The Vanishing Stair

1936:

Francis Crane, fond of secrets, chemistry (explosives in particular), and crime, is the 16-year-old daughter of the wealthy businessman who owns Crane Flour, a baking empire, and the Cranes are good friends of Albert Ellingham, hence Francis’ presence at Ellingham Academy.

1936:

Francis sneaks out often, at night to spend time with her boyfriend and fellow Ellingham student, Edward Davenport since they aim to be the next Bonnie and Clyde so, as a starter, they write the “Truly Devious” letter to Albert Ellingham as a joke.

1936:

On the night when Dottie Epstein is killed, Francis and Eddie secretly observe Albert and Miss Nelson, who is the housemistress of Minerva, where Francis lives, embracing in the gymnasium building, which is under construction.

Present Time:

Stevie Bell is back home in Pittsburgh due to Hayes Major’s death and Stevie’s involvement in the case, her parents no longer deem it a safe place for her, however, Stevie has the old tin she found in Ellie Walker’s room and is still trying to figure out who owned it as well as the significance of what she found inside but particularly, she is trying to figure out the identities of Frankie and Edward, the two people mentioned in the poem she found inside the tin.

Present Time:

Stevie is shocked when Edward King, the senator her parents adore and the father of David Eastman, the boy whom Stevie is enamored with, visits her house, and she’s even more surprised to find he has convinced her parents to let her return to Ellingham, but not so surprisingly, Edward wants her to secretly keep an eye on David and make sure he is okay and is not making trouble, anyways she uncomfortably agrees just to be back at her dream school.

Present Time:

On one of her first days back, Stevie meets with Charles Scott, who’s the head of the school, but she notices an antique clock on the mantel in his office, which Charles says belonged to the Ellinghams and Charles also tells Stevie he has arranged for her to become a research assistant to a local professor, Dr. Fenton, who is an expert on the Ellingham case.

Present Time:

As Stevie looks at old Ellingham yearbooks in the school library, she finds pictures of Francis Crane and Edward Davenport and knows she has found “Frankie and Eddie,” then realizes that they wrote the “Truly Devious” note, and questions if they also are responsible for the kidnapping of Iris and Alice Ellingham, but, Stevie can find few records of what happened to Francis, but she finds a Wikipedia article indicating that Edward, a poet, committed suicide in Paris in 1940.

Present Time:

Stevie meets Dr. Fenton in Burlington, to discuss the Ellingham case, Dr. Fenton asks her to look for a number of objects from an extensive list since Stevie has access to the Great House attic, where such relics are stored, and Stevie also meets Hunter, Dr. Fenton’s nephew, who attends college in Burlington and lives with his aunt.

Present Time:

As she rides home, Stevie thinks about Ellie’s strange disappearance as it’s widely assumed that Ellie killed Hayes Major, David doesn’t think it makes sense and neither does Stevie so, she asks Larry, Ellingham’s security guard, to show her the place from where Ellie vanished and he takes her to the basement of the Great House to show her the window through which she escaped.

Present Time:

Stevie returns to Burlington to report to Dr. Fenton and they go over transcripts and records from the original case, as well as show Stevie notes about a discrepancy in the reports involving a suspicious telephone call to the Ellingham mansion on the day Iris and Alice Ellingham were taken, and Dr. Fenton also tells Stevie there is a secret tunnel in Minerva House.

Present Time:

On Halloween night, Stevie, David, and Nate look around Minerva for a tunnel, and they find one under the staircase so Stevie and David go inside while Nate stands watch.

Present Time:

In the tunnel, David reveals personal information about himself to Stevie that makes her feel especially guilty about her secret deal with his dad and she knows she should tell him the truth about the deal, but she doesn’t, then they kiss.

Present Time:

As Stevie, Nate and David head out of the tunnel, they discover Ellie Walker’s dead body but David tells Stevie and Nate to go back to their rooms and he will take full responsibility for finding Ellie, because he doesn’t want anyone else to get in trouble.

Present Time:

Later that night, Stevie and David talk, and he finds out about her deal with his dad and is furious about it, Stevie feels terrible and wonders if her deal with Edward King will be off if David knows about it, but after their conversation, David ignores Stevie completely.

Present Time:

Dr. Fenton and Hunter visit Ellingham to meet with Stevie, and when Stevie gives Hunter a tour of the campus, he tells her Dr. Fenton believes there was an addendum to Albert Ellingham’s will that stipulates whoever finds Alice Ellingham (whose body has never been found) will inherit a large fortune as long as they are not members of the school board and had nothing to do with her disappearance so Hunter feels that Dr. Fenton is using Stevie in order to find Alice and receive the massive reward.

Larry, the security guard, tells Stevie that he has been fired and is leaving Ellingham immediately so he tells her to be careful and to call him if she needs him for any reason.

1936:

Before Albert Ellingham goes out on his boat the day he dies, he places a folder of legal documents in his desk; one stipulates $10 million is to be given to the person or organization that finds Alice Ellingham, providing they were not involved in her disappearance, but if it doesn’t happen by her 90th birthday, the funds go to Ellingham Academy to be used by the school’s board in whichever way they see fit.

1936:

Albert wants the offer advertised to the world so everyone will be looking for his daughter, but Robert Mackenzie, Albert’s secretary, thinks that the reward is a terrible idea as it will bring all kinds of crazies out of the woodwork, however Albert insists it must be done.

1936:

Albert invites George Marsh, his friend and a former police detective whom he hired to solve the murder of his wife and the disappearance of his daughter, to go sailing with him on his boat, however, Albert tells George he has rigged the boat to explode, so if George doesn’t want to die, Albert needs to tell him the truth about what happened to Iris and Alice.

1936:

George says that he knows where Alice is, but before he tells Albert anything, George lights a cigarette and then the boat explodes.

Present Time:

Stevie goes to Burlington to see Dr. Fenton, she isn’t home, but Hunter lets her into his aunt’s office, and he shows her the manuscript of Dr. Fenton’s book, which contains notes from an interview she conducted with Robert Mackenzie; a note says Mackenzie told Dr. Fenton the last thing Albert Ellingham said to him was, “It was on the wire.”

Present Time:

Stevie goes on a walk with Hunter, and is shocked to see David being beat up by a group of teenagers while one of them is recording the fight on David’s phone, but Stevie is confused because David seems entirely nonplussed by the event, then he tells her he paid the kids to punch him, then after, he uploads the video to YouTube yet David will not tell Stevie why he’s done this, only that he is not returning to Ellingham and that he has his own plan that does not include her.

Present Time:

At school, Stevie goes up to the attic of the Great House, where the relics from Albert Ellingham’s life and estate are stored, soon, she finds an old machine, which contains a recording of an interview Albert did with Dottie Epstein, and what she hears leads her to call Dr. Fenton, when she answers, it’s obvious she’s drunk because she says she can’t talk now because “The kid is there,” which makes no sense, then Stevie tries to call back, but Dr. Fenton doesn’t answer.

Present Time:

Stevie gets worried, so she calls Larry and asks him to check on Dr. Fenton, but he discovered that Dr. Fenton’s house was on fire and she died in the blaze, and Hunter was discovered in the house, but Larry doesn’t know anything about his condition yet, the police think the alcoholic woman accidentally started the fire, Stevie doesn’t believe it.

Present Time:

Stevie then notices the new security cameras that Edward King had set up all over campus, the cameras that see everything.