Double Indemnity (Subterfuge)

I woke up looking at the beginning of “Double Indemnity”, a 1944 film staring Fred Mac Murray and Barbara Stanwyck at 4:00 a.m. As I watched for a while, a story came to mind which included two old friends, who very much reminded me of the two stars, and left me as a third one, probably most resembling Elmer Fudd or Daffy Duck. The story title that came to mind in the middle of the night was “Subterfuge”, as the theme of the movie was a bit too dark for this circuitous plot.

It’s been mentioned that I often see myself as the innocent walking through the world, constantly surprised by what I find. It’s true!

My friend and I were at a professional meeting, looking forward to the evening’s events, which included a dinner and a dance band. I found this to be a surprise for an educational function, but everyone likes to relax a bit.

After lots of drinks and a nice dinner, we all relaxed, and my friend danced the night away with a female colleague, the head of some state educational program. We all laughed and partied until it was clear it was time to go home. I said goodnight to all and we bothI walked to the parking lot together.

In the morning, I had a breakfast meeting with the two of them at 8:00 a.m. I drove back to the hotel and went to the restaurant. Barbara Stanwyck, the program head, was waiting for me and we happily talked waiting for my friend to appear. Fred Mac Murray wandered in (he wasn’t really Fred Mac Murray; it just sparked the whole thing). We had our meeting and a good breakfast. I will admit something seemed strained about the meeting but it went alright and it was forgotten.

Several years later, we sat in a bar for a long time talking over old times and he confessed to me that he had never gone home that evening and they had stayed together and put on the play that I saw. It was a performance for one, and not a bad one at that. Their reputations stayed intact until now (no, I ‘m not including names on this one).

They fooled me, sort of, because I knew something was wrong, I just couldn’t figure it out. Maybe if I had looked, he was probably wearing the same clothes from the night before. But maybe, this was planned all along and he was prepared with a suitcase full of clothing, I never asked, and won’t do so now.

People have been having affairs all around me for years, some of which I have written about in these pages, but I seem to be always surprised. I’m naive, stupid, or a good liar. I’ll stick with naïve.

The funny thing is, these sorts of things are hard to cover up. If you have friends or spouses etc. who know your schedules, plans etc., there is no way you won’t be noticed. I’ve known someone who come home by surprise and found their spouse in coital situation in the living room. This is not cool.

At least have the sense to be sneaky!