Notes from the Fire

[SFX: Cardboard box open. Charred paper rustle]

NARRATOR: Mabel kept rehearsal reports from the fire year. Iris read them as stage documents: smoke canisters, locked exits, and an unscheduled cue Adrian added after the safety officer left.

MABEL ROOK: I signed the false report. We all believed closing the theatre would destroy hundreds of jobs.

IRIS KENT: And the dresser who died?

MABEL ROOK: We converted her into a plaque.

NARRATOR: Julian had obtained the original cue sheet. Adrian tried to buy it, then threatened him. Sana overheard both.

SANA VALE: Julian told me to stand ready as if he expected not to finish the show.

[SFX: Heavy sandbag drop]

NARRATOR: A sandbag crashed where Sana had stood. Its release line carried a fresh electronic clasp. Someone was still using show control to eliminate witnesses.

JON BELL: I have shut the network down.

IRIS KENT: Then the clasp was scheduled before you did.

NARRATOR: Every dangerous cue had been programmed during a twelve-minute technical hold. Adrian was alone in the auditorium, but Iris's headset recording placed him continuously giving notes. A director could speak while typing only if the console sat within reach. It had been beside him.