“Oh. What kind of creature is it?” Judy moved immediately, but toward the box instead of away. She crouched beside the box, lifting it gently and attempting to peer within. She glanced around her companions, “Would he or she be safe if I let them out?”

Just lifting the box seemed to dislodge the lid in some way – or perhaps the occupant had discovered the trick of it.

As the box opened the contents blinked alert dark eyes back at her. He was a handsome green lizard, mostly leaf-green in color, about twelve inches long from tip of nose to base of tail with another eighteen inches of delicate tapering curve trailing behind. That he had strong splayed feet was evident as he nudged the top of the box further aside and bounded up Judy’s arm. In a flash he had scrambled to her shoulder, taken a flying leap from there to the top of the nearest counter, then down to the floor and straight toward the now hysterical maid, who scrambled away from him, tripped over a nearby rug and fell upon her well-padded behind. Seeming a friendly sort, the lizard jumped on her and — avoiding the screeching woman’s ineffectual swats — raced up to her hair. From there he sprang down to the rug and skittered across the lobby.

“I’d get it back in the box quickly,” the American nurse called out as she pulled her own long coat off and hung it on one of the pegs near the doors.. “If it escapes outside it will probably die. Lizards can’t take cold weather like this,” she added practically.

“Plus it might be poisonous,” Samantha pointed out factually. “Who does it belong to?” she asked calmly, looking around. She removed her gloves from her coat pocket and started to put them back on.

Joseph recovered from his surprise at this sudden action just in time to lift up his hands in a clear ‘not me’-gesture. He looked around, trying to see where the animal went.

Unfortunately, it had darted down the nearest hallway and was completely out of sight.

“We’ll I’ll be…!” Damned? Probably. Jack looked amused rather than scared. “Seen critters like that down in Mexico. Can’t say I know much about them save they can be slippery..” Some mental editing of phrasing clearly took place before he continued. “Creatures.”

Karl ignored the fuss over the live luggage and took a long look at the reception register before signing in. As he took an appraising look at each of the residents in turn, some of his former good humour subsided.

The intellectual gymnastics Jack was doing seemed to amuse Joseph, and he flashed the Texan a grin. “Not my area either, but the lady is probably right. This weather can’t be good for it….” Yet he didn’t move, apparently at a loss as to how to go about capturing lizards. It looked like he was hoping very fervently that someone else would be more adept at such a thing.

Finally, Joseph did what he could do, which was walking over to the maid, quietly telling her all would be well. “Maybe you have some fruit or something in the kitchen our brave hunters can use to lure the lizard?” he asked, giving her an excuse to retreat for a bit to compose herself.

Samantha pulled on her gloves as she walked over to the box. She leaned over, picked up the lid, and examined it for any name or any other indicators. “Poor thing is probably looking for someplace warm.” Then she saw the luggage marked ‘ALDER BISHOP’ and her blue eyes grew wide. “Alder Bishop? Is here? The writer?” she asked in a surprised voice, looking around the room, the box lid forgotten in her hands.