She turned to Maggie, and chose the soft approach, “Maggie, honey, I understand that Oma believes the things she said, but she’s gotten a little older and her mind isn’t quite what it used to be.”
“What she said is true,” Maggie stood her ground.
Principal Sweetney growled, “Are you behind these photos, TJ?” She pointed to printed-out copies that featured a young Ellen with Adolf Hitler.
TJ looked at Maggie, as if to say I’ll back you up to the point my Xbox is taken away.
Maggie stepped in. TJ was her friend and she’d have his back all the way to the electric chair. Veronica loved the loyalty aspect of her personality, but just not at the moment.
“TJ didn’t doctor any photos,” Maggie stated firmly.
“Then who did?” Principal Sweetney came right back at her. Veronica hoped Uncle Phil and Aunt Val had a second guest room. More suspensions were pending.
“They’re authentic,” Maggie said. “We had to go into New York City to get them from a safety deposit box at Oma’s bank.”
Veronica almost hit her head on the roof. Her compassion had limits. “And how did you get to the city?”
Maggie shrugged like it was no big deal. “We took the train with Oma.”
Veronica was too horrified to say anything, choking on her anger. But she’d have a lot to say the next time she talked to Ellen … not to mention the few choice words for Mrs. Rhodes about Sunshine Village’s security.
Zach jumped in, or more specifically, he jumped down TJ’s throat. “Who gave you permission to go into the city!? I hope you enjoyed your time at Sunshine Village, because you’re going to be old enough to live there when your grounding is over!”
Maggie theatrically sighed. “I don’t know why everyone is sweating the details. If Oma was willing to risk her whole reputation on this, then what she said was obviously important. We don’t have much time.”
As mad as Veronica was, she wanted to hug the desperation out of Maggie’s voice.
Principal Sweetney wouldn’t know a soft approach if she ran it over with her car. “Maggie! This is ludicrous. The woman is obviously off her rocker. So zip it!”
Maggie stewed, and a hostile silence filled the room.
Until Ben Youkelstein broke the stalemate. He cleared his throat and said, “I think Maggie is telling the truth.”
Chapter 9
Veronica didn’t know this Youkelstein fellow, but figured he must be courageous. He was headed for a couple weeks at Uncle Phil and Aunt Val’s, yet he forged ahead.
“It’s the symbol she showed,” he stated. “The only time I’d come across it, was in regards to a man who was connected to the highest level of the Nazi hierarchy. And I was told the next time we saw that symbol, it would be the sign that the Reich was about to rise again.”
Youkelstein looked at Sterling for help, but received none. “Mr. Youkelstein has a great imagination, and unfortunately I think my friend Ellen has joined him in his fantasy world. I believe she has deep rooted delusions caused by her traumatic incarceration at Terezin, and as her mind continues to crumble with age, they are beginning to spill out of her subconscious.”
Youkelstein began pacing, using his umbrella as a cane. “She worked with Maggie on this report for almost two months. If Ellen Peterson were crazy, then she wouldn’t be able to maintain the same story for such a long amount of time. And her facts were historically accurate. Such as the day she arrived in Maine, November 29, 1944, being the same day that a German U-boat surfaced in Hancock Point, Maine—two German intelligence officers made it onto US soil that day, but were captured and quickly executed. In retrospect, I don’t think these men were spying, as they were charged with, but creating a diversion so that the Apostles could find safe passage into the United States.”
Sterling laughed condescendingly. “What Mr. Youkelstein isn’t telling you is that he wrote books in which he made the case that numerous Nazis war criminals escaped capture after the war, such as Himmler and Rudolph Hess. I think it’s likely that Ellen read his book and concocted this story based on Ben’s conspiracy theories. He preyed on Ellen’s failing cognitive abilities to promote his agenda.”
“Even if your theory was given credence, it doesn’t explain the symbol,” Youkelstein argued. “I never told anyone about that, much less published it.”
“Knowing the lengths you’d go, I wouldn’t put it past you to have planted the idea in