””Disaster is a natural part of my evolution,” Tyler whispered, ”towards tragedy and dissolution.”

   I told the detective that it was the refrigerator that blew up my condo.

   ”I’m breaking my attachment to physical power and possessions,” Tyler whispered, ”because only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit.”

   The dynamite, the detective said, there were impurities, a residue of ammonium oxalate and potassium perchloride that might mean the bomb was homemade, and the dead bolt on the front door was shattered.

   I said I was in Washington, D.C., that night.

   The detective on the phone explained how someone had sprayed a canister of Freon into the dead-bolt lock and then tapped the lock with a cold chisel to shatter the cylinder. This is the way criminals are stealing bicycles.

   ”The liberator who destroys my property,” Tyler said, ”is fighting to save my spirit. The teacher who clears all possessions from my path will set me free.”

   The detective said whoever set the homemade dynamite could’ve turned on the gas and blown out the pilot lights on the stove days before the explosion took place. The gas was just the trigger. It would take days for the gas to fill the condo before it reached the compressor at the base of the refrigerator and the compressor’s electric motor set off the explosion.

   ”Tell him,” Tyler whispered. ”Yes, you did it. You blew it all up. That’s what he wants to hear.”

   I tell the detective, no, I did not leave the gas on and then leave town. I loved my life. I loved that condo. I loved every stick of furniture. That was my whole life. Everything, the lamps, the chairs, the rugs were me. The dishes in the cabinets were me. The plants were me. The television was me. It was me that blew up. Couldn’t he see that?

   The detective said not to leave town.”