He returned with a big smile about two hours later.
I decided I would see if I could adjust his smile a bit.
I walked into the motel office. Mystery man was again at the desk. There was a sign, “Ryan Donovan, Manager;” Ryan was wearing a wedding ring. Sometimes life is good.
“May I help you, sir.”
“I think you can, Ryan. Tell me, did you get any good video this afternoon?”
Suddenly, Ryan was a peculiar color. “Video? I…I…I do not…”
“Ryan, you were in room 134 with Doris Nelson. You have been videoing your last five times with her on her cell phone. Let’s not play dumb.”
“Oh, please. I cannot have this get out. I am married. I work this job so I can complete my MBA. Give me a break. This will ruin me.”
“Ryan, I have good news for you. I am not here to ruin you. Doris is another story. Here is what we are going to do. I laid it out for him. He agreed. Next, I called Jim, with my new plan; most importantly, he agreed.
My new plan involved Ryan saying he took some of the videos and copied the rest. It was leveraged persuasion – which is sometimes called extorsion. We would keep him anonymous, he would escape his bad deeds, and we could use video evidence without risk to my license. I wasn’t comfortable letting Ryan go but had to do something to protect myself.
It took a couple of days. I set up a meeting with several officers of the board of both charities, Jim, Ryan, and me.
When we were assembled Jim spoke first. “Thank you for meeting with us. I am afraid I have some unwelcome news. My ex-wife, Doris Nelson is having affairs with married members of both of your boards.”
I looked at one of the groups and said, “Tom Benson.” Then to the other, “Bill Mason.”
“A few years ago,” Jim continued, “Doris had a fling with the then, mayor. It got a ton of press. You see, among her other, shall I say, odd moral values, is a desire to video her transgressions and watch them at her leisure.”
Jim paused for effect. The board representatives were all stricken. Jim continued. “We have video, if you’d like to see it.”
Janice Davis, one of the Board officers, said she most certainly did not. Another, Ralph Williams, asked, “How is it you have video?”
Jim looked at Ryan. “Joe, would you tell them, please?”
When we introduced ourselves, we called Ryan, Joe Smith – not original, but anonymous. We had rehearsed his little speech, “First, my name is not Joe Smith, these gentlemen have kindly agreed to help my identity remain unknown. Unfortunately, I am also involved with Ms. Nelson, and we have progressed to the point that I now use her phone to do the videos. I copied a bunch of them to my own phone and happened to get the videos Jim mentioned in the process.”
He stopped abruptly. I spoke up. “We are interested in hurting as few people as possible. We particularly do not want scandal to impact your great organizations. We do want Doris to get what is coming to her – removal from both boards and her actions reported to her current husband.”
I got affirming nods all around and continued. “We have a ten second, R-rated, video segment for each board. I would like to send them to you. Both show nothing graphic but do leave no doubt what the easily identifiable people shown are doing.”
I got agreement and sent the videos. They took 10 seconds to watch, and I had their full attention.
I asked if it was okay for “Joe” to leave. Everyone thanked him and he left, looking a good deal better than when he had come in.
What followed was a great discussion. The charity representatives were furious. Scandals can end charities. They wanted Doris punished and they wanted the men hung out to dry, too. We talked about how that might be done. They were so mad they wanted to just announce it at a public board meeting. Jim and I had a far better plan. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and they bought into our plan.
The result was all Jim hoped for – and more.
Both Boards chose two officers to go to the home of their male board member. In front of the spouse, they spoke of the affair and the video evidence. Two divorces ensued.
Next, representatives of both charities and I went to the office of Mr. Nelson. We told him what was going on and showed him the two 10-second videos. Nelson was beside himself. He knew of Doris’ past, and she had sworn to him it would never happen again. He had protected himself with a prenup. He let out a positively sinister chuckle and said, “The arrogant whore never even read it. She’ll wish she had. At least winters here are fairly mild; a box beneath an underpass is not all that bad a home, for the likes of her.
I asked if we might talk in private. Bill thanked everyone for letting him know, privately, first, and escorted them to the outer office. He came back in and asked, “How is it we might help one another?”
“Let me give you a hint of why I want to ask this of you. I had a client, Jim Watson. Jim is a really nice guy, straight arrow, and always looking for ways to help people. He’d be a good friend ten minutes after you met him. Doris did the same thing to him that she has now done to you.”
“That pisses me off. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but she said she had an affair with the mayor. I guess she forgot about the videos.”
I went on to explain to him how Doris had turned on Jim and that I feared she might try it with him, as well.
“Hugh, I appreciate your concern. Jim may be a nice guy. I’m not. People who fuck me over tend not to do very well – now, Doris has done that, literally. I am glad to know about her phone.”
I told him the news would be out tomorrow, so he needed to confront her tonight. I suggested how that might be done and he loved it.
As we parted, he shook my hand, “Hugh, you are a rare individual. Your past client is going to come out of this feeling pretty good and that’s mostly due to you.”
That made my day, I’m sure he saw it in my face, “Thanks, that means a lot. Success in business is about going that extra mile for your clients.”
He asked for a handful of cards and told me he knew several organizations which used investigators from time to time. I left with an even bigger smile on my face.
That evening the Nelsons were enjoying a drink after dinner. There was a knock on their door. Both were at the door when it opened. There stood Jim Watson. Doris was trying to close the door, but her husband prevented it.
“Doris, I wanted to personally inform you that you have been dismissed from both prestigious boards on which you sit. The reason is you have been up to your old tricks. Namely, fucking – if you will pardon the vulgar language and videoing these assignations on your phone.”
“You filthy liar.” She turned to her husband. “Bill, this toad of a man is lying. He lied to get a divorce years ago. Trust me when I tell you he is nothing but a filthy liar.”
“Well, that pretty much takes care of you, Mr.?” Bill said, looking as though he meant it.
Jim just smiled.
Nelson continued, “Doris, why don’t you get your phone and show this charlatan there are no such videos.”
“Bill, I am shocked. You do not trust me?”