That night, Kit settles into her room and notices again how thoroughly Hope's End seems trapped in the past. Exhausted by her first full day caring for Lenora and drained by talking about her mother, Kit is interrupted by a visit from Jessie, who offers an unofficial "murder tour" of the house. Kit initially resists but agrees, partly because Jessie is one of the few people near her own age and the conversation feels welcome.

Jessie first leads Kit to the Grand Stairs and points out the old bloodstains still visible in the carpet. Jessie explains that Evangeline Hope is believed to have been stabbed in the foyer, tried to flee up the stairs, and then died on the landing. They continue to the billiard room, where Jessie says Winston Hope died slumped over a pool table with both a stab wound and a slit throat, adding details that complicate the simplified murder rhyme Kit already knows.

In the library, Jessie shows Kit three cloisonne urns on the mantel containing the cremated remains of Winston, Evangeline, and Virginia Hope. Their conversation turns to theories about the murders. Jessie suggests Winston may have committed murder-suicide after the stock market crash on Black Tuesday, while Kit points out the holes in that explanation, including Lenora's survival and the missing knife. Jessie also shares Mary's theories, including the possibility that Lenora covered for someone else and the claim that Hope's End is haunted.

Jessie then brings Kit to the ballroom, where Virginia Hope was hanged from a chandelier. Kit studies the room and thinks through how little sense the murders still make, especially the different methods of killing and the uncertainty about who died first. When Kit jokes that they would need a Ouija board to ask Virginia what happened, Jessie fetches one and stages a séance in the ballroom. The planchette appears to identify Virginia and deny that Lenora killed her, but Jessie soon reveals that the haunting story and much of the stunt were meant to scare Kit.

Afterward, the mood shifts when Kit asks why Mary really left. Jessie admits she does not know and says Mary vanished suddenly without explanation, though Jessie hopes it was only a family emergency. Jessie goes upstairs to record a book for Lenora, and Kit remains alone in the kitchen. Using the old telephone, Kit impulsively calls her estranged father, but when he answers, she cannot speak and hangs up, leaving with the bitter thought that he has finally experienced her silence in return.