Chapter 3 - The Crown Rosie Wasn’t Allowed to Win
Dana met Hank at his repair shop the next afternoon.
The shop sat in Aurora, forty minutes west of Chicago, in a converted brick warehouse that smelled permanently of rubber, coffee and machine oil.
Dana looked out of place in a wool coat and low heels.
Hank probably looked out of place at a children’s pageant.
He was beginning to realize how much people depended on appearances.
Dana had served as a volunteer board member for Midwest Crown Youth Foundation for six years.
She resigned two years earlier.
“Why?”
“Victoria.”
Hank crossed his arms.
“That explains nothing.”
Dana smiled tiredly.
“You sound like Lila.”
That hurt.
Hank pulled out a chair.
“Tell me what happened.”
The pageant organization operated competitions throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Entry fees and sponsorship money funded events.
A separate nonprofit foundation raised donations for educational scholarships, travel assistance and pageant fees for lower-income contestants.
Lila became volunteer treasurer after helping another mother organize a fundraiser.
“She was good,” Dana said.
“She was annoying.”
Hank almost smiled.
“That sounds more accurate.”
“She checked everything.”
Dana explained that trouble began when a major sponsor withdrew.
Victoria argued that the pageant system needed temporary financial support to keep regional competitions operating.
Lila initially agreed that the foundation could reimburse certain shared expenses if properly approved and legally permissible.
“Was it?”
“Some of it.”
“Some?”
Dana looked uncomfortable.
“That’s where things became messy.”
Money designated broadly for youth programming could sometimes cover legitimate program costs.
Restricted scholarship donations could not simply be redirected.
Victoria started moving money between categories.
At first, amounts were small.
Venue deposits.
Insurance.
Production costs.
Lila objected.
Then discovered several scholarship awards had been announced publicly but payments were delayed.
“Girls thought they had money for school,” Dana said.
“They didn’t?”
“Some eventually received it.”
“Some?”
Dana shook her head.
Hank felt anger rise.
“What did Lila do?”
“She threatened to resign.”
“But she didn’t immediately.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Dana looked at him carefully.
“Because she had approved some of the first transfers.”
Hank went still.
“What?”
“She believed they were temporary.”
“You’re saying my wife moved scholarship money?”
“I’m saying she signed off on early reallocations because Victoria told us sponsorship money was coming within weeks.”
“Did it?”
“Not enough.”
Hank sat down.
He had spent eighteen months remembering Lila in clean lines.
Loving mother.
Honest wife.
Woman cancer had taken too early.
Grief made saints out of people because saints were easier to miss.
Dana continued.
“When Lila realized Victoria was covering bigger operating costs and hiding delays from scholarship families, she stopped cooperating.”
“What happened?”
“Victoria turned the board against her.”
“How?”
“She said Lila had mishandled funds.”
Hank laughed once.
Of course.
“She blamed the bookkeeper.”
“Yes.”
“Did anybody believe her?”
Dana looked down.
“Enough people.”
Lila resigned.
Victoria told parents she left for family reasons.
Hank remembered that period.
Lila had been angry for weeks.
He thought it was postpartum exhaustion.
Then his shop lost money.
Then Rosie got sick with RSV.
Then life moved forward.
He never asked.
Hank looked toward the tiny crown pin.
“Why did Lila hide the card?”
“I don’t know.”
Dana pointed at the silver crown.
“Those pins were given to board officers during the foundation’s tenth anniversary.”
“Victoria has one.”
“She would.”
“Why was she terrified to see Lila’s?”
Dana’s expression changed.
“Because Victoria told us Lila returned hers when she resigned.”
Hank looked up.
“She didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why lie about a pin?”
Dana answered quietly.
“Maybe Victoria wasn’t afraid of the pin.”
May you like
Her eyes dropped to the memory card.
“Maybe she was afraid Lila kept what was inside it.”
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