Page 42 of Once Silenced

As she waited for more, Aldrich shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny.Whatever game he had been playing, he seemed aware that he was no longer the one making the rules.

“It’s kind of a complicated story,” he muttered.“It goes back more than twenty years.”

“We’re listening.”

“There was a mathematician, a woman,” Aldrich told them, “who was like royalty to the Cipher Society—actually more like a patron saint.A martyr who has never been forgotten.”He drummed a staccato rhythm on the table, betraying a nervous energy.“Maybe you’ve heard that the Cipher Society has a vendetta against the Virginia Educators for Excellence in Mathematics—VEEM.It began with her.”

“And her name was …?”Riley prompted.

“Martha Lancaster,” Aldrich continued, his gaze distant.“She was brilliant, misunderstood.She was a math professor at Corbin College.”

He seemed to be reciting a legend.“She was a shining light in the Cipher Society, but she also sought validation from VEEM, tried to become a member, and nearly did.But there were people who cut Martha’s ambitions short.”Aldrich drew in a breath, then continued, “The first was Garrett Fenn, an esteemed professor at Blenheim College.”

Riley sensed Ann Marie grow tense beside her, and heard Putnam’s sharp inhale near her other shoulder.Garrett Fenn’s lifeless body had been found several nights prior in Roanoke.

Riley’s gaze fixed on Derek Aldrich as he leaned back in his chair.“Go on,” she commanded.

“Martha’s application to VEEM was solid,” he said, “until Fenn exposed what he claimed was plagiarism.”The word “plagiarized” rolled off his tongue with scornful emphasis.

“Martha’s ideas weren’t all hers,” he continued.“Not originally, anyhow.They came from a high school teacher in Slippery Rock.Margaret Whitfield was her name.”

A jolt of surprise shot through Riley at the mention of her former algebra teacher, Mrs.Whitfield.There had been a rumor, she remembered—a whispered tale of stolen scholarly work.Mrs.Whitfield had never wanted to talk about it.Riley felt a pang of guilt for not recognizing her favorite teacher’s pain, for being just another student who was oblivious to the scars left behind on a dedicated teacher’s heart.

“What sort of ideas are we talking about?”Riley asked.

“Curriculum ideas.Creative methods to use in a classroom.”

Of course,Riley thought, thinking of those moments of inspiration in Mrs.Whitfield’s class.

“So Martha’s problems began when she was caught copying Whitfield’s work,” Putnam commented, trying to clarify the story.

“Yes, and her department head, Clive Brown at Corbin College, fired her from her teaching job at Corbin College.Destroyed any chance she had at redemption.”He seemed to be struggling not to smile when he added, “And then there Patricia Warren, then-President of VEEM.She didn’t just deny Martha’s application—she spearheaded the charge against her.Both of those people, Clive Brown and Patricia Warren, disappeared soon after the scandal broke.Vanished off the face of the earth.”

“So you think that Martha Lancaster …?”

“Oh, I’m certain of it.Martha avenged herself by murdering both of them.

Patricia Warren,Riley thought.

Her body had been the one buried all those years ago in the Blue Ridge Wilderness Park.And now Riley was sure of something else.The latitude that had been found pinned to Robert Nash’s body, the longitude still unknown, pointed to the long-missing Clive Brown’s unknown grave.

“But Martha Lancaster didn’t survive the disgrace,” Aldrich continued.“After both of those people disappeared, she...she took her own life.”He gazed downward pensively for a moment.

Riley’s thoughts were interrupted as Putnam leaned closer, his breath warming her ear.“Kinda ironic, isn’t it?The Cipher Society venerating a plagiarist as their patron saint?”

Glancing at him, Riley saw the disbelief in Putnam’s eyes.He was trying to make sense of it all, just like she was.

“I don’t guess you can understand,” Aldrich said, leaning forward.“The Cipher Society has got some specific ideas about ownership of knowledge.To us, Martha’s story is a cautionary tale—a martyrdom.”

“You’re saying this killer was a martyr?”Putnam snapped.

Aldrich’s public defender glanced at him, tension in his posture.

Aldrich ignored both of them.“Plagiarism,” he replied, the word dripping with mockery, “is a specious notion—a made-up idea meant to benefit people with power.The Cipher Society doesn’t acknowledge its existence.We don’t believe in hoarding knowledge like it’s some kind of precious commodity.”He leaned back, his chair creaking under the shift.“Martha Lancaster was ahead of her time, becoming a symbol for a fundamental truth we uphold—information must be free.”

Riley remained silent, processing what she heard.The Cipher Society had chosen their saint not despite her flaws, but because of them—a symbol of a belief that ran contrary to everything the academic world stood for.It was a twisted form of justice that made her skin crawl.She thought of the hours she’d spent studying case files, teaching eager minds the importance of intellectual property.

“Yes, Martha was …” Aldrich paused as if to emphasize the word, “amartyrto this foolish conventional belief.There’s no other way to put it.”

---