a conman's kiss part 4
A conman’s kiss part 4
Whizzer ended up following Marvin around all day like an excited puppy, leaping and bounding around, pressing his nose to the glass as they watched planes take off in the airport, freedom was nice no matter how close he had to stay to Marvin.
The only issue was, the childlike wonder made Marvin feel even more confused about who Whizzer really was.
“who’s that?” Whizzer asked. Cordelia, wearing a fully grey pantsuit and bright yellow ascot walked towards them as though she was on a catwalk.
Marvin sighed, “that’s Cordelia, my probie.” He looked at the puzzled expression on Whizzer’s face, “probationary agent. she does everything I don’t, she’s very good at her job and she can do way better than you.”
Whizzer threw his hands up in mock surrender, “I’m gay!”
“but we all know you like knowing everyone in the room’s attracted to you.” Whizzer was about to interject, but Marvin was already greeting Cordelia, “hey.”
She smiled brightly at Marvin before turning to Whizzer, “you must be Whizzer brown-“ she took a brief look at his body, looking up to the almost cartoonish hat on his head, a small smirk painting her lips, “-nice hat.”
Whizzer smiled charmingly, a cocky look to the onlooking Marvin who rolled his eyes, “what’ve we got?”
The smile stayed on Whizzer’s face as Cordelia handed the thin navy-blue file over to Marvin, not even dropping for a second. “his name’s tony field, customs flagged him coming in from Spain.”
“customs playing nice?” Marvin asked, kicking Whizzer as he tried to wipe the grin from his face.
Cordelia shrugged, “the usual dick measuring contest, he’s in their custody not ours.”
Marvin opened the folder as Whizzer stared him down, a fiery scowl on his face, “ just means less paperwork for me. What’s he carrying?”
“oh you’re gonna love this!” Cordelia exclaimed, a bright smile on her face. As she turned, her blonde bob seemed to bounce with every step she took, leading the pair through the airport. Marvin watched as Whizzer ogled her ass and snapped his fingers in front of his face.
“what?” Whizzer asked, slightly shocked as he was snapped out of his daze.
Marvin rolled his eyes “you’re staring and you’re gay.”
“and I’m so horny that I could fuck anything that moves, so please be my guest puppy.” Whizzer challenged, watching as Marvin clenched his jaw at the nickname. Something about Marvin getting annoyed at him made Whizzer want to do it more.
The same way a boy pulls at a girls ponytails in the school playground to get her attention.
They stopped as they reached a room, messy with all sorts of objects ranging from food to television screens. It was bright inside, harsh hospital style neon lighting, and Cordelia led them to the table, three aesthetically pleasing blue suitcases, unzipped but closed.
Marvin stopped in front of the suitcase, opening it up slowly, not sure what would be inside. “Blancanieves y Los Siete Enanitos?” Marvin said slowly, holding up one of the many books in his hand.
“Snow white and her seven little men.” Whizzer translated, opening his own suitcase, fiddling with one of the books, opening it up and taking a large inhale from its open pages.
“this is what triggered our alert.” Marvin asked, turning to Cordelia, “what do we know about this guy?”
“says he’s a rare-book dealer.” Cordelia shrugged, opening the third suitcase.
“anything wrong with his paperwork?” Marvin asked, puzzled.
“nope. He brought in the same books and the same quantity on three previous trips, he declared them each time.”
Marvin turned one of the books over, shaking it gently, but nothing fell out as Whizzer sniffed the spine, his hair flopping in front of his face in a way that made Marvin swallow back the blush dusting his cheeks, “alright horny-“ Marvin directed to Whizzer “-are we wasting our time?”
“horny?” Cordelia asked, smirking at Whizzer.
“if he were the eighth dwarf.” Marvin replied, cherishing the anger on Whizzer’s face.
“well-“ Whizzer replied, the passive aggressiveness clear as day in his voice, “-they’re not limited runs or special editions. Can’t be worth much.” He shrugged, looking back up to Marvin. “what do you think, closet case? if you were the ninth.” A cattish grin spread across his lips.
Cordelia snorted and Marvin shot her a death stare. “why go to all the trouble of flying them in?” he asked.
“good question.”
“well-“ Cordelia interjected in the thoughtful silence that followed; “-he is nervous for having all the right paperwork.”
Marvin stopped, looking up to her, taller than him with her heels, “I wanna talk to him.”
“I’ll set it up.” Cordelia gathered her files and several books bagged for evidence, “hey boss, I’m grabbing some coffee. You want some?”
“yeah, anything but decaf-“
“-Cordelia” she stopped dead in her tracks, smiling to Whizzer, “-I’ll take mine straight.” He said, smirking.
From behind him, Marvin smiled widely as Cordelia replied, “Whizzer, the coffee shop’s outside.”
Whizzer grinned, the flirtatious tone in her voice not going a miss.
“you are way out of your league.” Marvin laughed as Whizzer turned back around to continue his inspection of the books. “and why are you doing this, you know you wouldn’t enjoy fucking her?”
“oh, harmless flirting. It’s like a dance.”
“no, there is no dance. You’re not even on her dance card. No dancing for you.”
“um… she digs the hat.” Whizzer said, pointing to the hat he had placed on the ground.
“um…-“ Marvin mimicked Whizzer “-she’d rather be wearing the hat.”
Marvin walked away and Whizzer stood for a moment until his mouth dropped into an ‘O’ shape, “wait, she’s gay?” he asked, following quickly behind Marvin as he sped through the airport. He was rather fast for someone that short.
“yup, in fact she’s married to your landlady.”
Suddenly everything pieced together in Whizzer’s mind, “so that’s how you know Charlotte.”
“actually I introduced them. Charlotte’s a forensic Pathologist working with the bureau.” Marvin quickly pushed open a door, striding up to the man sat alone at a desk, “Marvin Feldman, FBI.” He flashed a smile and his badge, the man sitting at the desk slightly skittish.
“FBI? They’re really kicking it up a notch.” He laughed, but Whizzer noted that the joke was made uncomfortably, that his hands on his lap were moving and tugging on one another too quickly for it to be natural.
“so, you’re a book dealer?” Marvin asked.
“yes. Well, as I have told everyone here-“ he rocked onto his chair, reaching into the back pocket of his trousers, “-repeatedly, my business is the import and sale of rare books.” He handed Marvin a business card, Whizzer peering over his shoulder to get a good look at it.
For a second, Marvin froze, Whizzer’s breath on his ear sending chills down his spine as the hair on the back of his neck rose.
“how rare can they be?” Whizzer asked, noting Marvin’s failure to make words, “you’ve got six hundred of them.”
“well, would you like me to go down to the crime lab, dust for fingerprints?”
“oh I get it-“ Whizzer chuckled, “-because I’m telling you how to do your job. Well, I don’t actually work for the FBI, I’m a criminal informant, and let me tell you something. I could, allegedly, forge one of these books better than the original so-“
“so.” Marvin interrupted, clenching his jaw at how easily Whizzer could become cold and biting, “snow white in Spanish?”
“snow white wasn’t created by Disney, detective. There are stories predating that.”
“I’m a federal agent unlike my CI here, and do you mean folklore of the virginally pure queen like Alexander Pushkin’s tale of the white princess and the seven knights?” Marvin moved round the table as he spoke, planting himself on the table next to the man, “is that what you mean?” The man suddenly got extremely nervous, twitching as he avoided Marvin’s eye contact, “what are the books for?” Marvin asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Infront of Whizzer’s eyes, his thoughts flickered into reality. Marvin calling him a slut, forcing him onto his knees, putting his fingers into his mouth as he would beg for sex. And suddenly everything was normal, and he sighed. I really need to get laid he thought to himself, trying to forget about how deliciously perfect the moment had played out in his mind.
The man opened his mouth to speak, his tongue trembling when suddenly the door opened. A large bald man, wearing a large black woollen coat and grabbing a black briefcase walked in, no noise until he spoke, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk to my client.” He pointed to the man next to Marvin and a sudden look of fear took over his face, “constitution and all.”
He gestured to the door and Marvin got up, “Were you chasing the ambulance, or did they give you a ride, huh?” he said smacking the table angrily as he left, grabbing Whizzer’s elbow as he stared at the man, “come on!” Marvin hissed into his ear, but Whizzer could tell something was off, not budging until Marvin pulled him out.
Marvin slammed the door closed behind him and Whizzer, quickly turning to him, his grasp tightening. “what the fuck Whizzer. You cannot lose your cool like that!”
“says the man who just slammed the door!” Whizzer hissed
“after his lawyer gets to him, we can’t talk to him!” Marvin turned back to see Cordelia flirting with one of the female agents, “where’s the customs inspector?” He asked
Cordelia strutted up, pointing behind him, “Whizzer was right, the books aren’t worth much, a couple dollars each on eBay.” Whizzer smirked and Marvin scoffed, turning to the customs inspector.
“Hey, why didn’t you tell me the guy lawyered up? The second he makes that call; I can’t talk to him.”
The officer shook his head, “he didn’t call anyone.”
“then how did his lawyer know that--?” Suddenly Marvin froze, blinking as he cocked his head. He took off in a run, Whizzer and Cordelia exchanging a look before following, chasing Marvin as he slammed the door back open with his shoulder.
Whizzer stopped in the doorway, watching as Marvin shook the man, his head slouched onto the table, the syringe sticking out of the side of his neck.
His veins were red and bloated, his skin beginning to lose its glow.
“I need paramedics now!” Cordelia yelled out of the room, quickly hitting the alarm.
Marvin paced in a circle, “nobody frisked the lawyer” he yelled, “god!” through gritted teeth, pacing as Whizzer watched.
“that’s a dead body.” Whizzer muttered to Cordelia, “that is a dead body.” He put a hand over his mouth, trying to tear his eyes away as he went very pale all of a sudden.
Cordelia laughed bitterly, “what’s the matter with you, never seen a dead body before?” She turned to face Whizzer, seeing how nauseous he looked, “oh god, you’ve never seen a dead body before.” She escorted him out of the room, handing him several sachets of sugar from her pocket, “here, you look a little queasy.” She said, sitting him down on a bench. He opened the packet of sugar, pouring a little onto his tongue, swallowing it.
Marvin was almost instantly back out again, face red and dark with anger. He pointed at Cordelia and Whizzer and gestured for them to follow him as they went back to the suitcases, he spoke fast as he walked, “got a dead book dealer, a killer lawyer, and a bunch of worthless books. All right come on!” his words were directed to Whizzer, “as a reformed professional counterfeiter, what is the Dutchman’s interest in these?”
He opened the door, picking up one of the worthless books and throwing it back down.
Something about his temper, Whizzer thought to himself, something about it would someday let him do something he would regret.
“Dutchman?” Whizzer asked.
Marvin shrugged “we believe he comes from the Netherlands.”
“not very inventive. What was mine?” Whizzer asked, smoothing Marvin’s collar out in an attempt to forget about the dead body he just saw.
“your nickname?” Marvin pulled away, but his tie became caught between Whizzer’s fingers, choking him slightly in a way he did not mind.
Whizzer smiled innocently “yeah!”
“get back to work.” Marvin grumbled.
Whizzer shrugged, letting go of the tie and put a book on the steel table, grabbing a thin metal ruler and sliding it between the pagers, separating them as he flipped through them. “published 1944 in Madrid.” He muttered to himself, eyes flickering back and forth until he suddenly understood, “this is what he’s after.”
Gently he began to slide the ruler in the small space between the paper and the front cover.
“the top sheet?” Marvin asked
“more than that.” Whizzer replied, prising apart the layer, “this is a piece of 1944 Spanish press parchment.”
“that’s what he wanted. Good. This is good!” Marvin exclaimed.
“he’s gonna counterfeit something originally printed on paper like that!” Cordelia added as she figured it out.
“that’s what I would do.” Whizzer said, the pressure on the ruler suddenly decreasing as he sliced apart the layer, a sheet of thin paper now in his hand.
Marvin took it, holding it up to the light, “he made two shipments prior to this.
“that’s two blank pages per book, is six hundred sheets.” Whizzer calculated.
Marvin’s thoughts flowed almost directly off of Whizzer’s “too many for paintings, not enough for currency-“
“-bonds.” Whizzer interrupted.
For a second their eyes met and for that soul crushing second, Marvin wanted to kiss him, suddenly realising in that exact moment that he wasn’t in love with his wife, that he was never in love with his wife, and that he wanted this man right here on the steel table with god knows who watching. He realised that the bubbles in the stomach he thought he felt about his wife were forced, that wanting to have Cordelia was just a rouse to pretend he was straight because deep down, so far down it was dark and hollow, there was a tiny voice begging for him to let go, be himself.
“his wallet-“ Marvin said, pushing his feelings down again. Cordelia passed him the book dealers wallet and he opened the cool leather, fiddling through credit cards and receipts until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a sticky back ID, a visitors pass to the national archives, “this is where he went before he left for Spain.”
-
“alright, so according to our guy at the national archive, Field visited the archive several months ago and again last week. Both times he went to see-“
“-the Spanish victory bond.” Whizzer interrupted, the room filled with agents all stared at him, twisting in his chair on the edge of the conference room, an entirely bored look on his face as he threw a tiny blue ball up into the air.
“for those of you who have not met my CI, this is Mr Brown. Please ignore him.” Marvin said, shooting a look at Whizzer from across the room. Whizzer scrunched his nose at Marvin, but the message was clear, the same look on his face as the dance with Cordelia. Harmless flirting, he called it, although each time he opened his mouth, Marvin wanted to dive out of the window, so afraid of his feelings.
From on the centre of the glass conference table, Marvin pointed out the sheet of paper they had recovered from the airport. “this was what we found in the snow-white books, and this-“ he pointed at the Spanish victory bond, “-this was, in theory, the only surviving bond.”
“in theory?” One of the agents interrupted.
“let me take you back-“ Whizzer said.
The room was large and white, quiet, like a library and Marvin delicately placed the paper from the books over the bond on the table, “look at that-“ he said, looking at Whizzer’s chiselled face only a few centimetres away from his own, “-a perfect fit. You’re beginning to earn your seven hundred a month.”
Whizzer smiled coldly at him, picking up the bond with his gloved hands, careful not to damage it, “you said it had a fascinating history?” he said, looking up to the curator.
“quite. It was issued during the second world war.”
“1944?” Marvin asked.
“yes. Yeah. The U.S. issued it to support the Spanish in their battle against the axis. Very few have ever been redeemed.” Whizzer nodded as he stared back to the bond, creasing it slightly in his hand as he read it’s signature markings, bringing it close to his face. “there’s speculation that entire boxes were captured-“ Whizzer sniffed the bond, creasing his eyebrows before bringing it back down again, running his finger over the hand lettering in the centre, “-Many are still hidden in the caves of Altamira.”
“whole boxes of these?” Marvin asked, and Whizzer stared at the slight pigment he had collected on the white glove.
“yeah. Boy, that would be something, wouldn’t it?” the curator asked, and Whizzer put the bond down. “this is the only surviving copy.”
Whizzer looked up, “except it’s a forgery.”
Marvin looked from Whizzer to the curator, a shocked look on his face, “no. that’s not possible.” The curator speculated.
Marvin had a warning tone in his voice as he whispered to Whizzer, “what are you talking about?”
“it’s the ink.” Whizzer answered simply, “this is iron-gall dye mixed to match period colours, but it hasn’t dried yet.” He picked it up, “you can still smell the gum Arabic.” Marvin and the curator took a brief sniff of the paper, and suddenly the curators face went pale.
“no. this has been here since 1952.”
“it’s been here less than a week.” Whizzer replied.
“thank you Whizzer for casting us into such a vivid landscape, but I need to get on with the briefing-“ Marvin interrupted as Whizzer stared at the agents hanging onto his every word. Whizzer put his hands up in a please continue manner, and Marvin did as told. “so tony makes two trips. The first trip takes a picture of the bond, the second trip in, he steals the original and replaces it with this copy. Can we confirm that?”
“the timed ink identification test puts the age of the bond at approximately six days, which coincides with Tony’s visit.” One of the agents from the side of the room answered and Marvin nodded.
“we’re pulling surveillance video to back it up-“ Cordelia finished.
“good.” Marvin continued, “so the question is, why go to the trouble of making a nice forgery on the right type of paper just to stick it back in the archives. Ideas people.” The room was silent as people avoided Marvin’s eye contact, unable to figure out what it meant.
“is the bond still negotiable?” Whizzer asked, cutting through the silence.
Everyone’s head turned to him, “It’s a zero option. It never expires. What’s it worth?” Marvin asked, getting up quickly and pacing the office floor.
“thousand- dollar face value, drawing nine percent interest—” one of the agents started.
“compounded for 64 years-“ Cordelia finished.
“two hundred and forty-eight thousand dollars.” Whizzer interrupted, staring at the green dot on his tracking anklet.
“what he said-“ Cordelia said, checking the answer on a calculator as Marvin ogled at him.
What can’t he do, Marvin thought to himself. He shook his head, staring out of the large windows at the blurring city lights in the light shower of rain, “quarter of a million, and he’s got six hundred sheets of this stuff.”
The room stared to Whizzer who’s eyes flitted back and forth for a millisecond before replying, “ a hundred and fifty million,” he looked up, “give or take.”
“okay, good- but it still doesn’t tell us why he would take out the real bond and put in a forgery” Marvin said to the room, making pointed gestures at the table with his finger.
Whizzer leant back in his chair continuing to throw the ball up in the air, and suddenly he sat up, “I think it does.” He pointed to Marvin, ball still in his hand “what if he claimed he found boxes of the original bonds?”
“dragged them out of those caves in Spain-“
“how would they be authenticated?” Whizzer asked Marvin, a question that prompted a second of thinking from the older man.
Suddenly the look of understanding crossed Marvin’s face, “they’d be taken to the archives and compared to the original.”
“which he’s already switched out with his own-“
“-so of course they’re gonna match. I could kiss you-“ Marvin hesitated, his open mouth wavering as he realised what he had said. He shook his head and Whizzer looked back up to the ceiling, throwing the ball up again, “oh, this is good. This is really good.” He said, walking behind Whizzer and grabbing the ball as it made its apex, leaving Whizzer with a lonely expression. “all right, let’s think about this.” Marvin began to squeeze the ball in his hand.
On the desk, the landline began to ring and Marvin, still pacing, pointed at it as Cordelia reached across the table picking it up, “It’s Trina.” She said, and Marvin stopped, scrunching his eyes. He let out a sharp exhale, gesturing for everyone to leave and picked it up.
“hey. Would you believe me if I said I was pulling up right in front of the house now?” He asked, already knowing she wouldn’t.
Trina was stood in the kitchen, pouring herself a large glass of white wine, watching as Jason played with his food, “you lost track of time.” She sighed, walking around the island and placing her glass on the table. “it happens.” Trina was done being mad.
But Marvin found it suspicious, “I hope you didn’t make dinner.” He said, eyes narrowed. On the outside their conversations would seem normal, but inside they were filled with digs and slashes at one another.
“did you forget who you married.” Trina replied, her laugh silvery, but cold as though cutlery was dropping together, “I am smarter than that.” She sat down at her seat at the table, a plate of homemade food in front of her, her husband’s food, at the head of the table. “so, how’s Whizzer doing?” She asked, biting her tongue.
She hated that man. when they first met, had coffee together before she knew who he was, she liked him, but after he made her husband miss many dates and anniversary’s and parties, she had grown to loathe him.
“he’s met Cordelia.”
Trina patted the seat next to her, the dog leaping up and eating Marvin’s food as Jason giggled. “oh, a woman who can resist his charms.” She had always admired the aesthetic of Whizzer Brown, wished his lifestyle could be hers.
“I told you, he’s gay. Look, I’m onto something Trina darling-“
Trina sighed “so I won’t wait up.” She was cold again. She had never been cold before she met Marvin, but now she was afraid that was all she had become.
“I’m leaving. Ten minutes, I promise.” Marvin looked out on the skyline, knowing he wasn’t going to keep his promises. They were always so empty, and she knew it. “twenty at the most.”
“I know.” Trina replied, trying so hard to stop her voice from cracking. “I love y-“
He put the phone down before he heard the final word, staring out of the glass room and looking at Whizzer Brown, greeting an agent, a flirtatious smile on his face reciprocated by the other man.
And he felt the heaviness of who he was trying to be, dropping onto his shoulders for the first time.