Spoiled Fruit

by Sheila Horgan

“I should be thanking you. How do you feel in your clothes, Anna?”

  “Like a queen. Literally.” Anna hadn’t thought the plan for her evening’s attire had been a good one. The girl had suggested a dark pink, orange, and gold color palette in a fabric she showed Anna in shades of green. She just couldn’t picture it. When the girl pointed out that Anna had beautiful shoulders and arms and that a halter would be stunning, Anna argued that she was a bit mature for such a look. What the girl came back with was stunning. The fabric was beautiful, and it was perfectly tailored into a modest halter top and wide-legged pants with a wide belt that pulled Anna’s waist in and made her look taller. Added to that was a beautiful duster made of something like heavy chiffon that changed color as she moved but matched each shade in the chosen color palette.

  Anna ran her fingers over the fabric. “When they suggested this, I about fell on the floor. I’d never even heard of this kind of silk. The color palette was a little different for me, but I admit, it is the prettiest thing I have ever put on. It makes me feel ten years younger. Maybe fifteen. That cute little limo driver I saw downstairs had better watch out.”

  The girls laughed.

  Adeline was wearing a palazzo pant jumpsuit reminiscent of something she had worn in the 1960s. Her hair was the softer version that the little dancers had chosen for her during their makeover session weeks ago. She wore conservative jewelry — huge diamonds at her ears and a bracelet that was a ring of equally huge diamonds. Anna and Carolyn were sure that in the company of people in Adeline’s financial status, they were trinkets.

  “Adeline, you told me that I could do whatever I thought was necessary, so while you were in the shower, I took the liberty of calling Roland and asking him to do a few things.”

  “Thank you, Anna. What will he be doing?”

  “While they were pinning me and doing all of their sewing, I got to thinking, and I organized my thoughts. I just think we only have one shot at doing this right, so we need to think of everything. If your kids are innocent, we need to do this in a way that won’t drive a bigger wedge between y’all. If they are guilty, we don’t want to tip them off so that they can cover their tracks and continue on.”

  “While I agree, it is much more difficult these days to — as you say — cover your tracks. With the technologies available and the forensic specialists that can be consulted, once you are aware of misdoings, they are not difficult to substantiate.”

  “That’s good to know.” Carolyn nodded.

  “I asked Roland and his people to do some checks for me.” Anna stood up and walked to the door. Once she had checked the hallway and confirmed that it was empty, she closed the door and sat down next to the girls. “I asked them to check on Elsa and her family. I know that might sound a little bit intrusive, but there was just something way too convenient about the whole thing. She has been working here for years, and all of a sudden when we are looking for dirt on your kids, she comes forward with all this information, and just as important, there is nobody to back it up because it is all confessed by her dying mother, who can neither confirm nor deny. As it turns out — according to a very quick background search — the only person who can help to corroborate the whole thing is a hopeless alcoholic that can’t be depended on to remember what day it is. I can’t in good conscience bet the family farm on such weak information.”

  “I had considered some of that. I agree. Checking the veracity of her story is important. Do you agree, Carolyn?”

  “I do. I have notes here myself. I find it hard to believe that if this is real, it hasn’t at least been mentioned to someone. Isn’t Anna always telling us that we all leave a footprint? Younger ones online. We older ones might be more prone to do so verbally, but I can’t think of a single thing in my life that I didn’t share with someone, and I would imagine that if your family history is such that your relatives were in the news with some frequency, perhaps people would make an effort to recall the comments.”

  Anna blinked a couple of times, trying to decipher Carolyn’s comment. When Carolyn was nervous, she tended to get a little bit wordy.

  Adeline had already slipped into her serene persona. She would remain unruffled for the remainder of the night. At least Anna prayed that was true. “I asked them to do a digital background check on all the other people that Elsa mentioned.”

  “Digital?”

  “I’m not sure if that is the proper term, but it just seems to me that with the resources they have, it would be easy for them to check online. See if the story holds on a cursory level.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “If Elsa told us that they lived in Boston and we find that they were actually doing mission work in Africa, then we need to take a closer look at that. The timeline of your life is easy to track online these days. When I was trying to track down Pickles, I used a few things that may not have occurred to a more rational-thinking person.”

  “Like what?” Carolyn loved to hear about the way Anna did her research.

  “On one of the social media pages there was a picture of her car. I zoomed in and got the tag number. Then I tracked it down. I got on CarFax and tracked the car. I then knew when and where she had it serviced. Why would she regularly service her car in Austin if she was living in Tampa? People do things every day that are so easy to track, if you just think about what you are doing. That’s what I mean by a digital background check. I’m sure Roland and his people know much more about it than I do.”

  Adeline smiled. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

  Carolyn added. “You have a gift, Anna. You think outside of the box.”

  “I’m not at all sure I ever knew enough to think inside of it. At any rate, I asked for a bunch of those types of searches, and then I asked for some public record searches on property. I went onto Zillow and looked at the places that were mentioned to see if any of them had been sold in the last few years. Turns out most of them had been. I guess the economy either hurt some rich people really badly, or they took advantage of the timing for some great investment scheme I know nothing about.”

  Adeline took a deep breath. “Scheme. What an interesting choice of word.”

  “I didn’t really mean it that way, Adeline, but that could be the case.”

  Carolyn was concerned about Adeline’s tone. “Any time you want to call it done, we can do that. We’ve started down this path, but, Adeline, it is your call exactly how far down the path we travel.”

  “I have promised myself that I will see it through to the end, but I must admit I would be most pleased to find that all of this is not as dire as predicted.”

  Anna tried to assure her friend. “Fear of the unknown can be crippling. Human beings always imagine the worst. Most hope for the best. The reality is somewhere in the middle.”

  Adeline nodded just as there was a knock at the door. “I do not recall anyone scheduled. Do you?” She looked at the girls.

  “Maybe it’s just Elsa with a snack.”

  “Elsa would not do such a thing without my requesting it.”

  Anna and Carolyn hadn’t been aware of all the things Adeline was doing in the background to make their stay so seamless.

  Anna made a mental note that she hadn’t thought through things like that. It triggered a whole new set of questions. Like how could Elsa be involved in the background of this problem?

  At Adeline’s acknowledgement, the door opened. It was Roland.

  “I’m sorry, Roland. I was unaware of an appointment.”

  “We didn’t have one.”

  “Then I am sorry for your wasted trip. The girls and I have an engagement, and we will be leaving in just a few minutes.”

  “That’s what I came to talk to you about.”

  Adeline allowed her eyebrows to rise the tiniest bit. Anna feared that Roland had just initiated a power play without realizing it.

  “Please, Roland, tell me — quickly — what is on your mind.”

  Anna and Carolyn knew that when Adeline
chose less formal speech patterns, it was because she was unamused, and perhaps it was a subtle talking down to the person.

  “As you may know, Miss Harris was in contact with me.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Harris told me.”

  “We have found some information that you need to be aware of before you proceed. We have determined that it would be better if you let us handle this. Actually, it would be better if we all stepped aside and let the FBI handle it.”

  Anna and Carolyn physically moved back at the mention of the FBI. Adeline seemed unfazed. “And why is that, Roland?”

  “Some of the people who may be involved in this” — Roland searched for a word — “situation are very dangerous. Your children are most assuredly associating with some pretty serious criminals.”

  Adeline’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Pretty serious criminals?”

  “I’m sorry. I have spent all my time lately with the computer people; they are a young group and tend to speak a whole different language. When I am with them for an extended period, I unfortunately begin to sound like them.” Roland blushed with the confession. “I’m sorry.”

  “Not at all. I have become accustomed to the way Cara speaks and find that from time to time I choose the same phrasing. I will acknowledge that Cara speaks more like a middle-aged woman than a child, but certainly much younger and more informal than I. Please, Roland, continue.”

  “The people who your older children are associating with are some very dangerous people. I have to consider your safety.”

  “What do you mean, very dangerous? Dangerous in what way?” Anna wanted to blurt out that Roland couldn’t stop them now; it was just starting to get interesting.

  “I have nothing concrete. I do have some documented reports of misdoings in several countries, and one of Granville’s closest confidants is being looked at for crimes against rather young women in a foreign land.”

  Anna noted that in her whole life she had never used the term misdoing, and here she had heard it twice in the same day. She had to wonder if it was a code word she was unaware of.

  “Let me ask you this, Roland. You are trying to stop us from going to see Adeline’s children, when they are the only folk invited. Why is that? Do you believe that her children are going to harm her in any way? Tonight, that is?”

  “I doubt that. My concern is that if in fact Granville and Talbot are involved with these people and their resources are dwindling, adding a known entity such as Adeline and two unknown entities such as yourselves to an already volatile mix will be dangerous. The relationships could be misread. These people who are at best dangerous and at worst outright murderers — and worse — now have you on their radar. They may think that it is you who have caused their partners, Granville and Talbot, to change their course, when in reality it is that they have run out of funds. They may conclude that you are in fact trying to shut down their operation.”

  Anna considered. “And just what is their operation? Do we know that?”

  “We know that it started off as a Ponzi scheme of sorts. Granville seems to have gotten a bit creative. He took some tried and true cons, classics, and mixed them into a soup of criminal activity that when polished and held under the right light, looks like elite business deals.”

  “Could you put that in terms I can understand?” Carolyn thought that if she was going to be of any use to Adeline at all, she needed to understand exactly what they were walking into, because she would bet her new outfit — and she really loved her new outfit — that Anna was not going to simply hand over her exciting evening to Roland and company.

  “If it will keep you ladies safe in this building, I’ll talk all night.” Roland looked around to see if he got any agreement from the girls, but it was clear he had not.

  He pushed on. “Anna provided us with some interesting approaches to this whole situation. She told one of my computer staff that she wanted digital backstories on each of the involved parties. We turned up some nominally interesting stuff. Questionable investments. Companies that were held by other companies that were followed through a web that seemed to indicate that the monies were being brought to one country or another. Everything we found looks a lot like tax evasion that is technically legal, but in a very gray area. Nothing to worry about, really.”

  “So why are you here?”

  “Something Anna said lit a fire under the computer staff. She made the statement that she used uncommon search tactics. I think the one that was mentioned involved a car service documentation entity. That got my people thinking. Could they change their search approach to outsmart Anna? Come up with something completely counterintuitive. They took it on as a challenge.”

  “Didn’t want to be outdone by a little old lady?” Anna chuckled.

  “No, actually, they wanted to learn from the experience. My people have not been shy about the fact that Anna has a way of doing things that they would like to emulate. At any rate, what they ended up with was a huge whiteboard full of facts that they wanted to be able to interrelate. Something like the flow charts we all worked with in the eighties.”

  Adeline was getting frustrated, and she allowed it to show. “Not all of us worked with those. Please, Roland, come to your point.”

  “Yes, ma’am. They started with a mind map.”

  “Mind map?”

  “Another tool we used to use that seems to be becoming popular again. You start out with a single thought or individual. Put it in the center of the board. Then you allow your mind to freely associate. If the word in the center is blue, then what does the word blue make you think of? Perhaps the word blue makes you think of the ocean. So you write the word ocean. Then what does the ocean make you think of? That is an overly simplistic description, but I think you get the idea. The staff did a huge mind map of all of this and did a sort of overlay of a flow chart. They had all the different elements from the mind map, and then they defined the interconnections of all of the different areas, individuals, and so on. From the big picture right down to the minutia.”

  “That sounds very much like what we do.” Carolyn couldn’t hide the pride in her voice. Three mature women happening upon an approach that some of the best minds in the country happened upon. But the girls had been doing it for some time.

  Anna was quite sure there was nothing new under the sun, but didn’t take Carolyn’s moment from her.

  Adeline was becoming more impatient. “So, what is it that they have learned that caused you to come to us without an appointment and try to circumvent our evening plans?”

  Roland reached into a bag that Carolyn hadn’t noticed before and pulled out an electronic tablet. “Please, allow me to show you this.” Roland spent the next twenty minutes going over an outline document. Point by point he explained to the girls who the major players were, why they were dangerous, and what the interaction was between her children and these individuals.

  “What you showed us is that Granville and Talbot went to school with some really high-class thugs.” Anna rubbed her lip. “That doesn’t surprise me. Thugs come in all shapes and colors. Every income level. I don’t see anything there that would indicate to me that you have any real proof. What you got is a bunch of circumstantial stuff and a bunch of rumors.”

  Carolyn seemed unfazed. “If there were any substantial proof, don’t you think that the authorities would have stepped in?”

  Roland tried to keep his voice respectful. “Yes and no.” He turned to his boss. “Adeline, we both know that there are backdoor deals and all kinds of shenanigans that go on daily around the world. If it is seen as harmless or, more importantly, advantageous for those in power, it is basically ignored.”

  “Yes, well, that is another discussion for another time. What I am in need of from you, Roland, is one good reason why I should alter the plans I have made for this evening.”

  “Adeline, I’m asking you to do this.” Roland’s whole continence had changed. It all became more personal. Somehow, in the blink of an eye,
it went from security specialist concerned for his client to man of integrity concerned for his friend. “For your safety and the safety of your friends. If you are unwilling to cancel your plans, I am asking you to allow me to put some of my people in place.”

  “How discreetly?”

  “I believe that your plans call for you to be in a public place.”

  “In a private dining room at 7on7.”

  “I can have my people there acting as servers. We can have some people scattered throughout the building. Some as customers in the main dining room. A couple parking cars. That kind of thing.”

  Anna looked at Adeline. “I can’t see any harm in that, even if I do think it’s overkill, and I do. I don’t think your family is going to draw a sword on you this evening, but I gotta say, if having a few people in there makes Roland more comfortable, what the heck? Maybe one of his people will see something we miss or maybe hear something we don’t. People will often talk in front of worker bees when they wouldn’t say a word to one of us.”

  “I doubt that will be the case. Unfortunately, my children see worker bees, as you put it, as unworthy of polite conversation.”

  “Maybe they will talk to each other. Forget the workers are even there.”

  “That is more likely.” Adeline took a deep breath. She was not overly concerned for her well-being; even at their worst her children’s attack on her was in the form of doing nothing, not actively seeking to injure her. It was the safety of her friends she was most concerned about, and she would not put them in danger. “Very well. Roland, please be discreet.”

  “You family will never know.”

  “I am not concerned about what my children may come to know. What I am concerned about is that they may take actions based on what they think they know and that others will be hurt, be it financially or perhaps in their careers. I find it utterly preposterous to believe that my children would do anything so inelegant as to assault anyone physically. I think their main interest is, as it has always been, pecuniary.”

  Anna’s face went blank, but her left eyebrow rose a bit.