Crouching down on the floor with Rodgers holding his torch so that she could see the best, Kitty turned the key in the lock and threw back the lid of the trunk. On the spotless white linen lay a small brass key with a tag twice its size. The message it bore read:
This key unlocks the case of the Gila monster.
“The case of the Gila monster,” repeated Rodgers. “What did your aunt mean?”
“I know!” Kitty clapped her hands. “Ben Potter spent the summer with Aunt Susan two years ago and he left one of his cases here. It contains the plaster cast of a Gila monster.”
“And where is the case?” asked Craige.
“In the library.”
“Then let us go there at once. You will catch cold up in this icy place, Kitty.” Observing that she was shivering, Craige closed the trunk with a resounding bang, drew out the key, and preceded them out of the attic.
Back in the library again, Kitty walked over to a Japanese screen, which cut off one corner of the room, and pushing it aside, disclosed a low oak case on which rested a glass box. Inside the box lay the cast of a Gila monster. The poisonous lizard looked so alive that Rodgers was startled for a moment. Bending closer, he viewed its wedge-shaped head and black and yellow mottled body with deep interest.
“So that is the end of our search!” Kitty laughed ruefully. “Aunt Susan had a remarkable sense of humor.”