A LITTLE LATER, after the younger kids had gone to bed, I sat at the dining room table with Mary Catherine,
Juliana, and my oldest son, Brian. Brian still wore his uniform shirt from All City Air-Conditioning and Heating.
He’d gotten home after me, as he usually did these days. It was a rare moment the four of us could share without the
inquisitive ears of younger siblings.
They were all interested in the bombing, which had been on the news constantly since this morning. I answered
what questions I could, but it made me realize how little I still knew about the case.
Mary Catherine said, “So do you think it’s related to that car bombing in Queens over the summer?”
“Possibly. There are similarities, but one big difference is that I’m told the bomb used on Sergeant Vega’s car was
very crude. The bomb used at the Office of Technology and Innovation was quite sophisticated, despite the glitter.
An unnamed group claimed responsibility for the bomb that killed Sergeant Vega, but no one’s come forward on
this one yet. If we knew, that might give us a little more to go on. We can’t even count on the fact that it’s really an
organized group. The earlier message could’ve been a hoax and nothing but a waste of our time.”
Mary Catherine asked, “Why the glitter?”
“Maybe they were showing off,” Juliana suggested. “Trying to show that they’re not afraid of anything.”
I looked at Juliana and said, “I can see those psychology classes at City College are really paying off.”
“Why the different bomb designs?” Mary Catherine continued. “If it is the same people, could they have gotten
better at bomb making?”
“Sure they could.” This time it was Brian who had chimed in. “Just go on You Tube. There are a whole bunch of
videos about how to make bombs.
They get tons of views too. I see all kinds of videos of people blowing up cars and old refrigerators and even things
like storage sheds. I’ve heard that you can find plans online for making a nuclear weapon if you know where to
look.”
“That’s a pretty sharp take, Brian,” I said. We had seen ups and downs as a family. Especially Brian. He’d made
some poor decisions in the past and paid the price with a stint in prison. But it looked like he’d straightened out his
life, and I wasn’t worried about him like I used to be. “I was thinking about You Tube already. Even in training they
use videos from You Tube to make a point. That’s something we’ll take a little more seriously.”
I was impressed by both of my very intelligent children. “It sounds like I could put you both on the payroll at the
PD.”
Their smiles told me that they weren’t too old to get praise from their dad. No one ever is.