“Do you recall anything else she might have said to you, more specifically, about the children?”

“Not really. Just that it was called the nursery, that corner. Do you know where it was on the ninth floor?”

“I have ascertained that the area so many survivors of the fire and other Triangle workers reference as the nursery, just as you say, was in the area on the ninth floor nearest to the air shaft, which is where the smoke was very bad within just minutes after the fire broke out. The risk of smoke inhalation would have been greatest on that side of the building, where the air shaft acted like a chimney, venting the fire as it spread beneath them. Of course, this is where the fire escape was, if you could even call it a fire escape. I assume you have seen those photographs?”

“They’re in all the books. I know about the fire escapes. People died because of those fire escapes.”

“Indeed. I plan on using a very poignant digital image I have located on the Internet, a picture of that useless, twisted fire escape, for my cover image. Can you recall anything else your grandmother told you about the children? Anything?”

“Esther told me the little girls trimmed the loose threads from the finished waists, and some of the older girls sewed in labels, I remember that. They had different labels for some of the stores they supplied all over the country. Oh, and she was friendly with the girl who was in charge of them. I remember her telling me this girl had worked on a farm and loved children, and she would bring them rolls from a bakery where her brother worked, or something, so she got a deal on the day-old—”

“Rose Gottlieb. You mean this woman—”

“I do?”

“You said girl, and I will assume that you actually meant woman for Rose Gottlieb, who was herself nineteen years old when she died.”

“I guess I knew Rose Gottlieb died in the fire. You know, I’ve just never wanted to pore over those books, and you probably have them all memorized. Wouldn’t she have been with the children?”

“She was found on the top of the elevator car operated by Joseph Zito. She had jumped into the open shaft after the elevator made its final trip down. There were a number of bodies on top of hers, and beneath her as well. In fact, one of those women who jumped last, Katie Orlovsky, actually survived and testified at the trial, but none of the bodies in the elevator shaft were the children. There is absolutely no record of any child present at the fire, living or dead. My investigation has led me to conclude that there may have been as many as eight children present that day, girls, and in all likelihood a minimum of three. Given that it was a Saturday, even children who did attend school could have accompanied their mothers to work. There may have been an even greater number present.”