That was a surprisingly beautiful way of looking at it.
“Anyway, last year Charles came to see me at work one day for something or other and asked about the dog, so I explained about it being our mascot. He scoffed and said he knew how Living Ruff could have something much nicer. Even better, we could sell them and make money for Living Ruff. I thought he meant a little toy dog and a cat, maybe a pen, too. A fridge magnet, even.” Harvey shrugged. “That sounded okay, right? Not too expensive.”
“Right,” Felicity said.
“Later that day he brought in some of the sports collectibles he sells in his store to show me what’s possible in the world of collectibles. The quality was amazing. The more Charles talked, the more I got swept up in his idea of having a dozen animal collectibles we could sell. His idea of getting celebrities to sign some and get them auctioned off, well, that sounded great, too. I could see getting a lot of money for them.”
“Had Elena donated her $1.4 million at this point?” Felicity asked.
“She had, a week before. And the previous night, talk of the donation had come up at a family dinner Charles was at.” He gave her a wry look.
“The previous night? What a coincidence,” Felicity said dryly.
“Exactly,” he said. “I’m an idiot, of course, not noticing his sudden need to talk to me the day after I mention us coming into money. But it never entered my mind not to trust family. Especially when he has money.”
“I understand,” Felicity said. “So ordering some merchandise from Shenzhen Industries was raised next? Charles volunteered to be your go-between, I’m guessing.”
“Yes. The first quote he got for me was great. One dog, one cat, one fish, five thousand units of each. It was very affordable. And Charles was just so enthusiastic. He offered to handle everything. He’d deal with a foreign company so I wouldn’t feel out of my depth. He said it made sense since he had to negotiate with them anyway. He even suggested we combine shipping costs to save a bundle.”
“And you liked this idea.”
Harvey’s expression was rueful. “I can’t overstate how impossible it was not to get swept up in his ideas. He was there every time I turned around. So I did it. I paid for an initial shipment. Immediately, Charles suggested I not tell the staff; let it be a surprise. Since they made jokes about my mascot, he told me I didn’t need to hear any negativity about my new project.”
“Staff would ask too many questions,” Felicity deduced. “Raise doubts about how you were spending the donation?”
“I think so. I shrugged and went with it. I also managed all my transactions in a way Mrs. Brooks wouldn’t notice, at least for a while.”
“How could you hide all this from her?”
“Mrs. Brooks might be a decent self-taught office manager, but I’m an experienced bookkeeper and know more than a few tricks. Tricks such as shifting office payments around in ways that aren’t immediately obvious to the untrained eye. I did that to maintain the surprise.” He rolled his eyes. “I do know how this sounds, by the way. I feel so stupid.”
Felicity gave him a sympathetic look. “Go on.”
“Then Charles talked me into ordering a few more animals. And a few more. Then it was, ‘Have you thought of trying to start a collectible craze? People passionate about a breed would love to have exactly that animal.’ He reminded me often he was a merchandising expert. He was so convincing. And any time I had concerns, he’d take me to lunch.” Harvey’s face fell.
“What is it?”
“I came to hate those lunches. By the third drink, he’d remind me who my wife was. How successful. How sought after. How lucky I was she’d even looked in my direction. Me, a lowly man of no social standing and limited worth. He chipped away at my self-confidence for months until I started to really wonder what Rosalind sees in me at all.” He slumped. “You have to understand, I used to wonder that in the first place before I realized it didn’t matter. But Charles pulled me back into that dark place and had me really dwell on my doubts.”
“Why?” Felicity asked, aghast.
“Because he’s rat cunning.” Harvey’s eyes were wet with tears. “My Rosalind is incredible. Beautiful and smart, and she always tells these clever little jokes she tailors just for me. She brings my dog into bed with us if she senses I’m feeling down. On top of that, she gave me our beautiful daughter. I used to think I was the luckiest man alive to have her. Thanks to Charles, I started to feel like the unworthiest man alive.”
Harvey wrung his hands. “I know the way people look at me when they find out who Rosalind married. The surprise, the amusement. They can’t work it out. And I feel so ashamed I’m not more for her.”
“What an awful feeling that must be,” Felicity murmured, appalled.
“It’s horrible.” His reddened eyes met hers. “These past two months, Charles has been reminding me constantly that he’s very close to his sister and knows what impresses her. He made me feel desperate to prove I could be worthy of her. He made me believe that if I created a huge fundraising hit for Living Ruff, she’d be impressed. I just wanted her to look at me with pride.”
“What makes you believe she doesn’t already?” Felicity asked. “Harvey, I’ve heard Rosalind talk about you. She loves you completely.”
“A man sees only his reflection,” Harvey mused, and gave her a long, sad look. “In other words, we see what we expect to.”
Felicity nodded. Very true.
“So after the landslide happened and Charles was in my ear about ordering big to get Shenzhen back up and running sooner, I thought this was it. I’d make a grand play and pray it paid off. Charles said I wouldn’t regret it.” His shoulders sank. “I did almost immediately. It just felt…not smart, but I also kept trying to push aside my doubts.”
“And so by then, Charles had gotten all of Elena’s money.”
Harvey’s head snapped up. “Oh, Charles didn’t get a cent. I’m not a complete idiot, although I do feel it. When I did my first transfer, I had my bank confirm that the financial account details Charles gave me really were for Shenzhen Industries.”
“Then how did Charles benefit?” Felicity asked, lost. “Does he have someone working for him over there? Someone to funnel the money back to him?”
“No.” Harvey sighed. “He didn’t need to. The scam never involved him getting money. His bank balance would be the same today as it was six months ago.”
Score one for Saul. “I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t either at first. I’m not sure how long it would have taken me to work out what he was up to if it weren’t for Darlene. We talk whenever I’m in Charles’s store. She’s great.” His eyes glazed over in blissful wonder for a moment before he said, “I think I’m in love with her Pembroke Welsh corgi. It’s the most adorable thing. Darlene puts Sammy in shows. He’s won ribbons. Corgis are so overlooked—”
“Can we please focus?” Felicity cut in, sensing he was warming up for a long, meaningless story.
“Oh. Yes. Sorry. I was bemoaning to Darlene about the landslide and wondering how long we’d have to wait to get our orders. She gave me the blankest look and said, ‘What do you mean, wait? What delays?’”
“Uh-oh.”
“Exactly. Long story short, she took me into the storeroom, and it was lined with boxes from Shenzhen. She pointed out one batch. ‘Last month.’ Another batch. ‘Two months ago.’ And… ‘Yesterday.’”
“And the con was exposed just like that.”
