A Puzzling Portrait in the Peacock House (Peacock House #5)

You are back in the entrance hall of the Peacock House, the familiar setting from previous visits. But this time, instead of choosing one of the four arched doorways marked by symbols—the moon, the shell, the flame, and the peacock—you feel drawn toward the grand staircase. The climb is slow and deliberate, like moving underwater, but eventually you reach a landing with double doors framed by pedestals holding stone pine cone sculptures. You recall that pine cones are associated with spiritual enlightenment and the third eye, and that the pineal gland in the brain—which regulates sleep—is named for its resemblance to a pine cone. The house seems full of symbols, though their meanings remain elusive.

Exploring the Upper Bedrooms

The double doors open onto a long white hallway with golden light, familiar from your last visit. You try a random door and find a spacious cream-colored bedroom with sunlight streaming through translucent curtains. A four-poster bed dominates the room, and a painting on the wall catches your attention: a mysterious green landscape beneath a violet sky, with buildings barely visible in the distance. The surface is starting to crack, suggesting great age. You trace the cracks across the landscape and up into the sky, noticing how they spread into the purple underbellies of the clouds.