Mystery of the Glowing Eye - Carolyn Keene [39]
Suddenly a voice that seemed to come from far away said, “Don’t try to follow me even after you can move again!”
“Don’t follow me after you can move!” the stranger ordered.
At once the huge light went out and the immobile group could vaguely hear the front door open and close. The person with the glowing eye searchlight had left!
It was fully five minutes before anyone could move or speak. Slowly Nancy arose and made her way to the telephone on the desk. As she lifted the phone, a light went on showing up the numbers. She dialed the police emergency number and got headquarters. A sergeant on duty promised to send men out right away.
Nancy turned on the lights in the lobby and asked the others how they were feeling. Fortunately no one had suffered any bad effects.
“That was a strange experience,” Professor Titus remarked.
“Have you any explanation for it?” Nancy asked him.
“Not exactly,” he replied, “but it reminds me of something I read about medical students studying the brain waves of a person who had been put to sleep under hypnosis. It was discovered that his wave pattern could be imprinted upon another brain by using a laser beam of a certain wavelength. Of course the original brain waves had to be programmed in order to be modulated. This in turn produced a ‘paralyzing’ sleep.”
Nancy was thoughtful. “What happened to us must have been done some other way because nobody hypnotized us and the programming would have had to be different for each individual in the group.”
“That’s right,” Professor Titus agreed. “The phenomenon we experienced will take a good deal of study.”
Bess’s eyes were wide open. “Who would ever think of such a horrible invention?”
Professor Titus smiled. “Criminals conjure up many things that ordinarily seem beyond their capabilities. I think I’ve made a discovery. The person who gave us the warning a few minutes ago sounded exactly like Zapp Crosson.”
“Maybe he has been on the third floor all this time,” George suggested. “I’ll run up and see if that door leading to it is unlocked.” In a couple of minutes she reported that the door was still tightly locked.
Bess looked frightened. “Are you saying that Zapp Crosson is up there with his paralyzing searchlight and may come back any time to use it on us again?”
Nancy said she doubted this because they had heard the front door close. “I don’t think he’ll return here for a while.”
She picked up the phone once more and contacted police headquarters. This time she asked them to send out a detective, who was also a locksmith.
Ten minutes later a car with several officers reached the museum. One of them was Dr. Marcus, the police surgeon. He insisted upon examining each victim of the paralyzing searchlight.
He tested their responses and announced that the whole group was in good health. He asked them how they had felt during the immobile period. Professor Titus and the girls said they had had no unusual sensations except being unable to move.
“May we please go upstairs and watch you open the door?” Nancy asked the locksmith detective.
“Certainly,” he answered. “My name is Tim Rooney.”
The whole group trooped up the stairway and watched as the detective tried one key after another. Finally he was able to unlock the door.
The girls wanted to rush up to the top floor but Dr. Marcus said, “No, not until we find it’s safe.”
A few minutes later he came down. “It’s okay. You’re in for a surprise,” he remarked. “There’s a fully equipped electrical and electronic lab up there.”
“How amazing!” said Professor Titus.
By this time Nancy had surmised as much. She led the way up the steps. What particularly drew her attention in the spacious attic room were a series of pictures on the walls. They depicted gruesome scenes of battles, both between individuals and groups, and the slaughter of animals.
“How ghastly!” Bess exclaimed.
By now everyone was staring at the pictures of persons and animals about to have one