"Yes. Something happened there. But this goes way beyond that, Brooke." Stephanie took a deep breath. She was just about to say something about how Marcelo was right about Crane, but that would bring up things that she didn't really want to tell Brooke.

"Think about how you felt after the speech. Play back a recording of the speech, or see it on YouTube or something. It won't feel the same way." Stephanie spoke carefully, gauging Brooke's response. "Something happened to everyone at the party."

"Brooke." Stephanie took another breath before going on. "Can I trust you not to say a word about this to anyone else?"