As S and Sola venture deeper into the cellar, a “funk of earth and fruit and years” thickens the air. Clearly, these lower floors are not visited often. When the two of them navigate the fourth floor, the maze-like industrial design make it seems that the “cartography was executed by a madman.” Although S follows Sola’s whistles, he finds himself looping to the same place over and over again. The ancient voices in S’s head grow louder, as if confirming the deaths of many within these walls. S notices a “human femur protruding from the earthen wall.” What is most haunting, however, is the S symbol that appears on a barrel on the fourth floor.

Based on the eerie atmosphere and voices that S feels in the cellar, and the bones in the wall, it is likely that people were killed in the cellar long ago. The cellar may have been grounds for torture or  execution of disobedient servants and slaves and it is also likely that Vevoda himself led these murders, based on the other heartless evils he committed previously in the novel.

On an unrelated note, Jen and Eric discuss the author of the “S” symbol that appeared in the book at a much earlier time in their relationship. Jen asks, “It was you who drew that S in the book, right?” but Eric denies this, contemplating whether it was a “freshman who’s never even heard of Straka” and who wanted to play a trick on Jen and Eric. This mystery is never solved, but it makes readers wonder if someone else was reading Jen and Eric’s notes.