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about how the crime occurred. I probably wouldn’t have made a great detective. I started to think about how I was going to get my work done for the day without having access to the office or my desk. Rodney was out on leave for a couple of weeks again, so I was the one temporarily in charge and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t call it a day and head home. I supposed I could work at Rodney’s desk, since he was out.
    I went into the Rodney’s office for the remainder of the day. First on my agenda was to call the mayor. I dialed her from my cell phone to bring her up to speed on what happened. I told her to expect a phone call from Tex. She seemed disturbed by the news, but relieved that no one was around to get hurt during the break-in. I explained to her that the locks on the main doors might have been picked and that the door to the clerk’s office appeared to be kicked in because it was so flimsy. She agreed with me about my suspicion that Mr. Triggers was behind the robbery.
    Mayor O’Donnell told me to look into the cost getting an alarm system, better locks, and a stronger door that was less likely to be kicked in. I asked her if I could also look into getting a safe and she agreed. I knew it was all pointless. I would go through the trouble of spending time getting quotes, drafting the proper paperwork, and reviewing where there were funds available for these purchases with our CFO. Then, I would present everything at a council meeting. Council would say there is no money in this year’s budget and they would vote no on the purchases. I often felt the current group of elected officials was penny-wise and pound-foolish. If there was better security to begin with, then there would be less money spent in OT for the police and no money spent on the damages to the building.
    While I was on the phone with the mayor, the storage company showed up with the boxes I had ordered for Mr. Triggers. Bonnie informed me about their arrival and I followed her into the lobby.
    “I didn’t know where to put them all,” Bonnie said.
    The boxes were scattered all over the lobby. I went back to Rodney’s desk and sent a work-order via email requesting a table and some help with moving boxes around from public works.
    Within forty minutes, several public works employees found me in Rodney’s office and offered to help move the boxes. I walked them down the hallway and pushed open the door to the lobby. I turned around to show them where I wanted the table set up, took a step back, and next thing I knew, I tripped over one of the boxes and fell flat on my back. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that I was fairly sure that all three men from public works got a sneak peek at my white cotton panties. I turned eight shades of red and tried to scramble to my feet. Bonnie was almost on the floor herself, laughing at me. I cursed Mr. Triggers in my head for making me bring the darn boxes over.
    “You can claim workman’s comp,” one of the guys said, “We were all witnesses!”
    “I’m fine,” I managed to muster.
    I showed them where I wanted the boxes moved and where the table should go. I figured Mr. Triggers could sit at the table near the outside of our office so that I could spit on him…er, um, I meant so we could keep an eye on him while he looked through the boxes. I didn’t trust him and I wouldn’t put it past him to take something.
    I hustled back to Rodney’s office and closed the door. I needed to hide for a while and nurse my bruised ego back to health.
    By the next morning, the police were finished processing the crime scene and we were allowed back in to our office. Bonnie and I started cleaning up and taking inventory. We tried to remember how much money was in the cash box. There was two hundred dollars for starters to make change with. Bonnie wasn’t in the office on Friday, so she wouldn’t have taken in any payments. The receipt books were missing, but I recalled having taken twenty-eight