The chest, on that day of moving, had been set in the new attic, which was smaller than the other, and less frightening, perhaps because gaps in the cedar-shingled roof let dabs of daylight in. When the roof was being repaired, the whole space was thrown open to the weather. This is the answer.
I expected it to end with none of the humans turning out to be ailen after all. I thought that maybe there was aliens, but they were messing with the people of the town to make them push the blame on eachother.
