Truly Devious

Stevie and Nate work together to produce a decent script about the Ellingham case, and Stevie is exuberant at the thought of getting to see the infamous tunnel. Hayes recruits two other students, Maris and Dash, to help film the trailer. Stevie, Nate, Maris, and Dash take on the tasks of finding costumes and building set pieces, and when Stevie mentions that it was foggy on the night of the murders, Maris points out that there is lots of dry ice in the art barn. Dash replies that the fog machines are easier to work with, so they leave the dry ice behind. Back in her room after a hard day of working on the film, Stevie realizes that Ellingham is starting to feel like home, and although she isn’t any closer to solving the Ellingham crime, she is satisfied to be working on a project about the Ellingham case with other students.

She starts thinking about the tunnel and Dottie Epstein and decides that she needs to solve the case “for all of them,” but “maybe Dottie most of all” (182) because Dottie is the often-forgotten victim of the night of the kidnappings. Stevie dozes off, but a flash of light awakens her, and she sees a message composed of cut-out letters on her bedroom wall. The message, which reads like Truly Devious’s original letter, mentions a body being left in a field and a woman in a lake. The writer announces that “the detective’s here,” and it’s “time to play” because “Truly Devious lives another day” (183). The message disappears abruptly.

The sudden appearance and disappearance of the message frightens Stevie and triggers a panic attack. With her “body shaking from the adrenaline” (184), she rushes to Janelle’s room and ends up sleeping in her bed for the rest of the night. The next morning, Stevie is embarrassed and wonders if the message she saw was real or just a dream. At breakfast, she wonders if David put the note on her wall, and she tries to remember the details of the message. She explains what she saw to Janelle, who assures Stevie that the image was probably a result of “reality and dreams [...] blend[ing] together for a little bit” (191). Janelle and Stevie go to their yoga class in the art barn, but as they leave, Janelle realizes that her ID card has gone missing. She thinks someone might have gone through her bag and taken it when she wasn’t looking, and Stevie finds it odd that these two strange occurrences have happened within a day of each other.

That night, Stevie, Nate, Hayes, Maris, and Dash meet at the art barn to go to the tunnel. Stevie explains that this secret passageway was used during Prohibition to smuggle alcohol into the country, and the contraband was stored under the lake in case the property was ever raided. As they approach the tunnel, they realize that the entrance is padlocked, and Stevie impresses the group by picking the lock. They enter the tunnel, and Stevie is overwhelmed by the realization of where she is standing and its historical significance. She decides to leave the group behind to walk the entire length of the tunnel. She finds the infamous entry to the observatory where Dottie was murdered, and as Stevie “breathe[s] this air and [feels] this space” (203), she feels a spiritual connection to this place and its tragic legacy. Reluctantly, she rejoins the group, and after getting some footage, they part ways for the night. Stevie thinks again about the strange message on her wall and wonders if Truly Devious could still be around 80 years later. In an article titled “WHO IS TRULY DEVIOUS? 80 YEARS ON,” the writer highlights the mysterious identity of Truly Devious. The body of Dottie Epstein was found in a field, and Iris Ellingham’s remains washed up some time later. The writer of the Truly Devious letter was believed to be “intelligent, highly verbal, and confident” (209), but the suspect in custody barely spoke English, although he confessed to the crimes. The writer reveals that the Truly Devious letter was lost when a fire in the basement of the Burlington courthouse destroyed it a week after the trial ended.

The next day, Janelle tells Stevie she found her missing ID card outside on the pathway, and Stevie guesses that someone stole the ID card as a prank and decided to return it after they had their fun. Stevie and Nate meet up with Dash, Maris, and Hayes in the tunnel, and Stevie finally notices that Hayes isn’t doing any of the work as they prepare to start filming. Later, Stevie overhears a conversation between Hayes and Gretchen. Gretchen reminds Hayes that he “owes” her, and that Hayes “do[es] this to everyone,” including “these dumb SOBs who are out here doing [his] work right now” (216). Hayes brushes her off and rejoins the group to continue filming, and he tells Stevie that Gretchen is his ex-girlfriend who broke up with him last year and has it out for him. At the end of the day when the filming concludes, Hayes tells the rest of the group to go ahead to dinner, because he forgot something in the tunnel. However, Hayes never joins the group during or after dinner, and as the night goes on, Stevie starts to worry. Finally, when Hayes misses curfew, Stevie breaks down and tells Pix that they went into the tunnel, and Hayes went back by himself. Pix alerts Larry, who takes Stevie to the tunnel. They find Hayes’s body, and although Larry tries to block the sight from Stevie, she “know[s] death when [she] see[s] it” (227).