Scoundrels, Schemers, and Some Special People

In these 14 unrelated stories a cast of good guys and gals and a parade of con men and women give and take in their routine lives. The stories are about ordinary enough people each of whom is though a schemer to a degree, at least in domestic matters. Many are people you would be happy to know and would trust with a key to your residence for use in emergencies.
But a few are nasty and true scoundrels on top of being schemers.
The characters include: a pair of con men peddling an idea for a new building material who succeed too well for their own safety; two different characters who get unusual phone calls from a protector or supporter; a non-suicidal elderly man who lets it be known how he can be dead as a relative intended if the price is right; and an artist who learns that original paintings are in the eye and wallet of the beholders.
All capped off by a clarification from someone who was there about what really happened that momentous day in the Garden at Eden.