"Then I'm sorry I wasted your time." She turned to walk out.
He stopped her again. "Wait. Please let me finish. I won't be your lawyer but I will be your teacher. Please come in and sit with me.”
She complied.
He continued. "Let me start by saying, I don’t think I can teach you everything you would need to know in order to pull this off, but I can give you enough to start hunting for solid clues. I also think it may be more expeditious if you bring what you find to me so I can take a detailed look at them. Then we can build an evidentiary map, and you can look for specific missing parts. If we work this way we can both learn as we go. How does that sound to you?"
It was a test.
"Ok." She said.
She passed.
He rolled out his chalkboard and began to outline a basic framework for data collection. He provided lists of key words, ideas and forms to be on the lookout for. He also divulged specific names of suspected dirty clients that might be in the mix. The two held an impromptu private tutor session and Betty was an eager student. She flipped open her little note book and followed along writing lists. She was a bright student and asked all the right questions. She listened to what he said and took him seriously. He felt that it was only fair to reciprocate.
After three hours Professor, Leo Langley called it a night. He knew it might take a while to hone their system, but it felt like a good start. She already knew where to look. Now she knew what to look for.
He concluded. "Like I was saying before, I’m not sure I can face… that person again in court, but if you can really get everything you say you can, if you get the evidence we need, I’ll make sure it all gets to trial somehow."
She got up and smiled for the first time since she entered his office. She folded up her notepad and said. "Thank you, you’ve been very helpful."
He reiterated. "You do your part and I will do the rest."
Betty said. "I’ll return when I have something."
He was glad she was happy but he didn't want to get his hopes up. The truth had a way of unfolding over time. He just had to be patient until he could figure out what it was. He was testing the mysterious Witness X. To him this was a discovery phase. He wanted proof of her claims. But there was an excitement brewing in him. He and his cohort were united in a revenge plot. It felt important. It felt good.
The duo shook hands and Betty headed out. Before exiting she hesitated for a moment, then turned and asked him. "Did you know you have ink all over your face?"
"What?" Then he remembered the exploding pen and looked sheepish.
She exited saying. "I just didn't want you to be embarrassed by someone else out there."
Betty was juggling a lot of roles in her life. Keeping the characters straight wasn’t as hard as managing her time and getting enough sleep. She had to reshape her routine to accommodate another new identity.
As Jewel, the receptionist, she continued working for Carson five days a week until she finished her bank heist. As Betty, the nurse, she switched her schedule at the hospital to work the weekends. As Raven, the playful sadist, she decreased her visits to Razzles although some nights she took appointments from very special, high paying clients. It was a good way to burn off steam. The combined income from all three of her roles was building her farm fund back up. And, as Witness X, she worked with the Professor to trap a monster.
After collecting some burglary supplies she returned to her role as Jewel, the platinum blonde receptionist outside Carson's office. She wanted the day to pass more quickly but it seemed to drag. She seemed distant to Carson and he asked her two times if she was feeling all right. She distracted him by flirting away any suspicion he may have had. Once she even brushed up against the bulge in his pants with her bottom in a staged accident as she schooched past him to get the mail. She acted embarrassed, but she never seemed to blush. Carson took it as a sign that she was secretly filled with as much lust as he was, but her need for marital purity was in the way. Still, he enjoyed the chase and stole a kiss from her between meetings.
After the day was over and everyone was finally gone, she emerged from her hiding spot with a leather carrying bag. She took off her heels and dress and hung up her work costume. A naked Jean Harlow stood in the bank. A mischievous pleasure overtook her. She smiled and twirled. A gentle draft slid between her warm thighs. The chill tickled and she giggled. She examined the vacant space. She was alone, in the buff, in the most power financial institution in the Citadel, possibly the country. Alone she was free to do anything she wanted.
She was giddy and laughed and said. “I’m definitely in violation of the dress code.”
She resisted the temptation to frolic through the entire bank like an untamed nymph loose in the modern world. She debated committing that evening’s heist in the nude, but decided she didn't want to get herself all dusty crawling around in the bank's catacombs.
She redressed in blue coveralls, gloves, and thick socks that she retrieved from her leather satchel. She thought of this outfit as her burglar uniform. She tied a headscarf to protect her platinum hair and she was ready.
Empowered by the Professor's notes, Betty returned to her late night undercover work. There were files stashed all over the building, but she knew where to start. She opened the elevator cage, entered and turned the operators lever to down. She stopped between the first and basement floors. During her early reconnaissance of the bank, she found a file room in the basement. That was where the good stuff was hidden, but it was locked up. While exploring, she discovered a way into the room through the elevator shaft.
She climbed out and crawled under the elevator car with her satchel. An old acrid smell invaded her nose as she progressed through decades of dust and grease from the wheels and cables. She reached the machinery at the back of the shaft. She inched through a narrow gap and wiggled round the stalled gears. She knew they would chew up her flesh and shatter her bones if they were activated while she was stuck in there. She imagined what her x-rays would look like if she got caught in them.
It was a tight spot and she got through. A man wouldn't have fit. Finally, she forced all the air out of her lungs and squeezed through a narrow wall grate. Then she popped out through a service panel and into the file room. She was filthy from the journey.
The basement file room was stone, cold and musty like a dungeon. It was filled with rows and rows of file cabinets. They looked like black subway trains parked in the station for the night. She wondered what crimes were lurking in the Citadel Bank history. She pulled her notepad from the thin leather satchel and began exploring file drawers. With the Professor’s primer, she discovered an organizational method that would have made a German efficiency expert proud. She removed a camera from her bag, unfolded the case and adjusted the lens baffle. She gathered files and removed pages and papers, then photographed them one by one. She alternated between shuffling papers, writing down file names, advancing film and replacing flash bulbs.
She worked until she was out of film, then packed up her bag, removed all evidence of her presence, and slipped back out through the elevator shaft. Upstairs she collected her other clothes and escaped into the night.
Getting into the bank at night was difficult, but getting out was easy.
She strolled to the costume shop and using her own key, crept inside so she wouldn't wake Alfonzo. Although she doubted he would hear anything over his snoring. It rumbled the entire space. She entered a dressing chamber in the rear of the shop and removed her platinum blonde disguise. She was getting used to seeing Jewel's face and wore it more than Betty's these days. Betty was the one who looked like the stranger. Once her disguise was removed, she took a hot shower, stuffed her ears with plugs and fell asleep on a cot the Gypsy set up for her.