The door opened and Christine Baler entered. She waved a newspaper before her brother's eyes and said: "Boy, have you been missing it!"
"What?" asked Barney.
"Pixies or gremlins loose in Lincoln Head."
"Huh-huh. Read it," said Jim.
"Just a bunch of flash headlines. Fire on Manley Avenue. Three planes had to make dead-tube landings in the center of the city; power went dead for no good reason for about ten minutes. Façade of the City Hall caved in. Power plants running wild all over the place. Ten thousand dollars' worth of electrical equipment blown out. Automobiles stalled in rows for blocks."
Jim looked at Barney. "Got a bear by the tail," he said.
"Could be," admitted Barney.
"Are you two blithering geniuses going to work all night?" asked Christine.
"Nope. We're about out of ideas. Except the one that Barney had about the gadget being some sort of signaling system."