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in my office. I was witness to my dog, Jonah, becoming the first canine to discuss the theoretical probability of using mazikeen to make the Noah’s Ark story a very probable adventure. I know what Seth is, Mister O’Malley,” he said, smiling down at the boy, “and I also know what you are facing in the way of Ayin-horeh . In fact, I knew about Seth long before you became aware of his abilities.”
    I was flabbergasted! No wonder Bessie had turned to Doctor Adler. He had already been privy to the young boy’s miraculous powers, and now he was becoming part of our inner group.
    “That is quite surprising. Bessie never told me about such things. In fact, she never expressed the slightest belief that her son was magical,” I said. Indeed, my previous cases could have been quite different had I known about the boy and his abilities.
    Doctor Adler walked over to where Seth was seated and placed his hands gently on the boy’s shoulders. “I have known about Seth before this temple was built. In fact, it is our little secret that we built this temple in the Moorish tradition because of Seth’s powers and his need to be protected.”
    I stumbled over to one of the big leather cushioned chairs and collapsed into it. I did not know quite what to believe. Was I being drawn into some supernatural cult that could possibly get me into more danger than what I had faced with Jane the Grabber, the World Eugenics Collective and Joshua Reynolds the serial killer?
    “Don’t be afraid, Mister O’Malley. I understand your trepidation. When I became aware of Seth and the entire Mergenthaler family, I was just as perplexed as you must be now. We Jews are not a superstitious people. In fact, I have not shared any of this knowledge with any person in my congregation. You can be secure in the fact that I am here to offer you refuge and protection from these evil forces you must combat. I don’t know if I can be any more direct. We are here to be your sanctuary.” Doctor Adler smiled over at me, and I felt somewhat comforted, although I was still wary.
    “Where is our sanctuary?” I managed to say.
    “Please! Come with me, and I’ll show you,” the doctor said, walking briskly over to the door.
    Seth and I followed him down the hallway until he came to a large Persian rug on the floor. He pushed on one of the wall panels in a succession of what I supposed were coded taps, and the rug became airborne! It hovered in the air and then, with a pass of Doctor Adler’s hand, it moved to the side to expose a large trap door etched inside the hallway floor. He again tapped on the door in a coded number of taps, and the door moved open like a hidden panel. Beneath it, there were stairs going down into the darkness below.
    “Come down with me. I want to show you your new offices, Detective O’Malley. We have spent many years perfecting this enclosure to serve the purpose it will now be serving. We are quite proud of it, although most of our congregation, I am sad to say, do not know it exists.”
    As we followed Doctor Adler downstairs, I kept thinking about what he had said about the evil eye. If this new office of mine was going to protect me from bad luck, then what was in it for Doctor Adler? Certainly he must have an ulterior motive. I never knew any man of the cloth who did not know how to manipulate his “faith” into some kind of conniving method to grease his own tabernacle.
    When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Doctor Adler placed his hand on the wall and light immediately flooded the room. This sanctuary was about 100 yards long and 200 yards wide. It extended the length of the temple’s basement, and the gas lanterns seemed to be arranged so they were ignited in a series, similar to the way stage lights were lit inside one of the big theaters downtown. This room was covered with copper on the walls, and inside in the center of the room was a long table filled with all sorts of lab equipment. Magnets, microscopes, flasks,