After " before" is the best place to put participle phrase " synchronizing their watches."
Explanation:
A participle is a form of verb that functions as an adjective to modify nouns and pronouns. A participle can be of two types present participle and past participle.
A participle phrase includes a participle along with a compliments as well as modifiers of that participle. A participle phrase is actually an adverb but it looks like a verb. For example Walking on the sea beach where added information has been provided along with the noun regarding its doing as well as its look.
I don’t have prior knowledge to the store but we can predict that something incredible and potentially bad has happened due to the way the writer described how the character said his words and the part that says “as I wished it twisted my hand like a snake”
