Paige returned to the council office only once, accompanied by her attorney, to collect her personal belongings.
She had accepted a new job at a medical supply company, where the work was less glamorous and the pay more reliable.
Celeste was not present during the visit.
The board had arranged for an independent administrator to supervise access to records while the review continued.
Paige found a handwritten calendar, a photo of her brother, and a folder of invoices she had been told to prepare but not authorized to approve.
She surrendered copies of relevant work records to the reviewer and kept her personal items.
Later she wrote to me.
She said she had been frightened by what people might think of her for remaining in the office so long.
She had convinced herself that a good assistant should not question a respected leader.
“I confused being trusted with being controlled,” she wrote.
I did not respond with a speech about courage.
I thanked her for explaining what she knew and wished her success in the new job.
There are people who help you by opening a locked door.
There are also people who help by admitting that they once believed the lock belonged there.
Evelyn called with an update about the mailbox case several weeks after Felix’s statement.
The investigation had gathered delivery records, witness accounts, relevant communications, and evidence from Felix’s vehicle.
The matter would be referred for charging decisions, and she warned that the process could take time.
I asked whether Celeste would be arrested.
“I can’t predict that,” she replied.
“Our job is to document what happened.”
She said Felix had accepted responsibility for damaging the box and taking the envelope.
The remaining question was the extent to which he acted on another person’s instructions and what those instructions were.
I wanted to hear that every adult involved would be punished immediately.
Instead I received an explanation of evidence and uncertainty.
After the call, I wrote down the facts she had confirmed and placed the paper in our growing case folder.
I stopped keeping the folder on the kitchen table.
It had begun to make every family dinner look like a hearing.
I moved it to the top shelf of the hall closet, where it remained available without demanding attention.
A new problem arrived through the school district in late May.
A parent had filed a complaint claiming Sophie received special treatment from Mrs. Paredes during the fellowship review.
