Dana visited Farah the following afternoon.
Lena did not attend.
She spent the morning helping Malik assemble a museum display about bridges.
The exhibit included a small model that showed how different supports carried weight.
Owen was there, sanding the edge of a wooden frame.
He looked more confident than he had at his first visit.
“I didn’t know museums needed carpenters,” he said.
“Museums need people who can make things that survive curious children,” Malik replied.
Lena examined the model.
“That might be the most demanding design standard in the world.”
Owen grinned.
He asked whether the situation on Alder Street was getting better.
Lena considered the question.
“More people know what is happening,” she said.
“That helps.”
“Felix hasn’t called me.”
“I’m glad.”
“I keep expecting him to.”
Malik stopped sanding.
“If he does, don’t handle it alone,” he said.
Owen nodded.
Then he picked up the frame and returned to work.
Lena watched him for a moment before returning to the bridge model.
A safe structure depended on more than one strong piece.
She did not say that aloud.
Chapter Thirteen Q: The Contractor’s Choice
Felix Rowe agreed to meet Dana at the station on Monday morning.
He arrived with a lawyer and a face that suggested he had slept badly.
Dana had already spoken with Owen, Harriet, and the driver of the white van.
She asked Felix to explain why he had accepted jobs involving properties whose owners had not requested work.
Felix said he was a contractor, not a neighborhood politician.
“I was given work orders,” he said.
“By whom?” Dana asked.
“Celia Brant.”
His lawyer asked him to answer only what he knew directly.
Felix nodded and described a series of small assignments.
The first had involved placing markers near Lena’s fence for what Celia called a controlled safety demonstration.
The second had involved assessing access points at Ruth’s house.
The third had been canceled after Owen questioned the lack of permission.
Dana asked whether Felix understood that some of the work could create hazards.
He stared at the table.
“I understood that the markers might make a place look worse than it was,” he said.
“Did you understand that a cord across a path could trip someone?”
“I wasn’t supposed to put it across the path.”
Dana waited.
Felix finally admitted that Celia had wanted photographs showing a hazard near Lena’s property.
He claimed she intended to use the images at a neighborhood meeting.
“Did she tell you what would happen if someone was hurt?” Dana asked.
“She said nobody would be there.”
“Was that a guarantee you could make?”
Felix shook his head.
His lawyer placed a hand on his arm.
The interview paused.
