Page 59 of The Girl and the Lies

“And how is your relationship with your husband?” I ask.

“My relationship with my husband?” she asks. “It’s great. We’re very happy. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Gloria, I heard that you were reported to Tracy Ellis for talking about filing for divorce,” I say. “Is that true?”

Her face hardens, and spots of color appear on her cheekbones. “Yes.”

“And she required you to participate in marriage counseling and restricted your activities within the company,” I say.

“Yes.” Gloria briefly ducks her head and tents her eyes with one hand. “I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation. It’s ridiculous that anybody is talking about my relationship and what did or didn’t happen between us and the company we used to work for. This doesn’t have anything to do with what’s happening to the ministry now.”

“How did you feel about the disciplinary actions taken against you?” I ask.

“I was embarrassed,” she admits. “Just like I think anyone would be. I was angry that someone would report me for saying something really rash during a rough patch in my marriage. I know the guidelines of the company, but I made a flippant comment, and it turned into a massive ordeal. But at the end of the day, I’m grateful that it happened. It was humiliating, and it ended my career, but it really did turn out for the better.

“My husband and I went to a few sessions of the therapy Tracy set up for us before we decided to quit the company. It was actually our time in that therapy that made us realize that we needed the change and that it was time to start fresh together. After we left, we started going to a different counselor, and it has made all the difference in our marriage and our lives. We genuinely are doing great now. There are still hard days, but we’re willing to work through it.”

“Did you ever get any threatening notes?” I ask.

“No,” she says. “I honestly waited for one to show up. I figured it would.”

“Why is that?” I ask.

“Because it was very known that we were pretty well disgraced within the company, and I thought the threats sounded like someone who would go after that within the ministry,” she says. “But it never happened.”

I sift through my notes and pull out the list that Tracy Ellis gave me.

“Do you know if any of these people also faced any kind of discipline after being reported to Tracy?” I ask.

“Grant Pruden,” she says. “I don’t know what he was reported for, but he was restricted from public events for almost two months. I heard that Mila was also called into Tracy’s office a few times to discuss a personal matter, but I never got any more details about it.”

Grant Pruden is one of the people I called early in the investigation. The call I got back a couple of days later wasn’t very illuminating, but now I have a different perspective. I feel like I’ve found a thread. I just have to pull it.

“Thank you for meeting with me,” I say to Gloria, starting to stand up.

“Can you tell me something?” she asks.

“What?” I ask.

“I heard on the news this morning that Marshall Powell was attacked in his home last night,” she says.

“He was,” I say.

“Since I’m sure you’ve interviewed her, can you tell me if it was Carla Powell who reported me to Tracy?” she asks.

“I can’t comment on details of the investigation,” I say.

This doesn’t really fall under that umbrella, but I don’t feel like it’s my place to disclose the identity of someone who made a report while assuming they would be able to remain anonymous.

She nods, the look on her face saying that even though I didn’t confirm it, she knows that’s the situation.

“That’s interesting,” she says.

“What is?” I ask.

“It’s interesting that Carla would go around making judgments like that against other people with what I’ve heard is going on in her marriage,” she says.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

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