* * * *
Wednesday as I came to my office, I thought that I knew what my job entailed. I wasn’t confident that I’d be chosen as the permanent employee, but I avoided thinking about that and focused on the case.
Mike had arrived first and he was standing near Bobbie’s desk and talking.
“Okay, have a good day,” he said to her, when he saw me approach, and then I followed Mike to our desk. As we settled in our chairs, he spoke softly.
“Have you talked much with Bobbie?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied, “at lunch.”
“She seems kind of dense,” he said. I considered for a moment about how I should reply. Bobbie was typing and probably couldn’t hear us whisper.
“She’s just a young girl,” I said. “What do you expect?”
“She’s so immature,” he said. I shrugged then started work.
“Good morning,” said Opal as she entered our office a few minutes later.
“Good morning,” Mike and I said together. Opal looked at Mike and smiled.
“You look bright and chipper this morning,” said Mike. Opal smiled more.
“Yes, it’s a sunny day.”
“You must be a morning person.”
“Yes, I guess. You have everything you need?” Opal stared at me for a second.
“Yes,” said Mike. I nodded. I had no idea what I needed. I felt that Opal had only come to say ‘hello’ so she could get a dose of Mike. She hadn’t come to see me. I wasn’t good at small talk, but I thought maybe I should try.
“Have a good day,” I said as she turned and went out.
After a while Mike left. He never said anything about his client, but I hadn’t told him much about mine either. I thought that I should be keeping my bosses up to date, so I knocked on their door. I tried to smile as I went in. Ted was working at his desk.
“I should tell you about my progress,” I said, and told Ted about meeting Olivia.
“Unfortunately,” I said, “their recordkeeping is poor. They keep receipts in shoeboxes. It is very disorganized and hard to keep track of.”
“You are keeping their records in shoeboxes,” Ted said. “That’s not professional.” He seemed to be having trouble with his hearing, so I raised my voice a little.
“They put their records in shoeboxes,” I said. “That is making it hard to follow.”
“Work is too hard for you?” Ted said.
“No, it’s good,” I said. I tried to smile again.
“Why can’t you do like Opal told you?” he asked. “Why aren’t you there right now?” I didn’t recall anyone saying that I had to live there.
I looked at my watch. It was a little early to go to St. Nicholas.
Then Opal walked past me to the office. She had a smaller desk in the corner.
“I’ll be headed to the church in a few minutes,” I said, smiling. I tried to make it seem that everything was perfect. It seemed that neither one of us had much to say anyway. Assuming the update was over, I walked out. I rolled my eyes as I passed Bobbie, and she smirked.
At my desk, I reviewed the questions that I had for Olivia. Then I killed time for a while by entering records before I drove to St. Nicholas. When I got there, a couple of women were walking to their cars. Olivia was standing and waiting. She looked confused. She didn’t make eye contact.
“Hello,” I said cheerfully as I walked up. She acknowledged me by turning partly and nodding, but still seemed distracted.
I was carrying the shoeboxes so I could ask her questions. I paused at the door into the Annex.
“Are we meeting today?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said, and snapped out of her somber thought. “I’ll hold the door for you.” We went in and sat at the table in the office.
“I have some questions about some of the receipts,” I said once we were settled.
“Okay,” she said. She looked worn out. Maybe she hadn’t slept well.
“I haven’t been through them all, but there are a couple that are curious. For example, there is a large catering bill.”
“I just write the checks for whatever they give me,” she said.
“You don’t know what it’s for?” I asked.
“No,” she said. It wasn’t a big item compared to the total, so I didn’t pursue it.
“Also, I was thinking that I should see a copy of the bank statements. The account activity would help find where the money is going,” I said.
“You’ll have to talk to the CFO, Herbert Spencer. I never see that information,” she said.
I was beginning to understand Olivia’s role. She wasn’t really the financial secretary, because otherwise she would have known all of this. She was more like the secretary to the CFO.
“Is Mr. Spencer around so I can talk to him?” I asked.
“Let’s see,” she said. “It’s Wednesday. No, he’s almost never around the morning after the Financial Committee meeting. However, he’s usually here Thursdays. Lunch is the best time to find him. He’s more likely here at that time. Otherwise, he’s not around much.”
“…so he’s part-time?” I asked. That was odd because I had seen a salary line in the budget for a full-time person.
“No, he’s full-time, but he has a side business.” She put her head down into her hands. I paused. It didn’t look like she was just a little tired. She acted like it was more than that.
I thought about whether I should say something, or just be patient. I felt it wasn’t my business to quiz her about her private matters. However, I decided to speak.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You seem different today.”
“Oh, yes, it must be obvious,” she said. “I fear that one of my friends has died.” She looked up. She had watery eyes.
“Um…I’m sorry,” I said. I averted my eyes for a moment, and she looked away too. I froze. I didn’t know what to say, but I’d opened the topic of conversation.
“Was she a close friend?” I asked.
“Yes, she was in the coffee circle.”
“You just found out?”
“Cindy didn’t show up today,” she said.
“Maybe she wasn’t feeling well.”
“Hopefully, but I called her and there was no answer.”
“She might show up tomorrow,” I said, thinking Olivia was rushing to judgment. But she shook her head.
“It’s the Wednesday curse,” she said. “My friends are all dying on Wednesdays!”
Obviously, it was unlikely that everyone Olivia knew would die the same day. However, occasionally odd things happened. Then when random patterns like that happened, people became superstitious. I couldn’t figure out how to tell her that while also sounding reassuring. The words I came up with would make her feel like a dummy.
“How many of your friends have died on Wednesdays?” I asked.
“There have been several,” she said. “For example, Vanessa died a few weeks ago. She was perfectly fine the day before, but everyone said it was likely natural causes.”
I told myself it wasn’t a curse. They were all old women and should have expected death because that is what happens to old people.
“Had Cindy been feeling ill?” I asked.
“She had a few problems, but was no worse than the rest of us.”
“Then why would she die now?”
“The church hates older people,” she said. “They’ve been trying to get rid of us. Now, they must be killing us off one by one.”
That shocked me. I couldn’t see why anyone would want to murder old women, and hate was irrational for a church.
She was drawing me into to something that wasn’t my business. I felt totally unprepared to help. I could calculate the right life insurance rate for Olivia’s friends, but I knew nothing about investigating murder. It wasn’t my job.
“Have you talked to the police?” I asked.
“No,” she
said. “What would I say?” I considered it for a moment and nodded.
“Can you tell me the names and dates of when your friends died?” I believed that I could use that information to determine the odds of the deaths being random.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ll have to look at my calendar at home for the funeral dates.”
That would take time. I had more financial questions, but I felt that Olivia wouldn’t be in the mood for it. Honestly, I wasn’t ready for it either.
“I’ll definitely be back tomorrow to talk to the CFO,” I said.
“Good,” she said, and we walked towards her car.
I sat in my car for a few minutes, and thought: What am I getting myself into? It was my plan to have a nice safe job of adding numbers on ledgers. My personality was suited for quiet work.
I sat there for an hour in shock. Olivia was confident that she could make me believe her. If it was true that there had been murders, the financial audit was insignificant in comparison.
I couldn’t motivate myself to do any work on the accounts. There was nothing that I could do related to the deaths until Olivia gave me her information anyway. I could have offered to go home with her to write down the dates, but I didn’t want to be intrusive and it was too late now.
I looked at the new modern church looming over the old one. Olivia had said there was a curse. I wondered if that new temple building was responsible.
I wasn’t much better off if I went to my office. There were curses there too, and they were named Opal, Ted and Mike. These were mobile specters that haunted the office. I had a slight confidence when I arrived at the SRSIG that morning, but it had changed to apprehension within a few minutes. Now I dreaded returning.
I was really getting stressed. I could easily get out of this by quitting. Alternatively, all I had to do was sit on my hands for a month then I’d be sure to be let go. I’d close my ears whenever someone talked to me.
However, I couldn’t do that to Olivia. She needed help. That is what got me to start my car and drive. As I drove, I told myself that I needed this for my sake too. Jobs weren’t plentiful and if I was fired, I might have to be employed in telephone sales of insurance. That would be even a worse hell. By the time I arrived at our office, I had convinced myself that it wouldn’t be that bad.
Then when I walked in the door, Opal and Ted were yelling at each other. That broke my short good attitude.
Bobbie was pacing back and forth from her desk to Ted’s closed door.
“Should I go in?” she asked me.
“What are they arguing about?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I think I’ll dig into work, and ignore them,” I said. “You should try typing. ”
“Okay,” she said.
I went to my office. Mike was reclining back in his chair. He was relishing the shouting.
“Do you know what’s up?” I asked. He shrugged and smiled. I sat down and quickly got distracted by my work. The yelling stopped shortly later.
I kept on typing. I didn’t have to think of murders either when I was busy. Maybe that’s why I liked dealing with numbers. Ledgers didn’t yell at each other or kill one another. It was soothing. That was all that I wanted right now.
Summary:
Neal flies to a remote island nation where a communist dictator has outlawed the sacrament of communion, and has expelled church leaders. The believers have to practice their faith secretly. Neal challenges the tyrant while risking his own life. Neal is confronted by a culture that is much different than his own. This challenges him to think about his own beliefs. Previously, he had been questioning his beliefs, but the adventure helps him reach resolution.
ISBN: 9781311870247
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