Hypnosis in the Fossil Gallery

Excuse me sir! called the information officer. Excuse me!

Ageless turned around at the bottom of the stairs.

Yes? said Ageless.

No backpacks in the museum, said the information officer officiously.

Ageless was annoyed. How was he to steal anything without his backpack? He had little choice, however, because the information officer had followed him to the stairs.

Thank you sir, she said, pulling at his backpack.

Eowwwh! said Ageless. That hurt!

Sorry sir, said the information officer. Is there anything I can help you with at all?

How do I get to Level Three? asked Ageless. I'm interested in looking at the trilobites.

The information officer looked blank.

Trilobites? she said. Are they some sort of fossils?

Of course they are, said Ageless. What sort of information officer are you? Perhaps you could inform me whether or not there's a lift?

Through there, said the information officer, pointing. There's a lift at the end of the Aboriginal Cultures Gallery.

Thank you, said Ageless, glad he didn't have to climb up all those stairs.

He came out of the lift on Level Three and blinked. It was rather dark. Then he saw in front of him a door leading to the Santos Fossils Exhibition. He went in. A group of schoolchildren was sitting on the floor listening to a man tell them about the fossils.

He gazed around the room. Where were the trilobites? He could see ammonites and belemnites, opalised snail shells and fossilised dinosaur bones, but there wasn't a single trilobite to be seen!

They must be somewhere else, he thought.

He was about to wander into the next gallery when he was roughly seized from behind.

Hey guys! A lobster! said a schoolboy's voice. Who wants to see me hypnotise a lobster?