"Hello there," Nancy said casually . She offered Eleanor a helping hand, and the woman emerged from the closet . "Doing a little spring cleaning ?"

"I'm ---- I'm afraid you've caught me snooping," Eleanor confessed, her face flushing . "I'm sorry . You see, I happened to be on my way to speak to my brother about a very urgent matter, and, well, I heard you two talking in there, and Charles was being so loud, I couldn't help overhearing . . . . ."

"And what he was saying had a lot to do with why you wanted to speak with him, am I right ?" Nancy guessed, guiding Eleanor out into the hallway .

"Why, yes !" Eleanor gasped . "How did you know ?"

"I've been doing a little snooping around myself," Nancy admitted . "Something about Nila's past, wasn't it ?"

"Yes," Eleanor said, nodding conspiratorially . "You see, a couple of days ago someone showed me a newspaper article from the Stockton Gazette . It was all about how Nila had stolen money from her previous employer ."

"Who was it who showed you the article ?" Nancy asked pointedly .

Eleanor seemed to shrink back into herself . "Oh ---- I'm not sure I should say . No, I don't think that would be right . I wouldn't want to get anyone else into trouble . Charles is angry enough as it is ."

"You've got that right," Nancy agreed .

"But you see, I wanted very much to tell Charles about it," Eleanor explained . "Because it might affect his future, too, you see ."

"And yours as well," Nancy pointed out .

"Yes, I suppose so . At any rate, Nila must have faked her letter of recommendation from her previous employer's children, because they would never have written one for a person who...