Chapter Nine

"Trudy, I last saw him yesterday afternoon."

"Thank you, Mrs. Healey."

"I already told the police, Trudy. I don't think you'll be able to solve the case before them. You should wait for them to finish their investigation."

"I just want to go over the facts for myself. Did he do anything strange while he was here?"

"No, . . . wait a minute." She left the room, and came back with the bottle. "I think he left this antique green bottle here. I came across it when I was cleaning the house this morning. You can have it if you want."

"That's strange," said Trudy. "Thanks Mrs. Healey."

Once outside the house, she realized there was a glass stopped in the bottle. She pulled it out. Grey smoke came out, and suddenly Tony Nelson Junior appeared.

Trudy screamed and fainted. When she came to, she saw Tony Nelson squatting at her side, looking relieved and worried at the same time.

"Are you okay Trudy?"

"Yes," she said faintly. "But I just saw you come out of that bottle."

"I was hoping you wouldn't remember that," muttered Tony Nelson.

"YOU DID COME OUT OF THIS BOTTLE. I must be having a nervous breakdown, I had better see my father."

"I think I'd better go home and ask my dad what to do," Tony Jr said to himself, more than Trudy.

"Did you come out of that bottle?" Trudy asked.

Tony Jr. thought. There no way he wanted his girlfriend to know he was a genie. She might start thinking of him as a freak, or end up ordering him around, like Roger had. But there was no way around it, he thought. The best thing to do would be to get Trudy to take the bottle. That would get him away from Healey. First opportunity he had, he could call up his dad and mom to get him out of the mess. He rather figure away out of the mess himself, but he completely confused by the whole thing. "There's no way I can tell Dr. Bellows," he thought. Tony wondered whether Dr. Bellows would still think him good enough for Trudy or the space program, seeing as he could turn to smoke and go in and out of bottles.

"Your right, Trudy. The first thing we need to do is see your dad. He'll get everyone calmed down. You better take the bottle, too. Doctor Bellows may need it to prove a point."

"Yes," said Trudy, also confused. With help, she slowly got up, and picked up the bottle.

"That's the end of my career as a genie," thought Tony Jr.

They got in Trudy's car, and Tony Jr, free at last, drove the car to NASA.