The One About Trust

Margaret tells Connie that Roxy McCormick, a former Universal Press Foundation employee, claims Whit fired her for exposing discrimination against women. Connie cannot believe the accusation, but Margaret asks her to investigate rather than dismiss it because of her loyalty to Whit.

Eugene warns Whit about the claim. Whit immediately recognizes Roxy’s name and explains that she had worked as a receptionist until he caught her embezzling money. Police records and other documents support the reason for her dismissal. Eugene is relieved, but Whit confronts Margaret for using Connie to examine private business matters.

Margaret argues that she is teaching Connie to think for herself. She accuses Whit of objecting only because someone else is influencing a young woman he has guided for years. Their argument ends without agreement and leaves Whit more concerned about Connie’s place in the campaign.

Bart then presents Whit with copies of Connie’s and Eugene’s paycheck stubs. Eugene appears to earn three times as much as Connie. Bart threatens to distribute the figures to every newspaper in town unless Whit endorses him for mayor. Whit refuses to be blackmailed and calmly tells Bart to do whatever he believes he must.

At Margaret’s press conference, reporters receive an official-looking flyer showing the same wage difference. Margaret says she did not release it and refuses to comment on Whit’s payroll. Connie leaves during the questioning, and Whit is unable to find her afterward. He believes Bart supplied the information until a courier delivers a painful letter.

Connie writes that trust must support every relationship and that the day’s events have destroyed hers. Certain that Whit has treated her unfairly, she resigns from Whit’s End. Whit is devastated that she has condemned him before hearing an explanation.

By election night, Margaret has won a commanding victory over Bart. Bart concedes while promoting the Electric Palace, briefly demands an investigation into ballot-box stuffing, and abandons the accusation as soon as he learns that Rodney may be responsible. Connie has helped elect Margaret but feels no desire to attend the victory celebration.

Tom Riley visits Connie and tells her about a divorced mother and daughter who had come to Odyssey seeking a new beginning. The daughter worked hard at a local business, and its owner quietly created a college trust fund for her by adding a bonus to her salary. Connie realizes that Tom is describing her and Whit.

Tom also explains that most of Eugene’s apparent wages go directly toward his education under an agreement made when he began working at Whit’s End. Once those educational benefits and Connie’s trust fund are included, they receive equal compensation, and Connie actually takes home slightly more. Tom has brought the paperwork and plans to give the same evidence to the Odyssey Times.

Connie rushes to apologize to Whit but then admits something even worse: Bart did not release the payroll figures. While learning the computer system, Connie had guessed a password, entered Whit’s protected financial program, and found the payroll records. Angry and convinced that Whit considered Eugene more capable because he was male, she printed the information and distributed it at Margaret’s press conference.

Whit tells Connie that Eugene possesses technical expertise, while she has a warm personality that draws children to Whit’s End. He has always believed in her and wishes she had trusted him enough to ask for the full truth. Connie begs his forgiveness and asks for another chance. Whit forgives her and begins welcoming her back.

Connie earns an excellent grade for her campaign report and completes the government requirement for graduation. Her counselor congratulates her, but Connie cannot celebrate the mark without remembering its cost. She has passed government with flying colors, yet she knows that she failed the far more important test of trust.