If it hadn't been for the distinctive suede coat, there would have been no chase through the streets of San Francisco, no heroine and, in all likelihood, no justice. But when Karen Lodrick turned away from ordering her latte at the Starbucks at Church and Market streets, there it was, slung over the arm of the woman behind her.
It was, Lodrick thought, a “beaucoup expensive” light-brown suede coat with faux fur trim at the collar, cuffs and down the middle.
The only other time Lodrick, a 41-year-old creative consultant, had seen that particular coat was on a security camera photo that her bank, Wells Fargo, showed her of the woman who had stolen her identity. The photo was taken as the thief was looting Lodrick's checking account.
Now, here was the coat again. This woman — a big woman, about 5 feet 10, maybe 150 pounds — had to be the person who had put her through six months of hell and cost her $30,000 in lost business as she tried to untangle the never-ending mess with banks and credit agencies.
….
Lodrick's heart was pounding. Despite the expensive coat, the Prada bag, the glitter-frame Gucci glasses, there was something not right about the impostor she would later learn was named Maria Nelson.
“She had bad teeth and looked like she hadn't bathed,” the onetime standup comic recalled recently. “I thought, ‘You're buying Prada on my dime. Go get your teeth fixed.' “
