“‘Look, a riddle, time for fun,’” George read. “‘Should we use a rope or gun? Knives are sharp and gleam so pretty. Poison’s slow, which is a pity. Fire is festive, drowning’s slow. Hanging’s a ropy way to go. A broken head, a nasty fall. A car colliding with a wall. Bombs make a very jolly noise. Such ways to punish naughty boys! What shall we use? We can’t decide. Just like you cannot run or hide. Ha ha. Truly, Devious.’”

“The envelope was postmarked Burlington,” Robert added.

A phone rang, and it was snatched from the hook before the ring could even complete. Albert Ellingham said a breathless hello. The men gathered around the telephone on the desk and the responses were difficult for Flora to hear, until George’s voice broke out of the cluster.

“We saw your man,” a voice with a strange, unplacable accent said. “You called the cops.”

“No,” Albert replied. “George is a friend. He just came to visit.”

“We know who he is,” the voice replied. “You’ve made this worse on yourself. This is what you do now. You gather up all the jewelry, all the cash, anything you’ve got. You put them in pillowcases. You send your friend there alone, in his car. He drives east on interstate two and makes the left toward West Bolton. We’ll take care of it from there and you’ll get them back. Better move it. You have one hour from now.”

The phone went silent. Albert said hello several times but no one replied. Flora chanced it and opened the door an inch wider to see what was happening. The men were standing around the desk, not moving and not speaking.

“I go alone,” George finally said.

“No,” Albert replied. “It’s my wife and daughter . . .”

“You heard them, Albert,” George replied. “They want me, so I go.”

Robert Mackenzie had produced a map and opened it over the desk where the men were gathered.

“Here,” he said. “They want you to go east on interstate highway two and take the left to go toward West Bolton. It’s a dirt road. The drive looks like it would take a half hour, maybe more, depending on what happens once you turn.”

“So we work fast,” George said. “Get Montgomery to start gathering things. Jewelry, watches, anything you can get.”

“Why you?” Robert asked. “You’re in law enforcement. You’re trained.”

“I’m cheaper,” George replied. “If Albert went and something happened to him—if they hurt him or killed him—that’s international news. That’s the president getting involved. That’s the chair. An FBI agent no one’s ever heard of? That’s not such a big deal. It happens. They can’t let anything happen to you, Albert.”

“You’re right,” Robert said. “And they’d also get no more money, if that’s how this goes.”

“We have to move now,” George replied. “We need to get the stuff they want. Where’s the jewelry?”

“There are two safes upstairs, one in my dressing room and one in Iris’s. The combinations to both are left five, right twenty-seven, left eighteen, right nineteen. Go, Robert. Get Montgomery to help you. Empty them.”

Robert Mackenzie hurried off, leaving George and Albert alone with the map.

“I should go,” Albert said again.

George’s voice was quiet but it managed to fill the room and disturb the air. “You need to listen to me. You brought me here for a reason. It sounds like they’re ready to give them up, so we just have to be cool-headed about it. We play by their rules, but we play smart. I’ll go, and I’ll bring them back to you. I know you feel like you have to go, but you have to put your feelings aside.”

Albert leaned against the back of a chair and remained silent for a moment.

“If you do,” he finally said, “you have my life.”

“I’ll be satisfied with a stiff drink,” George said, grabbing his coat. As he did so, Flora saw his glance pass in the direction of where she was hiding, but he didn’t seem to see the tiny opening in the wall panel. He simply picked up the coat and turned back. “Lock this place down. I don’t want a mouse able to get in here. You have a revolver?”

“There’s one in the desk,” Robert said.

“You load it. You lock the school. You get the staff stationed at every door. And you two stay in here with that door locked and that revolver ready until I return. If I don’t show up by, say, one in the morning, you call in the cavalry. This is how we have to do this. This is how we bring them home.”

Crouching in the secret corridor, her head to the crack in the door, Flora felt her heart beat so fast that she grew faint. She slid down to the floor as silently as she could.

6

BACK IN MINERVA, THE TWO OTHER RESIDENTS WERE SLOUCHED cozily on the sofa, with Ellie’s legs draped casually over Hayes’s lap as she talked about Paris. Hayes didn’t seem to be listening. He was working his phone. Pix was sitting at the table again but her tooth collection was gone, replaced by glossy Ellingham Academy folders and paperwork.

“You’re back!” she said. “Okay. I need a few minutes to go through the basics. . . .”

“Don’t you have to wait for David or something?” Ellie said with a groan.

“His plane from San Diego is late, and the sooner we start the sooner we’re done. It’s fast.”

“But he’s coming, right?”

“He’s coming,” Pix said.

Stevie, Nate, and Janelle took seats at the table. Ellie and Hayes remained in their huddle, and Hayes was still on his phone.

“Hayes,” Pix said. “Just look up for five minutes.”

Hayes tipped his chiseled face up and smiled easily, setting the phone on the sofa.

“So,” Pix said, consulting a list, “welcome, everyone, to Ellingham. ID cards. Each of you has been issued an ID card. That card is programmed to give you access to buildings you need to be in.”

Ellie rolled dramatically off the sofa and onto the floor, where she landed facedown. Pix continued.

“Visitors from other buildings have to stay in the common areas, so they can be in this room or the kitchen, but that’s it. You all got the official Ellingham rules of conduct, which includes information about consent and respecting other students. No means no here. Okay . . .”

Pix quickly scanned the list.

“Common sense stuff. No drinking, no illegal drugs. Any food in the kitchen needs to be in sealed containers and labeled for food allergies, but no one in here has a peanut allergy; I think we should be okay with that. No fires. Except for in this room when I’m present. Seriously, Ellie, no fires . . .”

Ellie groaned.

Janelle raised a hand. “Soldering?” she asked.

“Fine in the common room. No one has a microwave, okay . . . No unauthorized leaving of campus. We have shuttles to Burlington on the weekends leaving at ten in the morning and coming back at four. Alert me right away in case of a medical emergency in the house. There’s a nurse living on campus, the doctor comes in three times a week, and security can respond to any medical emergency if you need immediate help. If you need to speak to anyone, you can speak to me in confidence, and we have two counselors on staff and you can make appointments online or in person. I think that’s it. . . .”