CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The apartment complex in Mechanicsville was exactly what Kate had expected after seeing Margaret Ellis's bankruptcy filing. It was a sprawling two-story building with faded beige siding and a parking lot full of older vehicles. The kind of place people lived when they were rebuilding after financial disaster.
Kate and Sloane climbed the exterior stairs to the second floor and found apartment 2C at the end of the walkway. A small welcome mat sat outside the door, and through the window, Kate could see the glow of a television. The murmurs of the people on screen were just barely audible from outside.
Sloane knocked firmly on the door. She waited less than two seconds before she announced: "We're looking for Margaret Ellis. This is the FBI!” It was another of those decisions Kate wouldn’t have made, but there wastechnicallynothing wrong with it—just blunt and to the point, much like Sloane.
There was movement inside, the sound of voices, and then the door opened. A man in his early forties stood in the doorway, wearing jeans and a Virginia Tech sweatshirt. He had the cautious expression of someone who'd been interrupted during a quiet evening at home. His beard was thin but ragged and his eyes looked a bit tired. He looked very confused to see two female FBI agents at the door… and, Kate supposed, rightfully so.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
Kate and Sloane both held up their credentials. Kate wondered if it would ever stop coming to her like second nature. "We need to speak with Margaret Ellis," Kate said. "Is she here?"
"Yeah, she's here." The man looked back over his shoulder. "Maggie, there are FBI agents at the door."
A woman appeared from what looked like the kitchen area, drying her hands on a dish towel. She had dark hair that fell past her shoulders and wore comfortable clothes that suggested she'd been home for a while. Her face showed confusion more than fear. She looked even more confused than the man—a boyfriend, Kate assumed; she saw no wedding bands on either of their fingers.
"FBI?" Margaret Ellis said. "What's this about?"
"May we come in?" Sloane asked. "We have some questions about your time with Second Act Success."
Ellis's confusion deepened, but she stepped back and gestured them inside. "Yeah, I guess,” she said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement. “I'm sorry, I'm just trying to figure out why the FBI would be asking about that."
The apartment was small but tidy. A couch and television occupied most of the living room, with a small dining table visible in the adjacent kitchen area. The decor was minimal, the kind of space that suggested people were acquiring their furniture piece by piece and had decided they had enough.
The man who'd answered the door introduced himself. "I'm Kevin Murphy, Maggie's boyfriend. Should I… I mean, am I okay to be here?"
"You can stay," Kate said, trying to keep a cool façade. "We just have a few questions."
They all settled into the living room. Ellis and Murphy sat very closely together on the couch while Kate and Sloane took the two mismatched chairs across from them. Kate noticed Sloane pulling out her phone, ready to take notes, and decided to let the younger agent take the lead on this interview. She wanted to watch how Sloane handled it. They waited as Ellis picked up the TV remote and switched it off.
"Ms. Ellis," Sloane began, "can you tell us about your employment with Second Act Success?"
Ellis glanced at Murphy, then back at Sloane. "That was nearly three years ago. I worked there for about eleven months as a program coordinator just as they were starting to get off the ground. But… forgive me, but why are you asking about this now?"
"We're investigating some incidents connected to the program," Sloane said, being deliberately vague. "We found records of a comprehensive business framework you developed. Can you tell us about that?"
Kate watched as Ellis's expression shifted to something between embarrassment and resignation. The woman clearly wasn't thrilled to be discussing this period of her life. She was also clearly hung up on why they were there, asking about what, for now, seemed like trivial things.
"I created that framework before I started working for David Crawford," Ellis said. "I'd spent months developing it, thinking I was going to start my own consulting business. When Crawford hired me, I showed it to him as an example of my capabilities. I thought it might be useful for the program."
"And Crawford used it," Sloane said.
"He did. He incorporated elements of it into the participant materials." Ellis paused. "Look, I know there was some confusion about ownership. Crawford insisted that anything I created while employed by him became program property. We disagreed about whether the framework qualified since I'd developed it before I started working there. But honestly, I was just glad to have a steady paycheck. I let it go."
Kate noticed how Sloane leaned forward slightly, her voice taking on a sharper edge. "You let it go? Even though Crawford went on to use your work to create multiple success stories while you got nothing?"
"It wasn't like that," Ellis said, but there was something defensive in her tone now.
Murphy put a hand on Ellis's knee, a gesture of support. "Maggie gave Crawford permission to use the framework. She signed a document releasing any claims to it."
Kate filed that information away. If Ellis had officially released the framework, it changed the dynamic significantly. But Sloane wasn't backing down. But she also took note of the slight cringe Ellis showed; this was apparently a piece of information she wasn’t necessarily proud of.
"You started your own business after leaving the program," Sloane said. "Ellis Consulting Solutions, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“But it failed within a year and left you bankrupt."
