Mysterious Fires - Case Closed!

[telerib]

Greta Skohl, alerted to a possible scoop in the Virign Islands, overnighted to St. Thomas and joined the group the same morning Dr. Bezzi-Scali appeared.

The group, backed up with two US Marines, followed Adam Archer through the jungle. Adam picked out little clues that kept them heading steadily inland; eventually, he cautioned the group to wait while he scouted ahead. They were getting near some sort of camp. Phineas Long went with him halfway, to act as an emergency relay if anything went badly.

When Adam returned, he described to Phineas what he'd seen: over a dozen cultists, a high priest in a mask, and an unconscious Elettra Bezzi-Scali tied to some kind of dark altar! He returned to the scene immediately, and Phineas brought the rest of the group.

Crouching in the underbrush, they witnessed the priest undergo some sort of violent change! His muscles bulged, his body shook, and the eyes behind the mask began to glow with an unholy reddish light. He had taken on a singularly forbidding aspect. Astounded, Dr. Olsson muttered a soft Nordic curse - which was unfortunately overheard by one of the priest's guards! The cry went up - "Intruders!"

Phineas dashed forward to the altar, and Greta charged the priest. The rest of the group turned their attention to the blood-crazed cultists who were lurching towards them!

Greta was intercepted by the priest's guards, and entered into a vicious fistfight with them. The priest, alarmed to see her so close, uttered some gutteral sounds and conjured a ball of flame in his hand, then flung it at her! Luckily, Greta saw it coming and managed to twist out of the way.

Adam had calmly plugged another of the priest's guards; this one slumped onto a previously unnoticed lever that lifted the side of the altar up. Out from underneath came a large alligator - with Phineas heading towards it at full tilt!

The adventurer hardly broke stride, so determined was he to reach the damsel on the altar. With his typical uncanny precision, he hurled a knife, hilt-first, at the guard in his way. Not only did he strike the man unconscious, but the force of the blow sent the knife flying back his way. Plucking it out of the air, he leapt up onto the alligator's back and used it as a stepstool to ascend to the altar!

Reg, shooting cultists two at a time, turned his attention to the high priest. His aim was good, but the priest was unharmed. His mysterious command of fire rendered the gunpowder weapon useless against him.

The priest was very upset to see Phineas standing over his intended human sacrifice! He conjured another ball of flame and threw it. Phineas flipped back, the fireball sailing over him. When he straightened (just in time - the alligator had started snapping!), his knife flew right for the red eyes behind the mask! Possessed of no unusual powers over steel, the priest staggered back, clutching feebly at the knife that pierced his eye.

Seeing their leader defeated, the remaining cultists tried to run. A few made it, although Greta made darn sure that the one who'd given her a few good lumps got tripped up for a ride back to the Charolette Amalie jail.

One of the Marines had been wounded; the other ran back to the city for backup. Within an hour, military vehicles arrived to collect the wounded and the prisoners. Greta had her bumps looked after by the young Marines, who were all quite impressed with the tales their two comrades were telling of her martial prowess! The alligator, wrangled by Phineas, was also collected. Elettra regained consciousness and showered thanks upon her rescuers. Dr. Bezzi-Scali, who had discovered that, even at his age, he could still climb a tree in good time, was tearfully reunited with his daughter.

Oddly, Adam Archer refused to ride with the Marines, and also insisted in marching the badly-wounded priest back to town. Dr. Olsson went with him, just in case the priest should try anything. But the man, now back to his usual size and scarcely able to stay upright, posed no threat. His wounds, possibly aggravated by the march, proved fatal during the night.

Back in town, Greta finished off a few interviews for her stories; Reg convinced the Marines' lieutenant to let them keep the alligator as a mascot. Phineas and Elettra enjoyed a fine breakfast together the next morning. And Dr. Olsson discovered the secret behind the mysterious fires!

Around noon, when the sun was directly overhead, the interaction of its magnetic fields and the Earth's created permeable channels for electromagnetic energies. Like sparks jumping a gap, Dr. Bezzi-Scali's invention's energies used these channels to travel to unexpected places around the island. When the high magentic fields began circulating in a metal coil - whether in an electric device or in a sofa spring - electricity was generated. The sparks from this set the fires.

Dr. Olsson very gently and cleverly asked questions to lead Dr. Bezzi-Scali to these conclusions on his own. The old inventor was horrified and timidly asked if, indeed, there had been any fires recently. Locked away in his boat, he hadn't even known of the side-effects of his invention. While relived that no one had been killed in the fires, he felt awful that he had inadvertently destroyed the property of six different homes and businesses. He went immediately to the press, named himself responsible, and offered to make total restitution to the afflicted parties.

After a tender (and tearful, for her part) good=bye between Phineas and Elettra, the group set sail for New York, pleased with a job well-done.