| Kathleen Flannery | |
| Fictional Character | |
| The Two Georges POD: c. 1763 | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Nationality: | North American Union |
| Date of Birth: | c. 1964 |
| Occupation: | Art Curator, Research Doctor |
| Parents: | Aloysius Flannery |
| Professional Affiliation: | All-Union Art Museum |
Doctor (PhD) Kathleen Flannery was the head of the staff of curators and art historians accompanying The Two Georges on its tour of the North American Union in 1995. She and her staff were based at the All-Union Art Museum in Victoria.
She had porcelain-pale skin, high, strong, forward-thrusting cheekbones, and a narrow jaw. Along with her features, her green eyes and red-gold hair proclaimed her Irish heritage. Colonel Thomas Bushell was smitten as soon as he saw her.
Doctor Flannery accompanied Colonel Bushell when he inspected the security arrangements for The Two Georges. She also pointed out some of the attributes of the painting when he examined it in detail.
She was present in the Upper California governor's mansion in New Liverpool when the painting was stolen by the Sons of Liberty and in fact was the first to realize the significance when the alarm began to ring. Because of her position and due to her background, she was one of the suspects in the case that Bushell had difficulty in eliminating.
Doctor Flannery was single, although she had been engaged several years earlier to Kyril Lozovsky, the assistant commercial secretary at the Russian ministry in Victoria. She ended her engagement when she learned that Lozovsky had a second fiancée back in Tsaritsyn. This Russian connection was one more suspicious incident in her background that caused Colonel Bushell to consider her a suspect in the theft.
Further suspicion was added the next day when Colonel Bushell spoke by telephone with Sally Reese. Reese indicated that Dr. Flannery's security file contained information on her failed engagement which Bushell already knew about. What Dr. Flannery had failed to mention was that she was a long time subscriber to Common Sense, a publication which many considered the unofficial voice of the Sons of Liberty. This failure to mention it added to the suspicion of being responsible for the theft.
Bushell followed up by interviewing Dr. Flannery by telephone. She indicated the it was her father Aloysius Flannery who bought the subscription each year and that the politics of Common Sense were his and not hers. This somewhat alleviated Bushell's suspicion but not entirely.
Dr. Flannery also indicated that she had been telephoning her contacts in the art world but no one had any information on The Two Georges. This alarmed Bushell and he cautioned her not to pursue this further because it might muddy the waters, alert the thieves, and put her in danger. She indicated that he made himself very clear but, on reflection afterwards, Bushell concluded that she had not said she would stop. However, there was little he could do about it.
A few days later, Dr. Flannery returned to Victoria. There, she continued to seek information on the painting from her contacts to no avail. However Dr. Gyantwaka, a colleague at the museum, recognized the newspaper in the ransom picture as that of the Doshoweh Sentinel in The Six Nations. She immediately set out for Doshoweh to see what she could discover.
Dr. Flannery checked into the Hotel Ahgusweyo and in the morning breakfasted in the hotel restaurant. There she was surprised to meet Colonel Bushell and his adjutant Captain Samuel Stanley who were equally surprised (and suspicious) to meet her. She explained what led her to Doshoweh but Bushell remained suspicious. Nevertheless, she had shown herself resourceful and since he had no evidence to back up his suspicions, Bushell invited her to join his investigation. When Dr. Flannery hesitated, he threatened to have the local RAM hold her as a material witness. With visible distaste, Dr. Flannery agreed to Colonel Bushell's terms.
The first order of business was to accompany the two RAMs to the Doshoweh constabulary offices to meet with Major Shikalimo. She listened to Col. Bushell's report of his investigation in the Queen Charlotte Islands and the finding of a letter from Doshoweh and to Major Shikalimo's outline of his investigation but did not contribute to the discussion.
In the following several days, while awaiting the results of Shikalimo's investigation, Dr. Flannery was kept occupied by Colonel Bushell. One day she toured a museum dedicated to Sosehawa with him. The next morning, he invited her to see the sights at Niagara Falls. She accepted but the two were interrupted by Stanley who entered the hotel restaurant and announced that Major Shikalimo had called and wanted to meet immediately to review the results of his investigation
On arriving at Shikalimo's office, Dr. Flannery and the other participants were each given a list of four men who were "imperfectly polite" in their references to the Iroquois along with "Joes" who were known associates. None of the RAMs could identify any of the "Joes" as suspected Sons. Finally she pointed out Joseph Kilbride. She was aware of an art collector of that name who was interested in the late colonial period. Her thought was that this was the time that the NAU was organized and that he might be interested in the period as a Son who believed that independence should have been tried instead. With no other possibilities, Col. Bushell reluctantly agreed to investigate Kilbride.
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