Chapter 14 - The Archive Room
Emma ran back inside.
A staff member shouted after her, but she ignored him.
“Ava!”
The alarm pounded through the halls.
She followed the costume corridor to a locked door near the old office wing.
Ava had once mentioned it was supposed to be storage.
Emma hit the handle.
Locked.
“Ava!”
A faint pounding came from inside.
Emma grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and slammed its base against the cheap latch.
Once.
Twice.
The frame split.
Ava stumbled out coughing from dust, not smoke.
“I’m okay.”
Emma pulled her into a hug so hard Ava complained.
“What happened?”
“Somebody shut the door.”
“Who?”
“I didn’t see.”
Inside the room were shelves of old DVDs, external drives, paper files, and performance tapes dating back more than a decade.
Ava pointed to a box on the floor.
“I came in because I saw Ms. Vale carrying this during the alarm.”
The box was labeled INCIDENT RECORDS.
Emma opened it.
Jenna Price.
Mia Alvarez.
Tasha Monroe.
Names going back years.
Complaints.
Injury reports.
Emails.
Several had handwritten notes:
CLOSED - PARENT SATISFIED.
Emma knew at least one parent had never been satisfied.
Then Ava held up a flash drive.
“This was taped under the shelf.”
They took photographs, then carried the box outside where David was waiting with police now responding to the alarm.
Vivian’s face when she saw it told Emma everything.
“That material is private studio property,” Vivian snapped.
David said, “Then I’m sure you’ll be happy to preserve it for investigators.”
Police secured the room.
The fire department found no fire.
The alarm had been pulled manually near the back exit.
Security footage from that hallway was unavailable.
Of course it was.
That evening, David opened the flash drive on an offline laptop.
It contained dozens of video files.
Most were rehearsals.
One was labeled E.R. - REGIONAL 2017.
Emma stared at the initials.
E.R.
Emma Reed.
She clicked.
The grainy video showed sixteen-year-old Emma entering a costume room.
Then leaving.
Thirty seconds later, another figure entered.
Vivian Mercer.
She opened the costume fund envelope.
Removed the cash.
And slipped it into Emma’s dance bag.
Emma stopped breathing.
Then a second person stepped into frame.
May you like
Young Margaret Grant.
She watched Vivian do it.
