Gil meets key members of the staff at Northern Star’s home elevator including General Manager Ole Torvaldsson; Weighmaster Kay Nichols; Office Manager Dottie Wilson; Superintendent Sollie Finkel; Merchandiser Howie Carr; Johnny Littlefeather, outside laborer; and Calvin Fogerson, an electronics jack of all trades if a little excentric. He also hears the story of Marcus Grover, a local high school football legend from Monrovia’s only black family, who allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the elevator roof five years earlier after Board Member Eddie Lofgren, an unpleasant and bigoted area farmer, forbade his daughter Michelle from seeing Marcus.