Miz Sara Goes on Maneuvers

"Very well, if you'll give me your address I'll be at your office at 4:30 this afternoon."

When I hung up, Marcy looked at me uncertainly. "You're going to meet with her?" she asked.

"Yes," I said with a grim smile, "I'm going to appeal to her better nature."

When I got to Vera Martindale's place of work, the receptionist escorted me to a small conference room. No sooner was I seated than the door opened again and a tall, slim woman entered. Her hair was cut stylishly short and she wore high heels, a man-tailored blouse and a pencil skirt that showed her figure but were still business appropriate. "Not a true beauty," I thought, "but definitely someone who would be very attractive to men."

We introduced ourselves warily, and then she seized the initiative. "I'm quite busy, Mrs. Cannon, so let's get on with it. Why exactly are you here?"

"I'm here to keep you from making a fool of yourself over Walter Sheridan," I said briskly.

She gasped.

I pressed on. "Ms. Martindale, I represent Walter's wife, Harriet Sheridan. I know all about your relationship with Walter, and I'm here to put a stop to it before you get yourself into a great deal of trouble."

She rose from behind the conference table.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here," she snapped. "My personal life is none of your business, and you have no right trying to tell me what to do! I'll thank you to leave right now."

I sat there calmly. "Ms. Martindale, you're the one who has no right to try to break up someone else's marriage. And if you persist in your efforts, you'll find that there's quite a lot I can do to make you regret it. For example, I can easily obtain a restraining order that will keep you at least 500 yards away from Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan for the next three years. I can file a civil suit against you for harassment for a large sum of money. Just having to defend yourself in court against such a suit will prove extremely expensive for you."

"Moreover, I can file a criminal complaint against you for stalking that will result in your being investigated by the police. I suspect that won't do your career any good. And speaking of your career, I can notify your company's executives that you have been employing the company's computer network for personal use to send harassing emails. I suspect that could cost you your job, but even if it doesn't, your personal affairs will become common knowledge throughout the office. Is all that what you want, Ms. Martindale, or would you rather sit down and continue this conference with me?"

As I was speaking, I could see her face pale behind her make-up, and as I continued, she sat down slowly. By the time I had finished my litany, the anger had left her face, to be replaced by anguish and desperation.

"But I love him!" she cried, "and he loves me. If he'd just leave that old bag, we could be happy together."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Martindale, but that's not true. You know that, or you wouldn't have sent those emails to Harriet to try to provoke her into divorcing him. He has confessed everything to his wife, and despite your best efforts, she has agreed to take him back."

I leaned across the table. "Walter and Harriet have made their choice, Ms. Martindale, and you have no right to interfere, especially now that they've done so. You need to back off and leave the two of them alone from now on."

She lowered her head to the table and began to cry piteously. I listened for a minute, then stood up, walked around to the other side of the table and sat down beside her.

"I know what it feels like to lose someone you love, Vera," I said quietly. "But sometimes things don't work out the way you want. When that happens, all you can do is accept it and move on. You're a young and attractive woman; I don't believe this will be your last opportunity to find love."

Her crying subsided, and I handed her a tissue from my purse. She looked up at me and asked, "Are you still going to sue me and tell my boss?"

I gave her a small smile. "No, dear, if you don't bother the Sheridans any more, I'll have no reason to interfere with your life."

I left her sitting there, saddened and alone.

When I returned to the office, Marcy was eager to learn what had happened. After I'd recounted our confrontation, she asked, "Do you think she'll leave the Sheridans alone now?"

I sighed. "It's hard to say, Marcy. A rational person would, but desire sometimes makes people act irrationally. The thing is, she was living in a fairy tale world. I made her understand that in the real world, actions have consequences. Now she knows that there will be serious repercussions if she's foolish enough to try again. My hope is that the Sheridans have heard the last of her."

The next day I called Harriet Sheridan to let her know what I had done. I think she rather enjoyed my account of my meeting with Vera Martindale, especially when I recounted the consequences Vera might expect if she persisted in her efforts. I asked Harriet to be sure to notify me know if Vera attempted any further contact, and she promised she would. Then she told me that she and Walter had already made an appointment to meet with a marriage counselor. I wished them good luck and she thanked me profusely for what I had done for her. I hoped it was enough.

As it was Friday, despite my reservations Marcy left the office before noon to go off on her "recon mission." As she was leaving, I once again admonished her not to do anything foolish and to return to the office as soon as possible. I trusted her and, I had to admit, I had gone out on a couple of "recons" myself. Nevertheless, I still felt uneasy.

It was mid-afternoon when Marcy returned to the office, and as she came in the door, her face revealed a strange mixture of emotions. I was very apprehensive about what that could mean. She came and sat down heavily beside my desk.

"Well," I demanded, "what happened? Did you run into any problems?"

She looked at me oddly. "No, there weren't any problems. No one saw me or knew what I was doing."

"So what did you find out? What about that hunch you had?"

"My hunch was right, Miz Sara, but I kind of wish it wasn't," she said glumly.

After she explained what she meant, I sat quietly for a minute and then picked up the phone and made a call. When I had finished, I told Marcy what I thought needed to happen, and we began preparing. Neither of us was looking forward to it.

When Jim Davenport arrived that afternoon after going to the movie, he was in a jovial mood. "Well, Marcy, are you a better detective than me?" he teased my assistant. She simply smiled briefly and led him into my office.

No sooner was he seated than we heard a tapping on the glass at the front door. I left Marcy with Jim and went to answer the door. When I returned, I was accompanied by a woman wearing business attire. Jim looked up, did a double-take, and then blushed furiously. "Mandy, what are you doing here?"

Mandy Hamilton looked at Jim with the same bemused look. "I could ask the same question, Jim. Why are you here?"

While he was groping for an appropriate response, I interjected, "He's here, Mrs. Hamilton, because he's been spying on you for the last two weeks or so."

She gasped in shock. "Spying on me? Whatever for?"

"Go ahead, Jim," I said. "Tell her."

He couldn't look at her. Finally, he mumbled, "I was trying to find out who you're having an affair with."

"What!" she shrieked. "I'm not having an affair! Who told you that?"

He looked up at her with embarrassment. "Jerry told me."

Before she could respond, I spoke up again. "Please let me explain what's been going on so you'll both understand."

I quickly summarized the events that led up to today's meeting. Mandy sat there glowering as she listened. Any joviality that Jim might have felt when our little tete-a-tete began had long since dissipated.

I turned to my assistant. "Marcy, please tell Mr. Davenport and Mrs. Hamilton what you observed today on your reconnaissance."

She stood up, widened her stance and folded her arms behind her back. "It's like she's about to give an army briefing," I realized. "All she needs is a wall chart and a pointer."

Marcy cleared her throat and started. "Most people believe that Eisenhower's invasion of Europe began with Operation Overlord and the assault on Normandy. Actually, the first phase was Operation Fortitude," she began.

Both Davenport and Hamilton looked bewildered, so I quickly spoke up. "Let's skip the lecture on military history and go right to what happened today, Marcy."

"But that's what I'm doing, Miz Sara," she protested. "It's all about deception and diversion."

I just raised my eyebrows, and Marcy sighed. "Oh, all right."

She took a deep breath. "When Mr. Davenport told us about Jerry Hamilton's request that he conduct surveillance on Mrs. Hamilton and his eagerness to have Mr. Davenport continue despite the lack of results, the whole thing struck me as odd. The more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of Eisenhower's efforts to mislead Hitler about the European invasion site."

I rolled my eyes, and catching my look, Marcy hurried on. "Anyway, I played a hunch. Instead of going to Mrs. Hamilton's office today, I drove out to your home, Mr. Davenport."

"Why in the world would you do that?" he asked in confusion.

"Because," Marcy answered, "I wanted to find out why Jerry Hamilton would want to ensure you would be away from home at a given time."

As the implications of what Marcy was saying began to sink in, Jim's face began to darken, but before he could speak, Marcy turned instead to Mandy. "Mrs. Hamilton, I regret to report that the reason your husband wanted Jim to follow you was so your husband could safely have an encounter with Jim's wife at their home. It appears that they have been conducting an affair for quite some time."

Mandy Hamilton's face turned pale with shock. "How can you possibly know that?" she demanded.

Marcy looked embarrassed. "People who have main-floor master bedrooms should make sure that their curtains are drawn and their windows fully closed before they do something they don't want others to know about. From what I could gather, Mr. Davenport's unexpected retirement threw a monkey wrench into their regular rendezvous. So Jerry Hamilton came up with the story about your 'affair' as a way to get Jim out of the house."

Mandy was outraged, but Jim was in denial and spoke up first. "I just can't believe that Jerry is having an affair with Peggy. He's my best friend. Couldn't it have been some kind of practical joke they were playing on me?"

Marcy looked at me questioningly, and I nodded my head. She reached into an envelope she'd left on the coffee table. "I'm sorry, Mr. Davenport, Mrs. Hamilton. I have pictures."

With that, she pulled out a stack of photos revealing the two spouses having intercourse, with Jerry Hamilton kneeling behind Peggy Davenport, who was on her hands and knees on the bed. There were a number of different shots, but there was no question about the identities of the two people or what they were doing.

As Mandy and Jim looked through the sheaf of photos, a stunned, bitter silence fell over the room. Both were in a state of shock and anger. Finally, I looked to Marcy again. "Go ahead, dear," I prodded. "They have a right to know."

Marcy sighed. "My camera also records sound. After I took those pictures, I set the camera on the window sill to see what I could pick up."

She flicked a switch and we could hear sound coming over the speaker system. At first it was indistinct; then a feminine sigh could be heard. "That was so good," came the voice of Peggy Davenport. "You know how to do me so well."

"Better than Jim?" we heard Jerry ask.

She laughed. "You know the answer to that. That clown couldn't keep his job and he can't satisfy me. He's a joke! I'll bet he's still parked outside your wife's office. I don't know why I ever married him in the first place."

Then Jerry snorted derisively. "No, the biggest joke is that anyone would think Mandy could ever attract a lover!" The two of them chortled at that.

Then Peggy's tone of voice changed. "Speaking of lovers, do you think we have time for another?"

Marcy quickly reached over and turned off the speakers. "You probably don't want to listen to what comes next. Besides, I slipped away shortly after that."

Neither Marcy nor I really wanted to look at the two of them just then, but it was clear to both of us that they were in a lot of pain. Both just sat there trying to comprehend the sudden end to their illusions and their marriages.

Finally, I felt I had to break the silence. "Now that you know what's been going on, what do the two of you want to do about this?"

Mandy Hamilton was the first to respond. There were tears running down her cheeks, but she had a determined look on her face. "Miz Sarah, I will be filing for divorce from my cheating husband as soon as possible. Would you be so kind as to represent me?"

I sighed. "Yes, under the circumstances I'm certainly willing to do so."

She got a determined look on her face. "Good, because after what I've seen and heard today, I want to take that bastard to the cleaners. He's going to regret what he's done to me before this is all over."

"Hold on a minute," I said hastily, "I know how upset you are at all this, but I hope you're not planning on doing anything rash."

"Oh, no, Miz Sara," she replied evenly, "I don't have to. Jerry is not as smart as he thinks he is. I may have a little surprise for him." After she explained what she had in mind, Marcy and I exchanged glances. I couldn't help but think of Congreve's famous line: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Jim still sat quietly. It was clear that today's revelations had caught him completely by surprise and he was having a difficult time digesting what he had seen and heard. As I watched him staring at the floor, my heart went out to him. He certainly had done nothing to be treated so cruelly by his wife and best friend.

"Are you going to be okay, Jim?" I asked softly.

He looked at a point somewhere over my shoulder and a thousand yards distant. "I thought she loved me. I thought we had our lives all worked out. We were going to enjoy retirement. Sure we would have to be careful with our money, but I thought we were going to do things together, visit places we'd never been and share all sorts of experiences."

I'd heard the contempt in his wife's voice when she and her lover talked about Jim, and I thought there was little chance of reconciliation. But it's not my place to make decisions for my clients, so I wanted him at least to consider his options. "Jim," I said softly, "perhaps that life is still possible if you think you could forgive Peggy's infidelity."

He shook his head bitterly. "I had no clue what she really thought of me, no idea that she was dissatisfied with our marriage." He looked at me and the pain in his eyes was obvious. "After the way she's deceived me, how could I ever trust her again, Miz Sara?"

"Maybe counseling could provide some of those answers," I essayed.

He just shook his head. "You heard Marcy's recording: Peggy neither loves nor respects me, and apparently hasn't for some time. All she was interested in was the income I provided, and now that I've retired, she has no use for me at all. I could never forgive, much less forget all that."

He snorted. "And as for Jerry Hamilton, my so-called best friend is still trying to play me for a fool. He called me this afternoon before I came over here, and he had the nerve to ask me to spy on Mandy again on Monday. I guess he has another session planned with Peggy."

He looked up at me with determination. "I'm going to need your services too, Miz Sara."

I try to be dispassionate about my clients. It doesn't help to become emotionally involved in their cases, even when I think they're in the right. Yet I find myself becoming involved far more often than I should. I had taken offense at Vera Martindale's attempts to break up the Sheridan's marriage, so much so that I wanted to confront her personally. Now for the second time in a week I found myself outraged at the way their spouses had so callously betrayed Jim Davenport and Mandy Hamilton. My dander was up.

I turned to the two of them. "I can certainly understand your feelings. From what we've learned today, it appears that your spouses have been manipulating and deceiving you both for some time now and have taken great pleasure in doing so. I think it's time we put a stop to that. In fact, now that I think of it, I believe there's a way we could even give them a little taste of their own medicine, if you'd like to do that."

I saw Jim and Mandy glance at each other, and for the first time since our meeting had started I saw a little spark of life in their eyes. Mandy spoke first: "I would love to do that." Jim just nodded vigorously.

"In that case," I said, "here's what I propose we do."

We spent another hour discussing and refining our little plan

"If you want to make this work," I told them, "you'll have put on a good act this weekend. You'll both have to pretend that nothing has happened and you know nothing about their little affair. Do you think you can do that?"

"For me that will be easy," Jim spoke up. "Peggy is driving over to Birmingham this weekend to visit her sister, so I'll be a bachelor anyway. It'll probably be pretty late when she gets home Sunday evening, so I won't have to do much acting at all."

I turned to Mandy. "I won't have a problem with it either" she said. "It's a big football weekend for Jerry. Georgia is playing Tech on Saturday, and then he has tickets for the Falcons' game on Sunday. I'll hardly see him."

Finally, we had it all planned out. It wouldn't change what had happened, but it might help Jim and Mandy feel a little bit better. And I knew it would give me some satisfaction to help them.

Mandy Hamilton left for home, but Jim hung back. I went over and sat beside my friend. "What is it, Jim?"

"Miz Sara," he said emphatically, "Today I learned that my wife doesn't love me and hasn't for a long time. I learned that she and the guy I thought was my best friend have been making a fool and a cuckold of me in my own bed. I've had all sorts of wild fantasies about confrontations and revenge."

I looked at him apprehensively, but he hurried on. "But after all that, I've decided I don't want to confront her, I don't want to have to hear her excuses or apologies; in fact I'd be happy if I never had to see either one of them ever again. The sooner they're out of my life, the better I'll feel."

I looked at him thoughtfully and then nodded. "I understand, Jim. You're not the first client to feel that way. When a spouse's behavior is that egregious, they just want to be done with them."

He nodded.

"In that case," I continued, "I have an idea. You said you wanted to travel -- why not take this opportunity to do just that? You could simply leave while she's in Birmingham and leave the two of them to face the consequences."

A smile came to his face for the first time since our meeting started. "I like that, Miz Sara. In fact, I've been researching travel options on line for some time now, and there's a cruise ship leaving from Miami for the Mediterranean on Monday afternoon. I think I'll do it. She cut me out of her life; now I'm going to do the same to her."

Then he hesitated. "But what about our plan?"

I smiled back at him. "Just leave everything else to me. I think I'm going to enjoy this."

Since he was going to be out of touch, we talked about what kind of financial settlement he wanted. Afterwards, he thanked me and left. As he walked through the door, I saw him straighten his shoulders, and I felt a little better for him. "He's walking like a man with a purpose," I thought.