Well, friends, I continue to plot along in my novel writing contest attempt - but I feel the goal slipping away, as I still have a long way to go. I'll have to ask my friend BigDadGib: wasn't it Jerry Reed who sang that song for Smokey and the Bandit - 'Got a long way to go and a short time to get there - we're gonna do what they say can't be done'. Well, I'm feeling the 'can't be done' part of it, at the moment. But I haven't thrown in the towel just yet. Here's another random slice for you. Enjoy.
“Mr. Dorney? Sheriff Fisher will be right with you if you will hold for a moment.”
“Certainly”, he replied. It was just a matter of seconds before there came a voice.
“This is Fisher.”
“Sheriff, my name is Allan Dorney. I am an auditor with Rutherford & Rochelle in Montgomery.”
“How can I help you, sir?” the Sheriff was only half listening, as his assistant Judy stood over him with a stack of records needing his signature. The telephone balanced on his shoulder, she pointed and he signed.
“I’ve been assigned to perform an audit on several County Council accounts and I’ve found a pattern of irregularities that, well, frankly Sheriff, might warrant a police investigation. I’m wondering if there is a detective that I should speak to about this.”
“In my County?” the Sheriff held up his hand to halt the signature dance. “Who did you say you are? Where did you say you were from?”
“Sheriff, begging your pardon. I’m Allan Dorney. I was hired to…”
“I got that. What are these irregularities you mentioned?”
“As much as $200,000 of county capital improvement funds appear to be unaccounted for since the beginning of this fiscal year. There might be a name connected to these transactions…”
Again the Sheriff interrupted, “Why haven’t I heard about this?”
“Sheriff, I’m guessing no one there has looked closely at these accounts and transactions. If I weren’t doing an audit, perhaps no one would have been the wiser. Can I meet with you and show you what I’ve found?”
“You bet your assets, Mr. Auditor.”
“A word of advice, Sheriff. Until we figure out what this is all about and who is involved, I would keep it confidential. There is a possibility that this is all an accounting mistake – although in my experience, it rarely is. I’ll make my way over there Friday from Montgomery. Is Friday after lunch okay?”
When the call ended, the Sheriff glanced up at his assistant Judy. They had been together at this for twenty years. He thought to himself, ‘If I can’t trust her, who can I trust?’
“Judy, do me a favor. Get me a copy of the county budget and any records out there concerning the ‘capital improvements’ line item – I don’t know, maybe a budget verses actual or profit and loss report, something like that. Then, see if you can get an account balance summary for this fiscal year. All those records are public, so they won’t require any court order. If anyone asks you what you’re gathering, tell them I am looking to work on next year’s budget requests, or something.”
“What’s this about, Sheriff?”
“I don’t know, Judy. Just keep it all quiet until I find out.”
Technorati Tags: Interactive Sermon, NaNoWriMo, Novel Writing
As the completely filled calendar for November in the left hand panel of my blog suggests, I've completed the NaBloPoMo challenge for 2007 - I posted something on my blog every day during the month of November.
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