Good morning. Today we’re looking at how Weihong (Ruby) Liu’s contentious play for 25 former Hudson’s Bay stores fell apart after her team portrayed her as the person who would “save Canadian retail”– a case The Globe spent months following. That’s in focus today, along with Ottawa’s Swedish affairs.

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Hi, I’m Susan Krashinsky Robertson, The Globe’s retail industry reporter, and I’ve been covering the demise of Hudson’s Bay Co. for months, ever since Canada’s oldest retailer was granted court protection from its creditors in March.

After the 355-year-old company tried and failed to come up with a plan to save even a handful of its stores, the liquidation of its assets began. That included clearing its store shelves; selling off its brand names, logos and recognizable multistripe design ; auctioning its art collection; and seeking retailers who might be willing to pay to take over the leases on those empty store spaces.

Then, HBC announced in late May that it was not a retailer, but a B.C. real estate executive named Weihong (Ruby) Liu who had won the bidding for 28 of those stores. After Liu’s initial plan to launch a new chain of department stores called “New Bay” raised trademark concerns, she said instead that she wanted to name the stores Ruby Liu.

But as The Globe first reported in June, landlords became concerned after meetings in which Liu was unable to satisfactorily answer questions about how she would operate those stores.

What resulted was a bitter legal battle that included accusations of corruption and discrimination, “inappropriate” letters to the judge in the case and questions about whether Liu’s business plans were realistic.

The Globe has published an in-depth examination of the case, finding examples of unusual conduct beyond the details that have been made public in the past several months.

With help from my colleague, Hong Kong-based reporter James Griffiths, as well as Alexandra Li in Beijing, our story looked at discrepancies between what Liu said publicly about her plans for the Bay – and about her business background – and what she said elsewhere.

We found omissions and contradictions from the information supplied to the Canadian courts, including about her hiring plans for the stores, and allegations in China about leasing practices at a mall she owned there.

There were also signs of unusual attempts to demonstrate support, including by packing the courtroom with an entourage of supporters and by adding a Canadian trade reporter who had been writing about the case to her payroll.

You can read our feature story about how the deal fell apart. Or you can listen to the Decibel podcast episode.

It continues to be a busy week for Bay news.

The highlights of the company’s art collection are on the auction block today, when bidding will be under way in Toronto. We’ve got a look at the most notable pieces up for sale, including art by Sir Winston Churchill, and by Canadian painters such as William von Moll Berczy and Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith.

With more than 1,700 pieces of art and more than 2,700 artifacts, the Bay collection will take months to process and sell.

Plus, the company heads back to court on Friday to discuss the sale of by far its most valuable artifact: the