Part One: The Quandary Qualified

Detective Scott Lansing filled his first cup of coffee of the day and sat in the creaky chair behind his desk. He sipped the hot bitter brew eyeing the stack of reports all in that special red folder. A detective for the past 11 of his 28 years on the force, he has worked just about all the cases a large metropolitan police department normally took in.

His latest assignment, head of Q-Squad, was known by the rest of the department as the "quack squad" with Lansing being the "quack" investigator. This was supposed to be the career wind down to coast into retirement but it was the most frustrating of all.

His squad of two uniformed cops, misfits who for one reason or another walked the fine line between suspension and termination, were responsible for complaints that bordered between the bizarre or had no evidence of a crime but needed some resolution. The majority of these were easy, a man calls about aliens listening to his phone conversations, and 8 out of 10 times Lansing determined the individual needs mental health counseling – case solved.

Then there is the red folder. Lansing feared this was one case but not one complaint; Lansing had pieced together almost 14 complaints that all sounded similar but impossible. The red folder contained 14 reported cases of suspected rape by some ghost or phantom.

Suspected because none of the women in the complaint could say for sure they were raped. They were not drugged or kidnapped, they were in public and surrounded by people, yet ... they all suspected they were raped. None of them could offer a reasonable explanation. Neither could Lansing.

Certainly one or two could be dismissed. However, now he had 14 women all with a similar story.

Cindy Macafoy age 22, she is attending the University and was on her way to cheerleading practice when she stopped at Java Express at mid-day. She was waiting in line, when in a split second she went from feeling cheerful from feeling like she was abused. Feeling disjointed she stumbled out of line and took a nearby seat. Her vagina felt throbbing and wet, she then noticed her pantyhose had some stretch and tears that weren't there before. She immediately called 911 and the sex crimes unit then forwarded the case to Q-squad.

Lansing had 14 cases all with similar stories, waitresses, store clerks, students, all in public places. The women all met the same profile, ages between 18 and 30, all slim and good looking. He had little evidence to go on. Nine of the 14 women agreed to a rape kit and were examined by a doctor. They had all had sex, but there was nothing to suggest it was not consensual, and no DNA, the rapist ... if there was one, probably used a condom. Some of the women reported their clothing was somehow reversed or not buttoned correctly.

Some of the other officers offered their opinion that it is some new stunt and that these women for some unknown reason (a gag or political statement), are conspiring together to conjure up this phantom rapist.

Lansing couldn't believe that all 14 women could come up with a logical reason to pull off such a stunt. In his interviews, he found them all too sincere and all too convincing. In fact, Lansing suspected that there were probably twice or even three times as many victims that did not file a police complaint. Maybe they couldn't believe it themselves.

Lansing worked out some possible theories which he posted on his wall:

1. The perp is able to conduct some sort of mass hypnosis on a group and raped the woman in front of everyone.

2. The perp drugged the woman, walked to a secluded spot, raped her and walked her back to where she was.

3. The perp is able to freeze everyone without them being conscious and then unfreeze them after he has done his deed.

4. The women have conspired together for some motive, perhaps as a political message about rape to back some new legislation.

All of these seemed implausible, yet once everything else is eliminated, whatever is left must be true.

Today Lansing was going to interview a rape suspect who was arrested a couple of days ago. This was normal procedure even though he didn't think this was going to solve anything. He walked into the interrogation cell where Kim Jang was handcuffed to the table. Lansing sat across from him reading from the police report.

"So Mr. Jang, you raped the daughter of the woman in the next apartment ... very neighborly of you." Lansing didn't look up from the report.

"She wanted it, she was always flirting and teasing me ... she wanted me too." Jang blurted out.

"I also understand you have quite the pornography collection in your home, about a 100 adult DVD's I see, guess you don't like regular TV much eh?"

"Yes, me like." Jang gave a perverted smile and a wink.

Lansing questioned Jang if he associated with other rapists, if he had raped anyone else but it was a dead end. Lansing asked him about his fantasies, and then he learned something new.

Jang went on to describe several Japanese porn DVDs he owned where the man had a magical stop watch. The person would walk into a public place and press the stop watch, stopping time and being able to do whatever he wanted. In the storyline of the porno's he had sex with several of the women while time was stopped. Jang had fantasied about obtaining a stop watch like that for him to use.

Lansing went to the property room, checked out some of Jang's DVDs and watched them. It was exactly as Jang described. Could such a device actually exist? It would explain every one of these cases. Stopping time, is it possible? Lansing decided to head to the University and find an expert that could answer that question.

Part Two: The Quantum Quagmire

Peter Nahin was walking around the mall sipping his Java Express coffee, he needed to be back at campus for a meeting, but he walked slowly with all the time in the world, just checking out any females he thought attractive.

He paused in front of Victoria Secret and looked at the ad pictures of the models in their bra and panties. "If only one of them were here right now" he thought.

His bar of what he deemed attractive has certainly increased over the past six months. He had lost count of how many women he had, at first it was three or four a day, but he paced himself to at least one a day. In fact, there were a handful of days; he didn't have sex at all. Now he no longer needed to settle for a woman who was just a few pounds overweight or breasts that were too small or too tall or tall short. He could have any female he wanted.

Like that one!

She was beautiful, sexy Latina and walking with an older man, father or perhaps a gold digger. Peter didn't care; he was going to have her here and now.

He reached his hand in his pocket, found the cube and pressed the button.

Peter was now accustomed to the familiar eerie effects of having the world stand still. He went to her purse and pulled out her driver license, her name was Silvia DeCassis, just two days from her 23rd birthday. According to the man's wallet, this was Umberto DeCassis, obviously her father.

Peter was highly intelligent and methodical in his lab work and in his sexual escapades. He took out a pencil and lightly traced her foot prints, picked her up by the waist and moved her a few paces to an open area near the malls benches. He examined her arms positions and her clothing. It took a few times to develop and hone his technique so that when he released the quantum field the woman was back in her original clothes and position. He also always used a rubber so as not to leave any evidence behind.

Once Silvia was naked he fondled her firm breasts, a full 36DD the tag on the bra indicated. He moved his hands up and down her smooth skin and licked her nipples. Everything he did was for his own pleasure, for the woman, everything done to her would feel like only a second had passed. His licking, his kissing, his fucking, would feel like a quick gust of drafty cold air. Woman would feel a pressure left behind in their vagina, but people go all day with little aches and pains that come and go as quick.

Silvia had a sensational round ass, and Peter knew from the first look he wanted to fuck her "doggie style." He bent her from the waist and moved her arms to support her upper torso on top of the lap of an older man who was sitting on the nearby bench. He then slightly moved her legs apart and started licking her pussy. He wanted to make sure his saliva was lubricating her enough and he was now at full erection. He also removed his clothes. Sometimes he would sweat too much, so he always carried a towel in his backpack.