Diana returned to the hearing room alone and sat down. Addressing the panel, she said firmly, "My next witness will be in shortly. She is helping Sarah because you upset her so much."
Anuse and Henry looked pleased. The women were anxious and concerned except for Esther who appeared puzzled.
Shortly thereafter, Helen Schauer marched into the room and took the witness chair as if she owned it. Her Teutonic ancestors would have been proud. Helen, at age thirty, considered herself a responsible adult. She owned property and was very serious about her abilities and her nursing studies.
She had begged Diana to let her come as a witness. A little taller than average, she was a strong looking woman. Blonde hair framed a face that, while not beautiful, reflected a healthy radiance that enhanced her image of strength. Now, sitting there, exuding confidence, she gave her name and was sworn. Her testimony should have been important, but Diana wasn't too certain that the panel would listen. It backed up what Roz had to say about the feelings of the medical students concerning the radiology course.
The most Diana hoped to accomplish from this testimony was to have the committee order NERD to make available the course and instructor evaluation for the previous year. That was the year that Lyle had claimed the students loved the course and the instructors. That was the year Diana did not teach in it.
"Are you acquainted with any medical students who took the radiology course this last year?" questioned Diana.
Helen testified that two of the rooms in her home were rented by medical students. "The gist of the conversation around our dinner table was that they felt the course was a complete waste of time. 'Most of the year, it seemed as if we knew more than the instructors,'" she quoted one of them as saying.
Jane couldn't wait for Diana to complete her questioning of Helen and broke in with, "Would the students come and talk with us?" She pretended to forget that medical students were not allowed at the hearing.
"No. Medical students were told they should not testify. They did request that I tell you that both she and my other roomer gave a bad evaluation of the course in the SmurFFs they filled out this year. They hoped that by doing that, the course would be changed and improved for the students next year. You have been told that all the evaluations were positive that year."
Henry appeared to misunderstand. "If they didn't think their evaluations were done correctly, they should go to the dean." He said to Helen, severely.
"Huh? I didn't say anything about them feeling their evaluations.... what do you mean?"
"If there is a problem with their evaluations, they should go to the dean."
"I didn't say there was a problem. I don't know where you are coming from. I will repeat what I said since it appears that I have been misunderstood. They told me that they had filled out a very negative evaluation on the radiology course, and that they knew that others in the class did also because there was great dissatisfaction with the course."
Henry immediately reminded the panel members that this was all hearsay. It will be trouble, he thought, if anyone on the panel asks for the SmurFFs for the year Diana didn't teach that course. Lyle doesn't want them seen and for good reason. He and his boys have perjured themselves.
No one seemed to have any more questions. Even Anuse appeared wary. This was one witness that they weren't going to confuse. She not only had both feet planted on the ground, she looked as if she'd enjoy planting the panel under them. Noting that there were no more questions coming, Diana thanked her and said, "Looks like we are finished with you, Helen."
"You may be finished with me, but I am not finished with you!" She took in everyone in the room with that remark, surprising Diana as much as anyone on the panel. Even Janet looked up with a startled expression.
One could almost hear the horns of the Valkyrie sounding as a Brunnhilde spirit sparkled in the body of this nursing student.
"I am concerned and distressed," she continued. "First, for how you treated that young woman who testified before me. I have known Sarah for several months and she is as honest and sincere as anyone I have ever known.
"You know what she told us when she came out? She said you didn't believe her because you had already decided on the basis of the graphologist's report. She said it wasn't fair. That person swore only to an opinion. She, Sarah, had sworn to a fact.
"Also, from what the other witnesses have told me and what I have just experienced myself, I don't believe you want to find out the truth. You just want to terminate our teacher.
"No, I am not finished yet." Helen held up a warning hand to Henry who was about to protest, palm flat out like a traffic cop. "I have a BA in German and I am working toward a BA in nursing, and I am disgusted, I am really disgusted at what happened with my nutrition course evaluation. Despite what we were told in the classroom concerning the use of the evaluations for the course and professors, they were sent off-site to a graphologist...."
"Only a few, there were only a small number," insisted Henry. Good Lord, he thought, abashed, I never should have admitted that any were sent.
"So what! Maybe mine was one of them. You shouldn't be breaching student confidentiality to expedite some personnel matter. And let me tell you, I'm not the only one in the class that feels that way. You have deceived us and we will not fill out any more of those forms unless we are forced to."
"But you must understand," urged Esther, "no other writing by students went out at the same time. There would not be any chance that anybody would know who was the person who wrote them."
Esther really was out of it, thought Annette.
"That is totally irrelevant." Helen replied firmly. "The point is our confidential evaluations were sent off-site. I think a lot of damage has been done. It is unconscionable. If we ever do fill out another evaluation form, it will be completely sterile so it can't be used to hurt anyone by an irresponsible administration. That is what many of the med students did in their last evaluation. They just marked everything average and typed all comments. That is why you haven't seen any of their SmurFFs from that year."
"Thank you, Helen." Diana stood up and walked around the table to open the door for her.
"We'll take a short recess," Henry announced.
During this recess, he told the panel that he had decided to adjourn the hearing until the next day.
Henry had just reached the hallway of his home when the phone summoned him with its strident demand to be answered. Loosening his tie with one hand, he picked up the instrument with the other, "Yes, hello, Tarbuck residence."
"Ah, good. You're home, Henry." This superb example of deductive reasoning delivered in the imperious manner of a self-appointed earth-god could only be The Pope.
"Yes, how are you, John?" Henry had pulled off his tie and was settling himself comfortably in the chair next to the phone. "Sorry I missed you when I returned to the office, but we decided to adjourn early so I did a few errands I've been putting off and then I came home."
"No problem, Henry. I just wanted to check with you to see how things are going. Mark said there was a bit of a dust up over the file material he sent the document examiners as standards?"
"Yes. Trenchant is making an issue of every little thing she can think of. Actually, I think she must have some outside help—someone is advising her. Perhaps even someone at Belmont."
"Giving you a lot of trouble, is she? Slap her down, Henry, slap her down. We've got her good on this one. Mark tells me the document examiner was one hundred percent sure that Trenchant wrote those things," The Pope boomed expansively.
"That's correct. The only thing is the three women on the panel don't place much confidence in the examiner's ability and right now they aren't accepting her testimony. Besides that, Trenchant has a student witness who claims that she, the witness, wrote one of those SmurFFs our analyst said was written by Trenchant."
"My God. That doesn't sound good at all. I thought Mark said handwriting analysis was as foolproof as fingerprints."
"Well, that's the legal argument lawyers use. Apparently, they aren't. Trenchant gave us two cases as examples of these so-called experts being fooled. One was concerning the Hitler Diaries and another she called the White Salamander Affair. She also listed several other sources for the panel to check on."
"What are you going to do? You've got to whip that panel in line and do it fast, Henry, we're in this thing too deep to back off now."
"I know, and I'm on top of it. Mark is going to testify concerning his experience as an attorney with handwriting evidence. Also, I've ruled most of Trenchant's testimony and that of her witnesses hearsay. That cuts out a lot of potentially damaging information.
"Did you know, John, that those two guys who brought the complaint against her in the first place had plagiarized several textbooks as well as Trenchant's stuff and that both the dean and Lyle Stone knew about it?"
"Penny ante stuff, Henry. Everybody copies material for their courses. That's why every department has a copying machine."
"Well this sure sounded serious. They photographed a whole atlas and presented it to their class as their own work."
"So? It's just Trenchant's word, isn't it? Who's going to believe she isn't just indulging in sour grapes?"
"The whole panel, that's who. That stupid son of a bitch, Ian, admitted to it."
"Don't worry so, Henry. Surely you can explain that away as a misstatement on his part. He can just say that he didn't understand the question and...."
"I've already done that with the panel but I can't keep up forever explaining away every boner they pull. I've got to call Lyle back to testify again and the panel wants to hear from one of his faculty, Ann Biggot, and from Jimbo as well."
"What can I do to help you, Henry."
"Get on their asses, please, John. Those dilettantes in the medical school just made a very poor showing. They weren't prepared or.... would you believe, John, that Lyle couldn't even remember how many SmurFFs he was given and the dean contradicted a vital part of his testimony. Both Ian and Randy stunk. Please, lower the boom on Lyle and the others slated to testify tomorrow. They have got to do their homework."
"I'll get right on it, Henry. Don't worry now. Just remember that we can keep everyone—reporters, local, state and federal—out of our business simply by claiming academic privilege. There is nothing we can't explain away. Nothing we can't make disappear if we need to."
"OK, John, and thanks."
"Right. Good evening, Henry."
Henry hung up the phone and stretched. Strange, he thought, sniffing the air experimentally, I don't smell anything cooking. Wonder if we're going out for dinner. For that matter, I wonder where Kate is, haven't heard her moving around. Oh, well, she's probably in the back yard.
Resigning himself to the distinct possibility that he would have to get ready for another night out, he went in search of her. The kitchen first, he decided. I'll grab something out of the refrigerator to eat and.... what's this note on the table? Henry started to read it and then sat down heavily in a nearby chair to finish reading. "Be damned," he breathed. "She's left me."
The next morning, the panel members looked relaxed and confident. Henry hoped there would be now more gaffes, especially since The Pope had gotten after them. He congratulated himself for thinking to ask. He knew from experience that The Pope could be very persuasive.
The first witness called by the panel was the university attorney, Mark Rogers. He entered the room, spoke to everyone there, addressing them by name, and took the seat indicated just across from Diana.
Mark would never be called handsome. He carried a bit too much weight in his face for that. He was, however, garrulous. This part of his character endeared him to the administration that he served so well, since his long winded approach to any problem brought to him, bored most people to death before they got any answer.
This saved the administrators the problem of dealing with most complaints brought by faculty and staff. If the administrators wanted some legal answers, they contacted a real lawyer, usually Simon Murrain, from a high priced law firm in town.
Mark had never had any success as an attorney in the real world, but here in the cloistered world of academia, he flourished. In the rapidly changing meaning of words, Mark knew which side of the butter the bread was on. He could lie or tell the truth with the same absolute conviction.
And now he was giving an ample demonstration of this to the panel. He knew that he had been called in because Henry was terrified that the document examiner's evidence had been overturned by the defense testimony. He also knew that the three women on the panel were not disposed favorably to the analyst who had come to testify. Well, by golly, he thought, old Mark will put out the fire.
In answer to a simple question, Mark replied by starting from when he graduated from law school and tracing his entire career. Along the way, he revealed, he had discovered these particular document examiners.
For all his verbosity, he was convincing. Henry was pleased. After all, he was an attorney. Who would know better how courts and evidence worked than an attorney? Then too, Mark had been the one to send the 'suspect' evaluations to the analyst that he, himself, had recommended. Mark had ordered the material from Diana's personnel file, so he could attest to the legality of it.
Jane observed that the other members of the panel, immersed in his tale, seemingly failed to realize that he confirmed several interruptions in the chain of custody of the documents he was referring to. Most notable was when he was asked to identify the various packets of handwriting evidence that was marked as exhibits for this hearing. He either, "hadn't reviewed them closely enough to determine...." or claimed that he "honestly didn't recall who I received the note from (the note Lyle's friend had found 'strange')," as answers to direct questions from the panel.
Henry, hoping to create some clarity, put the finishing touches on the breaks in the chain of custody of the 'suspect' documents that were being discussed. "Oh, the problem here must be because some of the packets have been separated apart."
Jane noticed that Mark also had only vague recollections as to when all these things took place. He prefaced every phrase with, "to the best of my recollection" or "at best I can recall," in proper attorney fashion, proving that he had, after all, gotten something out of law school.
Having agreed, with Henry's prompting, that he did remember getting five radiology SmurFFs from Lyle, two nursing nutrition SmurFFs from Jimbo, he was handed a note, referred to as 'Lyle's friend's strange note' by Henry and asked, "And did you also sent the document examiners this note?"
"This would appear to be the original note; the only thing that I have seen is a copy of this note. I don't believe until now I had actually seen an original."
Good Lord, thought Jane. Surely someone should question this. The document examiner testified that ALL the 'suspect' documents were originals and now Mark, the guy that sent them to the examiners, is saying he has only seen a copy.
He's vague and unsure of most everything he claims he was involved in and most of his evidence is what someone else told him or that he 'had assumed'. This was the kind of testimony that Henry had been so critical of when the defense witnesses were examined, calling it second hand information. Apparently, coming from the university attorney, it is considered to be all right, Jane commented to herself. At one point, with help from Henry, Mark brought forth information that Jane thought might be triple hearsay.
He said, "I remember now that Jimbo told me that Lyle told him that Lyle's friend had found the note."
Not a voice was raised in complaint from the panel. And not from me either, thought Jane. I'm not sticking my neck out when a lawyer is testifying.
Henry appeared to be pleased. Mark had done well enough even though he had been a bit shaky on dates. Anyway, the panel didn't seem to notice. He had established handwriting analysis as nearly infallible—not by evidence, not by proof, but solely because he said so.
He was pleased when cross examination by Diana was continually broken into by the panel. As a result of this, the question of the dates when these things happened was never really established. As things stood, Lyle, Randy and now Mark had all given conflicting dates concerning when these documents were sent out for analysis, when each received them and what each received.
However, under tenacious questioning by Diana, Mark divulged that the 'strange' note, apparently sent as an afterthought, had only been looked at by the examiners the day before coming to testify. That was why he had only seen a copy of it since the original was given to them on their arrival by Henry. Their opinion was not conclusive, but they thought it probable that Diana had printed it. They were wise to vacillate on this, Mark observed, since their supply of printing standards was very limited.
Because of the way Mark presented this, the panel was left with the impression that had there been enough standards, the document examiner would certainly have found that Diana had printed it.
An angry exchange occurred when Diana protested strongly that here was another piece of evidence that she was surprised with after being told that she had received all of it.
Henry smiled vacuously and said, "It was introduced yesterday."
"I never saw it."
"It was in the analyst's report for you to see."
"Now you tell me."
"You could have read it anytime."
"When? Every time there was a break, you shooed me out of here."
"We needed this room to confer."
Anuse broke in to hammer home another spike of explanation in the maze of questionable activity engaged in by the administration. "Mark, from a legal point of view, can an employee's personnel records be sent out for this type of analysis without the individual's permission or verification?"
Mark answered, again with the qualifier, which was not deemed noteworthy by the committee members. "In my opinion, they may not be used for just any purpose, but they certainly may be used for those purposes."
Well, sure. Ask the guy who did it if it was all right. Some legal opinion! thought Diana.
It was, however, the benchmark, the criterion of the prejudice exhibited by the hearing panel throughout. The Attorney General, after her investigation was complete, wrote in her report that, "....the panel utilized a procedure in which guilt was not investigated, but assumed. The university placed the burden of proof on Diana Trenchant to prove she was innocent, but denied her the evidence to do so.
"In fact," The A.G.'s report continued, "the process was so fundamentally unfair and reflected such an aggressive determination by the university to discharge her, that its actions have strengthened the inference of discrimination."
After Mark had left, Associate Academic Vice President, Jimbo Jones was sworn. He had held the chair of NERD for many years, then when Lyle took over, Jimbo was moved to the central administrative post. Henry smiled wryly, hoping for the best because no matter how poor a performance was turned in by senior administrators, they were never fired—they knew where too many bodies were buried. They were kept around and use as needed to plug gaps and cover asses, especially their own....
Having few duties as a Vee, Jimbo lectured, teamed with Lyle, in the nursing nutrition course. He used to refer to them as a dog and pony show. The students thought of two other animals that would have described the situation better, since neither man was greatly liked.
This was mainly because both had a low opinion of undergraduates, felt it was beneath them to lecture at this level and didn't try to hide their opinion from the students.
Lyle and Jimbo gave these few lectures because the university policy of increasing administration personnel and research faculty while decreasing teachers had decimated the ranks of competent instructors.
Upper level administrators like Jimbo were paid in the six figure category. A few professors received fifty grand a year; most substantially less. A limited number of excellent teaching faculty worked their butts off teaching course after course for peanuts. The ever burgeoning, corpulent administration and research people had light duties and lots of play time—to say nothing of having the money to play.
At the time Diana was employed at NERD, it was not unique for the research professors to spend one or two afternoons a week on the golf course, lake or ski slopes. Any research accomplished mostly fell to the technicians paid by a grant or the university. Citizens who donated money for research into various diseases would be astonished to discover how little of their money went into the research, and how much went into paying administrative salaries.
At Belmont, Friday afternoons turned into happy hours as medical research professors with their light teaching loads relaxed together in the conference room recuperating for the weekend.
When Jimbo was asked to identify the two evaluations—these being the two from nursing nutrition that Lyle had said Jimbo had brought to him, he professed not to recall how they were found or where. "I don't remember if I found them or who found them," he stated. "I have seen them before, but I don't know who discovered them."
Henry started to get nervous. This damn jerk who found those two SmurFFs professed no recollection of it. He hurried into the breach. "What you are saying, Jimbo, is that either you or Lyle found them but you don't remember which."
Even with this prompting, Jimbo couldn't hack it. He looked over at Henry and smiled without speaking.
"Yes, thank you. Of course, that's it." Henry testified for him and then tried to prove through Jimbo's testimony that Diana had a history of conflict with department members.
Once again, Jane observed, no examples were given. The names of the individuals involved in these alleged conflicts were not given so there was no confirmation of the testimony. When she tried to get specifics on these conflicts, Jimbo answered that, "....it involved the kind of facility utilization problems that one runs into in a small department."
Pursuing this, Jane asked, "Did they have anything to do with running a course or what should be taught in a course?"
"No."
At this juncture, Esther, not to be outdone asked if the difficulty had anything to do with her ability to teach.
Jimbo replied that her ability to teach had never been in question. He also confirmed, much to Henry's chagrin, that Diana had worn a brace on her wrist in December but could not remember exactly when.
Since he had been commandeered to help in the radiology lab after Diana left the course, he was asked how the medical students responded that year. His answer indicated that he believed the students generally liked the lab portion. He also disclosed that the lab had not changed at all from what had been taught in previous years.
Not bloody likely, thought Diana, since they copied most of the material from my manual that they were expressly forbidden to use.... the manual that was so successful in the course for the previous two years.
When Jimbo declared that the year Diana didn't teach, the course content was no different from the previous year, Henry tried to hurry him out the door. He recalled all the testimony from the NERD people insisting that things were much different and much improved after Diana left the course.
Before he could, Diana said, "I have one question, Jimbo. We taught that lab together for many years when you were chair of NERD. During that time, it was my impression that each year's class could differ immensely from the previous year. Specifically, one year, the class would like the way the course was run, then the next year's class would hate it. Do you agree?"
"Yes, wholeheartedly, absolutely."
"Thank you."
Henry walked Jimbo out of the hearing room wishing fervently that he had never asked him to testify. What a mess, but hopefully Lyle could fix it.
Ann Biggot was a crawling morass of nerves. As she explained to the panel, it was not really fear of retribution for what she might say, it was fear that she might be understood incorrectly and that would harm either her chairman or Diana. She was overwhelmed, she exclaimed, "....because I heard that this is the first Termination for Cause Hearing ever held in Belmont!"
What an airhead, Henry thought. She swings so widely back and forth that her testimony is generally contradictory and always rambling. When she criticizes Lyle, in answer to a question from the panel, she, in nearly the same breath, praises him on a totally unrelated issue.
Lord protect me from these dithering female types, he implored, raising his eyes toward the ceiling. He looked back at the witness critically. She's held her own in the looks department for a woman of her age, he decided, but has let herself go to fat somewhat. Must be, from the looks of her about ten years or so younger than Diana. Well, Lyle thinks she loyal to him and that's what counts here.
Ann would not confirm her niece's testimony. Andrea had said her aunt thought that the excessive course load given Diana by Lyle was an attempt to break her spirit or drive her from the department. Ann declared that she, "could not remember saying that. It is possible that was what Andrea understood me to say."
When asked directly if there was sex discrimination in the department, she said that in the past, she had felt some discrimination because of sex, but she knew now that this was not the case. She gave several reasons why she was not treated the same or paid as much as the males in the department.
"It probably was because my research is so much different from the rest or because Lyle was new in the position and didn't realize what he was saying."
Jane felt anger toward Ann as she listened. She had asked around for information about her when she knew Ann would be testifying. Ann, of all people, knew what the situation truly was because Lyle had named her as the department Affirmative Action representative. Reflecting on the efficacy of the AA program, Jane knew that Belmont, like most universities around the country, had continued problems with grant procurement due to being out of compliance with the laws concerning discrimination and harassment. To counter this, or rather, to nip any potential problems in the bud, the administration created a setup whereby every department had an appointed representative for Affirmative Action.
All complaints had to be brought to this person. At NERD, this was Ann—who in turn took them to the department chair. A case of the proverbial fox guarding the chickens, Jane thought wryly.
The complaints and the person complaining, the complainant, were "handled" by a special administrative flunky. It was made crystal clear that problems would increase if one pursued a complaint. Faculty women on tenure track were especially vulnerable to these kinds of threats.
If the charge was serious and the complainant had evidence and witnesses, and could not be persuaded to drop the charges, the common practice was to transfer the complainant to another department. No one could ever remember a male at Belmont being punished, transferred or discharged for discrimination or harassment.
Jane knew that Ann had heard complaints—from women in the department and from medical students who had suffered discrimination and harassment. She shook her head sadly, wondering what she would have done in similar circumstances. Would she also chose not to reveal the truth to the committee, fearing reprisals?
In response to several other questions posed by the panel, Ann Biggot proclaimed that she had no fear of reprisal for her testimony, but every so often a Freudian slip would break out from her careful answers. She was confirming a question from Diana concerning how both of them were often overlooked when departmental journals were circulated. "If I didn't get a journal, I would just take it out of someone else's box," she said angrily, then with a guilty expression, "Maybe I won't be working there next week."
Jane asked, "Does he customarily yell or get angry at people?"
Avoiding the question, Ann replied, "The biggest problem with him is getting him to put his answers down in writing."
She did, however, confirm that she had been asked to testify by Diana and had begged off. "Not really because of losing my job....it was just that it was so serious a charge...."
Ann amply substantiated what Diana had already testified to regarding her many attempts to communicate with Lyle and establish a better relationship. She was also generous with her assertion that Diana was a totally honest person.
"We have had problems sometimes working together, but the one thing I was sure of was her absolute, utter honesty. This charge came as a horrible shock to me, and that is the truth.
"To give you an idea of how much I trust her, there are two people in the department that I would feel right about leaving alone in my office and she was one of them. I wouldn't even trust Lyle."
Throughout the testimony of this witness, the panel continually interrupted the cross examinations of Diana. This happened at especially crucial times when important evidence was on the verge of being brought out or confirmed. One time, to the chagrin of Henry and Frank, it worked in Trenchant's favor.
Henry had interrupted to ask Ann about a rather damning quote attributed to her by Lyle which appeared on Diana's yearly Reappointment Appraisal Sheet. It read, "I believe that she (Diana) is completely ineffective in the summer medical nutrition course and should be replaced."
Ann was adamant that she had not said that. Instead, she insisted, "When the chairman came to me for my input on your appraisal, I told him what you had told me," directing her answer at Diana, "which was that you felt ineffective. I told him that I thought you had tried desperately hard to learn this material. I said to him that you were working assiduously and trying unremittingly but that you and I both felt that you needed at least another year of study to be really proficient."
On hearing this, Jane blanched with shock. Here was information that Lyle had falsified a senior faculty person's (Ann) appraisal on the reappointment papers of Diana. Anuse interrupted Diana's questioning and attempted to gloss over the damning admission. He suggested that it was just a misunderstanding in terms.
It didn't work because Ann was angry that her honest comments regarding the teaching effectiveness of Diana had been misconstrued in a way that was completely false and she made that clear to Anuse in no uncertain terms.
After finishing off Anuse, she turned to Diana and said, "For you to come into the summer course with no training at all, at the age of 57, and be trained to teach nutrition....for you to undertake such an endeavor amazed me. I made it clear to Lyle that she needed more time, perhaps one more summer to be an effective teacher—not what he quoted me as saying!"
Now the chair stepped in and advised that this was getting way off the subject they were there to discuss, but the panel, except for Anuse, wanted to hear more and Ann, still angry at the way she had been misquoted, obliged them.
"....and the teaching load put on her. It was a horrible thing to ask somebody to do—seven labs in a week plus directing the radiology lab during the first semester. In the past, these labs were distributed among the graduate students and to ask one person to do that, I thought was....
"Remember," turning again to address Diana. "I told you it was a terrible stress for you to undergo and that if I were subjected to that, I couldn't do it."
Directing her remarks back to the panel, she continued. "I know, because at one point in my life, I taught five courses at one time and I went about bananas after two years; I had to quit because of the stress."
Henry interrupted decisively this time and announce a recess. The testimony of his witness was getting entirely to sympathetic toward Diana and he wanted no more references to Lyle's creative editing of Ann's comments on the employee appraisal form. Falsifying employee reappointment forms was a real no-no, especially now with the union breathing down our necks, he thought.
Already in evidence and on the record was the incident of Lyle's tampering with one of the so-called suspicious SmurFFs by stapling a note written by Diana to it. Now there was testimony that he had falsified a comment by one of the senior faculty which appeared on an appraisal form. One more example of evidence-tampering was still to come.
When the hearing reconvened, Jane interrupted. "One moment before we go on to the next witness. A point of clarification. From what I heard a little while ago, I think Diana believes that we send the president the recommendation of this committee. Now, my understanding was that we do not make a recommendation, we make a report of our findings."
"That is correct. We are only going to write a report. We don't make recommendations. We only make a report of the hearing. That's all we are looking at," Henry said frantically. Damn and blast, how did she get on to that and why didn't I pick up on it. I shudder to think what those dingy women would do if they knew that when my report for this committee comes out, it will find the entire panel has made a recommendation that is unanimous and it is for termination.
The hearing was about completed. Henry could feel the relief flooding through him like a torrent. Full of great expectations, he announced that Lyle would be the next witness and "all these little misunderstandings will be cleared up." True to form, like a well rehearsed circus act, the performance that followed went off like greased lightning. Henry allowed neither the other members of the panel nor Diana to clutter it up.
First the clarification of number of 'suspicious' SmurFFs found, when they were found and who found them. This time, Lyle looking confident and well coached, consulted his crib sheet and gave the answer without circumlocution.
Looking both eager and willing to help out as best he could, Lyle earnestly spoke his piece. "After checking with Mark who had the date in the files, we found that the material was sent to the analyst in the fall of last year. There were originally three that Randy and Ian had given him, not two as he had said in his previous testimony. I can't think why I said two, of course, I meant three."
"Jimbo had found and sent him the two 'suspicious' nursing nutrition SmurFFs." To prove this, he conveniently produced a covering letter, which the chair put into evidence, that expressly said that. "....and, it is dated and signed by Jimbo.
"Most certainly," Lyle continued, "I never knew that Diana had copyrighted the radiology manual and most certainly, Ian and Randy did not copy from it. That is ridiculous."
His pious account of the meeting with Diana in his office when he told her of the document examiners findings, was ingenious. He claimed to have been devastated at having to do that to an employee. He had behaved with loving kindness throughout the "very painful interview.
"Of course no one in the department or among the medical students would be afraid to come and testify. Perish the thought.
"I must have been misunderstood before when the panel got the impression that ALL the critiques were good in this last year when Diana did not teach. I thought I had made it clear that it was Ian's SmurFFs that had improved markedly."
Still, Jane noted. He did not produce them for the panel to confirm his testimony and the chair, despite the request of Diana that they be solicited, did not ask for them.
When Henry hesitated, Trenchant reminded Lyle that student's likes and dislikes of an instructor could vary wildly from year to year. "Remember how great your SmurFFs were in the nursing course three years ago?" She said. "Then the very next year, they were the pits. Isn't that correct?"
Lyle reluctantly agreed that it was and Henry quickly took back the questioning to bring Lyle to the crowning touch of his testimony before Trenchant could further discredit him. Henry asked if he thought Diana was unable to write because of an injured wrist during the December last evaluation period. Proudly, Lyle presented two original handwritten documents. "Both of these," he claimed, "were written by Diana and I found them in my files."
"This one is dated in mid December, at the time she claims she could not write," he smirked triumphantly at Diana.
"Did you write that?" Henry demanded of Diana, looking smug and terribly well pleased with the way things were going.
"Yes, I did, but not in December. I wrote that after returning from Christmas\New Year's vacation in January before the classes started. This note refers to equipment I would require for the room I was assigned to teach in during the winter semester. I was not assigned that room until I returned from vacation in January so I wouldn't be writing anything about fixtures in December. This is a fact that can be verified.
"Look at this." Trenchant held up the paper for the panel to see. "The right hand corner has been torn off where I put the date which would be in January. The date written on this note is at the bottom and was written in by Lyle. The ink used is entirely different for the date than for the rest of the note and I recognize the way he makes sevens with the slash."
"Well, yes." Lyle allowed, showing some discomfort, he had written that date in because the note wasn't dated and he put the date on when he received it and that was in December. He said nothing about the torn corner and looked very anxious.
"Well I kept a copy of this note which I can bring in showing the date to be where this piece was torn off and that date will be in January." Trenchant announced, turning to the committee members. "Once more, evidence in this hearing has been tampered with."
"It won't be necessary to see your copy," Henry ruled, hastily. "I'm sure this is just a difference that occurs where each person remembers the date a bit differently. There is no attempt to tamper here...."
Henry nervously dismissed Lyle and directed the committee's attention toward Diana to distract them from further questioning. "We have finished with the witnesses in this hearing. If you have a brief summation or anything you want to say in closing, we will hear it, go ahead," he ordered. "First, however, you and the stenographer may take a break while the panel confers."
Instead of leaving after he had finished testifying, Jimbo Jones had gone back to the waiting room to pick up his belongings. Except for Jonathan, the room was empty of people now that the hearing was winding down.
"Hello, how goes it," Jonathan greeted him. He had been making himself available in the committee waiting room a few hours every day as Henry had ordered. This was so it would appear that Trenchant had the availability of counsel from the ombudsman if the matter ever came up.
"Not bad. Henry seems a mite wound up though. Can't understand why. The whole academic council decided to terminate her, what is he getting all haired out about?"
"As I understand it," Jonathan offered, leaning toward Jimbo and lowering his voice into a conspiratorial, confidential tone, "Trenchant has managed to bring forth a good defense and has the hearing panel pretty well divided. Only Frank Anuse is going along with Henry. The women are looking at the evidence and they aren't convinced. Jane confided in me during the last break that she thought it was possible that Trenchant had been framed."
"What the hell would give her that idea," grinned Jimbo, with a sly wink.
"Quiet, keep your voice down." Jonathan moved away from Jimbo and closed the hearing room door. "Well, for one thing, one of the SmurFFs you found was evidently written by a student. She came forward and identified it. That really casts doubt on the ability of the document examiners."
"One I found? I just don't understand all this. Everyone keeps telling me that I found some SmurFFs in my course. Lyle, Henry, Mark and now you. I don't remember it and I told the panel that just a few minutes ago."
"You told the panel that? Good God, Jimbo, Henry was depending on you to confirm that you had found them. Lyle is probably showing them the note you wrote right now."
"Come off it, Jonathan. Lyle didn't say anything about lying to the panel and it was that cute Janie babe that asked. If Trenchant had asked the question, I would have said that I had found them. No problem. All Lyle asked me to do was write and date the note last year sometime. Nobody asked me about that."
Thank heavens, thought Jonathan. Aloud, he said, "You'd better keep that under your hat, Jimbo. From what Jane tells me, Lyle has been pretty creative with the evidence already."
"So what?" Jimbo replied, expansively. "That's his part of the scheme. After all, he's the one that wants to get rid of her."
"Yes, you're right, but be careful about saying things like that. You never know who will hear and try to make something of it. Oh, by the way, did you hear that Kate left Henry? He said she was gone when he got home last night—just left him a note."
"No shit. Who'd she catch him doin' it with?"
"Well from what I hear...."
The two men gossiped cozily until the members of the panel arrived to announce that the hearing had ended.