She's good at what she does. On the surface, it seems like a perfectly normal job, legitimate, creative. Echo is an artist, a painter, and could make a decent living at it if she really tried. About ten years ago, on a whim, she did a little experiment. She copied an early, little known sketch by Camille Pissarro. She played around with paints, with stains, artificial aging, the works.

It was so good, she sold it as exactly what it was not: An original by the Father of Impressionism. A previously undiscovered painting that was worth quite a lot. Only she knew the truth.

She went on to hone her skills, put out a few feelers, found the right people and the right contacts, and turned her little experiment into a lucrative venture. She still painted her own originals, a bit of portraiture, and even turned photos into paintings for those who wanted that sort of thing. It made her look legitimate, even if the income from that wasn't even a tenth of what she earned with her "other" job.

She almost got caught awhile back, said the wrong thing to the wrong person after one too many drinks. Not enough to get her arrested, but enough to make someone suspicious. You can bet she'll never have more than one drink again. And you can bet she's still working, still quietly making the faux "originals" that some people will pay enormous sums to acquire on the black market.

Will her little indiscretion come back to haunt her? She hopes not! After all, why would anyone expect a mediocre artist to hide such secrets?

Celebrity claim: Paz Vega

Images of Paz Vega are used without permission, solely for the City, and are not used for profit.