Proof - Chapter 12 of The Camera Doesn't Lie
Thanks for your patience; I was completely off the grid for a while.
Mr. Sanderson pulled the memory card out of his camera and annotated it with 'Dove Wedding' and the date. After importing them into the proof application on his computer he verified that a new activity was available on his website. Sanderson then printed out a card with the temporary userid and password needed to view that activity, and then put the card in the tray for his assistant Mimi to mail out, the next time she came in. Bringing up Emma's account he emailed an electronic copy of the card to her.
After ejecting the memory card he shut his computer down and left his office, heading down the hall to his storage room. He inserted the electronic key into the lock and waited until the lock and key showed green, then twisted the handle and pushed the door open. Without looking Sanderson reached out to the side and flipped up a light switch, turning on the bright white can lights that filled the storage room with light.
After closing the door he stopped in front of the easel and the covered print that was on it. Sanderson was tempted to look at it again right that moment, but decided he needed to put the memory card from the wedding away first. He turned to the shelves on one side of the room and reached for the metal box that held his most recent projects.
"Hmm, that's odd," Sanderson said.
The box was not on the top of the stack; it was on the shelf by itself, next to the others.
"Can't have that," Sanderson exclaimed and after putting the memory card into the box he put the box on top of the stack, in its proper place.
Sanderson turned to the easel in the center of the room and walked around it, wondering if this was it. Stopping in front of the easel he pulled the tarp off of the print and smiled. The photo was one of his very best; even without the incredible subject in the center he had gotten everything else just about right. Color, lighting, focus; it was absolutely perfect. And to have captured a real mermaid; that was unbelievable!
Sanderson had gotten tired of weddings, even though he was very good at it. What he wanted was something edgier, something high profile, something sexier! Like something with that redhead from the wedding party; that would be fun.
"No more weddings," he said out loud. "With this I can finally do what I've always wanted to do. And if just a couple of those hotshots show up tonight it'll be easy street from now on!"
Sanderson's phone alarm pinged. Pulling it out of his pocket he looked at the notification.
"Oh, crap, get moving!" Sanderson said.
Carefully he put the photo in a padded travel case and locked it with a padlock. Leaving the case for a moment he went to the safe that stood in the corner of the room and entered the combination. When the door clicked open he reached into the safe and removed a proof case, opening it momentarily to verify that the memory card and proofs were in place and in order.
Sanderson slipped the proof case into the pocket of his coat and grabbed the travel case. After closing the door he verified that the lock was engaged as the red LEDs on his key and on the lock were illuminated. Sanderson then turned on the alarm and turned to head out the side door to where his car was parked, when suddenly he noticed a puddle on the carpet under the security camera. Looking up he noticed that the ceiling above the camera was slightly wet and stained.
"Dang; looks like a leak of some type," Sanderson exclaimed. "Just one more thing to have to worry about."
Leaving the puddle behind he headed outside and carefully stowed the travel case in his car. Once he was sure it was well secured he started up the engine and headed for the Embarcadero.
Sanderson's assistant Mimi had spent most of the morning setting up the small presentation room at the Hyatt Regency at Embarcadero Center. She knew how much her boss was investing in the presentation that night; whatever the photo was that he was presenting had better be a good one, or she was probably going to be out of a job. Still, she was a very professional assistant and everything was in order and prepared. Bios had been distributed, the spotlights were in place, audio had been tested, everything except for the positioning of the big wonder.
Mimi checked that the microphone was working again, and looked for the fifth time at her watch. Her boss was 15 minutes late, and the first guests were due to arrive in thirty minutes. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to do one more check she went to the lighting control panel and ran through the spots.
Fifteen minutes later Sanderson arrived at the hotel and hurried back to the room he had rented. Entering the room he discovered that his assistant Mimi was as efficient as usual and that everything was in order.
"How much time do we have?" Sanderson asked as he carried the travel case up to the front, where Mimi had set up the presentation easel next to the podium.
"Fifteen minutes," Mimi told him.
"Perfect; well done!" Sanderson told her, his eyes sliding over her like they always did.
If Mimi didn't need the job so bad she'd have long ago told him to go to hell; the way he looked at her sometimes was just creepy. Hopefully the event today would give him more to do and less time to leer at her.
"Need any help getting set up?" Mimi asked, hoping for a glimpse of the thing.
"Nope; you'll have to wait like all the others," Sanderson replied, turning the easel around so that it faced away from the audience. "Why don't you go take your place at the table?"
Mimi's place was at the entrance to the room, where she had set up a table with information about Sanderson's photography business and an iPad for collecting contact information from prospective buyers. Shrugging Mimi went to the table and after giving the room one more look over, sat down and waited.
After Mimi walked off Sanderson pulled the print from the travel case and checked that it was undamaged and ready for display. Finding nothing amiss he placed it on the presentation easel and covered it with a fine cloth cover. After turning the easel around and making sure that the floodlights were centered he stepped off to the side and checked his watch. It was time.
About ten minutes later Sanderson had started to panic as no one had arrived yet and he was due to make the announcement in just a couple of minutes. He glanced at his assistant waiting patiently at the back table but Mimi just shrugged. Wondering what to do he was about to wander down to talk to her when he heard voices approaching.
"Ah, here it is," a man said, coming into the room. "There you are, Sanderson; I had the dangdest time finding the right room. You need more signs."
It was Arthur Trubble, one of SFPICT's acquisition men. Sanderson had worked with him before and had found him to be completely no-nonsense, without any sense of humor. Yet he had an eye for good photography and SFPICT paid good money. If they were interested then the odds for a big payout had suddenly doubled.
"Welcome, Arthur," Sanderson said, coming forward. "Looks like we're a little slow getting going, but we should have a few more coming."
"If this picture is as good as you say it is, I hope not," Trubble said. "Less competition that way."
"Why don't you sign in with my assistant, grab a drink, and take a seat," Sanderson said. "I'm going to go see what happened to the signs."
Leaving Trubble with his assistant, Sanderson headed out of the room and found that there were several people that he had invited out in the lobby of the hotel. Either they had gotten sidetracked by the striking interior of the hotel or had missed the signs, which on second thought looked woefully small compared to the size of the lobby.
After directing several prospective customers towards the conference room Sanderson noticed Jake and Melanie Roberts just entering the lobby from the elevators. With a big smile her hurried over to them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, so glad you could come," Sanderson told them.
"Sounds too interesting to miss," Jake told him.
"Great!" Sanderson exclaimed. "Now if you could come this way, we need to get started."
Sanderson led the way back to the room where several prominent photo buyers and magazine representatives had gathered, joining Mr. Trubble in the seats. After leaving Jake and Melanie with his assistant, Sanderson walked up to the front to wait for them to take their seats.
"Any idea what the photo is about?" Jake asked Mimi as he presented her with a business card.
"Not a clue," Mimi told him as she scanned the card.
"Sounds like whatever it is it is really impressive," Melanie said as Mimi handed Jake an information packet.
"It better be," Mimi said. "Otherwise I might be out of a job."
"Oh?" Jake asked.
"I shouldn't have said that," Mimi said. "Please forget I said it."
"Here; if you need a change you call me," Jake told her, indicating his card. "I could always use competent people in my business."
"Thanks; I might just do that," Mimi told him. "Now, you'd better go get a drink and take your seats."
Once everyone was settled in their seats Sanderson walked to the podium.
"Thanks for coming," he said. "I don't want to bore you with a speech or descriptions when I can just let my picture speak for itself. But I'm sure you will realize the significance of it once you see it."
"Then let's see it, Sanderson, and stop wasting time," Trubble spoke up. "We'll judge its worth."
"Of course," Sanderson said. "So, without anymore ado, here is the picture."
With a flourish he whipped off the cloth, uncovering the print so that they could all see it. Melanie and Jake could see easily from their seats that it was a very high-resolution image of Rikki lying in a pool on a beach in Hawaii. And it was pretty obvious what she was.
"What's that; a mermaid?" Trubble asked. "Sanderson, you've lost your mind."
"This is an actual picture I took just a few weeks ago in Hawaii," Sanderson explained. "Completely unmodified and original, just blown up."
"Mermaids don't exist," one of the attendees said. "It's just fantasy."
"I saw her with my own eyes," Sanderson said. "She swam in from the ocean and then I took this photo."
"I assume you have the negatives," Trubble said.
"The raw images from my camera, yes," Sanderson replied, patting his jacket. "And you can verify that they are untouched."
"We'd want to verify that they are real before buying them," another attendee said.
"That can be arranged," Sanderson said. "I think you will find them to be of some worth."
"If what you say is true, then yes, they would be worth a lot," Trubble said. "We'd want exclusive ownership."
"Now wait a minute," a woman who had until then stayed quiet said.
"Ladies and gentlemen, before we talk about price, why don't you take a closer look at the print," Sanderson said. "I'm sure that'll help you decide its worth."
Trubble led the way to the easel and looked closer at the print.
"Excellent work here, Sanderson," Trubble said, looking up. "The colors are outstanding."
"I thought you'd like it," Sanderson said.
"That's very nice work," Jake said. "A mermaid; who'd have thought?"
Trubble pulled a small magnifying viewer out of his pocket and, careful not to touch the surface of the print, examined it through the magnifier. Suddenly he jerked back and gave Sanderson a funny look before turning his attention back to the print. After a moment he let out a guffaw and turned away from the print and pocketed the viewer. Without a backward glance Trubble stepped away from the easel and headed for the rear doors.
"Uh, Arthur?" Sanderson asked.
"Can't believe you'd try that, Sanderson," Trubble said. "You must be pretty desperate."
With that Trubble dropped the information packet on the desk next to Mimi and left, without another word. Mimi watched incredulously as the remaining attendees one after the other took a closer look at the print and then left. The last to look at the photo was Jake and Melanie, who leaned in and then gave Sanderson an amused look.
"What?" Sanderson asked, confused.
"Yeah, what?" Mimi asked, walking up to them from her position at the desk.
"Look a little closer at the, uh, mermaid's tail," Jake said and stepped away from the easel to escort Melanie out of the room.
Sanderson looked at his picture of the mermaid and tried to see what the others had seen. But whatever the others had seen he couldn't see. Turning to Mimi he waved her forward. Mimi stepped in and looked the photo over for a moment before it dawned on her what everyone had seen.
Mimi quickly walked back to the table and wrote out a note for her boss with two words: "I quit!" She then grabbed the card Jake had given her and slipped it into her purse. Mimi then gave Sanderson a sad look and shook her head before leaving, causing Sanderson's jaw to drop as he watched her go.
"What the hell is going on?" Sanderson exclaimed, turning back to the print.
Suddenly he saw it: along the top of the mermaid's tail a thin line could be seen. Looking closer he followed the line to the mermaid's waist where it ended at an unmistakable shape.
"Holy crap; that's a zipper!" Sanderson exclaimed. "Wait; that means the mermaid is just … a girl in a costume."
Sanderson sat down heavily on one of the chairs closest to the easel and put his face in his hands. After a moment he raised his head and looked around at the empty room.
"Oh man, I should have checked closer," Sanderson said. "I should have known it was too good to be true."
Sanderson thought about that day and what he had seen. First the couple heading down the trail to the beach, with a bag of beach gear. Then sneaking back to possibly catch them doing something risqué. Then seeing a mermaid swimming in the pool and onto the beach. Then taking a whole sequence of shots. Then the mermaid shouting at him and he deciding to get out of there fast.
"That was the girl walking down the trail to the beach," Sanderson realized. "Oh, crap!"
There wasn't anything more for him to do; his reputation as an investigative photographer had been ruined before he had gotten started. Maybe he should just stick with wedding photography; he was good at that.
"I better get back and get to work on those Dove photos," Sanderson muttered and started to cleanup his stuff from the room. Seeing Mimi's note he added, "And see if I can get a new assistant."
After packing up the photo into the travel case Sanderson collected his scattered gear and checked his pockets for his keys. Finding the proof case in his jacket pocket he pulled it out and after giving it a glance tossed it into the trash behind the table. Sighing Sanderson picked up his case and easel and left.
Moments after Sanderson had left Melanie stepped from behind the curtains at the back of the room. She quickly walked around the table and retrieved the proof case from the trash.
"I think I'll just take these with me," Melanie said as she slipped the case into her purse and vanished back into the curtains.
Continued with Chapter 13, The Party
Poor Mr. Sanderson. Maybe he learned his lesson. Hope the wedding photography business picks up...
As usual, comments and thoughts are welcome and appreciated! We're not done yet, folks.
