Everyone received the same greeting and the same attention.
Emily found herself enjoying the work again.
At the end of the night, June asked whether she wanted to train as a shift supervisor.
Emily said she needed to think about the added responsibility.
June handed her a written description of the duties and pay.
For the first time in months, a professional opportunity arrived without a hidden condition.
Chapter 31: The Contractor’s Son
Walter Langford’s son, Simon, contacted Nora after learning that his father had been named in articles about the old renovation.
Simon worked as a civil engineer in Connecticut and had no role in the theater project.
He said Walter was elderly, seriously ill, and unlikely to withstand a prolonged public confrontation.
Nora acknowledged the concern but explained that the trust sought records and truthful testimony, not punishment without evidence.
Simon agreed to review family storage boxes for relevant documents.
He found equipment purchase orders, handwritten job schedules, and a photograph of the south door before new hardware was installed.
One invoice indicated that the replacement exit mechanism arrived later than originally planned.
A separate memorandum instructed a contractor to use temporary measures until the shipment was complete.
The memorandum did not specify what those measures should be.
Simon believed his father might have understood that instruction differently from the stage employees who used the door.
Nora asked whether the older man would agree to provide a statement through an independent attorney or interviewer.
Simon said he would ask.
Two weeks later, Walter provided a short sworn declaration.
He confirmed that the replacement hardware had been delayed and that the contractor had been told to keep unauthorized visitors out of the unfinished corridor.
He denied directing anyone to obstruct an emergency exit during an occupied rehearsal.
He said he did not remember whether he personally inspected the doors on the date of the fire.
Nora recorded the declaration alongside the other evidence without treating its denials as proof or its admissions as a complete answer.
Samuel read it in silence.
He had wanted Walter to remember everything that Marion had carried for years.
The man remembered only fragments.
Emily asked Samuel whether he felt cheated.
“I feel old,” he answered.
“We kept waiting for one person to say exactly what happened, and time has been taking those people away.”
Emily placed Anna’s photograph beside the statement.
“Then we can say what we know,” she replied.
“And we can refuse to invent what we don’t.”
