Red Tape

by Michele Lynn Seigfried

  Over the past several days, I had been working with my attorney on my defense. He did his best to convince me that I would win the case. September 25th came before I knew it. It was a beautiful Indian summer type of day without a cloud in the sky. The vacation crowds were mostly gone. It was the type of day where you wanted to take off and relax on the beach with a good book. Relaxing with a good book was in the cards for me; it was my court date.

  I had given myself Montezuma’s Revenge from my anxiety about the case. Bonnie was on her way to pick me up. I hoped I’d be able to stay out of the bathroom long enough to get to the courthouse and then long enough to get through the trial. My parents had taken Mandy overnight. They thought it would help me to get some rest, but I wasn’t able to catch any sleep. My case was being heard at ten a.m. I was meeting my attorney at nine to go over any last-minute details.

  I heard a knock at the door. Bonnie walked in, looked me up and down, and said, “You look green.”

  “I don’t feel so well,” I said.

  She sat me down on the couch, went to my cupboard, and took out some meds. She poured me a glass of water, handed me a couple of pills and told me I’d feel better in a little bit.

  The case couldn’t be heard in Sunshine’s Municipal Court, as it was considered a conflict of interest. We had to go to a court outside of the county in a town I wasn’t familiar with. Bonnie plugged the address into her GPS. I couldn’t even pay attention to where we were going, there were so many worries running through my head.

  We arrived at the courthouse at eight thirty and we were greeted by my parents at the main entrance. My dad was holding Mandy. My mom immediately gave me a huge hug. I saw my attorney parking his car. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My dad hugged me and I kissed Mandy on the cheek.

  We pushed through the main doors to the courthouse. The courtroom was immediately in front of us and there was a hallway leading to the left with several wooden benches. Court was already in session. We all walked down the hallway and took a seat to wait for our turn.

  Bonnie and I went over our testimonies with my attorney. Mr. Schubert felt we were as prepared as we were going to be. I had the jitters and was trying my hardest not to show my emotions. I told myself to be strong over and over again. It felt like the longest wait of my life, then they finally called my name.

  We all entered the courtroom. The room was much larger and much nicer than Sunshine’s courtroom. It was set up movie-theatre style with cushioned green fabric seating. The dais was finished in a dark cherry wood and there were tables in front of the dais to the right and to the left of the judge’s chair.

  My parents took a seat in the back with Mandy, I assumed so they could make a quick exit if she acted up. Bonnie had a seat in the first row. Mr. Shubert motioned for me to take a seat at the table on the left side. He sat next to me. My nerves had gotten the better of me and I could barely remember the court proceedings. I recall the bailiff announcing, “All rise. Judge Caton presiding.”

  I couldn’t recite exactly what was said during the trial, but Bonnie and Tex testified on my behalf saying that I routinely took large bills to the bank for change. There was a sworn statement from the former municipal clerk read into the record about how making change for the daily cash drawer was a regular duty for the employees of the clerk’s office.

  Officer Williams and Mayor O’Donnell had been called to testify for the prosecution. I couldn’t look at them while they were on the stand. I had a different feeling toward them at that moment and it was the opposite of admiration. I felt they were both very harsh in their words toward me. I truly believed the mayor was out to get me after hearing some of what came out of her mouth. I remember thinking how two-faced she was. Nice to me in person, then plotting behind my back to get me out of her way.

  When both sides rested, Judge Caton ruled from his bench. “Not guilty.”

  I blew out a sigh of relief, cupped my hands over my face, and started to cry. I could hear my family, Bonnie, and Tex cheering. I found it almost hard to believe—justice had prevailed. I wanted to run over to my parents and Mandy and hug them all, but I had to wait until the Judge finished talking. He said, “The prosecution has not met its burden of proving that Ms. Alton was guilty as charged. Ms. Alton you are free to go.”

  I turned and gave my attorney a big hug. “Thank you, thank you!” I whispered to him. I ran over to my mom and dad. I hugged them both together, with Mandy in the middle of us. I took my daughter from my dad’s arm and kissed her little chubby cheeks.

  I saw Mayor O’Donnell pass by me. We all watched as she blew out of the room in a huff. I couldn’t help but give her a dirty look. Tex and Bonnie came up to us. My parents hugged them both. I couldn’t stop thanking them. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be off the hook.

  My attorney negotiated with the town council for my return to work on October 1st, along with full payment for the time I was on leave. I was dreading returning to work. There was a part of me that felt disgusted by the mayor for doing this to me and I didn’t want to see her ever again. There was another part of me that was eager to get back to work to show her that she hadn’t broken me.

  * * *

  There was a chill in the air and it was drizzling. The weather prediction was for rain the entire day. Mandy woke me at five thirty in the morning. I liked that she was starting to sleep a little later. I fed her breakfast and put her into her Pack ‘N Play while I showered. I took extra long in the shower, letting the warm water run down my body. I was procrastinating since I wasn’t looking forward to going back to that hellhole I called work. I decided I would suck it up and go back because I had to. I needed the money, but I was only going to stay until I found another job.

  I had brushed up my résumé and started to keep an eye out for leads. Municipal clerks’ jobs were few and far between. It wasn’t customary for clerks to switch jobs quickly. I would basically have to wait for someone to retire or die. Being in the newspapers, accused of a crime I didn’t commit probably wouldn’t help me land a job either.

  Bonnie thought I should sue the town for wrongful arrest. I wasn’t sure about that. I didn’t have tenure yet. If I sued Sunshine, I was sure to be out of a job in shortly over a year when my three-year appointment expired. Although, if Mayor O’Donnell won next month’s election, I might be out of a job, anyway, since she would probably lobby the council members to get rid of me. At the end of my appointment, they had the option of letting me go for no reason. Bonnie believed the mayor would win the election and I’d be out on my derrière so I should sue anyway. Her argument was compelling because the mayor had been in office for almost twenty years, so there was no reason to believe she wouldn’t be voted in again. I also wasn’t sure if suing the town would be frowned upon by other municipalities where I might be seeking a job. Would they be understanding or would they not hire me, out of fear that I’d sue them too? I was sure that if I sued, prospective employers would Google my name and see newspaper articles about the case. I supposed I should wait for November’s election to be over before I made a decision.

  I dropped off Mandy at my parents’ house and drove over to the municipal building. I sat in the car for a few minutes, not wanting to go inside. I slid out of my car and opened my umbrella. I reminded myself to keep my chin up. The first employee I encountered was Lorraine Paso. She had frizzy, over-processed hair and to say she was obese would be kind. I had heard from Tex that they had amended her title from “Acting Clerk” to “Aide to the Mayor” since I was returning to work. I found it funny that they let Bonnie go, claiming budget cuts, but found money for a mayor’s aide. Bonnie definitely had a case if she sued.

  “You must be Lorraine,” I said with a forced grin. I extended my hand to shake hers as I sized her up. I took an instant dislike to her. Probably because she was a friend of the mayor, who was not on my list of favorite people. I knew I shouldn’t have played that game—the one where friends of my enemies become my enemies, but I was ve
ry bitter and not quite over what had happened to me yet.

  “Chelsey, I presume. Let’s make a deal. You stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”

  Rude! I changed my mind. I didn’t dislike Lorraine because of Mayor O’Donnell. I didn’t like her because she was offensive.

  “Fine by me, Lorraine. Let me just get to the point. I have been out of the office for quite some time. I need to be brought up to speed. How is the election coming along?”

  “I really haven’t done anything with elections. Bonnie was handling all of that.”

  “So, in the past month when Bonnie wasn’t here, none of the election work has gotten done?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  What a witch, I thought. I turned and went into my office without uttering another word. I was sure that there was a lot more that didn’t get done in the past month other than elections. I got to work right away on the piles and piles of papers sitting on my desk. I didn’t know why I expected an employee with no experience to have completed some of this work before my return. I couldn’t imagine what Mayor O’Donnell was thinking when she hired this woman with no experience, then fired the only person left who knew how to handle the multitude of tasks this office did on a daily basis.

  Throughout the day, I noticed Lorraine was loud and obnoxious to all our residents. She was ugly, just like Bonnie said, but not because she wasn’t very attractive; it was because of her rude personality. If she had been a regular hire for my office, I would have taken the time to train her on customer service. Since she would likely run back and tell the mayor anything I said or did, I opted to keep my distance.

  Late in the day, I came across the salary resolution for Lorraine, which was approved at a previous council meeting. I almost soiled my pants. They were paying her over $120,000.00. Who the heck gets paid that kind of money and doesn’t know the job, doesn’t do any work, and is rude to customers? I didn’t think it was possible to feel more nauseated by Mayor O’Donnell or Sunshine, but I did. I made a copy of the resolution and stuffed it in my purse.

  At four thirty, I closed up shop and dialed my mother to let her know I’d be a little late. I had to make a stop. I drove over to Bonnie’s house. She was in the middle of making dinner.

  “Hey! This is a nice surprise!” Bonnie said. “I’m cooking lasagna; do you want to stay for a bite?”

  “I’d love to, but I have to go pick up Mandy. I only have a few minutes,” I told her. I reached into my purse and pulled out the salary resolution. “Maybe this is all the proof you need that they didn’t have budget issues when they abolished your position.” I handed her the paper.

  Bonnie took a few moments to read it. Her eyes got real wide. “I should be mad that they are paying her so much money when they were paying me next to nothing, but this just made my day! Wait until my attorney gets a load of this!”

  I smiled. “Wild, isn’t it? I mean, the mayor claims there is no money for a guard to make people go through metal detectors daily, no money for an alarm system, no money for any safety precautions, but she found plenty of money to create a job for her buddy.”

  “And now they are going to have to find plenty of money to pay me when I sue their pants off!”

  “I gotta go; I’ll see you soon,” I said as I walked down her driveway back to my car.

  “Thanks, Chelsey!”

  Chapter 14

  I felt frustrated from the moment I woke up. I decided to stop at Take Ten after I dropped off Mandy and treat myself to a cup of coffee. When I pushed through the door to the shop, who did I see? Lorraine having coffee with none other than Mayor O’Donnell. They suddenly stopped talking when I walked in, as if they were saying something they didn’t want me to hear. The sight of them made me sick. I ignored them and asked the barista for a large crème brûlée-flavored coffee. I wished they had shots of something to make my coffee stronger to get me through the day.

  While I was waiting for my drink to be prepared, Officer Williams entered the coffee shop and sat with the mayor and Lorraine. If I had realized that Take Ten was going to be a big hangout for the Sunshine Brown-nosing Club, I would have skipped the cup of joe and gone directly to my office.

  I drove to work. I took a deep breath and counted to ten before getting out of the car. Inside, I stared at the mounds of work draped over my inbox. I was basically expected to do everything myself, since Mrs. Ugly sat on her behind all day not doing anything. I looked down at my phone. Thirteen voicemails were already waiting for me. I guessed word got out that I was back at work.

  I listened to a few messages from coworkers who said they were happy to have me back. That made me feel a little better. At least some people appreciated me. The fourth message was from a woman named Mrs. Coral who had been trying unsuccessfully for three weeks to get someone to call her back with instructions on how to get a copy of her husband’s death certificate. No surprise there—that Lorraine wasn’t answering phones and wasn’t calling people back. I hit the callback button to dial her number. She didn’t answer the phone, but I left her a message to stop in and see me if she could or to call me back.

  I finished listening to my messages. It was ten o’clock by the time I returned all the calls. Mrs. Coral was at the window five minutes later. I apologized to her for the wait and explained I was out on leave for a while, having only returned yesterday. I handed her a form to fill out and took a copy of her ID.

  The computer networks were running slow. I asked Mrs. Coral to take a seat while I waited for an internet connection in order to check to see if the death had been properly recorded. She wanted five certified copies. I unlocked the drawer where we stored our Vital Statistics paper. I panicked for a moment. There was no paper. Then I remembered that Bonnie moved it to a new hiding location after we had discovered the paper was missing.

  I grabbed the key to the liquor license cabinet and retrieved the paper from there. The pack of paper seemed rather light to me. I was immediately suspicious of Lorraine. She would have been the only other person who knew where the paper was kept and it didn’t sound like she had been bothering to issue any certificates to the public, so I was curious to see exactly what was missing.

  I finished waiting on Mrs. Coral. She was very appreciative that I had helped her. Then I put on my invisible detective hat and got down to investigating. I pulled out the logs of destroyed safety paper and noted how many pages were purposely shredded. I pulled out the receipt books from the past month and a half and counted the number of copies issued for birth, death, and any other life events. I confirmed the sequential numbers of the safety paper that had been previously missing with notes I had made when I originally realized paper was missing. I double-checked bank account figures with our CFO to see how much money had been deposited from the sale of certified records. My suspicions were realized. More safety paper was missing.

  I waited for Lorraine to go to the bathroom, then I called Bonnie.

  “Hey, Bonnie, I have a quick question for you. Does anyone know where you moved the safety paper to?”

  “It’s in the liquor license cabinet.”

  “I know that, I’m wondering who else knows.”

  “Just Lorraine, why?”

  “There is paper missing again, at least a hundred sheets.”

  “You’ve got to be joking. Maybe you should call the county prosecutor or something. Or those FBI guys that interviewed you. Something’s wrong and if I’m thinking what you are thinking, then that witch mayor and her ugly friend need to be behind bars.”

  “My thoughts exactly. Lorraine could be issuing legitimate certified copies and pocketing the cash or stealing the paper and issuing fake copies.”

  “Lorraine wasn’t around when the first batch went missing, so my money is on the stealing paper scenario.”

  I hadn’t noticed Lorraine had returned from the ladies’ room. I hoped she didn’t hear anything. I quickly switched the subject.

  “Do you want to get together for lun
ch this weekend? It’s Columbus Day weekend, so I have off on Monday,” I asked Bonnie.

  “I know you are changing the subject on purpose; someone must be listening.”

  “Yuppers.”

  “Is it ugly?”

  “Hell, yeah.”

  “Monday is good. Hey, maybe we can check out that Bratz place again. Maybe your knight in shining armor will be working since it’s a week day.”

  “Monday it is then. I’ll pick you up around eleven thirty.”

  “See you then, Chelsey.”

  “I’ll see you, Bonnie.”

  I didn’t want to risk Lorraine hearing me on the phone again, so I emailed the state registrar. I told him I was concerned that this was the second time this year that I had noticed the safety paper missing in my office and I implored him to put a ban on the issuance of certified records from my office until such matter could be investigated.

  Seconds later, I received a reply. Invalid email address. I know I hadn’t typed the address wrong, I chose it from my address book. I went to the State’s website. It said that Beverly Daniels was the interim Registrar of Vital Statistics. I wondered what happened to Mr. Alfred. I decided to do a Google search for his name.

  What I found next was troubling, to say the least. Charles Alfred had been murdered near his home about a month ago. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard anything about this. The news article said it was a mugging gone wrong. I felt queasy at first, then I felt frightened. Could it be possible that this had something to do with the fact that I had contacted him about the missing safety paper here?

  I knew I shouldn’t have surmised without having any facts. I went over the particulars in my head, making a mental list in no particular order: