“Just a moment,” Craige interrupted in his turn. “Your aunt must have left a will or some legal document regarding the disposal of her property. She had a great habit of tucking her papers away. You recollect our search for the tax receipts, Kitty?”
Kitty’s face brightened into one of her mischievous smiles, while her eyes twinkled.
“Aunt Susan was secretive,” she acknowledged. “It was a case of searching for lump sugar even, when she was in the mood for hiding things.”
“Hiding!” Rodgers rose to his feet and his eyes sought the bench where he had found the trap-door. “Come here, Miss Baird,” and he beckoned them to approach. “I opened that by accident just before Mr. Craige arrived—see.”
Kitty slipped her hand inside the cavity and drew out the key.
“I remember the trap-door,” she said. “If you press on a spring concealed in one of the boards, the door drops inward. But what does this tag mean?” and they read the words aloud:
This key unlocks the inside drawer of the highboy in the blue room on the fourth floor.
“Let us go and see what it means,” suggested Rodgers, and Craige nodded his agreement.
“Lead the way, Kitty,” he added. “Do you need a lamp?”