Toured the gallery room

For over a half hour Melville had given Amanda a surprisingly informative tour of the gallery room, and the downstairs rooms. As they moved into the circular hall with the spiral staircase, Amanda looked coyly at him and asked “So when do we get to go upstairs?” Eric met her glance and replied, “There is not much art upstairs, there is no reason really to go up there.” Amanda frowned a bit, “the architecture of this mansion IS art, and I would love to see more. Plus, I am sure there are some private rooms where we can discuss your fee?” With that, the light bulb in Melville’s head finally turned on.

He led her to the staircase, but stopped her before she reached the first step. “Mr. Kellner’s privacy is very important to him. You can imagine so with such a precious art collection, one needs to take security precautions.” She watched as Melville removed a small device from his pocket and pressed a button. She heard the electronic beeping of something shutting down. “Invisible sensors along the staircase,” he said, “one can’t be too safe.” He guided her up the staircase, of course allowing his hand to rest in the small of her back. When they reached the top, he turned around and re-engaged the sensors. ‘Thank god I got him to deal with the sensors,’ She thought, ‘I might have been able to discover them, but I’m not exactly in the proper attire to scale a wall.’ They proceeded down one of the second floor hallways, Melville going on about some wood work reliefs on the walls. Amanda had kind of stopped paying attention and was formulating her next plan. As her new partner John had told her lately, always have an exit.