Miriam’s turn came near the end of the meeting.
She walked to the microphone holding a plain sheet of paper.
“I’m not here to tell you I’m a hero,” she said.
“I damaged a neighbor’s property, and I delayed reporting warnings because I didn’t want to believe something terrible about my niece.”
A parent called out that she should have intervened months earlier.
“You’re right,” Miriam said.
“I should have.”
She spoke about the Wilton archive and described how it had been used to create false promotional materials.
She offered to meet privately with affected families and help identify photographs and costumes.
“I won’t decide for you what should happen to those images,” she said.
“I’ll help you find them, and you can decide what you want removed.”
Rachel watched Tessa Nguyen rise from the middle row.
“Will you turn over every copy?” Tessa asked.
“Yes.”
“Even the ones that make your niece look good?”
Miriam closed her eyes briefly.
“Every copy.”
Tessa sat down without smiling.
Rachel knew the answer had not repaired anything.
It had only opened a path toward repair.

The meeting ended abruptly when a police officer approached Detective Chen with a message.
Chen stepped outside the hall, returned two minutes later, and asked that nobody spread unverified rumors.
Several parents began checking their phones anyway.
A local reporter had posted that Dana Rusk had been located at a rented office across town.
The story spread through the room before Chen could finish his announcement.
He told the families that investigators were handling the situation and asked them not to go to the address.
Rachel saw three people stand and head toward the doors.
“Please don’t,” she said to the nearest parent.
The parent turned sharply.
“My son has spent a week afraid to leave his bedroom.”
“I know you’re angry.”
“You don’t know what I feel.”
Rachel stopped herself from arguing.
“You’re right,” she said.
“But showing up at that office could put your family in the middle of something dangerous.”
The parent looked toward the open doors and sat back down.

CHAPTER TEN — THE OFFICE ABOVE THE LAUNDROMAT

Dana’s rented office occupied the second floor of a narrow building above a laundromat.
Investigators had gone there after identifying the business address in a payment record supplied by a parent.
Dana was not present when they arrived.
The office contained folding desks, promotional banners, and boxes of printed applications.
Grant Voss had used one of the rooms to conduct private interviews with applicants.
The landlord said the tenants had promised to operate a legitimate arts-training business.
He had not been aware of allegations involving minors.
These details reached the public gradually through official statements and court filings.
Rachel refused to search social media for leaked photographs of the premises.
She had seen enough families harmed by people treating their private experiences as entertainment.