Mystery of the Glowing Eye - Carolyn Keene [40]
Bess covered her eyes with her hands just as Dr. Marcus said, “The man who owns these pictures is an unusual and dangerous killer type.”
Nancy’s heart jumped. “And he is holding Ned—” She could not finish the sentence.
CHAPTER XVIII
Weird Heel Mark
“WHY, Nancy, you’re white as a sheet!” Bess exclaimed. “What’s the matter?”
“I was just thinking about what Crosson could do to Ned!”
George put an arm around her friend. “Please don’t think the worst. I’m sure we’ll capture that villain before he has a chance to do anything drastic.” She went on to say that if Crosson were trying to get information out of Ned, he was not likely to kill him.
“But he might maim him,” Nancy said with tears in her eyes. She buried her face in her hands and took a long, deep breath.
A few seconds later she raised her head and said, “You’re absolutely right, George. I mustn’t let my feelings overshadow my good sense.”
She changed the subject by turning to Tim Rooney and asking if he would supply her with a key to the door leading to the attic.
He smiled and said, “You hope to trap the kidnapper right here in his own laboratory?”
Nancy nodded and Detective Rooney told her he would have a duplicate key made at once and bring it to her.
One of the other officers now asked Professor Titus and the girls to leave the attic. “We want to search this place thoroughly for the glowing eye searchlight,” he said. “Also, there may be other dangerous gadgets here which we should remove.”
Nancy and the others went to the main lobby. George asked Nancy, “What’s our next assignment?”
The young detective replied, “I’d like to do some old-fashioned sleuthing. While Professor Titus guards the museum, how about the rest of us taking flashlights and magnifying glasses outdoors to search? We’re pretty sure that Crosson was here tonight. Perhaps he left footprints.”
The professor agreed. The girls took sleuthing equipment from pockets and handbags, then went outside to examine the grounds.
A few minutes later Nancy’s eyes were fastened on a trail of footprints which her flashlight and magnifying glass had revealed.
“Look!” she cried out.
The cousins came to her side. They saw the prints and presently found an identical one deep in a soft spot.
“The heel mark is a copy of Cyclops’ glowing eye!” Nancy exclaimed as she pointed to it.
Clearly pictured was the ugly face of a Cyclops, with an eye in the center of his forehead.
George asked, “Do you think this is a mark Crosson uses just for himself or is it the insignia for his pals, too?”
Nancy admitted she did not know. “But I’m going to tell the police about this mark.”
The girls went back into the museum. They were just in time to meet the police officers coming from the attic.
“We found nothing dangerous,” Tim Rooney reported, “so it will be all right for you to go up there, Miss Drew. But be very careful just the same.”
“I have something to show you,” Nancy spoke up. “It’s outdoors. Please follow me to the side of the house.”
She led the policemen to the spot where she had discovered the heel print. The men stared at it, perplexed.
One said, “This is very strange. I’ll call headquarters and see if they have any data on a similar mark.”
They all returned to the museum lobby and he made the call. After listening for over five minutes, the officer said, “I’ll pass along the information. This is most interesting.”
He put down the phone and explained that a long time ago a band of wizards was reported to have lived in Europe.
“These men pretended to be magicians. Actually they were a gang of thieves. They mesmerized anyone who got in the way of their activities.”
“Perhaps,” Nancy commented, “the wizards were able to cause a temporary paralysis in people, and that’s where Crosson got his idea for the paralyzing eye.”
The officer looked directly at Nancy. “Do you think your friend Ned Nickerson had anything to do with inventing the glowing eye?”
“No,” she answered quickly. “I suspect that Ned was working on something else which he was keeping