Elwood stared at Diem like he’d grown six heads, and he couldn’t decide if my boyfriend was pulling his leg or not.
“I can give it a flu shot to be sure it stays healthy,” Diem added, and I almost laughed but fixed my face into something serious when Elwood glanced at his son and me to be sure this was really a thing.
“Well, I never…” Elwood shook his head.
“Safety first, El, my man.” I leaned closer as though to impart a secret. “An infection would mean you can’t chat with your girlfriends.”
To Benaiah, Elwood grumbled, “You know that Hawker Hurricane Mk1 you got me for Christmas the year before last?”
“The model. Yes.”
“I hated it. Since when do I do models? Brain is sharp, but my fine motor skills went to shit in the nineties. Arthritis,” he clarified to Diem and me. “Why do you think I’m in this godforsaken joint? Can’t do up buttons, and you want me to put together a model.” Elwoodpffed. “All those damn pieces. No. I threw it out. The laptop is inside that box in the closet.”
Benaiah stared at his father with a mixture of shock and hurt and something else I couldn’t quite understand. With what looked like a million things on the tip of his tongue, he got to his feet and excused himself.
Poor guy.
The minute his son was gone, Elwood narrowed his eyes. “All right. Tell it to me straight, boys. Was I scammed?”
“Yes,” Diem said.
“And we’re not straight,” I added.
“What?” Elwood’s confusion deepened.
“Nothing,” I said. “You were scammed.”
Elwood shook his head. “I don’t get it. I’d swear on my wife’s grave that boy was Kael. How would he have known all that stuff? He had pictures of his girlfriend. Of his travels. He knew about the cabin in Muskoka and the paddle boat. His broken arm on the bunny hills. About his gran’s famous cookies.”
“How old is Kael?” Diem asked.
“Twenty-two. Born February 8th, 2004, at shortly past one in the morning. He took a year off to travel Europe with his girlfriend. Applied to King’s College in London. He’s going to be an English professor when he graduates. Marissa’s a linguistics major. Kael’s writing a book. It’s dystopian. He told me all about it. Got the idea after that pandemic crap. You see? I ain’t stupid.”
I glanced at Diem, who nodded for me to explain.
Elwood was sharp. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn he had an eidetic memory with the way he rhymed off dates and facts, but his understanding of the intricate nature of the World Wide Web was in its infancy.
“I’m going to say something that’ll upset you, Elwood.”
“I’m already upset.”
“The man who visited and claimed to be your grandson was likely a fraud. Scamming senior citizens is what he does. You’re probably one of many targets. Are you familiar with the term social media?”
“Yeah, I got my face booked last week. Still sorting out the bells and whistles, but I’ve got fifty-seven friends already. Forty-two of them are female.” A fact he seemed proud of. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“There are all kinds of social media platforms out there, and people use them to share about their lives. Photos, stories, videos. Some people are religious about posting every day. Other people are more private and share little. This person who posed as your grandson likely selected you specifically for many reasons.”
Elwood seemed confused despite how I simplified things.
“The man who visited you must bear a near enough resemblance to Kael that you made an ideal target for his scam. If they look alike, it wouldn’t have been hard to fill Kael’s shoes for a short time. Especially when you don’t see him frequently. Minor differences in appearance would be easier to explain as the passage of time and ageing.
“Kael is of the internet age. I’m guessing he’s on social media a lot and is one of those people who share about their lives regularly. He’s probably been posting about his trip with his girlfriend and shared those special moments you remember from the past few years. It wouldn’t take much for this stranger to dig into Kael’s profile and learn enough to make you believe he was who he claimed. He could have stolen Kael’s pictures and stories, uploaded them to his phone, and used them as proof. He only needed to deceive you long enough to get what he really wanted.”
“My goddamn money.” Elwood sagged, the truth seeming to finally sink in.
Benaiah returned with the dated laptop and handed it to Diem.
Diem presented it to Elwood. “Mind if I go through this?”