Pass the buck?

I work in an industry where EVERYTHING I deal with has to be accounted for, and the ability to account for it must remain intact for seven years. Whether it's the video, exhibits, or actual transcript of a deposition, if something is missing, there's a problem. So when I received a phone call this morning about missing exhibits from a deposition that was taken three weeks ago, the first thought is a little bit of panic trying to remember if I ever had the exhibits, and if so, if I'm the one that has misplaced them. This was dispelled when I talked to the reporter, who informed me that the attorney made a big deal about not wanting the reporter to take the exhibits, and not wanting the exhibits attached to the transcript. When she told me this, I called up the reporting firm that had initially called me and relayed my conversation with the reporter to the contact at the other firm. Now, in my mind, there was no problem on our end. We had done what needed to be done, and it's completely out of our hands. Or so I thought.

Twenty minutes later the phone rang again, and it was the same reporting firm telling me that the attorney told them that the reporter retained the exhibits in order to finish the transcript. So once again, I called the reporter and had THE SAME conversation that she and I had just had half an hour prior to this. That the attorney made a big deal, and was not very nice, about the reporter NOT taking the exhibits. So the reporter made sure that she left them there. So what else could I do except call the reporting firm back, and tell them again that neither the reporter, nor anyone at our firm had ever had the exhibits.

Several hours later, I received ANOTHER phone call, this time from a different person at the same firm who asked if I had talked to the reporter about the exhibits. This was irritating, to say the least, and when I repeated the conversation I had already had twice with the reporter, the woman at the other firm told me that she had spoken to the attorney and the witness, and both of them remember the reporter thumbing through the exhibits while at the job. I talked to the reporter AGAIN, and when I called the reporting firm back, told them that nobody from our firm had ever had the exhibits, and that I was sorry, but there was nothing else I could do for them. The level of disdain in the woman's voice was so great, it literally brought me to tears. Not because I felt bad about what had happened, but because I've already been an emotional wreck this week, and I hate getting yelled at, especially when I haven't done anything to deserve it.

Now obviously, somebody in this scenario is lying. The problem is, it's not me, and I have no idea how to go about finding out who it is. Not that it really matters at this point, but the fact that people are going in circles blaming everyone else when it would be so easy (and make my life much simpler) for someone to buck up and admit that they had the exhibits at one point, and do not have them anymore is frustrating to no end. ESPECIALLY when I found myself in a similar situation recently and when I realized that I had indeed lost the exhibits, immediately told the people that needed to know, and apologized profusely for it. My apology didn't bring them back, and it's still a bit of a sticky situation, but at least there can be trust. Because of what happened in the former situation, I'm having a hard time trusting the people at the other reporting firm, the attorney, and even the reporter that I work with.

I'm not saying that I always do the right thing, or do everything right, but it's very infuriating to think that a lot of people continually pass the buck until it becomes impossible to do so.