A Scandal in the Small Town: Scandal Veiled in Mystery

For some, there was a Kafka-like element of mystery, suspense and intrigue to the scandal veiled in mystery. To others, it was just another scandal in a small town, and generally assumed that it would blow over in time.

"What is happening?" people began asking, when they saw the pale, shocked faces of others that Tuesday morning.

"What is the origin of this scandal?" the newspaper headlines read the following Monday morning. No one knew where or how the scandal had started, only that it was growing rapidly, in leaps and bounds.

"Is it you?"

Family members began to question other family members. Friends began to ask their friends what was going on. Finger pointing in all directions, elicited no response. The only, sure-fire reaction was that of extreme indignation. Fear and suspicion spread like a wild, uncontrollable, forest fire. By Friday morning, it appeared that all hell was about to break loose in the small town.

"Who started this ridiculous scandal?" Monroe, the irate mayor, demanded to know at a hastily-called, town meeting that night, but no one knew anything, or if they did, they were not about to speak. The silence in the room was deafening and thus, the meeting ended almost immediately.

The following Monday morning, there was another headline in the local newspaper. It left everyone stunned.

"No evidence to support scandal allegations."

Supposedly, no one had been forthcoming about the origin of the scandal, had reported any of its supposed evidence to the appropriate authorities, or even offered relevant information. No one knew who had been silenced, or for what reason. Nor did anyone know how many lives had been adversely affected by this particular scandal, as is often true of a scandal in a small town, anywhere.

Gradually, the life of people returned to normal.

This scandal had been veiled in mystery, from the start. 

The veil would not to be lifted until many years later, when a time capsule was discovered by several children who were digging in a playground. Their parents met later that evening to discuss the contents of the time capsule and unveil the mystery of the scandal.

It implicated Monroe without any doubt, but it was too late as he had already passed on, and had left no descendants to take the responsibility, or bear the burden of his guilt.

"What could possibly be gained by starting another scandal with this information?" one of the parents asked.

"Just re-bury the time capsule," someone suggested. "Maybe someone will find it in another fifty years, and it will have more relevance then, than it does now."

"You mean, historically?"

"Yes."