Rocks had been thinking too. "This thing came out of that box back in the museum. If the secret of controlling it is anywhere, it's written on the lid of that box." He gritted his teeth. "I don't think we have a chance in a million of cracking that language, but right now it's the only thing I see to try."
"We'll go back to the museum," said Kennedy. "I can't help with the language, but I want another look around that place."
The authorities responsible in cases of sudden death had already arrived at the McCumber home. Kennedy left a special detail to guard Penny. He and Rocks went back to the museum.
Rocks went to work. He began to try to crack the hieroglyphics written on the lid of the box. That his task was all but impossible, he well knew.
He could read Sanskrit, Babylonian cuneiform, and Egyptian picture writing with fair readiness. He could translate ancient Hebrew and ancient Greek. An archeologist had to know these languages.
He thought the writing on the box might be in one of these languages.
Then the telephone rang again. Kennedy went to answer it. He came back very excited.
"That was the girl--Penny," he said. "She may have something. She described a piece of round glass and said her grandfather had found it in his pocket tonight as he left the museum. She wanted to know if we had found it. I didn't. Did you?"
"No," Rocks answered. "But I can't see how it is important."
"Nor can I," Kennedy answered. "But it might be. I'll call and see if it has been found. She also mentioned another thing, and this, I think, is really important."
"She said her grandfather was writing at his desk when he was killed. The piece of paper on which he was writing was under a blotter and we missed it. She found it. The old man had written a single question on it."
Rocks had risen from his chair. Here, he realized, might be a clue that would lead them to the capture of the incredible creature that was loose within the city. "What was the question?"
"'Why did Morton weigh the box a second time?'" Kennedy said.
"Why did he--" Rocks sat down again. His eyes went across the room to the box. It was sitting on the scales where Morton had placed it.
"It's routine here," Rocks said slowly, "to weigh all specimens as soon as they are brought in. Many statuettes, etc., were constructed as hiding places for gems. We weigh them, compute their specific gravity, and thus determine if they contain a hollow place that might be worth investigating."