There is nothing in the museum of interest to Malcolm. Nothing that can be retrieved that will save anyone's life. Nothing worth losing Doc's trust or esteem.

Making sure it stays locked up and covered in warnings is a project to save lives and maintain Doc's trust and esteem. Malcolm's curiosity isn't idle. He doesn't need to know what's inside; he knows keeping people out is the way to protect them because Doc said so.

"I'd like to think what happened to people who went out in the fog kept people in during the blizzard, but I wouldn't bank on it. I do know that nobody in the boarding house made it outside. Maybe they would have tried harder if we were there longer. As it stood, we hunkered down."