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.Ken and Sandy nodded their comprehension and turned their attention to theroom itself.It was almost square, with two steel-shuttered windows in one wall.Beneaththe windows stood a chemical workbench, littered with retorts, crucibles,racks of test tubes, and other paraphernalia.At right angles to the bench wasanother worktable covered with all sorts of electrical equipment-meters,wires, a panel board fitted with dials and switches,56 THE MYSTERY OF THE INVISIBLE ENEMYand other items whose use Ken couldn't even imagine.Along the opposite wallstood several large objects connected by heavy wires to big switch boxesattached to the wall itself."Those are our electric furnaces," Collins explained, following the boys'glances."We melt various metals in them to make tests of the castingmachine."A lathe and a milling machine were lined up against a third wall, along withsmaller pieces of machinery.Cabinets stood in a row along the fourth wall.One of them, taller and wider than the rest, held Ken's gaze longest."That's the fireproof steel cabinet I mentioned to you, where we keep theparts of the machine as we finish them, and the master drawings," Collinsexplained."We're not making a completely new casting machine, you see.We'rejust adapting a standard model by changing some of the vital parts.And allthe elements we've completed so far have been small enough to put away inthere-unless we happen to be experimenting with them on the machine itself atthe moment." Collins gestured toward an irregular object which filled part ofthe center of the room.It was about ten feet long, less than half as wide,Page 22 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmland nearly six feet high, and it was completely shrouded beneath a heavytarpaulin."Yes." Collins nodded."That's the machine itself.I won't uncover it foryou.""No," Ken said."Of course not.We wouldn't understand it, anyway."He looked at the walls, which were solid and unbroken.Then he glanced up atthe ceiling, formedThere was no evidence of the lock having been picked58 THE MYSTERY OF THE INVISIBLE ENEMYof what appeared to be sound-absorbent blocks.When he asked Collins aboutthem the man nodded."That's what they are.It would get pretty noisy in here, with the machine inoperation, if it weren't for that ceiling." He pointed to the circular grills,equipped with slanted vanes in the form of concentric circles."Those are theair inlets.The smaller grills down there near the floor draw air out of theroom.This isn't the most comfortable place in the world, especially in warmweather," he admitted."But usually we're working so hard we don't notice theheat.The whole lab is a makeshift, of course, arranged when we decided to goto work on our machine.""But your door is no makeshift," Ken said, kneeling down for another look atthe lock."No," Collins said."It was the solidest, safest one we could buy.I gatheryou don't think anybody could force their way through it.""No, I don't.Do you, Sandy?" Ken asked."I don't see how it could have been managed," Sandy said."There's not asingle scratch around the lock, to indicate that somebody tried to pick it.And no evidence that anybody's been tampering with the hinges either, to getthe door open from that side."With one accord, the boys moved toward the windows.The shutter locks wereabove their heads, so each of them pulled over a chair from beneath theworktables and climbed up to study the fastenings.After a few minutes of close scrutiny they looked at each other and shooktheir heads.The locks were crusted with a layer of greasy dirt that must havetaken months to accumulate.INSIDE THE LABORATORY 59Collins interpreted their silent agreement."Haven't been opened for a longtime, eh?""Not that we can see," Ken told him.He jumped off the chair, returned it to its place, and studied the big cabinetwhere Collins had told them the plans were kept.Its lock too appeared to besolid, secure, and free of any signs of someone having attempted to open it byforce."Do either of your engineers ever take plans home with them, to work on atnight?" Ken asked suddenly.Collins shook his head."We agreed, all of us, that we would never do that,"he said."I can't swear they haven't done it, of course.But all the plans areon big unwieldy sheets.We keep them rolled-never folded
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