Accounting follow-up
A second collection is not yet an answer to the first
The church inquiry now has two sets of figures to keep apart.
An additional church collection has given the missing-donation inquiry more money to count without settling how much was missing in the first place.
Wong Gai’s competitive giving procedure was intended to draw out a confession. It also drew out a boombox, dollar bills and a congregation whose activity made a quiet accounting exercise difficult.
The police department’s statement distinguishes the two collections. A total combining both would not establish which money, if any, had been recovered.
In his own account, Gai says he was watching the people watching the basket. The department’s question is what the records establish. His is what the reactions might reveal.
The Tribune will report a reconciliation when there is one to report. For the moment, the total amount of activity is clearer than the total amount of money.
Statements referred to in this report
Read the department’s statement on the Fort Vale Police website. Wong Gai has published his own observations on his investigator’s site.