CHAPTER FIVE: AN UNWELCOME WITNESS
The next morning, Nora’s manager called her into his office before her shift.
He had received a complaint alleging that she had pressured an injured customer into giving her money.
The complaint included the diner address and the time Walter had eaten there.
Nora felt the room tilt around her.
She asked to read the complaint, but her manager refused.
He said that an anonymous caller had threatened to contact the restaurant’s owners.
Nora reminded him that Walter had paid his bill without assistance.
The manager said that customers disliked complications.
He removed her from the evening schedule while he considered the matter.
Nora walked outside before anger made her say something she could not take back.
Daniel answered her call on the second ring.
He listened without interrupting and promised to ask his father whether anyone had contacted the diner.
Nora told him that she did not need promises.
She needed to know whether attending the meeting had made her a target.
Daniel admitted that the redevelopment dispute had become personal.
He offered to help her document the complaint, but he did not offer to pay her wages.
Nora appreciated the distinction even while she resented needing help.
She went to the public library and requested the preservation hearing schedule.
The librarian directed her to a community bulletin board covered in meeting notices.
One notice carried a photograph of Malcolm Dyer standing beside a proposed waterfront complex.
The caption identified him as the project’s public representative.
Another notice advertised an open audition for a new community performance series sponsored by the same company.
Nora studied the two notices side by side.
The developer was promising a new arts venue while preparing to destroy the old one.
She copied the audition date into her notebook.
Then she walked to the address listed on the notice.
The audition hall occupied a renovated warehouse two streets from the theater.
Inside, a dozen young performers waited beside a temporary stage.
A coordinator asked whether Nora wanted to audition.
She said that she had come to ask about the building’s future.
The coordinator gave her a glossy brochure showing a glass tower with a tiny performance room on its ground floor.
Nora asked how many seats the room would contain.
The coordinator said that the number had not been finalized.
Nora asked whether the developer had offered the existing theater’s performers a place there.
The coordinator’s smile faded.
She said that the old company had become difficult to work with.
Behind the coordinator,
Nora saw the man in the green raincoat.
He recognized her immediately.
He turned away before she could speak.
