Chapter 3 Summary

Jared sees strange books in the library, most with titles concerning faeries, other mythical creatures, and animals. He sees a watercolor of a man and a little girl, most likely that of great-aunt Lucinda as a child and her father, Arthur Spiderwick. Jared reads a note that has a poem with a riddle about a man's torso and a secret. Jared wonders what it is all about as he hears voices downstairs telling him that mom has returned. Mallory tells Mom that there is a squirrel in the wall and they are investigating. Mallory and Simon tell Mom that Jared is still upstairs and asleep.

Mom makes Mallory bring down the dumbwaiter, but Jared is not in it; rather, he is upstairs. Jared can still see by the light of the sputtering candle in a glass jar in his hand that Mallory had...