A forceful breeze brushed over the 2 philosophers as they walked down the brick path, leading to the factory near the lighthouse. The factory was ten years, smelling of damp pinewood and a musk that couldn’t be described. On the outside, it looked like a regular factory but there’s always more than meets the eye. As Mary opened the door, a faint creaking came from its hinges, revealing workers in a laboring factory. “Place looks run down,” Jean-Jacques observed. The damp air created mold within the wood as well as dark spots in the ceiling. Beyond the looks of the factory were the workers using the spinning Jenny’s. All of the workers were different. Some were men and others women, as well as some young and some old. After observing the factory, the manager walked in. He described that this factory was a very successful place, they made 350 textiles per day with only 78 workers. As the two were given the tour, Jean-Jacques kept making a confusing face.

“Anything the matter?” the manager questioned.

“I just had a question.” inquired Jean.

“Ask away.” the manager said.

“I don’t mean to be rude but, why are there women working in this factory?” Jean interrogated.

“I’m sorry.” the manager said confused, “is that a problem?”

“Yeah,” Mary declared, “What’s wrong with women working in the workplace? Have some respect. Have you no liberty for these women?”

“I just think that women are taking up spots that could be way more fit for men?” Jean stated.

“Just drop is Jean, you’re being sexist.” Mary ordered.

“Sorry,” Jean stated.

“I actually do have a question that you may have an answer to,” Mary stated.

“Inquiry. I love it. Go ahead.” the manager smiled.

Mary took a breath,“I heard about the murder in the factory-”

“There was no murder. You must’ve been thinking of something else, if you can please leave the building now.” the manager said as he pushed them towards the door. The manager shoved Mary and Jean to the door and slammed it onto them.

“Nice going Mary,” Jean remarked.

“You could’ve helped me rather than making your snooty comments on how women shouldn’t work in factories,” Mary said as she started walking faster down the path. The breeze picked up bringing a cloud of mist that had covered the ground up to their knees. Suddenly they heard screams and a loud bang. Workers started running out of the factory and into the inland near the city. Jean and Mary looked confusely at each other. Mary saw a woman run pass her, grabbing her arm. “Excuse me?” Mary questioned. “Why is everyone running out of the building?”

“He shot a worker,” the woman said frantically. “The spinning Jenny accidentally broke and...I don’t know so much-happened,” she said as she started to run.

“Wait!” Jean shouted. “Do you know about the recent murder that happened?” After what felt like a century, she nodded. “Come have dinner with us,” Jean said calmly while Mary looked at him with a confused look on her face.

~

“Thank you for doing this, you really didn’t have to,” the woman said quietly.

“Yeah we really didn’t,” Mary responded while Jean kicked her under the table.

“Excuse us,” Jean said to the woman as Mary and himself stood up to walk near the front of the restaurant.

“Why are you being so rude?” Jean remarked.

“Well first off, she’s a complete stranger and we have no idea whether she’s telling the truth or not, secondly something seems off about her I just don’t think-”

“Maybe you’re the one being sexist. You know let’s just drop it. I trust her and you should too, there’s nothing that you have against her.” Jean stated as he made his way back to the table. Jean and Mary sat back down and smiled at the stranger. “So did you happen to see who was shot?” Mary said.

“Yes. Her name was Alice and she didn’t pay attention to the strings on the Jenny. She then tried to take them off and then she pulled them too tight and it broke the machine. I just moved here too so I don’t really know anyone here.” She stated calmly.

“Why did you move here?” John persisted.

“Well, I wanted to move to the city because people said you’d have a better life. They call it urbanization. I thought I’d have everything I wanted, in reality, I own close to nothing.” she stated. “If you excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”

“I don’t trust her,” Mary said blatantly. “I’m just gonna check her purse,” she said as she reached into the woman’s purse.

“Mary. No!” Jean shouted.

“Jeez, don’t make a scene Jean.” Mary stated as she rustled in the woman’s purse. Mary’s hand shuffled in the purse. Her hands came across to a cold, heavy object. It appeared to have a trigger and in an instant, Mary knew what it was.

~

The factory on the lighthouse had been shut down. With the woman and the manager sitting in a rusty jail cell. “Alissa Smith and Charles Milan Charged with Murder” read the newspapers all over town. Mary and Jean had arrived to the factory which was surrounded by the sounds of police cars and the yellow tape that shined from the fog.

“I wonder why she killed the people,” Mary said curiously.

“Police said it was because she was full of laniliay toward the manager. According to her and other employees, he mistreated them poorly. The women were quote beaten and assaulted when the weren’t doing the right thing. On the other hand, when men were misbehaving, Milan did nothing about it.” Jean stated as he read the paper. Milan showed inequality, by mistreating workers. He never took into account that he didn’t treat everyone fairly.

“I’m still confused as to why the manager was accused of murder.” Mary questioned.

“According to the officers, he shot a worker when they broke the spinning Jenny. That was 6 months ago but everyone was too afraid to admit who did it because he threatened to kill them as well as their families. But then Alissa anonymously reported the murder to the officers and that’s why we are here.” Jean said. “Let’s go into the factory.” Jean said as he closed the newspaper.

“Okay, but we can’t interrupt the detectives.” Mary stated reluctantly. Mary and Jean walked up the brick pathway. The seagrass surrounding it had been covered in cars that were driven by detectives and police officers. The factory still had the same musty smell, the only difference was the blood splatter on the spinning Jenny’s across the floor.

Jean observed the room carefully,“Looks like women shouldn’t work in factories. If they’re mistreated like this-”

“If you finish that sentence, I might just grab the murder weapon and murder you,” Mary said jokingly.

“Women don’t belong in the factories,” Jean whispered as they left the building.