Page 227 of The Silent Appeal

6:17 p.m. Celia wrote:

As deputy cochair it would be remiss of me to ignore such a scandal in the committee. And those new sculptures perfectly depict the cowed head and intense shame of the wronged woman. Good work.

6:18 p.m. Emma wrote:

Namaste.

Message exchange between Kevin and Sarah-Jane MacDonald on June 4, 2025:

11:47 p.m. Kevin wrote:

Has Sammy settled down?

11:48 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:

Trying to stay awake and failing.

11:49 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:

How is Nicky-Rose?

11:49 p.m. Kevin wrote:

Fine. Why?

11:53 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:

The two of you must have grown closer doing the play. Do you talk about things?

11:55 p.m. Kevin wrote:

Not really. And with dress rehearsal over, our job’s done. It’s up to the cast from now on. Nicky-Rose and I might as well go out for Chinese tomorrow night and leave you all to it.

12:00 a.m. Kevin wrote:

That’s a joke. We’ll both be there doing our bits. We’ve got the spreadsheet.

Undated page from a decorative journal belonging to Isabel Beck:

TODAY IS OPENING NIGHT!

It’s 5:30 a.m. so I got about four hours’ sleep after dress rehearsal.

Sorry, journal, I was so tired last night I couldn’t fill you in.

Emma’s new sculptures of me are like two aliens looking for something they dropped on the floor.

At least they aren’t overweight like the last ones.

I’m going to make an iced coffee.

The milk is off. I’ve had to add more caramel syrup.

Is that a bad omen for opening night?

They say a good dress rehearsal is a bad omen for opening night.

Is there such a thing as an omen anyway?