“Sorry for procrastinating, it’s just not an easy topic to start. In fact, I don’t know where to begin.” Bethany looked at Melinda for help.

“Oh, Beth, just say it.” Melinda set down her dish and wiped her lips with her napkin. “We were with Gabrielle the day her brother and sister died.”

Val also set down her plate, and calmly held her gaze on Melinda, who seemed fairly shocked by the lack of any reaction from Val. “I have to admit that I saw an old news report on the internet about that.”

“We knew that someone would eventually see that. And now with Gabrielle dead… well, this was going to resurface again.” Melinda crossed her legs and casually leaned forward. “We didn’t want this to lead to any rumors.”

“Mel’s right. We wanted to let you know the truth. And that we’re not hiding anything,” Bethany added. “We were there, Gabrielle didn’t watch the twins, and a horrible accident occurred.”

“The Morgans made all of this worse by trying to bury this fact back then. To protect Gabrielle. They didn’t want everyone to know that Gabrielle was hanging out with us instead of keeping an eye on her brother and sister,” Melinda said.

“Do you mind if I ask why you were there that day?” Val asked.

Bethany picked up her glass. “We weren’t supposed to have been. Gabi was being punished for skipping school again and wasn’t allowed to have friends over. It was Claudia’s day off and Mr. and Mrs. Morgan had to go to a charity luncheon at the art museum. So, Gabi was babysitting. She was supposed to have been watching her sister Bridget, too.”

“The Morgans didn’t have a staff member who could watch the children?” Val asked, still surprised by this fact.

“No. Only Claudia was allowed to do that,” Bethany answered.

“Gabrielle wasn’t worried one of the other staff members would see you in the house?” This time Gwen posed the question.

Bethany glanced at Melinda before she answered. “No hired help was there that day.”

“None?” Val said. Though Gavin had told her the children were alone, she wanted confirmation from Bethany and Melinda.

“The Morgans didn’t have help in the house at all times,” Melinda said. “Claudia was the only one who lived there.”

Bethany laughed. “Our parents had money but we didn’t live like those families you see on TV, Val. We had people who cleaned the house, tended the garden. But they had days off because really, they didn’t need to clean the house every day, nor all day.”

Val got it. “Did Gabi skip school often?” she asked, moving to a different line of questioning.

“Oh, all the time. We all did,” Melinda said offhandedly, which caused Val to raise her eyebrows.