Page 88 of The Summer Guests

Declan winced. “This all happened before our time.”

“Still, itwasthe CIA?”

“And we’re not proud of it. Warfare’s never pretty. Ethical lines sometimes get blurred. But we try to learn from our mistakes, and after a few ... unfortunate events, Project MKUltra was halted.”

“‘Unfortunate events’? What does that mean?”

“People died.”

Jo stared at Declan. “How many people are we talking about?”

“We’ll never know the answer. CIA Director Helms ordered all the Project MKUltra records destroyed to protect the Agency.”

“How the hell did he get away with that?”

“It was a scandal, of course. Congress held hearings, trying to expose the truth, but they didn’t get very far. Still, some details leaked out. We know the drugs were tested in sites around the world, as well as in this country. On Americans.”

“Where?”

“San Francisco. New York . . .”

“And Purity,” said Maggie.

Jo stared at her. “Here?”

“Consider the advantages. It’s a place where people respect your privacy and don’t ask too many questions. A remote village, surrounded by woods, far from prying eyes.”

“It would have been just a small branch of the operation,” said Declan. “We believe that’s what brought the Conovers, Dr. Greene, Arthur Fox, and Vivian Stillwater to Maine. Vivian Stillwater had a master’s degree in neurochemistry. Dr. Greene, Hannah’s father, was a pharmacologist with US military connections. Arthur Fox was also military, attached to Army Intelligence, although he claimed he was merely an energy consultant.”

“You’d think he could come up with something more creative,” said Ingrid.

“And then there’s the Conovers,” said Maggie. “George Conover was supposedly in pharmaceutical sales, yet the company he worked for no longer exists. If in fact it ever did.”

“Okay,” said Jo. “So there were four old spooks. Three of them are now dead, leaving just Arthur Fox.”

“There’s one more,” said Maggie.

“Who else besides Arthur Fox?”

“Elizabeth Conover.”

“Shewas CIA?”

“It’s not all that unusual for the Agency to employ married couples. It’s a convenient arrangement for everyone involved. They’re free to share classified information with each other. It helps cement their cover stories.”

“And I, for one, highly recommend it,” said Lloyd, winking at his wife.

“Whoa, back up,” said Jo. “You’ve overwhelmed me with all this stuff about MKUltra, but what does it have to do with the skeleton in the lake? We know it doesn’t belong to Vivian, because she died in a care facility.”

“Butwhydid she end up in that care facility?” said Maggie. “What put her into a coma?”

“You said she ran into traffic. Got hit by a car.”

“Think about it, Jo. An intelligent, accomplished woman abandons her car in a ditch. Then she runs barefoot for several miles before dashing into traffic.”

“Maybe she was running from someone?”

“Someone who might have been only in her head.”