Nelson DeMille - Spencerville

No one stood, and Keith was impressed with Gail's showmanship.

Gail said, "I've asked the Spencerville Gazette to send a reporter tonight. Is he or she here?" Gail looked around the church. "No? Could that be because the newspaper is owned by the mayor's family, or because Baxter Motors is the biggest advertiser?"

Several people laughed and there was some applause.

Keith saw that Gail was enjoying tweaking some prominent noses, and he was sure she understood she was going to make more enemies than she had friends in her adopted community. Gail might spark the revolution, but neither she nor Jeffrey would lead it or have a place in any new regime. In fact, they'd remain outcasts, poor and friendless, cut off from their original hometown roots, alienated from the larger world they helped bring about, and now strangers in a strange land. They sort of reminded Keith of himself.

Gail went on for a minute, speaking in generalities, then got down to cases, beginning with Chief of Police Cliff Baxter.

She said, "In my dealings with Chief Baxter, I've found him to be, in my opinion, incompetent, ineffective, and dictatorial. But don't take my word for it. We have several people here tonight who have volunteered to come forward with their own stories about Chief Baxter. Some of these stories will shock you, and it takes a lot of courage for these people, your neighbors, to tell you their stories. Most of what you're going to hear brings no credit on the people who will speak, but they have decided to do something positive for themselves and their community. They will tell you about corruption, bribery, bid fixing, voting irregularities, and yes, as you already know, sexual misconduct."

Gail knew when to pause and listen to the murmurs and startled sounds coming from the good citizens of Spencerville. Despite the fact that everything Gail said and was going to say was probably true, and likewise for the people who were about to speak, Keith had the sense that he was attending a seventeenth-century witch trial where witness after witness got up and told stories about one of their neighbors. The only thing missing was the defendant.

Gail made a few more remarks, then related her own story about Cliff Baxter regarding his illegal file on her and ended with, "I'm bringing a civil suit against him and will subpoena that file and make it a public record. I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. My past is known to many of you, and I'll let you be the judge. I cannot and will not be blackmailed. Furthermore, I'm considering pressing criminal charges against Mr. Baxter, and I've spoken to the county prosecutor about it. If I can't get justice in Spencer County, I'll go to Columbus and speak to the state attorney general. I do this, not for myself, but for everyone in the county who has been the subject of illegal investigations and file-gathering by the police chief."

She looked out over the audience and said, "Some of Baxter's victims are here tonight, some wish not to be identified, and I'll respect that decision. Some have volunteered to come forward. So without having to listen to me any longer, I'll introduce our first volunteer, and she can speak for herself." Gail looked into the first row and nodded.

Hesitantly, looking as though she wanted to be anywhere else on earth, an attractive young woman stood and made her way to the dais. Gail greeted her with a warm embrace and said something to her as she steered the woman to the microphones.

The woman stood silently a few seconds, and Keith thought she looked pale and frightened. She cleared her throat several times, then said, "My name is Sherry Kolarik, and I'm a waitress at the Park 'n' Eat in town."

Sherry Kolarik took a sip of water, then glanced at Gail, who was sitting beside her, then continued, "I first met Chief Baxter when he came to my house six months ago to collect on some overdue parking tickets. I knew I owed the money, but I didn't have it, and I told him that. I thought it was kind of strange that the police chief himself would come out to my house... I mean, I never met him before, but I knew what he looked like because he came to the Park 'n' Eat for breakfast a lot. I never waited on him because he always sat at the table that another girl had — I won't mention her name, but he sat there because he was dating her."

This brought some murmurs from the crowd who knew that Chief Baxter was a married man. But Keith knew this was going to get even better — or worse.

Sherry continued, "One time, though, this girl was out, and he sat at my table. He didn't say much, except he pointed to my name tag... you know, on my left breast, and said, 'Sherry. That's a nice name for it. What's the other one called?' "

There were a few involuntary laughs from the crowd, and Sherry smiled in embarrassment, then everyone settled down, and she continued. "Anyway, about a few weeks later, he came to my door looking for the parking fines. I let him in and we talked. I tried to tell him I didn't have the money, but I'd have it on payday. But he said he wanted it then or he'd take me in. He said if he arrested me, it would be the next day before I could see the judge, and I'd have to spend the night in jail. He said every prisoner had to be searched, had to take a shower, and had to put on prison clothes. I found out later this wasn't true with something like parking tickets, but I was real scared."

Keith had seen the misuse of power all over the world, and he particularly didn't like men who used their authority, or their guns, to intimidate defenseless women for the purpose of sex, which was where this story was heading.

Sherry continued her story, and within a minute had gotten to the point of it. She said, "So I... I offered... I offered to have sex with him..."

The crowd was absolutely silent now.

"I mean... I'm not claiming he brought it up... but I sort of had the feeling that he was... well, kind of leading me there, and like I said, I was scared, and I was broke. I mean, I don't claim to be pure or anything, I've had a few boyfriends, but they were people I liked, and I never did it for money or with anyone I didn't like... but I didn't see any other way out of this. So... I offered, and he accepted." She added, "He said he'd give me the money, but it was a loan, and told me to take off my clothes so he could see what kind of collateral I had."

This remark caused a collective gasp from the audience, and Sherry hung her head, then looked up, took a deep breath, and made brave eye contact with the crowd. Keith sensed that none of this was an act — the woman was truly humiliated, frightened, and courageous. He could only guess at her motives for exposing herself like this in public, but he guessed it had less to do with civic duty than with revenge. But what difference did it make?

Keith had heard enough, and he made his way through the crowd as Sherry began a somewhat graphic description of what followed.

He passed through the narthex where the crowd was straining to hear, and out the doors and down the steps into the cool air.

He noticed that there were men moving among the vehicles, shining flashlights, and, as he got closer, he saw they were policemen. They were taking down the license plate numbers of the parked vehicles. This didn't surprise him on one level, yet he found it hard to believe it was happening. He approached one of the policemen, who happened to be a deputy sheriff rather than a Spencerville city cop. Keith said to him, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The man seemed embarrassed, which was a hopeful sign. He replied, "Just following orders."

"Whose orders?"

"Can't say."

"Who's in charge here?"

The man looked around. "Nobody, really. No bosses here."

Keith spotted a policeman wearing the uniform of a Spencerville cop and went over to him and saw it was the cop who'd been at the high school. Keith said to him, "Officer Schenley, do you realize you're breaking the law?"