"Conned?" Caroline repeated slowly as though she was learning a foreign language.
"B-but that's impossible, he seemed like such a nice guy!"

"Yeah, that's why they're so good at what they do, they come off all truthful and honest while in the meantime, they're lying straight to your face" Annie explained.
"Ugh, I knew there was something fishy about this guy, I should've trusted my instincts!

Caroline shook her head.
"No, Annie. I refuse to believe that. I looked him straight in the eye when he was telling me about his first sale. He's not a con, I'm positive."

Annie chuckled.
"Um…sorry hon, but you're not exactly the best judge of character. Besides, you don't even know the guy, how can you tell if he's trustworthy? C'mon, let's find the owner and see what to do next."

They took off in the same direction the gallery owner had disappeared into. It was pretty easy to find her. The faint smell of smoke led directly to the last room in the hallway. Through the window in the door they could see the gallery owner sitting behind her desk, talking on the phone.

"Maybe we should come back some other time," Caroline suggested, a little hesitant about going in.
"She seems pretty preoccupied."

"Ugh, please."
Annie pushed Caroline aside.

"You want your money back or not?"
She then determinately pushed open the door and barged in with Caroline in her wake.

She obviously startled the owner who was still on the phone, a cigarette in the corner of her mouth, her feet on the table leaf. She quickly swung her legs off the desk, mumbled something into the phone, then hung up.
"Ladies, what can I do for you?" she asked. She took a long drag from her cigarette, then stubbed it out into the overfilled ashtray on her desk.

"Hi, remember us?" Annie started sarcastically, "Perhaps you can give us a bit more of an explanation instead of walking off like that?"

"You're right, it's just that I'm trying to save my gallery from going bankrupt" Ms. Greenwood apologized.

"Well there has to be a way for Caroline to get her money back? I mean, surely you have insurance for something like this?"

"Sit down please."
She gestured to the faded brown chairs that were placed in front of the desk.

Annie and Caroline reluctantly took their seats as Ms. Greenwood rounded her desk and sat down on the table leaf, crossing one long leg over the other.
She stuck another cigarette between her lips but didn't light it.
"Look Miss, all I can tell you is the same thing I told those other people, I do have insurance for this, of course I do. I contacted them straight away when I found out Mr. Karinsky had disappeared. But the insurance company estimated the value of the painting quite a bit lower."

"How much lower?" Caroline asked, alarmed.

The owner raked a hand through her dry, blonde hair that had obviously seen too much peroxide.
"All the way lower."

"So, what does this mean?" Annie asked.

"That they'll only pay the estimated amount, nothing more. Other than this, there's nothing you can do apart from reporting it to the police."
She lit the cigarette and took a drag as though to say 'that's the end of it'.

Caroline got up and carefully stepped forward a little.
"So, you're telling me there's no way I can get the total amount back? But that was pretty much all of my savings…"
She tailed off, frantically trying to get her thoughts into order that were now racing through her head.

"Sorry" the owner replied, blowing out the word along with a blue puff of smoke.

Annie walked to the door and Caroline slowly followed.
"Thanks" she said softly, her expression downcast.

"Anytime" the owner smiled.
"If I hear anything else, I'll give you a call."

Eventually, Caroline and Annie left the gallery. Caroline's mood had turned around completely now that everything began to sink in.
An enormous amount of money, gone like that…
She tried to take in what that meant. No vacation this year, no new clothes for a while, no 'cookie jar' of money for a rainy day, in case the fridge would break or something…
But the money wasn't even the worst thing. The fact that she'd been lied to hurt the most. The fact that this guy had looked her straight in the eye and won her trust by telling her some sad story about how this was his first sale ever and how much it meant to him…
What a load of crap.

"What a jerk" Annie stated once the door fell closed behind them, not sure if she was talking about Richard or the gallery owner.

"You were right, Annie. I guess you can't trust anyone anymore these days. And here I was, believing there was some good left in people. Boy, was I stupid."

Annie was quick to place an arm around Caroline's shoulders and pulled her a little closer.
"Hey hon, this is not your fault. There was no way you could've known. And you can't give up trusting people because of this. The fact that you think positively and see the good in everyone is what makes you such a wonderful person."

Caroline smiled up at her friend.
"Thanks Annie, I suppose you're right. And I guess I'll get over the money thing. So I'll just be a little tight for a few months. I make a decent living, I'll earn it back."

"Now you're talking!" Annie smiled back, then threw up her arm to hail them a cab.

--------

"Look, Miss….um,…." the policeman studied the forms in front of him, "Duffy..? Look, there's not much we can do if this is all you have for us. Isn't there anything else you can tell us about this man?"

Caroline sighed and looked around the tiny office. It really seemed that her money was gone for good. Going to the police seemed like such a good idea at first but once they knew she could only describe the man and give them the name he'd given her, they became skeptic straight away.
"Well, can't you ask the gallery owner, Ms. Greenwood? She must know more" Caroline replied helplessly. She looked at Annie who shrugged in response as a sign that she didn't know either.

"Miss Duffy," the man replied, making no attempt to hide his exasperation, "Miss Greenwood contacted us straight away when she learned about the fraud. We already checked the address she gave us but he doesn't live there anymore. It seems he's fled already. Of course we'll keep an eye out but I would also advise you to be a little more careful in the future."

"That's it??" Annie exclaimed, "My friend here lost most of her savings and all you can say is 'we'll keep an eye out?'"

"I'm afraid that's all we can do. Of course we'll look for Mr. Karinsky, if that's his real name. But since we don't know anything about his whereabouts…"
He didn't finish his sentence

Annie glared at him, then dragged Caroline out of her seat and out of the office.
"You'll hear from us when we know more" the officer called after them, but they didn't hear it anymore. Annie was very upset about the whole thing while Caroline tried to find a way to deal with it all. Of course she was angry but what good was it to stay mad?
But no matter how much she rationalized the situation, it kept gnawing at her.
It wasn't because she lost the money but because her trust had been violated.
Her mother had warned her when she left for New York that she was too friendly and trusting but she always considered that a good trait. Not anymore…
Annie convinced her to go on with her life though and she pretty much forgot about the whole thing. The only times she thought of it was whenever she'd receive a bank statement, reminding her that a large part of her money was gone. And it still stung when she passed the Greenwood gallery. In both cases, she quickly pushed the pain aside, telling herself that it was all in the past and that she'd be more careful from now on.

One day, Caroline was working quietly at her desk when Annie walked in, wearing her Cats jacket, her purse dangling from her right shoulder.
"Hey Care, are you busy?" she asked superfluously because Caroline was bent over her work, repeatedly raking a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Yes, very" Caroline replied without looking up.
"You wouldn't by any chance feel like coloring a few panels, would you? I'm totally swamped, I don't know how to get everything done."

"Well, actually, I came by to see if you wanted to join me for lunch."

Caroline looked up. She was wearing her glasses and the color of her cheeks was very similar to color of her hair after the intense work she'd been doing.
"I'd love to Annie but like I said, I'm way too busy. Besides, I can't afford outdoor lunches anymore, remember?"

"My treat" Annie offered, taking Caroline's elbow.

Caroline looked from Annie to the stack of panels and back.
"I don't know, Annie. I really have a lot to do."

"So, why don't you get an assistant or something? It's not good for you to work that hard" Annie suggested.

Caroline gave Annie a knowing look.
"'Why'? Well maybe 'cause I can't afford to hire someone? Remember, I got conned not too long ago…?"

Annie sighed.
"Yeah, okay so maybe that's not an option but you still deserve a break."
She tightened her grip on her friend's elbow and started dragging her out of her seat.
"Come on, I know you're busy but you have to eat. And you'll find that you're much more productive after a break."

Caroline was still protesting, but Annie didn't give up until they were on their way down in the elevator, leaving Caroline with no choice other than to have lunch with her friend.

Once outside, they were chatting happily as they were looking for a place to go to for lunch. Caroline had completely forgotten about all the work she'd left waiting for her at her apartment as she was talking to Annie.

"So, do you want to go to Remo's again?" she asked, "Because I could use a break from the place. You know, I didn't want to say anything but last time, I found something suspicious floating in my soup…"
She rambled on, not noticing that Annie was no longer walking beside her.
"And I like Remo so I didn't say anything to him but I thought that maybe…-"
She broke off mid-sentence when she noticed she was talking to air. She looked over her shoulder to find Annie about 30 feet behind her, glued to the sidewalk.
"What are you doing?" Caroline called to her friend as she walked back.
She didn't get a reply so she repeated her question once she was by her friend's side.
"Annie, what are you doing?" she asked again, following her friend's gaze across the street, wondering what was so interesting.

"It's him" Annie finally answered, still not tearing her eyes away from whatever her gaze was fixed on.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked.

"It's him" Annie repeated.
"It's the con artist."

TBC