Perception and Deception?

(Third times a charm)

Its interesting what you see on the bus sometimes.

It was near midday and the bus was half empty.

About halfway to my destination, the two ladies who had rushed on at the last minute with strollers and who sat near the middle of the bus, rang the bell.

As the bus was lowered and they started to go down the bus aisle to exit at the front, I absentmindedly noticed that in the seat next to where one of the ladies had been sitting was a light scarf.

I got ready to shout something from my perch at the back of the bus when all of a sudden another lady who was sitting across from the vacated seat swiftly got up and sat next to the scarf.



I initially thought she had rushed over to retrieve and give the scarf to one of the ladies with the strollers. But then she didn't.

Odd I thought. 

Since I had been deep in my thoughts, and a bit addle brained that day to be honest, it took me a few extra seconds to process what was happening. I said well maybe its her scarf so I will stay silent especially since she had maneuvered so that I could no longer see it clearly.

And then I thought wait this doesn't even make any sense. The bus was half empty and even in my haze I don't remember that particular woman sitting on that side of the bus. Why would she have with so many seats available?

Then I thought naa maybe she was sitting there before the ladies with the strollers came in and then she had moved and somehow dropped her scarf.

But...

Her behavior struck me as peculiar.  If the scarf was her's and she had indeed dropped it previously then when she sat down next to it wouldn't she had immediately retrieved it? Instead she sat there and did not touch it for a while but just angled her body to obscure it from view. Mind you there weren't many people in the bus who could see or were paying any attention anyways but still she seemed to be shifting her bags like she was trying to hide it.

A few stops later when she was getting off the bus she finally picked it up just before standing and nonchalantly pocketed it.

So what did I just witness? I'm still trying to figure that out.