“It’s like hitting a dead-end street,” the young inventor thought.
Since the locks were the only objects which showed the mysterious markings, Tom concluded
78 MEGASCOPE SPACE PROBER
they must have been tampered with outside the laboratory.
But why? Had there been a robbery attempt?
Tom made a quick survey of the lab. Nothing seemed to be missing.
Recalling the possible theft of his helium-machine design, Tom hastily checked through his files. But, again, all the plans and blueprints of his previous inventions seemed to be in their proper places.
“This is really weird,” Tom murmured.
Presently Open Door Jack returned with two brand-new locks. “I’m afraid the mechanisms are ruined on the old ones,” he reported.
After he had installed the new locks in the doors to the laboratory, Jackson started packing his tool satchel. He was about to throw in the other lock from which Tom had made his spectro-scopic dust analysis.
“Wait! I think I’ll keep that,” Tom said.
The locksmith hesitated, surprised by Tom’s request. “It’s no good,” he said.
“Just clutter up your lab. Maybe I can salvage a few parts from the lock.”
“Don’t worry,” Tom said with a grin. “It might give me a clue to what happened.”
Jackson handed over the lock without another word and walked off, his thin, bony face showing disapproval. Tom chuckled, then sat down on a lab stool and tried again to thresh out the mystery.
MYSTERIOUS MARKINGS 79
Suppose his first hunch was correct, that the markings on the locks had been caused by some kind of radiation? But the radiation could not have been from his own experiments since nothing inside the laboratory showed such scorings.
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