Art of Deception

by Brenda Donelan

  After being chastised for a full two minutes about how quickly exposed skin could freeze and the hazards of not dressing warmly enough, Marlee finally interrupted. “We came out here to see someone and they pulled a gun on us and took my car.”

  The old man blinked repeatedly as he stared wordlessly at Marlee and Hector. Guns, stolen cars, and fast getaways were things he watched nightly on television. He continued to stare and blink, unsure of what to do or what to say in a situation like this.

  “Could you please give us a ride? I’m a police detective.” Hector pulled his badge from his pocket and flipped it open to show the old man.

  “Okay, but I don’t want any trouble. I don’t know what you kids are mixed up with.” He unlocked the driver’s side door and activated the locks for the other doors. Marlee jumped in the front seat and Hector sat in back. They took turns relating the details of their situation as the old man drove them back to Elmwood.

  “You can call me Duff,” said the old man, not disclosing if that was his real name or a nickname. “Do you know the people who took your car?”

  “Yeah, we do. It was Rita Thayer. She was in her brother’s fishing shack. She had some other people with her.” Hector recounted how they were locked in the shack to freeze to death and their eventual escape.

  “Rita? I know who she is. She’s a strange bird,” Duff said, declining to elaborate when Marlee asked him more about his statement.

  When Duff arrived at Marlee’s house, she invited him in for coffee. It was the least they could do since he kept them from freezing and provided transportation home. Duff declined, but said he’d like to hear more about the case sometime, so Hector handed him a business card. With a cloud of exhaust, the old man peeled out, a winter-proofed arm waving out the window.

  They ran to the unlocked back door. For once Hector didn’t ride Marlee’s ass about keeping the door locked. He ran inside first and grabbed the landline phone, dialing 911. As Hector reported the actions of Rita, Derek, and Abby, Marlee made a pot of coffee and turned up the thermostat. They both kept their coats on until they were heated from the coffee and the furnace.

  When the doorbell rang, Marlee ran to answer it. She invited the female officer inside and offered her a cup of coffee, which she gratefully accepted. Officer Murray took notes as Hector and Marlee used the tag team approach to telling their story. After she finished, she called in an All-Points Bulletin on Marlee’s SUV. Before the officer arrived, Marlee and Hector decided not to tell her about their meeting with Conrad earlier that morning nor the claims Rita made about him being the mastermind of the theft of the urn.

  As soon as Officer Murray was out the door, Hector turned to Marlee and said, “Let’s go to Conrad’s.”

  Marlee filled travel mugs with coffee for them since they weren’t fully warmed up from their time outside. “Who knows what tale he’ll tell us. I’m in favor of telling him everything we know and see how he reacts.”

  “Everything?” Hector asked as he steered his vehicle into the Summerset development.

  “Well, not anything that would incriminate either one of us or get Bridget’s bond violated. I’m curious as to what he will say about Rita pulling a gun on us and disappearing with Derek and Abby.”

  A police car was in Conrad’s driveway when they arrived, so Hector drove around the housing area and parked a few blocks away but still with a view of the Thayer house. “The cops are here asking Conrad what he knows about Rita’s whereabouts,” Hector stated.

  They waited for a few minutes before Marlee had an idea. “I think we should go to Marymount College and see if they’re in Abby’s office.” Hector shrugged. It was worth a try.

  They arrived at the Amos Building and found a large rock propping open the door. Since it was Sunday, the building would ordinarily be locked. Whoever was inside had keys and then propped the door open for someone else to enter.

  Marlee led the way to Abby’s office. The hallway and stairwell were dark, an energy-saving measure used on weekends, evenings, and holidays throughout the campus buildings. Muted voices were heard as they approached Abby’s office, so they took extra caution to be quiet. As they neared Abby’s work space, the voices became much clearer.

  “Aunt Rita, I don’t know where the provenance is. I’ve looked all over for it! Just let me go home. I won’t tell anybody anything!” Abby wailed. Marlee and Hector looked at each other as they huddled next to the partially open door. Abby wasn’t part of the scheme. At least not knowingly.

  “Keep looking! We’re not leaving here until you find it!” roared Rita.

  “Don’t make her use that gun,” Derek said with a humorless laugh.

  “I’m not going to shoot my own niece, Derek. Just because she’s an imbecile doesn’t mean I’d kill her.” Rita sounded exasperated, both by Abby and Derek. “Come on, Abby. Keep looking.”

  Abby kept whining, either as a tactic for them to release her or because she was oblivious to how her childish behavior came across to her aunt and Derek. “Just let me go home. Or go back to Uncle Conrad’s house. I won’t tell him about any of this. I promise.”

  “You always liked Conrad more than me. I’m sure you’d tattle to him the minute you saw him. That’s why you’re coming with us when we leave town. Hurry up and find the provenance so we can be on our way.” Rita was becoming more agitated by the second.

  Hector pulled his firearm and nudged ahead of Marlee. He nodded and they entered Abby’s office. “Put your hands up!” Hector yelled, his gun aimed at Rita’s head.

  Rita swung around to face Hector, but the gun was not in her hand. She had placed it on the bookshelf as she helped Abby sift through papers.

  “Don’t even thing about grabbing that gun!” Hector said as he walked toward the bookshelf and grabbed Rita’s firearm. He motioned Rita and Abby to both sit in chairs next to Derek.

  Marlee grabbed Abby’s desk phone and called the police. While they waited for the arresting officers, Marlee had several questions she wanted answered. But first she demanded the keys to her SUV and Derek tossed them to her.

  “Rita, you not only called the police to tell them Bridget took the urn and hid it in my house, but you’re also the person who coerced Bridget into doing it. Isn’t that right?”

  “Don’t say anything,” Derek shouted at Rita.

  “I’m tired, Derek. I just want this to be over. They know everything.” Rita threw up her hands, without a plan for the first time in her life. Turning toward Marlee she said, “Yes, I did it all with Derek’s help. The emails and letters to Bridget, ruining her finances, and everything else. Conrad didn’t have any involvement at all and neither did Abby.”

  “Why?” Marlee asked.

  Rita snorted, “You know why. I didn’t have any money, no home, nothing. And Conrad took a lot of pleasure in rubbing my nose in it. After he paid off my restitution from the embezzlement charge, he thought he owned me. Putting me in the maid’s uniform was just one more way for him to humiliate me.”

  “He doesn’t know about any of this?” Hector asked.

  “Are you kidding? Between his collections of crap and his alcoholism, Conrad doesn’t have time for anything else.” Now Rita was slumped forward in her chair, with her head held in her hands.

  “And your drunkenness last night was all an act, wasn’t it?” Marlee stared at Rita.

  “Yeah. I needed to get you two out of there so I could pack up my stuff. Conrad was out of the house and it was a perfect time to get packed. Conrad was in a mood when he got home and started drinking one whiskey after another. He went to bed early, and that’s when I called Derek to come get me,” Rita said.

  “How did you two meet?” Marlee asked Rita as she cocked her head toward Derek.

  “He came to the house with Sean to discuss security for the urn,” Rita answered.

  “What were you and Derek doing at the fishing shack?” Hector asked.

  “We were hiding. I figured you’d talk to Abby again and she�
��d mention the cabin, so we couldn’t stay there. We stayed at Derek’s last night but knew you might come back to his place sooner or later to ask more questions, and we couldn’t risk staying any longer. Derek thought we should wait until it was dark and then get Abby to find the provenance for us so I could show that I owned the urn. I knew Conrad hadn’t updated the provenance to show he was the new owner. Then we were going to leave town. But you all showed up at the ice shack,” Rita said, now looking at Marlee and Hector as she spoke.

  “Why did you need the provenance? The urn is in the evidence locker.” Marlee could not figure out why the document showing prior ownership was so important if the piece of art was not in her control.

  Rita and Derek looked at each other and laughed. “I guess they don’t have everything figured out,” Derek said.

  “No, they don’t,” said Rita, looking hopeful for the first time. “We’re not saying anything else.”

  If I had to do it over again I’d do exactly the same thing. Guess that makes me a slow learner.

  Chapter 29

  Six officers from the Elmwood Police Department stormed into Abby’s office. They arrested Rita and Derek, handcuffed them, and led them out of the building. Initially, Hector and Marlee thought Abby was a co-conspirator, but it now appeared that she was innocent. They tried to explain this to the police, but Abby was handcuffed and taken into custody too.

  Before Abby was escorted out of the building, Marlee asked her one final question. “What do you think Rita and Derek are still hiding?”

  Abby, now sobbing, shrugged her shoulders. Tears ran down her face, leaving mascara tracks across her pale cheeks.

  “Abby, concentrate!” Hector said in a firm tone. “You must have heard them talking about something while you were with them this past hour.”

  “Yeah. I do know something. But I’m not telling unless I get released,” Abby said, the tears now gone. She was led outside, leaving Marlee and Hector standing outside the Amos Building.

  “I really don’t know if Abby is innocent or not. She’s definitely a manipulator. One minute she’s on the verge of breakdown then the next minute she’s withholding information as leverage.” This girl was as perplexing as her aunt and uncle, and Marlee couldn’t figure out any of them.

  “She’s quite the actor,” Hector agreed.

  “Let’s get down to the PD and see what happens when they’re all questioned,” Marlee said.

  They arrived at the Police Department separately, as Marlee drove her own vehicle since she was again in possession of the keys. She cracked the driver’s side window, as a faint smell of cigarette smoke hung in the air. It’s bad enough that they stole my car, but then they smoked in it!

  Hector arrived first and had secured them a spare room where he and Marlee could wait while Derek, Rita, and Abby were interrogated. An officer came in and summoned Hector. Another officer entered the room moments later and asked Marlee questions about her stolen vehicle, Rita brandishing a gun, and the admissions Rita made about the stolen urn. She needed to walk a fine line between telling the whole truth and holding back some details to protect herself and Bridget.

  As soon as the officer finished questioning Marlee, she took out her cell phone and made a call to her attorney. It was Sunday, and he wouldn’t be in, but she needed to get a message to him. To her surprise, Denny answered on the second ring. “Denny Harlow, Attorney at Law, at your service.”

  Marlee gave a brief explanation of what was going on and asked that he come down to the station. She wanted to talk with him without a police officer around to share the details of her latest exploits. He agreed to meet her immediately. “I’ll call Bridget’s lawyer too, just to let her know she might have a really good defense now that Rita and the others incriminated themselves.”

  When Denny arrived, she told him the whole story, leaving out no details. He needed to know everything, including her visits to Kathleen’s house to see Bridget.

  “It wasn’t very smart to contact Bridget, but I’m not going to lecture you. I talked to Bridget’s attorney before I came over. Renee was really excited and thinks she can get the charges dismissed,” Denny reported. “Since Rita admitted coercing Bridget to steal the urn, your cousin should be off the hook.”

  Hector came back in the room, and Marlee made the introductions. “Another thing you should know, Denny, is that Hector and I saw the urn in the evidence locker. Hector has a friend who let us see it.” She gave Hector a sidelong glare, letting him know they hadn’t finished discussing that topic. Not by a long shot.

  “When Rita was talking about setting up this scheme, she mentioned that we hadn’t figured out everything yet,” Hector said to Denny. “We’re still working on it. I can’t figure out what we’re missing.”

  “It has to do with the provenance for the urn. Rita was forcing Abby to look for it. She said after they obtained the provenance, they were going to leave town. How would that help them if the urn is in the evidence locker?” Marlee asked.

  “It wouldn’t help unless they had actual control of the urn. Otherwise the provenance won’t do them any good.” Denny then went on to spout legalese regarding provenances and how they were used in South Dakota, but Marlee wasn’t listening.

  “Oh my God!” she shrieked. “The urn in the evidence locker isn’t the actual urn Conrad Thayer loaned for The Showcase. It’s an imitation. Since an urn was seized, and the person who took it confessed, the police believed it was the actual urn worth over one million dollars. An art expert was never called in to verify its authenticity.”

  “What?” Hector and Denny chorused.

  “Think about it. No one has actually verified that the urn in police custody is the urn stolen from Marymount. Or that the urn from Marymount was even the real deal. A fake could’ve been on display from the beginning.” Marlee tripped over her words as she tried to keep up with her train of thought.

  Hector, not one to be left behind, said, “The real urn may still be at Conrad Thayer’s house, or Rita and Derek have it stashed somewhere.”

  “Exactly! I’m almost positive the urn in the police locker is fake. What I don’t know is at what point the fake urn was brought into the scheme.” Marlee twirled a curl of her hair around her right index finger as she talked.

  “Maybe you don’t need that information to pull off a hoax of your own,” Denny suggested. After the three of them talked, a plan was put into place.

  I’ll be paying for this mistake for the rest of my life.

  Chapter 30

  After consulting with the arresting officers and their superiors, Marlee and Hector were allowed into the room in which Rita was being interrogated by Detective Roy Knutson. Rita looked at them with a questioning gaze as they entered the room and sat down.

  “Rita, we know the urn in the police locker is a fake,” Marlee said without any preamble. “We also know that you have the real urn and that’s why it was so important for you to get the provenance before you left town.”

  “You’ve been a busy bee. The real question is: where is the urn now?” Rita smirked. She was sharp and knew that just because Hector and Marlee had figured out the urn was a fake didn’t mean they knew the location of the real one. Rita was going to use that to her advantage in her court proceedings.

  Marlee and Hector stomped out of the room, pissed that Rita hadn’t fallen completely for their ruse. “Let’s try the same thing on Derek. Maybe he’ll let something slip,” Marlee said as various locations ran through her mind as the current home for the real urn.

  “Let me do the talking on this one, okay?” Hector started toward the room in which Derek was being held. His take-charge attitude was getting on Marlee’s nerves. She was just as responsible for figuring this case out as he was. Even more, probably. Still, he marched around like he was the boss, and she was his helper. If he thinks he’s moving into my house acting like that, he’s got another think coming, Marlee thought as she stomped after Hector.

  “Dere
k, Rita just rolled over and told us everything. We know the urn in the police locker is a fake, and she told us all about the real one, and why you needed the provenance before you two left town.” Hector spat out the information in a matter of fact tone.

  “That bitch! I knew I shouldn’t trust her!” Derek shouted as he pounded his fist on the table.

  “She hasn’t signed a plea agreement yet, but her lawyer will be here in the next half hour. When he gets here, he’s going to urge her to sign it and pin everything on you. If I were you, I’d tell us everything you know right now,” Hector continued.

  Within twenty minutes, Derek disclosed how Rita commissioned him to locate an urn similar to the original and paint it. He disclosed that Rita used Sean Yellow Tail’s keys to the Amos Building and the viewing room where the urn was kept to swap the fake for the real urn. Rita gained access to Sean’s keys while he was asleep with Abby in a bedroom at Conrad’s house. This all happened the day before the fake urn was stolen. Rita watched Bridget, and when the professor grabbed the urn and took it to Marlee’s house, Rita followed and then called the police with an anonymous tip.

  “Rita had a collector lined up to buy the real urn. All we had to do was take it to him, and he would pay one million dollars for it. The urn is worth a bit more than that, but as you can guess, we weren’t willing to look around for a higher bidder,” Derek stated.

  “What was Abby’s role in all of this?” Marlee interjected.

  “Abby didn’t do anything. She’s just a messed-up kid with a lot of problems. Rita knew Abby could be easily manipulated.”

  “And now for the big question,” Hector said. “Where’s the real urn?”

  “You don’t know?” laughed Derek. “I was sure you would have discovered it by now. Especially since it’s in your SUV,” he said with a nod toward Marlee.