CHAPTER SIXTEEN O — THE THINGS WE DID NOT KNOW
Sergeant Brooks visited me one evening to update the investigation.
She confirmed that the mailbox destruction had been documented and that Vivian had acknowledged responsibility.
The threatening notes and the workshop window remained under review.
The available evidence did not establish who had carried out every act.
“I know that’s frustrating,” she said.
“It is,” I admitted.
“But I don’t want you filling the gaps with guesses.”
I told her I understood.
She asked whether I had received any new threats.
“No.”
“Any suspicious visits?”
“Not since the window estimate request.
”
She made a note.
“Call if that changes.”
After she left, I stood beside the new mailbox and looked down the street.
A teenager rode past on a bicycle.
A woman carried groceries into her house.
Somewhere a dog barked at a passing truck.
The neighborhood had never stopped being a place where ordinary life continued.
I had simply stopped noticing it.
I went inside and called Ruth.
She told me Nora was helping plan the spring recital.
Then she asked whether I wanted to come for dinner on Sunday.
I said yes.
We talked about what she was cooking and whether Malik could join us.
Neither of us mentioned Vivian.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN P — THE PERFORMANCE THEY CHOSE
The spring recital opened with a short play written by the children themselves.
It was about a town where the residents built a bridge out of ordinary household objects.
Every character brought something different.
One brought rope, another brought boards, and a third brought a ladder that was much too short.
The audience laughed when the ladder fell sideways onto a pile of cushions.
Ellis watched from the side of the stage.
He had checked the props and approved the planned fall before rehearsal.
Nora sat with Ruth in the second row.
When the children reached the final scene, they placed a painted cardboard bridge across two low platforms.
The bridge did not move.
The children crossed it one at a time while the audience applauded.
Afterward, Caleb ran to Nora and asked whether she liked the performance.
“I loved it,” she said.
“Did you see the bridge?”
“I saw every part.”
“We built it ourselves,” he told her proudly.
Nora smiled.
“Then you know exactly how it works.”
Caleb nodded and ran back to his friends.
Ruth watched him go.
“Your grandfather would have liked that,” she told Nora.
Nora looked toward Ellis,
who was helping a teacher carry the props into storage.
“I think he would,” she said.
