The Family Upstairs

Libby and Dido meet Miller Roe outside the Chelsea mansion. Inside, Miller Roe describes how the entryway “used to be full of stuffed animal heads and hunting knives” (110) and even had thrones, underlining how the family was once very glamorous and wealthy. He explains that Henry Lamb had no family, and Martina was estranged from hers, though they did try to contact Martina in the late 1980s only to be turned away every time. A relative of Martina’s even tried to stop by the house in 1992. He claimed, “he heard noises, saw curtains moving” (111), but nobody ever answered the phone or the door. As Libby, Dido, and Miller Roe continue through the house, Miller Roe points out the kitchen table where the children were homeschooled. Nobody knows who homeschooled the children, but Miller Roe believes it wasn’t Henry or Martina Lamb. When the police found the bodies of Henry and Martina Lamb as well as a third unidentified man, the home contained papers and schoolwork as well as “robes. Bedclothes. All the apothecarial stuff, the bottles and trays and what have you. Soap. Face clothes. Towels” (112), but the police confiscated all those items, and they are most likely gone.