“Really? What happened to her?” Mary knew she shouldn’t ask, but her curiosity was piqued. The clerk that assigned her to the dorm had said she wasn’t sure she could find Mary a room since space was at a premium. Then she checked her list and remarked at how lucky Mary was that a vacancy had suddenly cropped up on the first floor in W-1. In fact, she was so surprised by the room availability, that she double-checked it with a supervisor.

Peggy sat on the bed without invitation. “Rumor has it a background check turned up money troubles and ties to the Communist Party. Nobody saw her leave, but she was living here one day and the next she was gone.”

“How did they know all that about her?”

“They assigned you to the bullpen, right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s because they need the time to check into your history and make sure you’re not a security risk.”

“But they already hired me.”

“Provisionally. Trust me, they’re not going to put you in a job until they’re sure you’re clean.”

“I already have an ID badge and a resident’s pass.”

“Which mean exactly nothing if they decide you’re a security risk.”

“Well, I can tell you there’s nothing bad for anyone to find.”

“Good. Keep it that way.” Peggy got up to leave but turned back at the door. “By the way, it isn’t only your background they’re looking at. Here’s a tip from someone who’s been here a few weeks. Don’t blab. Don’t run off your mouth. They’ll try to trip you up by asking you stuff to get you to talk. Secrecy is the name of the game here.”

“Right.”

“Did you get the resident’s handbook yet? Read the first page. ‘What you see here, what you do here, what you hear here, let it stay here,’ or something like that. Anyway, I’ll see you around. We all eat at the cafeteria. If you want, I’ll stop by and get you for breakfast in the morning.”

“That would be great. Thanks, Peggy, for everything.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” She let herself out.

Mary closed her eyes. If they were going to be that thorough, chances are they would find out about Sam, and of course they’d contact her mother, even though Mr. Knutsen said they wouldn’t. In fact, they’d probably contact her just because Mary seemed worried about it. Stupid mistake, Mary Elizabeth. Louise told you not to ask questions. That was a question. She determined that from now on, she would observe everything and say nothing.