Читать книгу Driftless - David Rhodes - Страница 23

HOT MILK

THE MORNING FOLLOWING CORA’S CALL TO THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, early, her husband, Grahm, walked to the barn. The air seemed unusually fresh, and the sky drew the dew away from the ground in long curls of smoking water—hundreds of tiny, silent geysers erupting.

Unlike on other mornings, the dog did not greet him. Once Grahm was inside the barn, he discovered the north door, which he routinely closed each night after milking—a door that could only be fastened from inside because of a broken latch spring—wide open. But this seemed of no consequence.

The dog appeared in the afternoon, with dried blood in her fur and a lump above her left ear, but Grahm thought no more about it until the following day when the driver of the milk truck handed him a bill for $5,314—the cost of a tanker-load of milk.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Sorry, Grahm,” said Hubert Shorn. “Your antibiotics contaminated the whole load.”

“Can’t be,” said Grahm.

“Sorry. There it is—black and white. I don’t do the testing, just haul milk and bring in samples.”

“There’s some mistake.”

“Talk to the lab about that, or management. The whole lot was hot. Had to be dumped. Your sample, when tested, turned as green as food coloring.”

“It says penicillin.”

“That’s what they mostly test for.”

“We haven’t used penicillin since summer before last. We applied for organic certification and they won’t allow it. Don’t use antibiotics.”

“Like I said, I just haul milk.”

“Five thousand dollars!”

“Talk to management. Hell, I’m on your side.”

Grahm drove to the branch office in Grange, met with the plant manager, and talked to the head of the testing lab. He insisted they run a second test on a sample he had brought with him. The test showed no antibiotic residue and Grahm asked how his milk could be contaminated one day and clean the next.

The technician rearranged utensils on the counter. “Milk from treated cows was not put in the bulk tank today,” he said.

“But the amount of milk was the same. If I’d withheld milk it would show up in volume. If I’d added water, the butterfat would be off.”

“Perhaps treatments were discontinued, or milk was brought in from another farm. Ninety-five percent of hot milk clears up the second day.”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“Of course not,” said the branch manager, stepping between the technician and Grahm. “Mistakes are always possible. If you want to contest the assessment you can file a complaint with DATCP. They set the standards and make the rules.”

By the time Grahm returned home, his thoughts were swimming in mud. He needed help. He needed Cora.

But when Cora came home, Grahm could tell from clear across the barnyard that something was wrong.

“What’s the matter?” he asked when he reached her.

“The second set of files in the Madison office—the filing cabinets—are gone. They just disappeared. I asked about them and everyone ignored me. That woman, Harriet, who has worked there for twenty years said she couldn’t remember any file cabinets.”

An hour later a solid blue Chevrolet pulled into the drive. A deputy sheriff walked disdainfully around the tractor ruts and through the yard. Cora met him on the porch and he placed a legal summons in her hand. It ordered her to appear before an administrative judge at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Monday morning, Grahm and Cora dressed in their best clothes and drove into Madison, the cardboard box of photocopied documents in the back of the station wagon.

Inside the slate gray building they were directed to the fourth floor. They waited in an empty waiting room for almost an hour, sitting in sculptured plastic chairs.

“Cora Shotwell,” said a woman with short reddish-orange hair, carrying a yellow notepad. “Come with me, please.”

Grahm rose to follow but was told to remain. Cora walked behind the woman down a long hallway and into a room with men seated at tables. She was told to sit down, and she did.

The five men seated at the tables appeared to be reading from papers in ringed binders. Because of the position of her chair she could not face them all at once. They continued reading and paging through the thick volumes without speaking.

“We understand you have a grievance with your milk plant,” said one of the two men seated at the furthest table from her.

“It’s not a grievance,” said Cora, turning her chair to address her comments in his direction. She thought he might be a judge, but wasn’t sure. “I have proof American Milk has been robbing farmers, keeping a second set of records, and selling illegal milk.”

“How long have you been working for the cooperative?”

“Five years.”

“What position do you currently have there?”

“Assistant bookkeeper.”

“How long ago did you begin to think irregularities were taking place?”

“Seven months ago, and they’re not irregularities.”

“Why didn’t you report this immediately?”

“I had no proof.”

“Did you report your suspicions to your supervisor?”

“Yes, and it become clear that if I continued to ask questions I would lose my job. He said the main office had a different accounting system.”

“What did you do then?”

“I made copies of the reports and billing sheets. I have them outside in the car.”

“Did you have authorization to make these copies?”

“What do you mean?” asked Cora.

“Were you given permission by the American Milk Cooperative to make copies of their internal records and reports?”

“No.”

“Are you aware that making unauthorized copies of proprietary information and other data can constitute a felony?”

“No, but I have the documents outside in our car.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” said a man seated at the table directly behind her. “This agency is not in a position to accept any documents before a review panel can be convened.”

“Nothing was said about this when I called last week.”

“We are bound by law,” said the man seated closest to her, without looking up.

“I talked with Mr. Wolfinger. I told him—”

“I am Mr. Wolfinger and I never told you we could accept your papers before a department review had been convened.”

“Then why am I here?”

“We have begun a preliminary investigation and American Milk has offered to cooperate in providing us with all the information we require.”

“I can’t believe this. I have the documents in my car. They prove everything.”

“During this phase of the investigation it would be improper for us to accept them.”

“I can’t believe this!” shouted Cora, rising to her feet. “Shame on you.”

“Sit back down, Mrs. Shotwell.”

“I will not.”

“Let me assure you, Mrs. Shotwell,” began a very large man seated near her, his silhouette resembling an enormous pile of unfolded laundry. “Let me assure you, Mrs. Shotwell, that we are making a thorough and diligent effort.”

“I don’t believe it,” said Cora. “I don’t believe it.”

“This is only a preliminary hearing,” said the man she thought was a judge. “As we move forward, our own independently verified real documents will be forthcoming under department rules of discovery in compliance with the judicial administrative code. Until that time, I must ask you not to discuss this matter or other issues related to this with anyone.”

“Why not?”

“It may interfere with our investigation.”

When Cora reached Grahm in the waiting room, her face glowed bright red and she was shaking. “Let’s get out of here,” she said. “This is an unholy place.”

“What happened?”

“They insulted me.”

On the way home, Grahm said, “Maybe they didn’t mean to.”

And Cora said, “I guess if that were true you wouldn’t need to do anything about it.”