Let's face it, Casey WAS a criminal, but the girl was/is as dumb as a rock as far as any logic or reason is concerned. She has been given credit too many times as having been "bright" or "smart" and I do not believe she was either of these. She was criminally-minded, cunning, conniving, manipulative, sneaky and underhanded, but none of these are the qualifiers of higher intelligence.
She is used to lying in a blink of an eye and has a good vocabulary. I've heard she's quite a reader. As a life-long bookaholic, I also have a good vocabulary, so I can sometimes recognize that trait in other people. That aspect has, no doubt, been a great aid to her in her efforts to spin stories and to have people
who don't know her well believe her. Someone who uses "smart-sounding" words can be very impressive to people with more limited vocabularies.
Back in the 1980s I had a boyfriend who was not very intelligent, although he had managed to squeak by well enough to have an accounting position. The more I talked to him, the more I realized how different we were in that respect. Sometimes I was downright
astounded by what he did not know or THOUGHT he knew, not to mention his lack of problem-solving skills. But I was dazzled by hormones and his looks and really, REALLY wanted to be in
luuuv, so I ignored that. I stroked his ego as much as possible, pretended not to notice, and we moved in together. The odd thing was that he turned out to be downright
DIABOLICAL when it came to finding little (and big) ways to hurt me, even while actively romancing me. Even when there was seemingly no reason whatsoever for it, he was instinctively doing little things that he KNEW would make me doubt myself or take the wind out of my sails whenever I was happy or had planned something special. It turned out that he led something of a double life whenever he left the house and he lied about many,
MANY things. To this very DAY I'll occasionally remember something he did or said and suddenly realize that he did it
on purpose! His lack of intelligence was in
sharp contrast to his cunning, deceit and seemingly
intuitive knowledge of how to psychologically wound someone very deeply in an incredibly insidious manner.
The really freaky part is that he saw himself as a deeply sensitive, gentle, romantic, caring soul. And he would do
WHATEVER IT TOOK to preserve that image that he had of himself, despite all evidence to the contrary. That's the really
frightening part. So whenever things got dull and day-to-day life settled in, it was time to push me and push me and push me to the point of breaking up, because
THEN he could go into an INTENSE wooing phase to try to win me back with roses, jewelry, poetry, etc. We
HAD to be a state of high romance
AT ALL TIMES in order to for him to see himself as the wonderful guy that he envisioned himself to be. I caught on to his M.O. about the 3rd time he did it. I realized that the roses, gifts and words of undying love and adoration were not for ME at
ALL, but solely for
HIM. I was merely another prop on the stage of his life. And the show
MUST go on -- or
ELSE.
There are different kinds of
smart.
ETA: From that point on I've always HATED getting flowers or teddy bears.
