Art of Deception

by Brenda Donelan

  Bridget didn’t pull the curtains or show any sign that she was in the room, although Marlee could see a dim light. It was probably a desk lamp or a small reading light. Marlee knocked again, this time with a little more force. Again, nothing. She looked at her watch and saw it was only 11:00 p.m. Bridget was a night owl, and since she was restricted from going to campus in the morning, she was most likely in the living room watching movies. Kathleen was an early bird, preferring the adage of “early to bed early to rise,” so it was likely she was already asleep.

  Marlee crept to one of the windows outside the living room and peeked in. The blinds were closed, but if she held her head at just the right angle, she could see Bridget on the enormous overstuffed couch. She couldn’t see Kathleen, but didn’t want to chance it at this point. She crept to the other window on another side of the house and peered in. From that view she could not see Bridget, but she was able to observe that all of the other chairs were empty. Kathleen had gone to bed.

  Slinking back to the window that she thought would be closest to Bridget yet furthest from Kathleen’s bedroom, Marlee gave a gentle knock. The sound from the television stopped as Bridget muted her program. Marlee knocked again and Bridget peeped through the blinds. Marlee motioned Bridget toward the front door and the blinds closed.

  Hurrying toward the door, Marlee tripped on an exposed tree root in the front yard and fell down, knocking the wind out of her. It took a minute for her to regain her breath and get back on her feet. By that time Bridget had the front door open. “Marlee, what are you doing?” she yelled.

  “Shhh. Don’t wake up Kathleen!” Marlee hissed as she hobbled toward the door, her left knee still throbbing from the fall. She hurried through the door and grabbed Bridget, dragging her cousin to her bedroom.

  “I need to talk to you. Go back out to the living room and turn the sound back on. If Kathleen wakes up, she’ll think you went to the bathroom during your movie or forgot to turn if off when you went to bed.” Bridget obliged, and when she came back she closed the door with a quiet click.

  As she entered the room, Bridget whispered, “You can’t keep coming over here. You’re putting us all at risk. You, me, Kathleen, we’ll all be in trouble if anyone sees you and it gets back to the judge.”

  “I know the dangers. I’m trying to help you, not get you into further trouble,” Marlee said, exasperated with her cousin and the lack of understanding as to how much work she had already put in to helping her. “I’m not leaving until you talk to me.” Marlee sat down on the bed in the semi-lit room and motioned for Bridget to join her.

  “Fine. Hurry up,” Bridget said, even more anxious than usual.

  “I know Conrad Thayer was here less than an hour ago. He told me everything. I just want to hear your version of it. What happened?” Marlee was an experienced bluffer and had no qualms about letting Bridget think she knew more than she really did.

  “We just talked about the urn, and he said he’d met you and Vince. Say, are you and Vince back together now? He’s such a great guy and he lives here in town.” Bridget yammered on in Vince’s defense. Marlee was not sure if this was how Bridget really felt about Vince, or if she was just trying to get her cousin off the subject of her earlier meeting with Thayer.

  “Don’t worry about my love life. We can discuss that when you’re out of legal trouble. Why did you slam the door in Thayer’s face? I saw it, so don’t try denying it.” Marlee, although she could not see Bridget very well in the dim light, gave her cousin a stern look.

  “We had a difference of opinion. I guess you could call it that,” Bridget said.

  “Look, I’m busting my ass trying to help you, so stop with the veiled comments and brief explanations. I want to know everything, and I want to know it right now!” Marlee punctuated her proclamation with a hard punch to the bed where they sat.

  “I can’t tell you everything. I wish I could. Just know that this is for the best.” Bridget said as she hung her head.

  “I’m not giving up, Bridget, so you might as well come clean. I know about your house foreclosure in Minnesota and the letter instructing you to steal the urn. Tell me what’s going on!” Marlee was more insistent than ever.

  “How do you know about the problems with the house?” Bridget asked.

  “Your time for asking questions has come to an end. I was in your apartment the other night and I saw your mail and brought it home with me, along with a bunch of your files and a jump drive. Now tell me what’s going on,” Marlee pleaded.

  Bridget sat on the bed with her head in her hands. “I can’t tell you what’s going on because I don’t even know for sure.”

  Marlee reached over and rubbed her cousin’s back. “Tell me what you do know. That’s where you need to start.”

  Taking a deep breath, Bridget launched in to her telling of the events leading up to the stolen urn. “I’m going up for tenure next year, and this visiting professor position and The Showcase will be so beneficial. I’ve been working like crazy to get everything pulled together. After I made arrangements with Conrad Thayer to show his urn at The Showcase, I started getting strange emails and letters. He insisted that Marymount use Yellow Tail Security to guard the urn and even set up the terms of the contract.”

  Marlee nodded along as Bridget told her story. She could see that her cousin was having difficulty divulging what had happened. Patting Bridget on the back again, Marlee urged her cousin to continue.

  “Sean Yellow Tail seemed like a nice enough guy. He’s professional and well spoken, but I would have preferred we use a more established agency. Mr. Thayer insisted that if Yellow Tail Security was not used, then he would withdraw the urn from The Showcase. Besides that, he threatened to put my name out into the art, film, and music circles that I was an amateur and not to be trusted.” Bridget looked at Marlee with wild eyes. “I can’t have that. As an academic my reputation is everything!”

  Marlee nodded in agreement, knowing all too well that successful careers were torpedoed all the time by lies and unfounded rumors. Academia was by far the most back-biting field she had ever worked in. And that was saying a lot since she had worked with lawyers.

  Bridget took a deep breath and continued. “I don’t know why it was so important to Mr. Thayer that Yellow Tail Security be involved. If he had just said that he wanted to support Sean and his new business that would have been enough for me to sign off on his hiring. For some reason, Mr. Thayer likes to play hardball even when he doesn’t need to.”

  A sharp knock at the door halted the conversation. “Yes?” Bridget called out as Marlee took refuge on the other side of the bed.

  Kathleen opened the door a crack and peered in. “Are you okay? I heard voices.” She was clad in her quilted robe and Kermit the Frog slippers.

  “I’m fine. I was just saying my prayers,” Bridget said, knowing instantly that Kathleen would never go for this explanation.

  “Yeah, right,” Kathleen said. “What’s really going on?”

  Bridget didn’t answer but Marlee knew Kathleen would figure out what was going on sooner or later. Marlee chose sooner as she rose from the other side of the bed.

  “Marlee, you can’t be here!” Kathleen yelled. “You know it’s against the judge’s orders, and you could get us all thrown in jail just by being here.”

  “Kathleen, I didn’t want you to know I was here. I tried to keep it quiet, and I am sorry to involve you in all of this, but Bridget was just explaining to me what’s really going on with her case. Please just sit and listen. If you want to call the cops on me after you hear Bridget’s story, then I won’t fight it. I’ll wait until the police arrive to take me away. Just listen first. That’s all I ask.” Marlee pleaded with Kathleen’s sense of fair play, and it paid off.

  Looking back and forth between Bridget and Marlee, Kathleen exclaimed, “Okay! I’ll listen but I can’t promise anything. You guys are two of my best friends, but I’m not going to jail for anybody.”

  Bridge
t and Marlee both nodded. “I understand, Kathleen,” Marlee said as she looked toward Bridget, urging her to continue her story.

  After five minutes, Bridget had caught Kathleen up on the story. She now knew as much as Marlee had before Kathleen barged into the room.

  “Wow, this is just crazy. I can’t believe this is happening,” Kathleen said, her mouth agape. With those two short statements, Marlee knew Kathleen was now on their side and wouldn’t be contacting the authorities to report Marlee’s visit.

  Now that everyone was on the same page, Bridget continued the rest of her story. “So I hired Sean’s team to handle security for the urn. All of the other pieces in the collection, whether they were art, music, or film, had security with them. It was provided by the museums or the private collectors. I didn’t have any problems with Sean or his employees. Everything seemed fine. Then I got an email.”

  Kathleen and Marlee both nodded for Bridget to continue. After taking a breath, she went on with her story. “I start getting these messages from several art collectors and dealers wanting to talk with me about The Showcase. I responded to most of them, thinking it would be good promotion for what I was doing and possibly a contact for a future event. One person who only identified himself as BullDog44, suggested that we go into a partnership. This person suggested that I take the urn for them, and I would receive a generous payment. When I refused, the threats started.”

  “What type of threats?” Marlee asked.

  “Threats to wreck my career. Those were the first threats. When I didn’t respond, they began threatening to physically hurt me. I didn’t respond to that either,” Bridget said.

  “So what was it that finally got your attention?” Kathleen asked.

  “They threatened to hurt Marlee and my parents,” Bridget said as she gave Kathleen a sorrowful look. “I didn’t have any choice.”

  “Oh my God, Bridget! I can’t believe it!” shrieked Marlee. “You did this all for me and your parents?”

  “I had to. There was no choice. One of the ultimatums they gave me at first was that they would see that I lost my house. I didn’t pay that any mind since I’m always current with my mortgage payments. Sometimes I even pay a little more if I can afford it. Apparently this person has some kind of connection with my bank, because I started receiving notices of nonpayment. That’s ridiculous because I’ve always made my mortgage payments on time!” Bridget’s voice was now trembling as she talked.

  “So whoever this person is, they were able to mess with your bank records to show that you were not current on your mortgage payments?” Kathleen asked. Bridget nodded, a tear sliding down her cheek. She was a fiercely independent woman, and it killed her to admit she would be losing her house, even though it was not due to her own financial mismanagement.

  “You know who’s a computer whiz? Conrad Thayer. He could have pulled this off even if he didn’t know anyone at your bank. I bet he hacked in and deleted your past payments. That would show you as delinquent and put you on the bank’s watch list,” Marlee said, putting two and two together.

  “You’re right!” Bridget and Kathleen exclaimed in unison.

  “So if Thayer’s the one threatening you and making good on some of his threats, he’ll go to any lengths to make sure he stays out of trouble and that you do hard time,” Marlee said.

  Kathleen took a deep breath and asked the question she’d been dreading. “Bridget, did you take the urn and hide it at Marlee’s house?”

  Bridget was ashamed of her actions but knew that lying at this point would be worse. “I did. I took the urn and hid it. Whoever threatened me said they’d be in contact to retrieve it and then there’d be no further problems.”

  “So we pretty much know it was Thayer, right?” Marlee asked. Both Bridget and Kathleen nodded in agreement. “And I’m guessing he wanted to collect the million dollars from his insurance company and keep the urn at the same time.” Again, both nodded. “So are Sean and Yellow Tail Security involved in this or was Thayer just taking advantage of their inexperience as a way to facilitate the theft?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” Bridget said. “I never sensed that Sean was involved in anything illegal, but at this point, who knows? Anyone connected to Mr. Thayer could be up to their eyeballs in this whole mess.”

  Marlee had a thought. “Bridget, what does your assistant, Abby, know about all of this? Did you tell her anything?”

  “I let her know about my distrust of Mr. Thayer and how I thought he was a con artist. She doesn’t know that I actually took the urn. Abby is very loyal, and I don’t think she’d tell anyone about this.” Bridget was adamant in her staunch support of the student who also acted as her assistant.

  “What do you know about Abby? Aside from what she told you about herself?” Marlee asked.

  “Nothing really. I know she’s lived in Elmwood her whole life except for a brief stint in California. She was a nanny for a few years, five or so years I think, and then she returned to Elmwood and enrolled at Marymount in the art program,” Bridget recalled. “I don’t think she has any connection to Mr. Thayer. As far as I know, she’s never even met him.”

  “How did Abby get to be your assistant?” Kathleen asked.

  “I’m not sure. As soon as I arrived on campus I was told she would be my assistant. I had nothing to do with the selection. As it turns out, Abby has been a huge help to me, not just with The Showcase but with grading, class prep, and understanding the politics of the college. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

  “How did she hurt her leg?” Marlee asked, recalling she never received a direct answer from Abby about her injury.

  “I don’t know anything about an injury,” Bridget replied. “Why?”

  “The last two times I met with her she was on crutches. When I asked her what happened, she related what her doctor said but never gave an account as to what caused the injury. I just assumed you knew about it,” Marlee said as she rethought her encounters with Abby both on and off campus.

  “I don’t know what happened. I remember seeing her last Thursday, and she wasn’t on crutches or complaining of any medical problems. Abby’s a busy student, so I don’t get too worried when I don’t see her every day. She has a full schedule with her classes and auditioning for the play,” Bridget stated.

  “What play?” Marlee inquired.

  “Abby is trying out for the lead in the spring play at Marymount,” said Bridget.

  “I didn’t realize Abby was in the theater,” Marlee said.

  “Oh, yes. She’s been in makeup, scenery, supporting cast, and now she’s auditioning for the lead role. Abby’s worked her way up from the bottom. Several of us from the department are planning to go if Abby gets the lead,” Bridget said.

  “Bridget, I know you won’t want to hear this, but is it possible that Abby is somehow involved in this whole thing?” Marlee hesitantly asked.

  “No!” Bridget said without hesitation. She briskly shook her head from side to side.

  “Just hear me out,” Marlee said, holding up her hand in a defensive position. “Abby had access to all of the records for The Showcase. I know this because I met with her and she gave me the file to review.”

  “That right there should be proof enough that she doesn’t have any involvement,” Bridget said, her jaw tight in defense of her student assistant.

  “I have no idea if she gave me everything in the file. She may have taken some papers out before she let me look at it. Also, she knew about Thayer being the owner of the urn and that Yellow Tail Security was guarding the urn. Abby also knew the hours Yellow Tail would be on the premises and when they weren’t. If you think about it rationally, Abby had a lot of information about The Showcase that no one else would have. She could have easily inserted herself and started communicating with you as an anonymous person,” Marlee said.

  Kathleen, persuaded by Marlee’s theory, chimed in. “I’m guessing you shared a good deal of information with Abby as you two
worked on The Showcase these past few months. She mentally filed away everything you told her about your family, your life in Minnesota, and Marlee, and then later used that against you anonymously.”

  “Oh, my God. I never thought about that,” Bridget said after thinking it over for a moment. “Abby knew everything about me and The Showcase that was included in the threats from the anonymous person.” Bridget slid off the bed onto the floor. “I can’t believe it.”

  “I think it’s time we all face the fact that sweet little Abby is much more deceitful and cunning than we ever would have expected,” Marlee said. “I’ll visit her tomorrow to confront her with this information.”

  There’s no way this will turn out well for me. Every scenario that I play out in my mind is devastating.

  Chapter 18

  Marlee woke up with an extra dose of crabbiness the next morning. Even though the sun was shining, her mood was sour. She was exhausted from figuring out what was going on with Bridget. Lack of sleep, excessive caffeine, and poor nutritional choices all factored into her less-than-positive mood. There was only one thing to do. Still wearing her pajamas, Marlee slipped on her coat and snow boots, grabbed her purse and keys, and went out to her car. Nothing like a greasy drive-through breakfast to perk up the mood, even if it was only a temporary hit of energy.

  When she returned home, she carried a bag containing two Egg McMuffins, one sausage Breakfast Burrito, and an Apple Turnover. In her other hand was a drink caddie with two large Diet Cokes and a coffee. This ought to help me wake up and get my mind straight, Marlee thought, already munching on the unwrapped sausage burrito as she walked in the house.