It was in this room where she had found Addison, and looking around, Evelyn saw nothing had changed, except for the depth of the brown-gray dust covering every surface. The previous owner had never cared enough to protect the furnishings with sheets, so everything was coated in three decades of grime. She squatted down and examined the area rug. Its pattern was hidden by dirt, so she wasn’t sure if it was a blue tapestry or a green, but finally deciding it was indeed blue, Evelyn stood and walked to the window. She touched the fabric of the drapes and instantly regretted it when dirt coated her fingertips. Shaking her head at the wastefulness of the rich, she quickly measured the bed before she focused on the rest of the room.

If her memory served, the armoire would be empty, and opening the first of the three doors, she found she was right. The flanking units had shelves and drawers, dusty but empty, and behind the middle door, its mirrored surface hazy with age, were only a few lonely hangers, all of which were draped in cobwebs. Walking to the corner of the room, she opened the door to the en suite and held her breath as she turned on the light. The fixtures were old and in dire need of scrubbing, but relieved to see that nothing was blatantly wrong, she made a note to call a plumber and then shut off the light and focused on the sleeping quarters.

Thankful to see that like the main floor, the fireplace in the far corner had been changed to gas, Evelyn made a note to call a heating company to check both the hearths and the radiators, and then stepping nearer a wall, she ran her finger over the wallpaper. In its day, it had probably been beautiful, but the olive background had faded to yellow in some areas, and the vine and branch pattern with the occasional nuthatch scattered throughout the design had long since lost its depth. Sighing that she didn’t have time to have it replaced or even covered with paint, she was grateful the lower third of the walls had been left without design. The white plaster wainscoting and its ogee cap, although appearing quite dingy, would hopefully be much brighter after a good washing, so with a shrug, Evelyn moved on.