Workers said the number belonged to Clarke, though he denied this when speaking to VICE. It was also listed as Clarke’s phone number in court documents about his trafficking charge. One of the WhatsApp screenshots obtained by VICE show a message from that number that says, “This is rob the owner.”

“[He] would message us on WhatsApp to comment on what we were doing. So if we went to go to the back to use the bathroom he'd message us to ask what we were doing or why we're going to the back,” Giberson said, noting that people would get “fired every day” for breaking rules, which included leaving the store to get lunch if there was no one around to cover. Another rule, according to Giberson (who uses the pronouns they/them/their): no central heating. Despite the fact that it was snowing in Ottawa last October, Giberson wasn’t allowed to turn the heat on at work because Clarke said it was “too expensive.”

“They also wouldn’t let us wear a coat because it looked unprofessional, so we bundled up in sweaters, scarves, and boots,” said Giberson, who is a slender five-foot-seven and has purple shoulder-length hair. A photo of Giberson from that time period shows them standing behind the counter with a space heater between their legs.