Several handwritten lists.
And behind a pile of folders was a small box containing thousands of dollars in cash.
Mrs. Carter stopped talking.
The principal was called immediately.
When he arrived, he looked more shocked than Grandma.
He examined the documents and said several of the signatures on them were supposed to be his.
But they weren’t.
Someone had copied his signature.
The police took Mrs. Carter out of the classroom.
Before she left, she looked at me once.
This time, I didn’t look away.
Over the next several weeks, investigators discovered that money had been disappearing from school programs for more than two years.
It wasn’t just the donation fund.
Money intended for classroom materials, student activities, and families in need had also vanished.
Mrs. Carter had been changing records little by little so no single missing amount looked large enough to attract attention.
Until I walked into the classroom at the wrong moment.
