Uldra Ker puts one lamp on the cart rail and another against the east wall. The crew waits for the shaft to settle into its morning hush; only then can a small change in the slate carry across the gallery.
The soundings book is open to the same page that the surveyor marked at the end of the last shift. A hairline change above the second brace is not a verdict. It is a place to listen again, from the other side of the wall.
One worker taps the timber while another records the pitch. Nobody steps beyond the chalk line. The inspection card has a box for a clear face and a separate box for a face held pending review; the crew marks the second.
The east gallery will lose a morning of work if the brace needs replacement. It could lose more if a warning is treated as a delay instead of a piece of evidence.
When the second surveyor arrives, Ker carries the lamp around the far wall. The note in the book is short: repeat the reading before entry. For now, the cart remains still.
