“I call it a pain in my ass. It’s a historically preserved house. I sit on the preservation society, so I have to be extra diligent,” Mrs. Morgan said. “Oh do take a look at the furnishings when you go up. I think I’ve done my society proud with historical accuracy in that section of the house.”

“Does the third floor have stairways to all of the children’s rooms, like this one does?”

“Yes, it was so the nanny or nannies, could get to them at any time, older children that is. The younger ones had the nanny right next door. But there are exits to the rest of the house up there. These were for the maids and the household staff to move about.”

Val nodded and then climbed the narrow, steep stairs, surprised by how well her leg handled it, and opened the door at the top of the staircase to enter Claudia’s old quarters. The room had floral wallpaper so pristine that it appeared to have been hung yesterday. The furniture was all dark wood, with plush velvet cushions, and intricate stitched rugs. Jesus, the place is like a museum. Val walked over to the window and looked out.

Odd, there is no view of the driveway or garage from here. So anyone hiding in this room would have no way of knowing if someone exited or entered the house. Melinda and Bethany reported that they came up here because Gabrielle thought one of her parents had come home, but if they wanted to keep a watch on that, this room wasn’t going to allow for it. Another lie. So, these girls either weren’t here, or they went somewhere else on this floor. Or the rest of the house.

Val exited the room and as she walked down the corridor, the floorboards creaked but other than that, everything was eerily quiet. Another four small bedrooms were here on the third floor, all decorated with late nineteenth-century furnishings, so that it felt like stepping back in time. Two of the rooms had doors opening to stairways going down, presumably to either a child’s bedroom or another section of the house. The hallway itself had a set of stairs going down. So far, nothing went up to the attic floor.

Val could see how teenage girls could use this system to sneak in and out of this mansion. Just where did they go that day? They would have access to the twins and Bridget from here. Did something happen before they went to the pool?