"Mother Annalise, Daphne didn't come home last night," a frightened Sophia reported, wringing her linen handkerchief in her lily white hands. " She snuck out to go meet Clarence at the wharf and didn't come home this morning. I thought maybe he up and marrit her but I just feel really ill in the pit of my stomach."<br/><br/>I nodded and patted her arm. With a heavy heart, I blew out the candles. No need to waste good candles with the advent of the sun. I pulled the velvet rope to summon my girls. They appeared one by one, tousle haired and most nude or in transparent wrappers.<br/><br/>Daphne was indeed missing, as were Angelique and Trudy. Trudy being the one I identified just a day or two ago. Had it been that recent? Suddenly I felt old.<br/><br/>"Girls, your safety is my utmost concern. While we can not rule out violence within our walls, I would like to ask you to not leave the house until the murderer is caught. Sophia tells me Daphne is now missing and I fear she has met a tragic end as well as Trudy and perhaps Angelique. Go to sleep, pigeons, so that your beauty will outshine the moon tonight."<br/><br/>One by one, the girls went back to their boudoirs and I went to my small office off the parlour. Mattie, one of the 10 year old street urchins, brought me some tea and then curled up on her pallet in the corner. I sipped by tea, rocking quietly, and staring out the window into the courtyard.