Deadly Melody

Deadly Melody



The crime scene was annoying and far from normal. There was no yellow tape surrounding the area under investigation, the mob of forensic specialists poking and prodding and scraping to dig up hidden clues or evidence had come and gone, there was no blood or gore or bodies identifying either the victims or a potential perpetrator.

What she clearly noted, was a common, ever-day kindergarten room with crayon drawings on the walls, miniature plastic desks, a large purple padded mat for napping, and a scattering of crayons, chalk, a white board with markers, and children’s books. In one corner, sitting on a fold-up table, was what appeared to be an odd projector and computer.

A bored uniformed police officer was slouching near the door, trying to stifle a spreading yawn, and a skinny city detective, with his extended forefinger, was making emphatic jabs at an elderly man dressed like the quintessential geek; short pants with beige socks showing, frizzy white hair, coke-bottle glasses, and the proverbial bow tie; polka dot at that.

She took the initiative and introduced herself to the irritated detective. “Special Agent J. H. Penny,” she smiled, extending her badge for his quick perusal. “I’ve been instructed to assume responsibility for this case. You are aware of the reason I assume?”

The City Detective didn’t even glance at her credentials or identify himself. “Yeah, I know. One of the kids in this class belongs to the Vice President of the United States. His disappearance makes it a federal case. Why the Bureau and not the Secret Service?”

“Turf war,” Penny half joked. “The VP was a Bureau man before he got the job. Wants to keep it in the family, I guess.”

“You that Penny who solved the killing spree down in Atlanta a few years back? That was a real tough nut to crack.”

“Yes, it’s the very same; Special Agent Penny, and you are detective?” Penny was well aware that she had gained a lot of public notoriety in that particular case, some of it not exactly flattering. Her full name was Janet Henrietta Penny, and the press quickly caught on to the irony when some insensitive reporter placed the moniker, “Agent Henny Penny,” on her.

“Spencer. Detective Jim Spenser, Missing Persons Division.”

It was readily apparent that that the detective was thinking of her moniker; the annoying smirk on his face gave him away. “Who’s the Einstein look alike?” she asked, pointing at the man the detective had been grilling. “Is he involved in the disappearance?”

“Professor Thaddeus H. Finkelstein, III,” replied Detective Spencer. “So far, he’s the only suspect in this case. He’s a neighbor of the teacher and was invited to do a show-and-tell. He allegedly used that device sitting on the table over there to make the children disappear. According to the teacher, one minute the children were watching him with awe, listening to some incredible music, the next minute they were gone. Disappeared into thin air. No sign of them anywhere.”

“Where was the teacher when this alleged disappearance occurred?”

“Said she stepped out of the room for a few minutes to change one of the children. One of them had a pee-pee accident just before the Professor took charge of the class. When she returned, the music was gone, the children were gone, and the Professor appeared to be in a mild state of shock.”

Penny noted there were no other exits from the room except the main door. All the windows were fixed and could only be opened by breaking them. “A few minutes,” she muttered, “nowhere near time enough to abduct twenty-six kindergarteners.”

Walking over to the Professor, Penny identified herself, then asked him; “Are you responsible for the abduction of the children in this room? If so, where are they?”

The spindly Professor looked at her as if she was an annoying insect specimen. After a lengthy silence he finally replied. “Call me Thad, officer. No, I did not abduct the children. They are still in this room.”

Penny glanced around her, then back at the Professor with a sharp look. “It’s Agent, not officer, Mr.Finkelstein, and I do not enjoy being played with. It is evident to anyone with eyesight that there are no children in this room and you were the only person besides the teacher who was in this room before they disappeared.”

“They are here!” the Professor quickly exclaimed. “You just can’t see or touch them, but they are here none the less.”

Penny was starting to get frustrated, and when she grew frustrated her anger knew no bounds. In fact, she had been called on the carpet several times for letting her anger get the best of her. Perhaps she reverted to Henny Penny during those unfocused episodes. She decided to play it cool to keep from exacerbating the situation.

“Please explain, Mr. or Professor Finkelstein.”

The Professor smiled and pointed to the device on the fold-up table. “I was using my infrasonic generator to make this block appear and disappear to amuse the children when I encountered an accidental power surge. The resulting Electro Magnetic Field, or ELF, fanned out and absorbed the children casting them into a temporal/dimensional holding zone….”

“Hold on Professor!” Penny quickly interrupted. “Infrasonic Generator, ELF, Temporal Holding Zone,” please clarify this scientific mumbo-jumbo for a dumb investigator? You lost me after the power surge.”

“It has been scientifically proven that there is a psycho-physiological sensitivity in animals and humans to magnetic and electrical fields in extremely low frequencies (ELF) corresponding to brain waves.” The Professor stated. “These ELF, which can penetrate anything, are what the Navy uses to contact underwater submarines.” He glanced up to see if she was following him.

Penny nodded for him to continue.

“It seems that humans are a bio-cosmic transducer, and transmitters and receivers as well and that somehow our brain waves can lock on and modulate with the earth's electromagnetic field, the Universal Magnetic Field (UMF), as Tesla called it. Research has found that frequencies under seven hertz create a general feeling of relaxation and well-being, known as the alpha state. The most beneficial frequency on earth is said to be the 6.8 hertz frequency. By modifying my infrasonic generator to adapt to a piece of sheet music; created by my generator I might add, I can induce a state of relaxation.”

“You’re saying you experimented with your machine on the children?” Penny looked shocked.

“No! No! Agent Penny, I used it to relax the minds of the children as they watched my infrasonic generator move the block in and out of space-time. The surge induced another aspect into the equation.”

Penny looked skeptical but nodded for him to continue.

“The main focus of my infrasonic generator is its ability to move things in time and space.”

“And you were trying a dangerous machine like this in front of kindergarten children?” Penny exploded. “Are you mad, Professor? “Are you sure you didn’t disintegrate them?”

“No! No! My machine is based on this principal only. I modified it to play soothing music but it could also turn the music into a magnetic force that could move objects. I was demonstrating this for the children for their amusement. The children have simply been shifted into another dimension, but I can bring them back.”

Agent Penny felt a horrible feeling deep inside her gut. She held her hand up for the Professor to halt then pulled out her cell phone. “Give me the Vice President,” she spoke into the phone. “Priority one, now!”

Two hours later, the room was filled with a few notable scientists, Secret Service Agents, and select political figures, including the Vice President of the United States.

“You are certain you can bring the children back without harm?” the Vice President asked the Professor. There was a lot of skepticism in his voice.

Professor Finkelstein nodded. “I have the machine recalibrated to run in reverse. It should bring them all back safe and, excuse the pun, sound.”

“Should!” shouted the VP. He looked nervously at the renowned scientists standing near the door, and then glanced at Agent Penny. “Make it so.” He finally ordered.

Professor Finkelstein engaged the power on the machine. Soft music began to play. It was not classical music per se, but very close and very beautiful. The music continued on in a low delicate scale, then quickly jumped into a fast pace. It suddenly changed into a rapid operatic rhythm. The minds of the listeners were initially mellow, then quickly switching to a frantic pace. Up and down the scale it went, carrying them with it. Suddenly, a static discharge made everyone in the room jump and complete darkness to descend for a micro second. Automatic reflex made their eyes shut then quickly open.

Sitting quietly on the floor of the room were the missing twenty-six children. Everything appeared to be normal, except for the children. They were all naked as the day they were born. In addition, they had aged at least ten years, because all of the children sitting on the floor appeared to be at least fifteen-years of age.

The children had not been brought back from the exact same dimension, but one single off-pitch note in the music brought them back from two dimensions over, a miniscule but massive error in cosmic geometry.

One of the children stood and awkwardly covered his groin with his hands. He slowly walked over and looked at the Vice President. He spoke only one nervous word.

“Daddy?”

Word Count: 1597