Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) - Maureen Johnson Page 0,95

this long.

SA: What do you mean?

RM: The school was just another project. Mr. Ellingham has a lot of projects. It seemed like he was planning for this to be a retreat, maybe to be used a few weeks in the summer. But he’s been here since September. We all seemed to be waiting for him to say, “All right! Back to New York.” But it never happened. We were here all winter. Do you have any idea what winters are like up here?

SA: Cold, I’d imagine.

RM: Half the time you can’t leave the house for all the snow. The locals don’t seem to mind, but everyone else had wild cabin fever. Mrs. Ellingham . . .

[Pause.]

SA: What about her?

RM: Mrs. Ellingham is lively. She likes society and athletics. She did some skiing, but that wasn’t enough. You could see it wearing on her.

SA: Did this cause friction between Mr. and Mrs. Ellingham?

[Silence.]

SA: I know you feel a sense of loyalty, but there are things we have to know.

RM: I realize that. Yes, maybe a bit. They are very different people. A loving couple, of course, but very different people. I think being up here has been hard on her at times. She has Miss Robinson to keep her company. That seems to help.

SA: They’re close?

RM: Like sisters.

SA: And what is Mr. Nair like?

RM: Mr. Nair is a brilliant artist and an inebriate.

SA: A frequent drinker?

RM: Often and in high quantities. I once watched him drink an entire case of champagne by himself. I was surprised he didn’t die.

SA: Is he aggressive in that condition?

RM: On the contrary, he usually just paints or talks and eventually we find him somewhere on the grounds, asleep. The students once pulled him out of the fountain. If you’re asking if he’s capable of arranging a kidnapping, I don’t think Leonard Holmes Nair is capable of arranging breakfast. This was organized.

SA: You’re an organized man.

RM: Which is why I know organization when I see it. I’m professionally dull, Agent Arnold. It’s why I was hired. I’m a foil to Mr. Ellingham’s exuberance.

SA: It sounds like you’re sensible. On the night of the thirteenth, you advocated calling the police.

RM: And I regret I didn’t do it, even though I was told not to.

SA: You obeyed orders.

RM: I obeyed orders.

SA: Can you tell me about the letter that was received on April eighth, the Truly Devious letter? What did you make of it?

RM: We get, on average, two or three threats a day in with the regular correspondence. The vast majority of it is nonsense and a lot of it from the same people. At first, this one struck me as a bit of a joke.

SA: Why a joke?

RM: The cutout letters. The poem. But then I noticed a few things. I noticed it was postmarked from Burlington. And then I noticed the address. You see, Mr. Ellingham has business correspondence from all around the country. As I’m sure you can imagine, mail delivery here is difficult. So we have all business correspondence directed to an office in Burlington, and we have it delivered by car every day, weather providing. If the weather is too bad, we have a secretary there who can read it to me over the telephone. What was unusual was that the letter didn’t come to any of the business addresses—that’s where most of the abusive mail goes to. It was addressed here, to this house. This one seemed much more personal.

SA: But you didn’t show it to George Marsh.

RM: I was going to. But there was a great deal going on over the weekend. I was going to show him the next time he came by.

SA: So there was a party over the weekend?

RM: For Maxine Melville, yes.

SA: Did you attend?

RM: Only in the sense that I was in the house. I was very busy finalizing the paperwork on an important deal Mr. Ellingham has been working on. He’s purchasing a newspaper in Philadelphia.

SA: Was there anything out of the ordinary about the weekend or Monday morning?

RM: Absolutely nothing. We went to Burlington on Monday morning to do some business and send some cables. We came back in the evening.

SA: Let’s talk about this house and the school. Did you feel this location was insecure?

RM: Absolutely, considering the threats and the attempted bombing.

SA: Did you speak to your employer about this?

RM: I tried.

SA: You seem like a smart man, Mr. Mackenzie. Your instincts were always to reach out to law enforcement. You