Claire's Relationships With Other Characters: Rik

         Rik is Claire's closest friend. He is the only graduate-school friend who stuck with her through thick and thin. He always looks out for Claire, and is always genuinely interested in the things going on in her life. Since Claire's boyfriend, Aiden Markel, also gets tangled in the Bath II case and gets sent to jail, Rik becomes Claire's date for the night of her show. Before the show, Claire tells Rik about a hunch she has about the real Degas painting hiding in the basement of the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. She plans to sneak into the basement to look for the painting. Rik is incredulous and thinks Claire is crazy for doing such a thing, but Rik agrees to help her out. They sneak into the basement with flashlights, and sure enough they get caught. Rik saves Claire when the guards question them. He makes up a story by saying Claire is writing a story about the museum and was told there was material in the basement. He also gives Claire reassurance and support when she explains her story and reason for being in the basement to the the director of the museum, Alana Ward. Ward wanted to stop Claire, but Rik told her to let her keep going. Additionally, he defends Claire's occupation by saying that reproducing paintings is neither illegal nor unethical. Rik is definitely someone Claire can always rely on and go to when she needs help or is feeling down.