You head back and crawl into the dumbwaiter. You pull yourself up in it until you reach a closed wooden panel with a small piercing dot of light shining through a hole in it. You look through the hole, seeing an ordinary-looking kitchen with no one in it, and two closed doors. With effort you open the panel and climb out.

The kitchen is unnaturally bright, with a large pot boiling on a stove behind you, a few knives on a bloodied cutting board, and an assortment of closed cupboards.

You can:
see what's in the pot,
examine the knives and take one or all of them,
look in the cupboards,
try operating the stove.

You could also ignore what's in this room and:
open the door opposite the stove, or
open the door to your right.