The Carnival Is Over

The Hard Slog Café
Bonham Trudeaux had not seen Stiles Parsons for some time, so he telephoned him and arranged to have lunch with him at the Hard Slog Café near his home. As Trudeaux was walking from his car to the Café he saw Marcellus Breadfern also walking along the footpath. He caught up to Marcellus and spoke with him. After initial salutations Bonham said he was going to have lunch at the Hard Slog Café with a friend and he invited Marcellus to join them. Marcellus accepted the invitation and they walked to the café together.

About three (3) minutes later they were seated at a table at the café. Almost immediately Stiles Parsons joined them. Stiles and Marcellus had not previously met, so Bonham introduced them. It did not take long for them to realise that they all knew and had had interaction with Arcadia Thiessen.

Bonham Trudeaux said that he had received a telephone call from Arcadia informing him that she had genital warts and he may wish to see his doctor to see if he had contracted them.

“I promptly attended my doctor and was told that I had no symptoms whatsoever.”

Upon hearing that news, Marcellus Breadfern revealed that whilst he had relatively recently had a sexual relationship with Arcadia, he did not receive a telephone call from her about her genital warts. Marcellus made it clear that he was angry about not being told.

Marcellus said, “The story Arcadia told me about her history and her marriage lead me to believe she was not promiscuous."

Bonham interjected, “You are not the first man to be mislead or deceived by Arcadia.”

Marcellus continued just as Bonham was finishing, “Clearly that is not the case. I doubt that I need to say it, but I am not happy about her dishonesty”.

Stiles joined in the conversation. “A lunch sharing our experiences and our time spent with Arcadia. I doubt there will be too many positive stories about her. From what I have seen and heard, Arcadia never supported anyone, she was only ever in relationships for herself.”

Bonham: “To my mind the genital warts were evidence of Arcadia having sex with other men.”

Stiles: “Hard to argue with that contention.”

Marcellus: “You two seem to know a different Arcadia to the one she presented to me.”

Stiles: “Arcadia was very good at deception when it came to telling her story.”

Bonham: “But her story does not stack up when people who know her get together and share their experiences, as Stiles and I have done.”

Marcellus: “ The affair Arcadia and I had gave her happiness, enabled her to feel loved, wanted and appreciated. It was more than just travelling to see me or to see each other. It was almost daily contact by telephone and text message to continue the happiness. Her children benefited from the lift in spirits the relationship gave her.”

“Our interaction had to accommodate the children not finding out about the affair. In part that involved me leaving the room during telephone calls whilst she was away from home for work purposes.”

Stiles: “Like I said, Arcadia was very good at deception when it came to telling her story.”

Bonham: “I realised the hard way Arcadia is like a sponge. She will take all of the good from you and give nothing in return, when you get past the sex and meals. It is not love she gives you. It is her way of taking all the attention you can give her.”

Stiles: “It is pretty hard to deal with when you had as much contact with Arcadia as you did, Marcellus, and Arcadia not remember you to tell you about the genital warts she had contracted. Sadly, we all seem to have disappointing stories to tell about Arcadia.”

New Management Goes Over Old Ground
Whilst the three (3) men were having lunch and discussing Arcadia, they were unaware of another development in her life. A change of management occurred at her former employer. An investigation was undertaken into the work travel Arcadia undertook for the two (2) years prior to her leaving the company. The new management formed the view that Arcadia was improperly organising work trips to Sydney so she could be with her Sydney boyfriend, Garlick Duckworth. The investigation revealed that several of the room service bills during the trips Arcadia made contained expenditure indicating two (2) people were present. No approval was ever sought by Arcadia for her employer to pay for the expenditure on another person. Accordingly a complaint was made to the police by her former employer about both Arcadia and Duckworth.

Police Investigation
The basis of the fraud allegation against Arcadia was that she dishonestly gained the benefit of air travel, accommodation and meals when she improperly organised work trips to Sydney, so she could be with her Sydney boyfriend, Garlick Duckworth. The basis of the fraud allegation against Duckworth was that he dishonestly gained the benefit of accommodation and meals when his Melbourne girlfriend, Arcadia improperly organised work trips to Sydney so she could be with him.

Police decided to pursue Duckworth prior to pursuing Arcadia. As part of the investigation he was interviewed by the police. Duckworth admitted that he knew Arcadia was organising her work trips to Sydney to see him and she was providing him with accommodation in her hotel and meals paid for by her work when she did so. He said they were reasons why he was seeing her. He said he never paid for anything when he was with Arcadia, she paid for everything, either through her work or out of her own pocket. Duckworth also told the police as many times as he could remember when Arcadia travelled to Sydney to see him.

The police were armed with the information provided by her employer and Duckworth when they approached Arcadia at her home to accompany them to the police station for a formal interview in relation to the fraud allegations. Arcadia was shocked by the news the police gave her, but showed a surprising degree of enlightenment, given her past behaviour. She told the police she wanted to speaker with her solicitor before she spoke further with the police. The police acknowledged her request and promptly left her premises.

Arcadia Contacts Solicitor, Siobhan Blanco
As soon as the police left her house Arcadia telephoned her solicitor, Siobhan Blanco, and told her about the police request for a formal interview in relation to the fraud allegations. Blanco said she was surprised to hear the news and she would contact the police to see if she could find out the details of the allegations. Blanco could tell that Arcadia was worried about her situation.

Blanco then rang the police and spoke to the detective handling the investigation. The detective told Blanco that the former employer had provided the police with evidence to support the complaint of fraud. He also said the information Duckworth provided in his interview enabled the police to identify a number of specific times when Arcadia and Duckworth were together in Sydney.

Blanco told the police she would be advising Arcadia not to participate in a formal interview.  The conversation between Blanco and the detective then ended.

Blanco then telephoned Arcadia and told her about the telephone call with the police.

Blanco: “The news is not good. From what the detective told me, they have a decent case against you. You certainly do not want to give the police any more evidence by having an interview with them.”

Arcadia: “So what should I do?”

Blanco: “I can contact the police again and tell them you do not wish to be interviewed about the matter. I expect the police will then want to make arrangements for you to attend the police station to be charged. I can go with you when the charging happens.”

Arcadia: “This is all very upsetting for me. I will do as you suggest and I would like you to come with me when I go to the police station.”

Blanco: “I will ring the police and tell them of your position.”

Blanco then telephoned the detective handling the investigation. She told him in accordance with her advice, Arcadia would not participate in a formal interview about the matter. Arrangements were then made for Arcadia to attend the police station the next day to be charged.

Charged
Arcadia was nervous when she arrived at the office of her solicitor the following day. This was an entirely new experience for her and not one to which she was looking forward. There was little conversation between them as Blanco drove them to the police station.

As they got out of the car in the police station car park Blanco said to Arcadia, “Do not say anything whilst you are with the police, with the exception of providing your identification details, of course”.

Arcadia could feel her heart pounding and her mouth was dry. Her reply was brief, “OK”

Once inside the police station Blanco introduced herself and the investigating detective attended upon them shortly thereafter.

The detective said, “This should not take all that long and I am happy for you to be present during the entire process, Ms Blanco”.

That gave some comfort to Arcadia when she heard it.

Arcadia thought she was handling the process rather well up to when the police took her fingerprints. Then her situation became very clear to her. She knew she was in a lot of trouble. She thought her heart was beating so loudly she could hardly hear what the police officer was saying to her. The fingerprinting process took about fifteen (15) minutes to complete in real time, although it seemed much longer to Arcadia.

Shortly thereafter Arcadia was asked to sign her bail undertaking and then the police told her she was free to leave.

Almost as soon as it was given to Arcadia Blanco took the bail undertaking from her and put it in the folder she was carrying.

The investigating detective said to Arcadia, “The effect of all of this is that you have been charged with the offence of fraud and you have been released on bail on your own undertaking, with no special or reporting conditions. You will have to appear in the local Magistrates Court in twenty-eight (28) days from today.

“Mr Duckworth has also been charged with fraud, the same offence as you.  He also has been released on bail on his own undertaking, with no special or reporting conditions. He will have to appear in the local Magistrates Court in twenty-eight (28) days from today. At this stage we expect your cases will be dealt with together.”

“If you have any questions, I am sure your solicitor can answer them for you. You are now free to leave.”

Blanco then gently took Arcadia by the arm and lead her out of the police station. They walked directly to her car. When she got into the car of Blanco, Arcadia burst into tears. Her reaction was not a surprise to Blanco.

After about three (3) minutes Blanco spoke to Arcadia, “Do you want to come back to my office or would you like me to take you home?

Arcadia struggled to answer.

Blanco: “How did you get to my office?”

Arcadia: “I caught a bus.”

Blanco: “I will drive you home.”

The Home of Arcadia
Arcadia composed herself a little more during the drive home. When they got to her house, Blanco went inside with Arcadia and they chatted a little more.

Blanco: “In the next few days I will contact the police and ask them to provide me with the evidence they have in your matter, even if it just a summary at this stage. We can talk then about what you are going to do in relation to the charge.”

“Just in case you were wondering, I would not talk to Duckworth about this or at all, if I were you.”

Arcadia: “OK.”

Blanco: “You seem to be better now, so I will return to my office. We will chat soon about all of this and you will be better informed about your situation.”

Arcadia: “OK and thank you for all your help today.”

Blanco: “You are welcome”

Blanco then left the home of Arcadia and returned to her office.