Erica was a smart lady in her late thirties. Trim figure, short black hair, always dressed immaculately. Attractive in a cold way. Untouchable - none of the rest of us would ever be allowed near her. And formidable.
Not formidable in an unpleasant way, but someone who had to run things. Chair things. Be in charge of things, and enjoyed the status that went with it. Sometimes the things she ran were run to feed her ego, rather than for the benefit of the organisation or members. And that was added to the status she gained from being married to her husband who was something very wealthy and important in the city.
Having said that she did a lot of good for our organisation - a fundraising group to support a local hospice. She ran the group well, we made a lot of money and the hospice thrived. And Erica's Ego was inflated. We were all winners.
The problem - there were other people who worked just as hard, but did it selflessly, who had no ego. If people didn't want the credit for themselves, then somehow the credit ended up with Erica, and she was more than willing to receive it. So when Eric was given the award, things went wrong.
Eric had been part of our group for years. He had worked tirelessly, and had received no credit. Now in his mid-sixties, he had been a widower for 4 years, following the sad death of his beloved wife Beth whom he had nursed through her final illness. Eric's contribution to our organisation had been huge and we agreed he should be recognised for what he did. The rest of us nominated him for the Governor's Award, perhaps the highest accolade someone in the voluntary world could receive.
Our organisation had an office which we had to keep secure, and our landlord had recently installed security cameras. Whoever wandered in would open the mail, sort anything that needed to be sorted, take any telephone messages, and generally work towards the running of the organisation. Often I would be in the office, often Erica, often anyone of half a dozen of us would go to the office.
It was, therefore, for us a shock to pick up the newspaper on the Friday. There on the front cover was a picture of Erica, with a letter from the governor, proclaiming that she had won the governor's award for her contribution to the community. Erica? It should have been Eric...
We had a sense of disappointment as we went to the awards ceremony to see Erica receive her award, although she herself strutted proudly to the platform as the governor used her as an example of an outstanding citizen that we should all imitate. The only person who seemed genuinely pleased for her was Eric - he wasn't aware that the award had gone to the wrong person...
The award had gone to the wrong person. How? Why? What had gone wrong?
Erica was now prouder and smugger than she had ever been. Eric was continuing in the background working selflessly for our organisation. Others shrugged their shoulders. I was angry, furious...
Over a few days my anger subsided, but my confusion didn't. How had it gone wrong?
One of my roles was to look after the security cameras in our office. Every fortnight I would change the tapes, and if nothing had happened simply re-cycle them into the cameras. We didn't have to change them very often because they were movement sensitive - they only started filming when someone was moving. The tapes - something rang bells in the back of my mind. The tapes... perhaps I could take a look at them.
The first couple of days of tapes showed me nothing, and I fast forwarded them. But then I saw it. The tape was surprisingly clear. There was Erica opening a letter with the governors seal on it. There were two bits of paper. She read one. She looked around. She put the other on the table, tippexed something out, wrote some things on it. She put it in an envelope. Put the envelope in her pocket like she was going to take it for posting... I re-ran the clip several times trying to work out what was happening...then it clicked. I used a magnifying glass on the screen and saw even more clearly...
Three days later Erica sat in my living room, following the urgent arrangements I made with her after working out what had happened on the tape. I hadn't told her what the meeting was about, but simply said that we had to meet. I sat opposite her, as she commanded the room, looking formidable, invincible, in charge.
"Well" she said, having refused the cup of tea I'd offered, "Please tell me the reason we are here, because I have other important things to do today." The voice was clearly meant to sound superior and to cow opposition to her. I smiled inwardly.
"Thanks for coming", I said, in a slightly deferential voice. "I have asked you hear to see a clip of video tape."
"Video tape?" Her voice clearly indicated that this was a waste of time. "What video tape?"
I smile, bowed my head, "Just three minutes of tape." I paused. "Please watch." Without waiting I turned the piece of tape on.
At the end of the tape - after three or four minutes, I turned to Erica. "Now, what do you think was happening there?"
Erica had a dark face, but still a hint of confusion. She shrugged her shoulders. I continued.
"What you see there," I said in a measured tone, "Is the chair of our organisation opening a letter from the governor, about Eric - not Erica - Eric. In the letter he says that Eric is going to get the governors award for voluntary service, and includes a piece of paper asking for details of Eric's address, age and so on, so he can send the formal invitation."
I paused, before continuing. "Then what happens is the chair of our organisation changing the information. Tippexing out Eric's address. Changing Eric's name. And putting her own details. So instead of Eric getting the award, the chair gets the award." Again I pause. "And then, here is the newspaper with the picture of the chair with her award." Another pause. "How does that sound?"
Erica's face was grim. "You will never prove anything", she replied in a grim and threatening voice.
Again I paused, not overwhelmed by her tone. "Unfortunately for you" I smile, looking at her, "our camera and video have a very good quality zoom mechanism. Watch this..." I push the start button again on the video.
Erica's face turned grim and grimmer as the film is zoomed in, a zoom so effective that it is possible to read the writing on the forms, and read what is tippexed out. With the zoom there is no doubt at what happened.
As it finished, Erica's cool had crumbled. "What are you going to do?"
I smiled again. "Well, I could send it to the newspaper, and explain what they are seeing. I'm sure it would make front page news. Imagine - Award winner forges form to get award." I let the picture sink in before continuing. "My guess is - if that got on the front of the paper, then your reputation would be ruined. You would have to give up everything you have. You would be a laughing stock." I stop for a moment, before continuing. "And then of course, your husband may find himself very quickly on the employment scrap heap, and the house, the car - you would have a little to live on, but not much...but then, you wouldn't being going to any parties or anything like that..."
