4: 4
4
I turned to the nearest livestream camera.
"First. Five hours before the accident, I filmed the entire No. 3 sealed chamber.
"The chamber door was shut, the pressure gauge read above the safety line, and the isolation valve was locked."
In the video, Clyde stood beside the valve and read off the time and the valve status straight into the lens.
"Second. Before six o'clock that afternoon, I had Clyde hang a warning sign on the isolation valve. The record and the photos are all here."
I turned to the next page.
"Third. At six-oh-three, I filed the inspection report into the records room to be sealed, and the receipt is signed and stamped.
"My report says it in plain words. The chamber does not open until pressure is bled back to zero."
Someone near me muttered.
"She's had all this ready ahead of time, hasn't she?"
I lifted my eyes.
"Yes. I prepared it ahead of time. Because I found out the report might be altered, so I kept proof.
"Keeping proof isn't a crime. Forging one that gets people killed is."
I went on.
"Fourth. At six-twenty-six, Ethel collapsed in the break quarters. I helped with first aid, and the emergency call and handoff records are all here."
"Fifth. At the time of the accident, ten-forty, my access-control card log shows me in the break quarters. The hallway cameras and my phone location all match."
"Sixth. On the original document I sealed in the records room, the pressure-bleed step is written in black and white.
"The version circulating in the system now has that step deleted.
"Who deleted it, check the version log and you'll know."
Paul froze.
He looked at Rodney.
"Is what she's saying true?"
Rodney's face was heavy.
"Ginny, this really does show that you personally never issued the order to open the valve."
He paused.
"But you approved the report. Even if someone else changed it, you were the approver, and you failed your duty to verify it. You're not off the hook."
The moment he said it, the crowd stirred again.
Trudy jumped in at once.
"Sis, you work in safety oversight. Of course you know how to leave yourself a way out.
"It's not that we don't believe you. But two lives are gone. We can't let any doubt slide."
What a fine line, not letting any doubt slide.
She called my evidence doubts.
And called the thing they'd altered the facts.
Paul's eyes shifted again.
Pain, suspicion, and anger, all crowded together.
"Then who actually changed the report?"
I looked at him.
"Not me."
"Then how do you explain your signature in the system?"
"My e-signature was stolen and used."
The livestreamer holding up the phone scoffed.
"Stolen? It's stolen just because you say so? Where's the proof?"
Rodney let out a soft sigh.
"Ginny, the pressure out there is enormous right now, and the company is watching too.
"The harder you push back, the more everyone thinks you're dodging responsibility."
I finally let out a small laugh.
"Rodney, you're in a real hurry."
His face stiffened.
I didn't bother with him again.
I placed a video call.
It rang for a dozen-odd seconds.
The people around me started sneering.
"Calling in reinforcements again?"
"Let's see who she can get!"
"Some big shot she's been sleeping next to?"
The call connected.
On the screen was a middle-aged woman, her temples going faintly gray.
She wore a dark blue sweater, her color much better than that day on the deck, though her face was still a little pale.
I turned the volume all the way up.
"Ethel, sorry to bother you.
"I'd like to ask you to confirm something. Around six-thirty the night before last, was I in the break quarters or not?"
Ethel nodded.
"You were. You're the one who saved me."
The livestreamer sneered right away.
"Someone you saved, of course she'll speak up for you."
Trudy said softly too,
"Sis, a witness can let feelings get the better of them. The signature in the system won't."
Ethel raised her eyes.
Her voice wasn't loud, but it had a way of quieting a room.
"Are you looking at the original version log, or the one after it was changed?"
Rodney's eyes darkened for a beat.
The supervisor came hurrying down from upstairs, and when he saw the phone screen, his steps stopped short.
He blurted out,
"Ms. Harding?"
