Crystal Cove, 1926
"You have a visitor, Sir," said the old caretaker, Mr. Fluunk.
A withered old man sat at a table in one of the reading rooms of the Burlington Library. A large man stood at the door with the caretaker. He was in late middle age with white hair, a mustache, and spectacles.
"Come in, come in. I don't get many visitors these days, but the Library is open to everyone at all times," said the old man.
"Mr. Burlington?" asked the other man. "I'm Cletus Darrow, Junior. I believe you knew my father?"
"Yes, I knew the founder of Crystal Cove, the senior Cletus Darrow. I wrote to him often when I was researching the history of the town," said Burlington.
"He passed away recently, and in going through his papers I found some of your letters. They sparked my curiosity," said Darrow. "You asked him all sorts of questions, about conquistadors and cowgirls and such-like."
"Yes, I have an intense interest in the history of Crystal Cove." said Burlington.
"And apparently in mystery-solving groups of four people and a talking animal. You asked if he knew of any more than the three you found," said Darrow.
"There was one more," said Burlington. "I founded it myself. Perhaps you've heard of the Benevolent Lodge of Mystery?"
"A little," said Darrow. "Would you share your experiences with me?"
"Why do you want to know?" asked Burlington.
"I'm starting one with myself, my wife Petunia, our two children Gladis and Danny, and our talking cat named Whiskers. We're the Mystery Fellowship."
Burlington gave a start and looked at him narrowly. "Do you know what you're doing? It can end badly if there's any disloyalty or fighting in the group."
"We're a close-knit family. We're devoted to each other," said Darrow.
"Then you're very fortunate, and it may work out for you. I thought my group was the best of friends, but we came from different countries, and national loyalties got between us in the end," said Burlington.
"What happened then?" asked Darrow.
"I disbanded the group, and it cost the life of my dear friend, our orangutan mascot, Mr. Peaches. Every day I place a fresh peach on his memorial to make amends. It was his favorite food," said Burlington.
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Darrow. "I hope we don't make the same mistakes."
"Have you had any strange cases with disguised villains yet?" asked Burlington.
"Just last week a neighbor was troubled by two characters from Alice in Wonderland come to life, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare," said Darrow. "We were able to identify them as disgruntled employees, their gardener and cook."
"Then you're on your way, for better or worse. The best of luck to you," said Burlington.
"I hope you'll give us some tips," said Darrow.
"I've kept this place open in the hope that one day a worthy successor would appear. You could be the one. There are bigger mysteries than just these fake monster cases, and someone should be carrying on that investigation," said Burlington.
"Yes?" asked Darrow.
"First, there are strange forces at work getting ordinary miscreants to dress themselves as monsters. Second, there's a conquistador's treasure buried beneath Crystal Cove. Third, and by far the most important, there's a Planispheric Disk connected with powerful secrets of alchemy," said Burlington.
"That's too much to take in at once. Let us keep meeting and talk about this further," said Darrow.
On his return home, he told the family about Burlington's revelations. They all immediately became fascinated with the treasure and the Disk. Searching the cellars revealed a way down to a system of caves directly below their house. Darrow sent for digging supplies, including dynamite, from the Darrow Mining Company he had inherited from his father.
Over the next few months Mr. Darrow and Mr. Burlington met regularly and became good friends. Burlington shared amazing tales of his adventures with the Benevolent Lodge of Mystery. Darrow told amusing stories of what his children were doing, and of his work in setting up a new university, which did not yet have a final site picked out.
Burlington said, "I set up this library to be open forever, but I will change my will so that if it should ever have to close then everything will go to Darrow University."
"Thank you, that is most generous," said Darrow.
"You can have everything but my vault in the government archives stored at the Crystal Cove Library," said Burlington. "There are secrets there I don't want the world to know."
"I see," said Darrow.
Seeing his disappointment, Burlington added, "I have a lead for you that the Lodge never followed up. You might want to look into the source of the alligators of Gatorsburg."
"That's a strange town," said Darrow. "Inspired by my father's success in finding gold here, prospectors went looking nearby. Three miles from here they found not gold but a veritable well of alligators. Gatorsburg has prospered from 'gator hide goods every since."
Burlington said, "It's worth investigating, don't you agree?"
Darrow drove to Gatorsburg, and spent the day looking for an entrance to underground caves. Finally he found a passage that had not been used by man since the day that Rodriguez went there centuries ago.
Three huge descendents of the original talking alligators were there, along with their numerous non-talking brethren. They closed in on Darrow.
"Human, why are you here?" one of them hissed.
Darrow stared open-mouthed. His tongue felt dry and no words would come.
"Let's eat him. Humans are our enemies, harvesting our people for their hides," said another.
"Their greed is decimating us," said the third. "This is not what our ancestors agreed to when they took on the task of guarding the Piece."
"If we eat this human we will still be hunted from above. But if we void the agreement and give him the Piece..."
"Then we can close the portal and live in our own world in safety."
"Here, human," said the leading gator. "We declare the agreement between our races null and void, and give the task of guarding these objects back to you."
The gators pushed forward a flat piece of metal and a pistol. They withdrew, and Darrow saw a glowing circle between himself and them begin to shrink.
"Beware the fate of the last mortals to hold such Pieces. I smell a cat on your clothing. Is it a talking cat?"
"Y-yes..." said Darrow, not daring to refuse to answer.
"It will be corrupted and betray you, as the donkey did before. The cat dies!"
The circle of light became a pin-prick and the world of the gators was gone.
Darrow picked up the Piece and the old flintlock pistol and ran back through the caves as fast as his legs would carry him.
All that remained behind was the unquiet spirits of the two original talking alligators, compelled to haunt Gatorsburg forever in recompense for their broken agreement.
Darrow set off for the Burlington Library.
"Look!" he cried, laying his find before Burlington.
"At last!" said Burlington. "We went all over the world looking for these pieces and there was one under our noses all the time." He reached out his hand to touch the Piece.
"No, it's mine! I found it fair and square," said Darrow, grabbing the Piece back.
A strange look came over old Burlington's face and he grabbed for the piece. Darrow shoved him back and Burlington fell, striking his head on the corner of the table. He lay still.
After Darrow checked him and found no pulse, he called: "Mr. Fluunk, help! Mr. Burlington has fallen down."
Darrow decided not to tell his family about the Piece immediately. He felt it was important that there be no connection made between Burlington's death and his discovery of the Piece.
Later that week, he went to the government archives in the Crystal Cove Library at night and broke into Burlington's vault. He set a fire to cover the theft of the documents. In his haste to get out of the building he dropped one thing: the piece of sailcloth that Burlington had brought back from Russia. It got mixed in with books from the library in the aftermath of the fire.
He went to the warehouse where things for the future university were stored and placed the stolen documents in the Darrow Family Archives trunk for later examination.
The next day was Halloween. Darrow got a picture taken with the kids in their Halloween costumes outside the house by a professional photographer. Gladis was dressed as Cleopatra and Danny was dressed as Abraham Lincoln.
Whiskers was at their feet. Without realizing he spoke it aloud, Darrow stared at the animal and whispered, "The cat dies."
Whiskers ran before the picture was taken. The fat white cat hid in the cellar trying to decide what to do. Something was working in his mind, playing on his fears. Cletus wanted to kill him. Maybe he should act first...
That evening, before the children went off trick-or-treating, Darrow told his family, "I have something to show you."
Danny was building a cabin with his Lincoln logs, getting into his role as Honest Abe. Gladis was watching him with amusement.
Darrow went into the next room and got out the flintlock pistol he had hidden in a drawer. He looked it over very carefully. When he looked at the flint under a magnifying glass he noticed the words "Primero Llave" engraved on it in tiny letters.
He took the flintlock pistol to show the family. "Look at this!" On impulse, he used the spark from the flint to light a candle. At the same time, Whiskers was lighting a fuse to the dynamite below the house.
Petunia said, "No, Cletus! I know you love to build up your father's collection of antique weapons, but I draw the line at firearms. I will not have that thing in the house with the children."
"Very well, I'll let the butler deal with it," said Cletus.
He went into the next room and rang for the butler. "Joseph, I want this hidden in a secure place, one that I can identify but that will mean nothing to anyone else. Let me see... I know, buy a grave site at the Gatorsburg Cemetery in the name of Señor Primero Llave. Bury the pistol in an empty coffin. Gatorsburg will be a ghost town soon, anyway. That reminds me. Call my broker tomorrow and arrange to sell short 1000 shares of Gatorsburg Products stock. I don't think they will be in business much longer."
"Yes Sir," said Joseph. "Will there be anything else, Sir?"
"That will be all, and you may take the rest of the night off," said Darrow.
"All the other servants are off for Halloween, Sir. Are you sure you don't require anything more?"
"We'll be fine," said Darrow. It was just as well that the family would be alone. He didn't want nosy servants to see his precious Piece.
He returned to the family and finally showed them the Piece. "Look at this. This may be the most precious and powerful thing in the world, and I found it."
The effect of this speech was instantaneous. All of the others looked greedily at the Piece.
"It should be mine," said Petunia.
"No, mine," said Gladis.
"My Precious," said Danny.
They began to fight over it, so terribly that a little girl who came trick-or-treating ran screaming away from the house.
It was good that she did, because that is when Whiskers' fuse caught the dynamite and the whole house dropped underground.
A fat white cat ran off into the night in the opposite direction from the trick-or-treater.