The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2)(55)
“There’s another tunnel,” she said. She shone her light down into the space.
“I’m ashamed of myself for saying this,” David said, “but we should get back up before Pix comes home or Nate seals us in.”
Stevie took just a few steps into the new branch of tunnel. On the ground in front of her was another piece of plastic. She picked it up. It was the same shiny black plastic. Garbage bag plastic, that’s what it was.
Click. Click. Click. Her mind was going faster now, showing her picture after picture. Garbage bags in the kitchen at home. Her clothes in garbage bags when she came back to Ellingham. Garbage clothes. Ellie wearing a skirt made of garbage bags at the silent party . . .
Up ahead, there was some trash on the ground. That’s what it looked like anyway from a distance. There was a subtle sheen from more garbage bag plastic, then something formless, purple . . .
She didn’t have to go any farther to know what she had found.
INTERVIEW WITH MARION NELSON
CONDUCTED IN NEW YORK CITY BY AGENT HENRY EVANS, NYC OFFICE, AND AGENT GEORGE MARSH, VERMONT FIELD OFFICE
APRIL 20, 1936
HE: Thank you for coming in to speak to us, Miss Nelson.
MN: It’s no trouble at all. None at all.
HE: You understand what has transpired? I don’t need to explain anything to you.
MN: Yes. I know. I know about it.
HE: You are the housemistress of Minerva House at Ellingham Academy, is that correct?
MN: Correct.
HE: How did you get your position?
MN: I knew Mr. Ellingham from here, from New York. I worked as a secretary at his newspaper.
HE: Directly for him?
MN: No, for the editor in chief, Max Campbell. But I got to know Mr. Ellingham from his visits to the office. He was very involved in the day-to-day.
HE: You became friends.
MN: Yes.
HE: Good friends?
MN: I . . . yes. Good friends.
AGENT MARSH: We first met when you worked at the paper.
MN: Yes, when you saved Mr. Ellingham from that bomb.
HE: And he asked you to come and be a housemistress at his new school.
MN: Yes. He wanted people at the school he knew and trusted.
GM: You’re the only person from the newspaper to come and work at the academy, Miss Nelson. Just you.
MN: Yes.
GM: Why do you think you were the only one he brought from the newspaper?
MN: I suppose . . . I was the only one with the right skills. I’m not a reporter. I was a secretary.
HE: Did you have any other position at the school? Did you teach?
MN: Biology.
HE: So you taught biology and lived at Minerva House.
MN: Yes.
HE: Miss Nelson, we’ve been going through the files on all the faculty at Ellingham Academy. None of the other faculty members had a direct connection to Albert Ellingham’s business life. Not just the newspaper. All the businesses.
MN: Yes. What of it?
HE: I understand that was not a question. Just an observation. It’s just that out of the hundreds and hundreds of people who work for Albert Ellingham, he chose you to come to the academy.
MN: And you, Mr. Marsh.
GM: I don’t work for Mr. Ellingham, Miss Nelson. I work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I was posted locally to Mr. Ellingham. But he picked you, out of everyone who works for him.
MN: Like I said, Albert—Mr. Ellingham wanted people he knew. . . .
HE: You must be close. You call him Albert?
MN: I don’t know what you’re implying.
HE: Nothing at all. I am making an observation. But I now need to ask, Miss Nelson, and I must remind you of the serious nature of the matter at hand, is your relationship with Albert Ellingham . . . more than friendly?
[Subject had no reply.]
HE: Miss Nelson, I’m not asking this to embarrass you. I’m asking because we need to understand everything that happened at the academy that night. We need information.
MN: I know you need information.
HE: So will you please answer my question?
[Subject had no reply.]
HE: Miss Nelson, when you left Ellingham Academy, you took a train back to New York with several students. Then you went to an apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue.
MN: Who told you that?
HE: It’s not important how we know. It’s important that we find out the facts. Is that correct?
MN: Yes.
HE: Who owns that apartment?
MN: The Ellingham Corporation. I don’t have an apartment of my own right now. I live at the school. Mr. Ellingham let me stay in one of his properties.
HE: And when did he tell you you could stay at one of his properties? When did he convey this to you?
MN: When . . . when he told us we had to go.
HE: Miss Nelson, do you understand that lying to a federal agent is a serious matter? I need to point out again that we need information if we are to find Iris and Alice Ellingham. Without information, there is nothing we can do. Any delay in getting that information means we are delayed in our search, and if we have false information, we go down false roads. Do you understand what I am saying?
[Subject is visibly distressed.]
MN: Oh God. Oh. How did this happen? Can we stop for a moment, please? Just a moment, please?
HE: Miss Nelson, I’m going to need you to be honest now. There is nothing to fear in being honest. We are not out to shame you or Mr. Ellingham. We just need to know. This is information that could be used against Mr. Ellingham, or you. We need to have it. Is your relationship with Albert Ellingham purely friendly?