bad, pushing too hard, sending gurgles of air and confusion through her body that bottled up in her neck.
There were footsteps behind her.
She turned.
It wasn’t Eric, as she somehow deep inside knew it wouldn’t be.
THE STUDENT SLEUTH OF ELLINGHAM ACADEMY
By Germaine Batt
Most high school students have hobbies. Some play music. Some play sports. Some write, or draw, or make things.
Stephanie “Stevie” Bell solves crimes.
Stevie is a student at the exclusive Ellingham Academy outside of Burlington, Vermont—that storied institution opened by tycoon Albert Ellingham as a place of creative, playful learning. Ellingham has no tuition and no admissions policy; students are admitted by presenting themselves and talking about their passions, interests, and skills. Ellingham accepts students who want to do or be something in particular, and assists them in meeting that goal. This was the mission of the school when it opened in 1935. In 1936, it became the scene of one of the twentieth century’s most infamous crimes, when Iris Ellingham, Albert’s wife, and Alice Ellingham, their daughter, were kidnapped on one of the local roads. A student, Dolores “Dottie” Epstein, also vanished from the school grounds. Iris’s and Dottie’s bodies would be found in the following weeks; Alice Ellingham was never seen again. The case is a favorite of true-crime enthusiasts and the subject of countless articles, books, and documentaries.
Stevie Bell applied to Ellingham with the stated goal of solving this case. It was a bold and possibly unachievable goal, but the school accepted Stevie and allowed her to have a shot. Weeks after arriving at Ellingham, her fellow classmate, online sensation Hayes Major, died in an accident. Once again, Ellingham was the scene of tragedy.
Stevie Bell, the student sleuth, didn’t think that Hayes’s death was an accident. Two more people associated with the school would die in the weeks following.
That’s a lot of accidents, and a lot of deaths. But Stevie was not deterred, even when the murderer projected a threatening message on her wall in the middle of the night. With the help of her friends, including the author of this article, she continued her investigation and discovered who was responsible. The culprit [log in to continue reading] . . .
1
MURDER IS WRONG, OF COURSE. STEVIE’S FUTURE WAS PREDICATED on that fact. She wanted to solve murders, not commit them. To solve them, you had to understand why they’d occurred. Motive. That was the key. It was all about motive. Understand the reasons behind the act. What pushes another human being to that point of no return? It has to be a strong impulse.
“I’ll have . . . a pound of . . . is that . . . do you have . . . low-sodium ham?”
“Yes,” Stevie said, staring at the woman on the other side of the deli counter.
“Which one is that?”
“It’s the one marked ‘low-sodium ham.’”
“Where?”
Stevie pointed at a round-edged rectangle of ham, the one with the card that read “Low-Sodium Ham.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll have a . . . I guess . . . make it a half pound of that, and a pound of . . . do you have low-fat Swiss cheese?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s that?”
Stevie pointed at the cheese that was similarly marked.
“Oh.” The low-fat Swiss cheese somehow disappointed. The woman bit her upper lip and consulted her phone. “The recipe says low-fat Swiss, but . . . do you have low-fat provolone?”
“No,” Stevie said.
“Oh. Um. Hmmmm.”