upset.”
“That’s why you called me?”
“No, I called to check on you and
to ask why I had to hear it from Ben. Are you okay?”
“It’s getting better. It was really
scary, Edie.”
“I know, Pumpkin. I know how much
you love that dog. To think that somebody was in your house without your
permission. They invaded the sanctity of your home. But I still don’t understand
why you didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t want to alarm you.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for.
What do you think happened? Why would somebody do this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Maggie, it seems like somebody was
trying to send you a message.”
“What kind of message?” Maggie
feigned ignorance, but she understood Edie’s suggestion.
“It’s simple. If they had wanted to
hurt you, they would have killed him. Or you. But they didn’t. They wanted to
scare you.”
“Who would do that?”
“Maybe somebody connected to the
Mac Honaker murder. You have been snooping around. Maybe you found out
something that somebody didn’t want you to know.”
“But what do I
know?” Maggie said to herself as much as to Edie.
Tyler slammed the newspaper down on
Maggie’s desk. “This is ridiculous,” he lamented. “I thought you proofed my
story.”
Maggie looked up at Tyler and down at the paper. “I did proof the story.”
“Then why is it full of mistakes?
One sentence contains the wrong form of ‘there’ and the man’s age is
interposed. He’s seventy-five, not fifty-seven like it states in the story.”
“Tyler,” Joe bellowed from his
office door. “Lower your voice and cut the attitude.”
If Tyler’s outburst hadn’t captured
the attention of everyone in the office, Maggie felt sure Joe’s verbal
explosion had, but she didn’t look around and confirm her suspicions.
“Thanks to her,” Tyler pointed at
Maggie, “my story contains two errors. One grammatical, one factual. I think
you should write her up.”
Joe stormed into the newsroom and
stood face-to-face and inches apart from Tyler. “If I wrote up everybody every
time a mistake got through, I could file a worker’s comp claim for carpal
tunnel. Besides, if I write her up, I write you up.”
“There you go again, taking the
side of your favorite,” Tyler countered.
“If it’s between you and Maggie or
you and a rattlesnake or you and a kidney stone, you’ll still come in second.”
The men’s heated exchange was
beginning to make Maggie nervous. She finally looked around the office. A rapt
audience stood motionless and with their eyes fixed on Joe and Tyler.
Joe pointed his forefinger at Tyler. “You made the factual error, Tyler.”
Tyler picked up the paper and tapped
it twice with his hand. “It was a story about a veteran of the Korean War. Any good
proofreader should know a fifty-seven-year-old is not old enough to have fought
in that war. Of course, she has the Jasper County School System to thank for
teaching her history.”
“Enough,” Joe shouted. “In my
office.”
Tyler followed Joe into his office,
slamming the door behind him. Although they spoke in raised voices, Maggie
couldn’t make out what they were saying. In the meantime, several co-workers
stopped by her desk or called and told her not to let Tyler get her down. When Tyler emerged from Joe’s office, he grabbed his jacket and left for the day without
speaking to anyone. Joe then motioned for Maggie to come to his office.
“If I could make him apologize, I
would,” Joe said as he chased two over-the-counter pain relievers with water.
“You shouldn’t let Tyler make you so angry and he has a point. I did let two mistakes slip by.”
“Actually, you let a couple more
slip by. There was a misspelled word in one story and the wrong form of ‘your’
in another. But Tyler had no right to talk to you that way. You’re usually so conscientious
it makes me jealous, but everybody has a bad day.
“That’s why you called me?”
“No, I called to check on you and
to ask why I had to hear it from Ben. Are you okay?”
“It’s getting better. It was really
scary, Edie.”
“I know, Pumpkin. I know how much
you love that dog. To think that somebody was in your house without your
permission. They invaded the sanctity of your home. But I still don’t understand
why you didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t want to alarm you.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for.
What do you think happened? Why would somebody do this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Maggie, it seems like somebody was
trying to send you a message.”
“What kind of message?” Maggie
feigned ignorance, but she understood Edie’s suggestion.
“It’s simple. If they had wanted to
hurt you, they would have killed him. Or you. But they didn’t. They wanted to
scare you.”
“Who would do that?”
“Maybe somebody connected to the
Mac Honaker murder. You have been snooping around. Maybe you found out
something that somebody didn’t want you to know.”
“But what do I
know?” Maggie said to herself as much as to Edie.
Tyler slammed the newspaper down on
Maggie’s desk. “This is ridiculous,” he lamented. “I thought you proofed my
story.”
Maggie looked up at Tyler and down at the paper. “I did proof the story.”
“Then why is it full of mistakes?
One sentence contains the wrong form of ‘there’ and the man’s age is
interposed. He’s seventy-five, not fifty-seven like it states in the story.”
“Tyler,” Joe bellowed from his
office door. “Lower your voice and cut the attitude.”
If Tyler’s outburst hadn’t captured
the attention of everyone in the office, Maggie felt sure Joe’s verbal
explosion had, but she didn’t look around and confirm her suspicions.
“Thanks to her,” Tyler pointed at
Maggie, “my story contains two errors. One grammatical, one factual. I think
you should write her up.”
Joe stormed into the newsroom and
stood face-to-face and inches apart from Tyler. “If I wrote up everybody every
time a mistake got through, I could file a worker’s comp claim for carpal
tunnel. Besides, if I write her up, I write you up.”
“There you go again, taking the
side of your favorite,” Tyler countered.
“If it’s between you and Maggie or
you and a rattlesnake or you and a kidney stone, you’ll still come in second.”
The men’s heated exchange was
beginning to make Maggie nervous. She finally looked around the office. A rapt
audience stood motionless and with their eyes fixed on Joe and Tyler.
Joe pointed his forefinger at Tyler. “You made the factual error, Tyler.”
Tyler picked up the paper and tapped
it twice with his hand. “It was a story about a veteran of the Korean War. Any good
proofreader should know a fifty-seven-year-old is not old enough to have fought
in that war. Of course, she has the Jasper County School System to thank for
teaching her history.”
“Enough,” Joe shouted. “In my
office.”
Tyler followed Joe into his office,
slamming the door behind him. Although they spoke in raised voices, Maggie
couldn’t make out what they were saying. In the meantime, several co-workers
stopped by her desk or called and told her not to let Tyler get her down. When Tyler emerged from Joe’s office, he grabbed his jacket and left for the day without
speaking to anyone. Joe then motioned for Maggie to come to his office.
“If I could make him apologize, I
would,” Joe said as he chased two over-the-counter pain relievers with water.
“You shouldn’t let Tyler make you so angry and he has a point. I did let two mistakes slip by.”
“Actually, you let a couple more
slip by. There was a misspelled word in one story and the wrong form of ‘your’
in another. But Tyler had no right to talk to you that way. You’re usually so conscientious
it makes me jealous, but everybody has a bad day.
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