“You’d think so.” He gave her a look of dismay. “But my confused brain couldn’t put the pieces together immediately because I kept rejecting the idea that a man I trusted—family—would betray me.”
“When did you realize?”
“That night I pulled out the handful of prototypes he’d given me. I found the stickers, pulled one off, and realized I’d been had. The next day, on a hunch, I went into the toy store closest to where Charles works. I found shelves of animals made by Hasbro that matched my prototypes. They were characters from some obscure children’s show I’d never heard of. I stood there holding these chunks of plastic and realized I’d been conned out of $1.4 million using props totaling the grand sum of three bucks sixty.”
Oh, hell. “What did you do?” Felicity asked quietly.
“I bought a couple of them from the store and marched right around to see him. I showed him the receipt, threw the toys at him, and demanded he explain.”
“What did he do?”
“First he laughed and told me it took me long enough. That’s when he gloated about what he’d been doing. I’d give my orders to Charles, and I’d pay Shenzhen Industries direct. He would then email his business contact at Shenzhen to say his new associate was sending them some money and to put it toward his current orders. So every time I paid for my orders, I was actually paying for baseball collectibles or whatever else he wanted for his store.”
“He was using you for store credit. Well, factory credit.” No wonder his bottom line at the bank was unchanged.
“Yes. I threatened him with going to the police.”
“How did he take that?”
“He pointed out how there was not one thing linking anything he’s done back to him. Just once he handed me a piece of paper with Shenzhen’s banking details, and his name wasn’t anywhere on it. Every deal we did was talked out over those lunches, and he’d make notes about what I wanted. At the end of the meal, he’d show me his list and have me confirm my order. I don’t have so much as an email from him asking for a dime. Whenever I was ready to pay for a new order, Charles always took me to lunch and gave me a piece of paper that had an invoice number and an amount payable on it, nothing else.”
“Even without evidence, you could make a complaint. Tell everyone what he’s done.”
“I threatened to make a noise. Smooth as honey, like it was nothing, he said if I reported the scam or named him at the center of it to a single person, he’d take away the thing I loved most.”
“What’s that?”
“Not what. Who. My Rosalind.”
“How could he possibly do that?” Felicity asked in surprise.
“He said he knew exactly what to whisper in her ear to make her doubt her husband’s integrity in the same way he’d made me doubt my own worth. He’d gradually over months make Rosalind believe I’d married her for money because that’s her biggest fear in dealing with people: gold diggers. And after that, when Rosalind saw me for the monster Charles had painted me as, she’d get the best lawyer in town, divorce me, and take my daughter, too.” Harvey looked sick to his stomach.
“But she’s your wife, Harvey,” Felicity said, incredulously. “She loves you. Surely she knows you well enough not to believe some campaign of lies, no matter who’s doing it.”
“You have no idea how much I want to believe that,” Harvey said, his voice rising uncertainly. “I desperately do. But by that time, I had all these doubts. Charles has been reminding me for six months that I’m nothing. And he’s right. Rosalind Stone, brilliant businesswoman, and Harvey Nothing Clifford.”
He shook his head. “Her family initially opposed us marrying, you know, for exactly that reason. It wouldn’t take much for them to take Charles’s side if he ramped up his campaign against me. I truly hope she’d stand by me, but my worst fears now hound me all the damned time. Even if she doesn’t buy the gold digger lie, what if she sees Charles is right about the rest? What if she realizes I’m just so blindingly average?”
“She chose you in the first place, remember? She went after you.”
Harvey gave her a pensive look. “I know. But I’m still struggling with this. I wish I didn’t have doubts. I felt I couldn’t take the risk. Charles is so persuasive. He can charm the wings off bees. I imagined everyone would believe his version. He’d make them think I’m the thief. So that day I was sitting there, blood boiling as I stared at Charles, imagining my life without Rosalind and my girl, and it was torture, Ms. Simmons.”
Felicity could feel his pain radiating from him. That was the thing about fear—you couldn’t logic or reason it away. There was no cure for it. You had to be brave, or you would fall. And Harvey, poor man, wasn’t even close to the brave type.
“And that man who I’d thought of as a brother sat and smirked back at me,” Harvey said, his hands clenching into fists. “He knew. He’s always known this was my greatest fear, which was how he played me so well. It was chilling, the moment I realized there was nothing I could do. Any way that this scam got out, it could only have come from me. Then he’d hurt me. So he had me in a corner.”
Harvey’s voice broke. “It’s the most evil choice. I love my charity, but I love my family more. I was stuck…until you came along.”
“Excuse me? How do I factor into this?”
“I thought the stress would kill me waiting for the independent audit to be carried out, knowing already the Shenzhen orders would get flagged. It’s a long process, and it’d be many months away. Then you show up investigating every little thing, demanding answers, and I was so relieved. I thought if you worked it out, at least then when it all comes out, Charles would assume it was your doing, not mine, so he wouldn’t retaliate.”
“You could have just whispered it into my ear. I’d have been discreet.”
“I couldn’t trust you not to tell Charles how you knew. I didn’t even know you. No, you had to go on the hunt, look puzzled and frustrated so Charles would know this wasn’t my doing.” Harvey gave a tiny smile. “I’m sorry I put you through a merry chase, but I needed you to be suspicious enough to keep digging.”
Felicity froze as she realized what he’d done. “You were the anonymous emailer! You sent me Living Ruff’s next 990 form. It gave me a link between Living Ruff and Charles’s store.”
“Yes. Of course. Well, it was only a draft of the 990 I dashed off for you, but yes, I hoped you’d get the idea.”
“How did you get my email address?”
“You left your business card on the desk. Mrs. Brooks never took it. I heard what you asked her to do. I thought about it. I hoped you’d be smart enough to put it all together if I gave you a little nudge. And I did my best to look guilty every time we spoke to make you wonder what I was hiding. Not answering questions. Not confirming or denying things. Throwing you out of the office.” He gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry about that. I found it quite traumatizing, raising my voice.”
“I did wonder what you were up to.” Felicity said in a dry tone.
“I do apologize. I knew you’d be seeing Charles sooner or later after that. So my biggest fear became that you’d accept at face value whatever story he told you. I worried he’d schmooze you completely and send you on your way with a neat, easily digestible tale for your boss. He’s so good. He can invent the most elaborate tales on the spot like it’s nothing.”
“Very true. The level of detail he gave me about your passion for merchandising was extensive.”
“I can only imagine.”
“Luckily, even Charles leaves loose ends: odd little lies, those made-in-America prototypes, and a destroyed factory I was able to fact-check with locals that was anything but.”
Harvey’s expression was bittersweet. “I’m glad you’re a determined, resourceful woman, Ms. Simmons. I was right in thinking you’d find the truth. But I also know that the moment you leave here tonight, police will be called, and I’ll lose my charity. I don’t deserve it anyway, being conned like that, but at least I’ll have my wife. Hell, I might even get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
“You’re aware my calling the police will likely destroy Living Ruff? Charities linked to scandal rarely come back from it, even if it wasn’t their fault.”
