Caspian plays P.I.

This scene takes place on earth, at the home of Steven and Roxanne Caplan. Steven meets Caspian for the first time. At this point, Rox and their children have been kidnapped,and Caspian has to introduce himself, and convince Steven to go with him to get them back. A local sheriff's deputy is there, trying to get useful information.

Steven looked through the peephole. “I don’t know this guy.”

The deputy looks through. “Oh no.” He sounded a bit put off. “Why one of them? And how did he find out?” He turned to Steven. “It’s a private investigator.” He walked away from the door.

Steven shrugged then opened the door, looking down to the man standing there. “Can I help you?”

The man looked Steven over a moment. “Yes; and I can probably help you much more. May I come in?”

Steven looked back at the deputy, who just rolled his eyes, and turned back into the living room.

Steven opened the door. “Come in.”

The man dressed in a long over coat, probably with a suit underneath, with expensive shoes. His sandy brown hair was cut short enough that he could not comb it straight if he wanted. Like most people, he stood shorter than Steven, but to Steven he looked like he worked out a bit. But something about the set of his features connected to a level of personal confidence Steven had not often encountered since leaving the service.

The man put his hands in his pockets and walked past Steven, looked briefly at Rox’s gym bag still where she had dropped it, and went into the living room. Steven locked the door, and followed. The deputy was standing by the fireplace, leaning on the mantel.

The PI looked at the room, his gaze lingering on the stones and sand, which had not yet been cleaned up. “Why did they bother with that?” Suddenly he looked up, realizing he had spoken aloud. “Excuse me a moment.”

He pulled his hands out of his pockets. At the same moment the deputy’s hand went to rest openly on his gun. Steven just moved to sit in his chair, where he could watch these two men. The deputy maintained a steady gaze of daggers at the PI.

For his part, the PI was now ignoring the deputy. Instead he concentrated on a large glass marble in his right hand, and was muttering under his breath. He moved to the sand on the floor, and still muttering, he pinched some up and sprinkled it on the marble. As he stood up, the marble began to glow like a light bulb. It floated above his palm a moment, then flashed and disappeared.

The deputy almost cleared leather at that point, while blinking to clear his eyes. Steven was also blinking hard.

The PI looked at Steven.

“Sorry about that. I’m used to people being aware of the flash. Now, in a few moments we will see what happened here this afternoon.”

The deputy was all but growling. “We already know what happened. Who are you, and who sent you?”

“Too right, introductions are in order.” He wagged his finger in emphasis, as he acknowledged the deputy’s existence. “I am an investigator working with Judge Alistair Kevan. He has had me following up on an organized crime syndicate. And it looks like they decided to target your family, Mr. Caplan.”