did you do?”
Now Ellie was shifting in her seat a bit.
“Sold some drawings and stuff,” she said.
“Five hundred dollars’ worth of drawings,” Stevie said. “That’s really good. How many other times have you sold drawings?”
“A few,” Ellie said. “Look, if we’re not going to play and we’re not going to drink, everyone can leave.”
Nate looked at Stevie. He knew. He understood. Janelle started to get up, but Stevie motioned for her to stay.
“Why don’t we talk about Hayes for a second,” Stevie said. “It seems like we should, you know, take a moment.”
“Yeah,” Ellie said. “I’m not feeling that.”
“What are you doing, Stevie?” David asked. He was smirking but there was real concern in his voice.
“The thing about Hayes,” Stevie said, “he kind of took stuff that wasn’t his. He would have had to drink just then. He had other people do his work. Like me. Like Nate. Like Gretchen. Ever do any work for Hayes, Ellie?”
Ellie’s eyes were locked on Stevie now. They were such a light brown that they were almost a gold color.
“What are you even talking about?” Ellie said.
“Yeah, Stevie,” David said. “What are you talking about?”
“Weird thing,” Stevie said. “Hayes himself told me that he made The End of It All in Florida at the start of last summer. He lied. He made it on June fourth, and Ellingham closed for the summer on the sixth.”
“What?” Ellie said. “I . . .”
“I know this because I went through his room,” Stevie cut in. “I go through rooms. I’m the worst. I get curious when things don’t make sense. But I found some things out. I found out Hayes lied. He made the show here, and he didn’t make it alone. And last spring, he borrowed five hundred dollars from Gretchen, his ex-girlfriend, that he never paid back. And you paid five hundred dollars for making some art last spring and bought Roota.”
“You’re being a freak, Stevie,” Ellie said, but there was a tremble in her voice. “Get the hell out of my room. Everyone get the hell out of my room.”
“Something else,” Stevie said. “Sometime between the time Hayes died and the time I went into his room, someone had taken his computer. That person shoved it under the tub. It left three scratches down the front. Those scratches weren’t there before. There’s proof.”
“Stevie . . . ,” Janelle said, her voice fearful. “What’s going on?”
But Stevie had gone down the road now, and there was no going back. There was a thick atmosphere in the dark room, with the stink of old patchouli and paint. There was no coming back from this night, this sudden drilling into Ellie’s background and Hayes’s life and death. If she was wrong about this, she would have to pack up and go. She felt like someone walking out onto the branch of a tree, feeling it bounce and give under each step.
And she loved the feeling.
“One more thing. Beth Brave. She was Skyping with Hayes at the time Hayes was supposed to have been removing the dry ice from the workshop. Did he know about the dry ice? Was it his idea?”
Ellie’s face had taken on the cast of one of the masks on the wall of the ballroom—features wide, long, stretched in emotion.
“Get out of my room,” Ellie said. “Everyone get out of my room.”
David had shifted and was now half squatting. Janelle was moving back toward the wall. Nate, however, was like a rock, watching all of this with folded arms.
“Stevie,” David said slowly, “you know this thing that you’re saying is kind of intense?”
“I know,” she said.
“So you’d have to be pretty sure . . .”
“I am.”
“So I helped him with his show,” Ellie said. “God! I helped him with his show.”
The first piece slid into place.
“The movie,” Stevie said. “He was going to go to Hollywood and work with P. G. Edderton and take all the credit.”
“So? Do you think I wanted people to know I helped make a zombie show? I just needed money for Roota.”
“So why did you take his computer?” Stevie said. “The police were here. You had to see if there was evidence on there about your involvement because you knew . . .”
“I knew it didn’t look good. Hayes . . . Hayes said all kinds of dumb shit. Hayes did dumb things and he died and I’m sad about it and now you all need to get out.”
When no one moved, she got up herself, snatching her bag