Helen stared at the little panel. “So there was never an answer.”
“There may still be an answer,” Rena replied. “It just has to come from you and the people who know you.”
Helen turned to her daughter. “I think I knew that. I just wanted someone else to be brave for me.”
Mara felt the crowd’s mood shift. A few people walked away embarrassed. Others stayed to ask questions. One woman said she had already paid for a private appointment and wanted her money back. Another asked how she could tell her husband she had spent their vacation savings on repeated sessions. They didn’t need a speech about foolishness. They needed names, contact information, and the assurance that recognizing manipulation did not make them lesser people.
Victor appeared with two security guards. “This demonstration is unauthorized,” he announced. “You’re frightening guests and making accusations about a program you haven’t attended.”
Mara stepped toward him. “We attended. We saw you present recorded images as if living dogs were choosing answers behind the curtain.”
“Our program is theatrical. We make that clear.”
“Not to the people paying for private consultations,” Nisha said.
Victor raised his voice. “You have no right to disrupt a charitable evening.”
“Then let your guests hear how it works,” Mara replied.
She asked Rena to repeat the demonstration, but the veterinarian didn’t move. Instead, Helen Gage stepped forward. “I would like him to answer something first,” she said. Her voice trembled but carried across the lobby. “Mr. Senn, when you told me to bring a question that mattered more than anything, did you believe your dog could understand it?”
Victor paused. For the first time all evening, his fluent sentences deserted him. He began explaining metaphor and interpretation, but Helen shook her head.
“That’s not what I asked,” she said. “Did you believe the animal understood?”
More visitors gathered. Victor’s guards hesitated, unsure how to remove an elderly ticket holder asking a reasonable question. Behind them, someone opened a door from the auditorium, and the sound of the recorded applause drifted into the lobby. It played over a hall in which half the audience had already gone outside.
11. Beyond the Curtain
The private buyers arrived during the disturbance. They were four people in business clothes accompanied by a trainer from an animal-education company in Ohio. Their leader, a woman called Simone Vale, approached Victor with an expression that suggested she had expected a very different introduction. The buyers had come to inspect a touring educational program, not a lobby full of angry customers.
“What’s happening?” Simone asked.
Victor moved quickly to intercept her. “A rescue group has made a series of baseless accusations. We’re managing it. Our demonstration is ready.”
