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Both Eleanor and I watched for Nathaniel’s reaction, but he didn’t seem as shocked by it as ere

"Who did it?" he asked, biting his fingernails

"She didn’t know She had so over her head when they did it," Eleanor explained "I wonder if it happened at school or soht to the headmistress’s office After that it went black, until suddenly she was being carried somewhere outside She was put into a wooden box that was then nailed shut And then she heard the sound of dirt pounding on top of her until everything faded into nothing But even if that was her last memory, it doesn’t mean that’s what did her in ICassandra, and that had nothing to do with his death"

"Did he say how he died?" Nathaniel asked

"No Every ti Cassandra It was kind of ro about her in the first place, and then suddenly I heard her voice in my ear"

"But if she died, ould the school lie and say that she transferred?" I countered

"Maybe they didn’t know," Eleanor said "Maybe she died after she transferred Maybe she was summoned to the headmistress’s office just before she left, for transcripts or whatever And then it happened"

We both turned to Nathaniel "What do you think?" we said, al to loosen it "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because we’re not sure if we should believe it or not," I said "And you’re the smartest person we know" Well, that wasn’t exactly true Dante was the smartest person I knew Nathaniel was really just nerdy

"And because we know you won’t tell anyone," Eleanor added in a low voice "You won’t tell anyone, right?"

"I won’t tell anyone"

Eleanor and I exchanged glances and smiled

"Why don’t you just do another séance and try her again?" Nathaniel suggested

Eleanor shook her head "Proper séances only work on Halloween"

"Either way, the séance sounds iffy," Nathaniel said to Eleanor "If it didn’t work the right way for Renée, you can’t trust what you heard either But if I were you, I’d talk to Minnie Roberts"

Our s about? Minnie Roberts? Thein Horace Hall on the first day of classes? I turned to ask Eleanor, who put a hand to her forehead "Oh my God Why didn’t I think of that?!"

"Think of what?" I said

Eleanor turned toMinnie exploded in the dining hall"