Chapter 3

Iknew you wouldn’t chicken out,” Cody said to M.E. as they rode together to the Winchester Mystery House in Luke’s grandmother’s minivan.

M.E. made a face. “And I knew you guys would never let me forget it if I did.”

The kids laughed. Cody patted her friend on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you if anything weird happens.”

Luke’s grandmother, known as Grandmere, pulled up to the popular tourist attraction and parked in the large lot. It was late afternoon, and when Cody got out, she gazed up at the ginormous mustard-colored building, its towering gables and peaked roofs painted an unusual shade of maroon. Although the house didn’t look too creepy from the outside, the dark windows and multiple peaks gave the place an air of mystery.

Cody couldn’t wait to go inside and see it up close!

While Luke’s grandmere paid for their tickets, the Code Busters gathered in the gift shop and checked out the various souvenirs for sale. There were lots of books about the house, many with the word “haunted” in the title, along with miniatures, postcards, mugs, T-shirts, and other items featuring the mansion.

“Kids,” Luke’s grandmere called out. “Our tour guide is here to lead us through the house.”

The Code Busters followed Grandmere to an area called the Livery, where Sarah Winchester used to wait for her horse and carriage to take her on buggy rides. Cody wondered what it would have been like traveling that way instead of by car. It looked like fun.

“Hello, everyone,” a woman wearing a khaki uniform greeted them. She was short, with her brown hair tied up in a bun, and had tan skin and dark eyes. Cody guessed her to be about her mother’s age. “My name is Mariella Garcia, and I’ll be your guide this evening.”

She began her talk by pointing out a poster of the only known photo of Sarah Winchester, taken in her later years.

“She didn’t like being photographed,” Mariella said, “so we think someone took this picture without her knowledge.”

“Why didn’t she like having her picture taken?” Quinn asked.

“We’re not sure,” Mariella said. “In fact, a lot about her is still a mystery, even though we know several facts. She was born Sarah Pardee around 1840, number five of seven children. She was pretty, smart, spoke several languages, enjoyed Shakespeare and music, and was interested in ciphers, symbols, and encryption.”

Cody grinned. Totally cool!

“In 1862,” Mariella continued, “she married William Winchester, who made a fortune manufacturing the famous Winchester rifles. She gave birth to a daughter, Annie Pardee Winchester, in 1866, but the baby died from marasmus forty days later.”

“That’s so sad,” Mika said.

“What’s marasmus?” M.E. asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a disease where the body can’t metabolize proteins,” Mariella explained. “Tragically, Sarah’s husband died of tuberculosis in 1881 at the age of forty-three. These two deaths were a huge blow to Sarah, and they say she never really recovered.”

“Whoa,” Cody said, shaking her head. “First she lost her baby and then her husband. That’s so awful.”

Mariella nodded. “Her only compensation was the $20 million and stock options she inherited, which earned her about a $1,000 a day for the rest of her life.”

The kids gasped. “Dude!” Luke said. “I can’t even imagine that amount of money.”

“After their deaths,” Mariella continued, “Sarah moved to California, bought a small farmhouse on 140 acres, and began building. And building. And building. Construction of the house continued twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, until she died of heart failure in 1922 at the age of eighty-three. Then the house went silent.”

“Wow,” Quinn said, his eyes wide.

“Wow is right,” the tour guide said. “Even more amazing was the fact that Sarah herself was the architect, directing a crew of about twenty carpenters. The house once reached a height of seven stories, with over 500 rooms, but currently there are only four stories and 160 rooms.”

“Only 160,” Quinn said, shaking his head. “That’s way more than my house.”

“What happened to the other rooms?” M.E. asked.

“The 1906 earthquake knocked down several stories and sealed off many of the rooms,” Mariella said. “But the house remains a labyrinth, with mazelike corridors, twisting hallways, dead ends, shortcuts, rooms within rooms, staircases leading nowhere, doors opening to walls, skylights covered by a roof or a floor, and even a door that opens to a sudden drop below—so watch your step as we make our way through the house.”

The kids shook their heads silently in awe. Cody noticed the tour guide was grinning mischievously.

“Now if you’ll come with me,” Mariella said.

Eager to get started, the kids followed the tour guide closely as they entered the first room in the house. As they wound around the mazes, Mariella pointed out some of the modern inventions Sarah Winchester had incorporated into the house, such as insulation, gaslights, and hydraulic lifts for the elevator.

“She was way ahead of her time in terms of appliances and innovations,” Mariella said, as they began climbing a switchback staircase with tiny steps. “By the way, keep an eye out for the number thirteen as we tour the house. It shows up everywhere—in the number of windowpanes, stairsteps, rails, wood panels, lights, and so on. Some people think she included the number to ward off evil spirits, but others argue she was just fascinated with numbers and codes.”

The group entered the large ballroom, the most elegant room they had seen so far.

Mariella continued. “Rumor has it that Sarah was very secretive and took advice from a medium during midnight séances. She thought she was cursed because so many people had died from the Winchester rifle. The medium supposedly told her to continue building to confuse the spirits and keep from dying. It makes a good story, but is it true?” The tour guide gave that mysterious smile again.

“What were the codes she used?” Quinn asked.

“Well, she used the Pythagorean table code that looked like this.” Mariella held up a small poster with numbers over three rows of alphabet letters.

“By adding up the numbers of corresponding letters, she determined whether they were good omens for designing her house.”

“How does it work?” Quinn asked, squinting at it. Quinn’s parents were math teachers at the university, and Cody knew he had a natural affinity for numbers.

“First tell me your name,” Mariella said.

“Quinn.”

“All right, Quinn, using the chart, let’s add up the numbers in your name. First the number eight for the letter ‘Q,’ plus the number three for ‘U,’ equals what?”

“Eleven,” Quinn said.

“Now add the two ones in the number eleven together and you get . . .”

“Two.”

“Now add nine for the letter ‘I.’ ”

“That makes eleven again, which makes two again,” Quinn said, doing the math.

“Now add five for the letter ‘N.’ ”

“That’s seven,” Quinn said, “plus another five equals twelve. And if I add those together, I get three.”

“So three is your lucky number!” Mariella announced.

Cody found it interesting, but it wasn’t exactly a real code. What if he added his last name? Or middle name? Would that change his lucky number?

“Now,” Mariella continued, “notice there are thirteen lights in the chandeliers, and the number thirteen is written between the two stained glass windows. The Winchester Mystery House has thirteen bathrooms, and the thirteenth bathroom has thirteen steps to the entrance. By the way, thirteen is a Fibonacci prime number.”

“Fibonacci,” Cody whispered. She’d heard that word before . . .

“Are you ready to go to the Séance Room?” Mariella asked. “It’s just about party time.”

The kids nodded.

“As you follow me to the Séance Room, I’ll give you another puzzle to think about,” the tour guide said. “What has ten thousand windows, two thousand doors, forty-seven fireplaces and staircases, thirteen bathrooms, and six kitchens?”

“That’s an easy one,” Quinn said. “This house.”

“Good. Now, which president of the United States tried to visit Sarah Winchester but was turned away?”

“An old one,” Luke said, making everyone laugh.

Mariella smiled. “I’ll give you a clue. His name is an anagram for ‘To Voter: heed or lose.’ ”

Code Busters Key and Solution found on pp. 159 and 169.

Luke scrunched up his face. He was usually good at anagrams, but this one seemed to puzzle him.

His grandmere, an anagram expert, spoke up, saying a familiar name.

“Right!” Mariella exclaimed.

“You know,” Grandmere said. “How about this one: ‘Hippy Kuel Bath Yard.’ ”

Code Busters Key and Solution found on pp. 159 and 169.

“Grandmere!” Luke said, rolling his eyes, while the others giggled.

When they reached the top of yet another staircase, Mariella opened a door that led to a small, dark room, dimly lit by sconces along the four bare walls. In the middle of the room was a round table surrounded by six chairs. A candle flickered in the middle of the table.

“This room is the Séance Room. It was the center of the house. We believe Sarah held midnight meetings with her medium to summon the spirits of her husband and daughter. Some even believe she left her own spirit behind when she died.” The tour guide gestured toward the walls. “Notice how many sconces there are?”

“Thirteen!” M.E. said, moving close to Cody.

“By the way, Harry Houdini visited the house in 1924,” Mariella added.

“Seriously?” Quinn said.

Suddenly, the kids heard a loud knocking. M.E. jumped and grabbed Cody. The others froze, not moving. Cody felt a chill at the back of her neck when she realized the sound seemed to be coming from the walls surrounding the room.

“What was that?” M.E. whispered, her eyes darting around.

“Oh that?” Mariella said. “That was probably Sarah. It’s her signal to begin the séance.”