The Vanishing Stair

The truly devious case—an unsolved kidnapping and Triple murder that rocked Ellingham Academy in 1936—has consumed Stevie Bell for years. It’s the very reason she came to the Academy. But then her classmate Hayes major was murdered, and though she was able to identify his killer, her parents quickly pull her out of school. For her safety, they say. She must move past this obsession with crime. Stevie’s willing to do anything to get back to Ellingham, be back with her friends, and solve the truly devious case. Even if it means making a deal with the despicable senator Edward king. And when Stevie finally returns, she also returns to David: the guy she kissed, the guy who lied about his identity—Edward king’s son. But larger issues are at play. Where did Hayes’s murderer hide away to? What’s the meaning of the riddle Albert Ellingham left behind? And what, exactly, is at stake in the truly devious affair? The Ellingham case isn't just a piece of historicity a live wire into the present. The path to truth has more twists and turns than Stevie can imagine, and moving forward involves hurting someone she cares for.