IMPOSTER

Friends who follow Dinah and Coleman have asked me what’s next. I took a break to write Will and Me (a Shakespearean love story, available for purchase on my Facebook page).

Dinah and Coleman are on my mind; I have no shortage of ideas—too many.

I’m creating a new villain—an impostor. Why? There have been many, but there seem to be few in mystery books—they are more often found in films. Some impostors become famous—because of film—such as the DiCaprio film, Catch Me If You Can. Many people encounter imposters and never know it. Introducing one of these characters to Coleman and Dinah should be interesting. I’ve learned a lot about this.

Most of the famous ones are pretending to be someone prominent and rich—a Rockefeller or someone famous like Sidney Poitier.

But there are many ways imposters pretend to be someone other than they are. These impostors can turn up anywhere. The most frequent pretense is acquaintance of someone the pretender doesn’t know. This is not uncommon—I’ve experienced it more than once. The first time was in college, when a male student I’d never met told people he knew me well, had dated me for a month. When I confronted him, he shrugged, and probably went on to lie about someone else. People lie about their education, claiming to have graduated from Yale or Harvard, when in reality it was a college from nowhere. Sometimes one will lie about his/her hometown. (What does the liar have to hide??) Another kind of lying and stealing is plagiarism—claiming to write something one hasn’t. My most recent contact with an impostor was with a man I’d never met who claimed to be my close friend, and said he had recently been my guest. This type of behavior usually includes other lies, so I checked on a few things. He claimed to write for the Wall Street Journal—a close friend at the WSJ never heard of him. I made a few other checks—he claimed to be connected to Harvard—no records of him. This kind of imposter is usually caught, because of stupid mistakes like claiming to be from a town so small, one can easily check—and learn that he was never there.

What does one do about these people? Stay away from them. They are frequently also stalkers, and when challenged can become bullies. Why do they do what they do? According to the literature, it’s mostly seeking status. Pitiful but frightening.

I recently heard of one who makes up terrible stories about his victims—that he or she is selling drugs—which if spread around could cost someone his or her job. His victims are terribly frightened, and will not tell the police. Again sad for the victim.