Question E

[Jonetta]

Art Juergen, the retired FBI agent who worked the Gamble-Helmet Heist 30-years ago, joins the Bend team as a consultant. When, if ever, did you become suspicious of him? What were the clues that tipped you off?

[Susan]

I always thought in the back of mind he was a snake but the real time I thought it was him was when Mercy and Art and her partner went to the house on the tip that he flashed around a lot cash and he was waiting and knew they would show up. Mercy should have seen that the tip was an inside tip.

[Robin]

I went back and forth on Art. At first I wandered if he was the person who had tipped off Tabitha. Then I kind of dropped that theory when he helped Mercy and Eddie at Victor Diehl's farm. But near the end of the book when two men showed up at Bree's farm to hunt down Mercy, I knew he had to be one of the men (or had called these men) because Mercy had called him to let him know what she was up too. He was the only person I could think of that knew exactly where Mercy was going.

[Christina T]

I also went back and forth on Art as well. What made me really consider him was his shooting of Victor. There was something about the shooting that felt off to me. I think it was when he froze when Mercy asked him to grab her bag to save Victor's life. If he was that focused on being able to shoot Victor I wasn't buying him freezing. He didn't want Victor to live.

Then I thought he wasn't a bad guy because Mercy's niece was shot and I really didn't think Art would do that. Guess I was wrong about that one.

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Something about Art was off from the very beginning for me. Maybe because he hit on Mercy and he was so much older, even though he didn't push it when she wanted to remain friends he seemed a bit slimy somehow.

[Jonetta]

I join the crowd in thinking something was off about Art. Like Lisa, I was really turned off by his having hit on Mercy. That went to character, that a man with a significant age difference like that would hit on a woman barely into her 20s. When they went to meet with him, all I could see was oily.

Like Christina, that shooting of Victor felt all kinds of wrong. That’s when I became suspicious of him but not sure of what exactly. When Mercy called him and let him know she was going to Bree’s property, like Robin, I knew in that moment she’d made a mistake.

It wasn’t one thing...it was a cumulative number of moments that just had me distrusting this guy.

[Sharon]

I had bad vibes about him from the very first even before he shot Victor. There was something off about his investigation. After he shoot Victor, I thought he was the driver, and Victor could identify him.

When Mercy called him, I knew she would regret that decision. Like you Jonetta, it wasn't one thing, it was everything together that kept him on my radar.

[Jonetta]

Seems we’re all of the same opinion that Art gave off a vibe at the onset. Must be something about how Elliot shaped the scenes that created that feeling. Good writing!

[Charlene]

I didn't suspect a thing about Art at all -- can't say why I just didn't peg him as a problem.