“You can’t blame him for anything. He’s the kindest, best man,” Irene began to defend him.
“I’m not questioning his character,” Judy told her. “I’m just remembering what he said. Something in that film storage room was dangerous. ‘As dangerous as an atom bomb,’ he said, and I think that something, whatever it is, may be a clue to what happened to Clarissa.”
“What about Francine Dow? Why wasn’t she reported missing? Didn’t anybody care about her? She has a husband. She does try to conceal her age. She used to look a lot like Clarissa when she was a movie star. Now, with her hair dyed that weird shade of red and her face—Judy, it was a yellowish color. She looked terrible. I asked the nurse and she said Francine is in bad shape. I guess it’s something pretty serious,” Irene finished.
“And worry never helps. I’ve heard Dad say that,” Judy remembered.
“I tried to tell her the show wasn’t spoiled. It did quiet her a little,” Irene said. “I suppose, now that they know who she is, the hospital will get in touch with her husband. Everything is out of our hands, Judy. We may as well go home and get a little rest.”
Judy hoped she could rest without a whole parade of faceless golden-haired people swarming in to haunt her dreams. Flo had dreamed. So had Pauline. But what of Clarissa? Was there really something in that golden hair wash commercial to make them dream?
“You started to tell me something, Peter,” Judy began. “You said there were federal controls to keep advertisers in line—”
“There aren’t enough, I’m afraid. The big networks have banned this kind of advertising, but some of the local channels may be using it,” Peter said.
“Advertising? But Mr. Lenz said, ‘as dangerous as an atom bomb,’” Judy objected. “I thought he was talking about something that might blow up in our faces.”
“Mind control is equally dangerous. Think about it,” Peter advised. “Talk with this projectionist if you have a chance. We want to know exactly what you four girls saw on television.”