The girls and Soo Jin crowded the doorway as I found a light switch and turned it on.
"A secret passage!" Soo Jin said.
The closet emptied into a slightly bigger area, with a staircase going downstairs. I pointed at the girls.
"You four stay here. Close the door behind us, and if anyone comes in, don't let them near this closet. Dr. Body and I will see where it leads."
The girls folded their arms over their chests and scowled.
"You can play with it later. I promise," I said, crossing my heart.
That seemed to help. Soo Jin stepped into the cupboard, and the girls closed the door behind her.
"This is so cool!" she said. "Where does it go?"
I started down the stairs. "The basement, I guess. But I don't remember seeing a staircase down there. There wasn't even a door."
"Do you think this was a stop on the Underground Railroad? I've heard there were houses like this in Iowa."
My foot hit the floor below. "No idea. Maybe."
I was in some sort of narrow corridor that ran all the way to a corner on my left and made a sharp corner turn on my right. In front of me was a wall.
"The basement has fake walls!" I knocked on it and received the hollow reply.
Soo Jin hit the floor and looked around her. "Which way?"
We decided to go left. The walls were gray cinderblock with no decoration. Every few feet or so was a light fixture on the ceiling. As we turned the corner, we were confronted with another set of stairs on our left. We shrugged at each other, and I started climbing, coming to a small, confined space much like the one we'd walked through in the kitchen. There was a small door, and I slowly turned the knob and pushed.
"It's the conservatory!" I gasped as we stepped through.
The door had been painted to blend in with the décor of the wall. On this side, unless you really scrutinized it, you'd never know it was there. I wondered why the Deivers hadn't mentioned this? Did anyone else know? Most likely, the staff knew. But what about the others?
We went back downstairs and kept walking until we ran into another set of stairs, which we climbed without comment. I again turned the knob as quietly as possible and pushed the door open just a crack. If my theory was right, eventually we'd enter a room where the others were sitting.
Nothing. I stuck my head in and found myself in the study. Soo Jin followed me out, and we realized that the door was part of an enormous portrait that swung open. Nice! We retraced our steps back downstairs. Turning right at the corner, we followed a long hallway until we turned right again.
Another set of stairs. I thought about the layout of the house and ascended much more carefully. Slight pressure on the knob let in a sliver of light, and I froze. This was the lounge. The other guests were on the other side of this door. I couldn't see anyone, and the conversations were mumbled, so I closed it very carefully, and we went back down to the basement.
"It's a secret passageway that runs the perimeter of the basement and ends up in the four corner rooms," I mused. "That's how the killer broke the squirrel in the lounge after Enos was killed!"
"You said you saw a shadow in there." Soo Jin picked up my line of reasoning. "That's how the killer got in and out."
"I can't believe it!" I whispered ecstatically. "I think we just stumbled on how Kevin the Killer got around, sight unseen."
"Yes." Soo Jin sobered up. "But we can't say anything about it until the police arrive. We don't want to tip our hand, especially if your theory is right about Wren and Caroline."
Normally I could handle one or two women. But with the elderly couple and four small children around, I'd have to be sure. Soo Jin was technically on the police force, but I didn't know if hand-to-hand combat was in her skill set. The girls, on the other hand, could take on a small platoon of armed Boy Scouts and leave them crying in the dust. But Kelly would kill me if I let them fight.
"Okay," I agreed. "We'll act like we don't know what we really do know."
"Good idea," Soo Jin said. And together we made our way back up to the kitchen.
As we stepped out, Betty and Lauren gave us the thumbs-up from the doorway. I knew we'd have to let them explore later, but this wasn't the right time.
Back in the lounge, we were surprised to see only Dennis there.
"Where is everyone?" I asked. "Why didn't they stay together?"
Dennis shrugged. "Dr. Regent announced that she thinks we are all safe now and could do, you know, whatever."
Soo Jin and I looked at each other. Either Caroline really was showing her hand, or she said that because she's sick of being pent up in a roomful of people. As an introvert, that was probably her worst nightmare.
"So where are the others?" I asked.
Dennis yawned. "The old people said they were going to look for books in the library. Those two Girl Scout chicks were going to play pool, and I don't know where Wren and Dr. Regent are."
"What do you think?" I asked Soo Jin.
"Let's check out the other rooms," she said.
The girls agreed with a bit more enthusiasm than I was comfortable with, but as long as we were together, they'd be safe. After a quick check revealed that the foyer and study were empty, we found the Kasinskis were in the library, curled up in overstuffed wingback chairs, reading.
"Hello, ladies!" Arthur waved and went back to his book.
"Are you guys alright?" I asked.
Violet nodded. "Oh yes! The Deivers have the most wonderful library!" She held up a book. "Do you think she'd let me borrow one?"
"I don't see why not." I smiled.
Considering that the family would be coming home to a house with three bodies in the basement, I'd think that would be the least of their concerns.
We went next door to the billiard room, where Stacey and Juliette were involved in a game of pool.
"Cool!" the girls shouted as they each ran to a side of the table.
Stacey smiled. "Do you girls want to know how to play?"
To my surprise, Juliette nodded and handed out pool cues. Maybe a couple of murders had dimmed her fury. Now I'd have to kill someone any time I was around her—but still, this was an improvement.
Four squeals erupted as the girls grasped their cues. Soo Jin and I slipped out of the room before they could change their minds. This was a good idea. We could move faster, and since the other two people we were looking for were killers, it was safer for the girls.
We hit the conservatory, ballroom, kitchen, and dining room before finding ourselves back in the lounge with Dennis, who'd somehow discovered an apple pie and was eating the whole thing.
"What?" he asked. "Miriam said I could have it."
"Miriam's back?" Soo Jin asked.
He nodded, and we heard a clatter in the kitchen. We raced to the room but found it empty.
"I'm getting tired of this," I grumbled with a look outside. It was still storming, but not raining as hard. I winked at Soo Jin. "Fancy a walk to the cottage?"
As we stepped outside for only the second time in twenty-four hours, we could see broken tree branches littering the yard. The temperature had dropped, and a chill wind howled. But the rain had let up a bit.
"Let's make this quick," Soo Jin said as she ran down the steps.
We turned right and ran along the side of the house, turning the corner to see the cottage. The ground wasn't as swampy, but it looked like there was another way in around back. While it wasn't dry, it wasn't that muddy either. We took it and walked around the cottage to find a door on the other side.
It was open. I knocked as I went in and called out for Miriam and Ned. We found ourselves in a cozy little sitting room with two comfy chairs and a fireplace. The building was narrow, so we had to walk through a bathroom to get to the bedroom. The two beds were freshly made, and the house was neat as a pin. Unfortunately, it was also empty.
"Do you think they're using the secret passages to get around?" Soo Jin asked as we went back to the entrance and outside.
I gave her a look. "You don't think Caroline and Wren have them, do you?"
"Why would they bother with the staff?" Soo Jin asked.
"Maybe they saw something that they shouldn't." I took off back to the house.
We ran up onto the porch and into the hall entryway. We barely made it before a huge downpour hit, followed by large hail.
"We didn't check upstairs," Soo Jin said.
As we walked toward the staircase, we were met by a grisly site. That niggling thing missing from Taylor's room revealed itself. At the bottom of the steps, clad in the scarlet outfit that Taylor wore when she'd arrived, was the broken body of Wren Gable.