CHAPTER EIGHTEEN AI: THE PERSON BEHIND THE EVENT BADGE
Anton returned for a second interview after the city identified the event manager who supervised the platform delivery.
The manager was named Colin Drexler.
He had worked for TrueStep during the reopening ceremony and now managed private exhibitions in another state.
Colin agreed to answer written questions but initially declined an interview.
He said he did not remember instructing Elliot to step onto the unstable platform.
Anton described Colin standing near the loading entrance after the cart struck the wall.
Colin had asked whether the damage was visible from the audience.
Anton remembered answering that he had not inspected the support closely enough to know.
Colin then told the crew to finish setting up.
The reviewer compared Anton’s statement with the text he had sent his wife that morning.
The times were consistent, but they did not establish what Colin knew about the precise defect.
Rosa asked whether Colin could be questioned about his instructions to Elliot.
The reviewer sent another request.
This time, Colin agreed to speak by video call with counsel present.
He admitted telling Elliot to stabilize the platform before the ceremony.
He denied ordering him to climb onto it.
Elliot described the instruction differently.
He said Colin pointed to the front edge and told him to stand there while another worker adjusted the curtain.
The reviewer did not force either account into agreement.
He asked Colin whether the event could have been delayed for an inspection.
Colin said the schedule was controlled by city officials and that he had been under pressure to begin on time.
The reviewer asked whether anyone had forbidden him to stop work for a safety concern.
Colin could not identify such an instruction.
Elliot listened to the recording afterward with Rosa.
He was angry that Colin continued to minimize his role.
Rosa reminded him that the review now had multiple independent accounts of the warning and the rushed setup.
“We may never hear him say the words you remember,” she said.
“That does not erase what happened to you.”
Elliot asked whether the record could reflect the conflict without calling him a liar.
Rosa said that was precisely what they were seeking.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN AJ: THE EDITOR’S SECOND FILE
Caleb Stone contacted Priya after the forum and offered to explain how SignalHouse stored project material.
He had no access to Owen’s private files and did not claim otherwise.
He remembered a production folder that contained draft captions for neighborhood confrontation videos.
Some captions had been written before filming began.
Caleb said that was not always improper because producers often prepared descriptions for planned demonstrations.
The problem arose when the captions described spontaneous crimes that had not yet occurred.
Priya asked whether Caleb had retained any company material.
He said he had one email sent to his personal address when he resigned.
The email discussed a proposed video involving a homeowner and an elderly neighbor.
It did not name Mara.
It did not mention a pool.
Caleb showed Priya the message and its original date.
Priya thanked him but warned against treating it as direct proof about Owen’s plan.
Caleb accepted the distinction.
He said he was willing to testify about the company’s general practices if investigators considered them relevant.
Mara met him briefly outside Priya’s office.
She asked why he had waited until the forum to speak.
Caleb said he had been ashamed of his own participation in earlier videos.
He had also worried that people would dismiss him as a disgruntled employee.
“Some of them will,” Mara replied.
Caleb nodded.
“They might be right about part of it.”
He explained that he had left after a dispute over unpaid editing work as well as his concerns about the videos.
Mara appreciated that he admitted both reasons.
She had grown tired of people presenting their motives as pure.
Before leaving, Caleb said he hoped the investigation would distinguish bad production practices from ordinary documentary work.
Mara agreed.
“The camera did not invent what June did,” she said.
“The people using it decided what everyone else would see.”
