I softened my voice.
“I understand. But would you be willing to tell the conductor what you saw if I ask him to come back?”
She hesitated.
“Do you think it’ll make a difference?”
“I don’t know. But he shouldn’t be able to tell the conductor that everything stopped when it didn’t.”
The woman glanced at Lucas.
Then she nodded.
“All right. I’ll tell him what I saw.”
The man sitting beside her lowered his newspaper.
“I heard him making those comments earlier,” he said. “I didn’t see everything, but I heard enough to know she wasn’t laughing with him.”
I thanked them both.
That small exchange meant more to me than they probably realized.
I hadn’t needed anyone to fight my battle for me. I had simply needed people who were willing to tell the truth about what they had witnessed.
Fifteen minutes later, Curtis returned.
I raised my hand.