# Opening Hook Audit - Chapter 05

- CRITERION 1: PULLS - first 50 words quoted: `June arrived at the top of the stairs with Mara's scarf folded over her forearm like a waiter presenting it, which she understood, too late, was the wrong way to return a scarf. The right way would have been casual. The right way would have been wearing it up the stairs` - reasoning: the opening starts in character action with an immediate social problem (how to return the scarf without confessing she has thought about it), and June's dry corrective voice lands in the first sentence.

- CRITERION 2: CLEAN - strongest atmospheric candidate quoted: `The studio ran the length of the building above Marchetti Rooms...` (line 23) - why it survives: it arrives after June, Mara, scarf, and the return-obligation beat; setting is introduced through June's installer eye and the facing-easel pressure, not as a trailer-pan opener.

- CRITERION 3: not applicable - Chapter 05 is not chapter 1 or a part-opening.

Chapter verdict: HOOKED.

REVISION ORDERS: none.
