Outside, Gerald waited by the stairwell.
He said I had handled myself well.
I told him I had merely corrected a sentence.
He said that was exactly what the situation required.
Rachel took my hand as we walked into the cold parking lot.
She asked whether I had noticed Trish leave through the side door.
I said I had not.
Rachel said she had watched Trish listening to my statement.
She thought Trish had looked more uncomfortable than angry.
I told Rachel that I no longer wanted to spend my evenings guessing what Trish felt.
Rachel squeezed my hand and said that sounded healthy.
WHAT TRISH KNEW
The next morning, a woman called my workshop and asked to speak to me privately.
She introduced herself as Julia Whitmore, Trish’s younger sister.
I nearly ended the call before she could explain why she was calling.
Julia said she was not asking me to forgive anyone or reopen the generator dispute.
She wanted to warn me that the company using my name had been approaching families after emergencies.
I asked how she knew.
She said her sister had briefly worked as an unpaid adviser to its founders.
Julia explained that Trish had left the arrangement after discovering that the company’s promotional materials exaggerated its supply network.
I asked why Julia was telling me rather than the county.
She said she had already contacted the procurement office.
Then she told me something I had not expected.
She said Trish had asked her to make the call because she was afraid I would refuse to speak with her directly.
I sat down on a stool beside my workbench.
The shop was loud with the ordinary sounds of machinery, but I could hear every word.
I asked whether Trish had authorized the use of my name.
Julia said Trish denied doing so.
I asked whether Julia had any document supporting that denial.
She said she did not.
I thanked her for the information and explained that I would pass it to the county without treating it as established fact.
She sounded relieved that I had not accused her of lying.
Before she hung up, she said her sister had spent much of the year dealing with the consequences of her own decisions.
I told Julia that I hoped Trish was doing better.
I meant it.
That afternoon, the county attorney’s office asked whether I could provide the business card Martin had handed me at the high school.
I found it in the folder beside the anonymous letter.
Robert Ames confirmed that the marketing firm on the card had produced material for Northern Relief Logistics.
