“The death of the twins destroyed the family, they fell apart after that. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan weren’t the same with each other, Gabi became more defiant,” Melinda glared back at Bethany, “and we saw less of Bridget.”

There was several moments of silence. Finally, Bethany spoke. “There’s something more we need to tell you about that day.”

“What is that?” Val slowly asked.

Bethany held her gaze on Val. “We were texting a couple of guys from our class…” Bethany laughed. “That was on our flip phones back then… When all of a sudden Gabi stopped and ran to the window. She insisted someone had come home, that she heard a door slamming in the driveway. She told us to run upstairs and hide so we wouldn’t get in to trouble.”

“Gabi was convinced it was her father. Her parents had a terrible argument that morning and she thought maybe the argument continued and he left her mother at the art museum and came home. So, we hid,” Melinda said.

“Where did you go?” Val asked.

“Gabi’s room has a stairway that leads to the third floor and right into another room. This used to be the nanny’s bedroom. The layout was so the nanny could have access to the children. There was another exit up there that went down to Bridget’s room.”

“Was this upstairs bedroom Claudia’s room?” Gwen asked.

“Yes. Once the twins were born, Claudia moved next to them so she could be closer. This left the third floor vacant. So, we were pretty free up there,” Bethany said.

Secret staircases and rooms where no one can see you enter or leave. This must have been a teenager’s dream, Val thought. “How long were you in the nanny’s old room?”

Melinda shrugged. “Not long. We kept an eye out for either Mr. or Mrs. Morgan coming in or going out. When we thought it was safe, we came out of the room, and left the same way we came in, through the servant stairway and out the back door. The pool was right there, in the back of the house. The first thing we saw were the twins floating in the water. We screamed and Gabi came running out.”

“What happened next?” Val asked.

“Gabi called 911. We jumped in and got the twins out but they weren’t breathing. We left right after that.”

Val knew this was a lie. The twins were out of the water at least a half hour before Gabrielle called 911.

“Look, we feel terrible about this. I live every day with guilt. Maybe we could have prevented this.” Bethany put her elbows on the table and used both hands to pull her hair from her face. She shook her head back and forth. “But here’s the thing I think you should know. The twins wouldn’t have gone into the pool alone.”