She Fell for the College Janitor Everyone Looked Down On
Chapter 6
Eleanor began investigating.
She searched old college records.
Letters.
Minutes from trustee meetings.
Professor Nathaniel Reed’s dismissal.
The official explanation was simple.
He had been accused of dishonesty.
But Eleanor found something strange.
Several pages had been removed.
She asked the college archivist.
He refused to answer.
She asked again.
He told her to stop.
Then Samuel found her in the archive room after dark.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for your father’s records.”
He sighed.
“Eleanor.”
“I found his dismissal letter.”
Samuel froze.
“Where?”
She handed it to him.
He read it.
“This isn’t the original.”
“How do you know?”
“My father kept a copy.”
Samuel’s hand shook.
The official letter accused Nathaniel of stealing college funds.
But the copy Samuel had preserved said something entirely different.
It described financial irregularities among the trustees.
Someone had altered the record.
Eleanor looked at him.
“Your father was telling the truth.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
For years he had wondered.
Now he knew.
Eleanor found another document.
A list of payments.
Large sums had moved through the college accounts.
Several names appeared repeatedly.
One was her father.
Samuel saw it.
His face hardened.
“You should stop.”
“Why?”
“Because your family is involved.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know what that means.”
“Yes, I do.”
She stepped closer.
“It means I have to know the truth.”
Samuel looked at her for a long moment.
Then he reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old leather notebook.
“My father gave me this before he died.”
Eleanor opened it.
Names filled the pages.
Payments.
Dates.
Meetings.
And one sentence repeated in the margins.
They are hiding the real ledger.
Samuel said, “He believed the evidence still existed.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Eleanor turned another page.
A small drawing appeared.
The college chapel.
Beneath it was a symbol.
A key.
Samuel whispered, “I’ve seen that before.”
“Where?”
“In the old bell tower.”
They looked at each other.
Then footsteps sounded outside the archive.
Someone was coming.
Samuel extinguished the lamp.
They hid behind a shelf.
The door opened.
Caldwell entered.
And he wasn’t alone.
