happened to be passing by when the stalker left her yet another present and she managed to convince him (albeit very reluctantly) to stay and give a statement about what he saw to the police.

"I-I've never talked to the p-p-police before," he said in a petrified tone, as if to himself. "I'm g-going to look g-guilty because of my st-stupid st-st-stutter."

Vera felt bad. He was only doing this to help her out and was clearly terrified. He was a nervous wreck by nature so she should have expected something like this happening after getting him involved.

"I know you aren't guilty, Casey."

"You d-do?"

"Duh. You were way too surprised to find out I lived here and that happened after the first present from the stalker. Your face is an open book. No offense."

"N-none taken."

Casey continued fidgeting restlessly but it went down approximately two notches after she reassured him. He was still visibly freaking out when the detectives arrived so she had to be the calm one.

"I didn't open the envelope and was sure to handle it with gloves. I'm sure you guys want it for evidence," Vera said with a sigh.

"We do, thank you. I understand you have a witness?" Detective Miller asked.

"Yeah. This is my friend Casey. He lives down the hall and was about to go do his laundry when he saw my stalker leaving the envelope on the doorstep."

Both detectives turned to Casey with interest and he stiffened. "It's l-l-like she s-said. The g-guy was tall and in a b-black hoodie with the h-hood up. I d-d-didn't see his f-face because of the angle."

"And when did this happen?"

"Ab-b-bout f-forty minutes ago," Casey stammered.

"That will help us narrow down the security footage. Maybe we'll be able to see his face this time. He's very good at evading cameras…almost like he has experience," Detective Glenn said grimly.

"Casey, I'd like to give you my card so you can call me if you see anything else," Detective Miller added as she handed it over. "Anything strange around Vera's apartment and you let me know, okay?"

"O-okay. C-can I go n-now?" Casey asked a bit desperately. "I s-still need to do my l-laundry."

"Yes, you're free to leave."

He shot Vera a nervous look and a tiny attempt at a reassuring smile. "H-hang in there, V-vera. I'll c-come check on you l-later."

"Thanks, Casey."

He left and Detective Miller raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure he isn't your stalker? He seemed awfully nervous."

"He's always like that. He has social anxiety and a speech impediment but he's very sweet," Vera told her. "He was a nervous wreck around me when we first met too and he doesn't even like making phone calls. You'll see it isn't him in the security footage. I'm sure of it."

It turned out she was right. The detectives ended up showing her the footage to see if she recognized who the stalker might be but there was no recognition in the slightest. All she recognized was Casey looking curiously toward the retreating man in the hoodie while holding his laundry basket.

She felt a surge of appreciation for him. He had braved talking to two new people—authority figures, no less—trying to help her out. Then promised to come back and check on her later because he was worried about her.

He was as good as his word. A few hours later he came back with his basket of now clean laundry and looked at her with a frown. At least he didn't seem nervous anymore.

"Did they find anything?" he asked.

Vera sighed. "Not exactly. The footage didn't show his face or anything identifiable. Even the hidden cameras the police put near my doorstep haven't picked up anything because he wears a mask and sunglasses. Nothing is visible."

"That's not good."

"Yeah. It's not. I just want my life back. I was already nervous about being alone and this has made it fifty times worse."

She realized what she said a moment too late. She shouldn't be complaining. Dumping her concerns on someone she didn't know well wasn't cool. Especially since he had already helped her out today.

"I think that's understandable, all things considering," Casey pointed out. "You don't have any family nearby that you can stay with for now?"

Vera shook her head. "All I have is my aunt and she's in a nursing home. I can't exactly stay there."

"Ah. Any friends then? You really shouldn't be here since the stalker knows where you live. I don't want anything to happen to you."

She appreciated his concern for her. He was a nice guy even if he was a bit of a nervous wreck. She had avoided talking about this for so long but now that it was out it was kind of nice to not have to shoulder it entirely on her own.

"No. I don't have anywhere to go," she admitted.

"This m-may be overstepping but…can I come ch-check on you every day to m-make sure you're safe?" Casey asked as he fiddled with the ends of his bangs.

Vera was touched. "You'd really want to do that for me?"

"Y-yeah. Sorry if that's weird."

"It's not weird at all. We are friends, aren't we?"

Casey's eyebrows shot up and he seemed a mixture of stunned and baffled. "We are?"

"…yeah. Do you not think that?"

"No! I mean, not r-really. I don't exactly h-have friends…that's really p-p-pathetic to admit, isn't it?"

Vera didn't think so. She didn't have any other friends either. "I don't think so. I don't exactly have friends either. I'm too busy for that."

"Right," he said, recovering from his shock. "But with how busy you are, how am I supposed to check on you?"

"Over text? I'm usually in my workshop after the store closes unless I have a consultation or offsite work to do. If I'm away from the workshop, I can be kind of hard to track down but this guy clearly knows where I work because his first present arrived there after hours. I have no idea how he even knew I was there…"

"That's really creepy."

"I know! I keep jumping at noises and when I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I'm never like this. I hate it!" Vera exclaimed angrily.