Soon Miss Trent was able to relate what had happened. “Bud went into your office to leave that figure on your desk,” she told Tom. “A little later I heard him call weakly for help. When I went in to see what was wrong, he had blacked out.”
She, too, had felt herself becoming weak immediately after calling Tom and the doctor. Other people who had responded to her cry for assistance had been nearly overcome.
Doc Simpson frowned in puzzlement. “Offhand, this looks like some form of gas poisoning.”
Tom hurried back to his office to investigate, trusting that the exhaust fan by now had cleared the atmosphere. His eye was caught by a message written in blood-red ink on his desk pad:
BWANA TOM: WATCH OUT FOR EVIL EYEl YOU HAVE BEEN VOODOOED BY
…
The final letters trailed off in a smear.
For a moment Tom was startled. Then he grinned as he recognized Bud’s unfinished handiwork. But suddenly a frown came over the young inventor’s face. He picked up the devil-doll figure and began to examine it closely.
Tom’s perusal was interrupted as Doc Simpson stepped into the office.
“All the victims seem to be okay,” the physician reported, “but I’m having them taken to the infirmary just in case.”
AIRPORT KU3E
“What about Bud?” Tom inquired anxiously.
“Still woozy. He seems to have received the worst dose, so I want to give him some further tests and treatments. But judging from his reactions, there won’t be any permanent ill effects.” Intrigued by the African figure in Tom’s hands, Doc Simpson added, “Any clues?”