Chapter Eighteen
Tobias did his very best not to notice the enticing swing of Jack’s hips as he followed her down the corridor to the back of the theater, heading towards Caleb Dodd’s dressing room.
It really wasn’t appropriate to be noticing such a thing of a consultant on the case, though his eyes kept straying back to her.
Berating himself inwardly for about the twentieth time that day since he’d first spotted her in the window, Tobias forced his eyes to focus straight ahead. He was glad when Dodd turned left into his dressing room and they entered behind him.
He placed himself to Jack’s right and noticed that Dodd seemed extremely nervous, his eyes continually flicking back and forth between Jack and himself. Good. A nervous Caleb Dodd would hopefully be a much more forthcoming interviewee than he had been previously.
“I wasn’t lying to you, Inspector,” Dodd said, the words rushing out as his eyes locked on to Tobias’s.
“You said you hadn’t known the Magnificent Maguire,” Tobias replied. “Yet I find out you were his apprentice.”
Dodd’s eyes glanced over to Jack, a flicker of anger in their depths before he quickly returned his attention back to Tobias.
“I misspoke,” he clarified, a tight smile stretching across his face, looking more like a grimace.
“You see, what I actually meant was I didn’t really know the man himself.
I mean, who could truly know a man of such greatness, who kept to himself so much?
And I was only one of two of his apprentices, so the man’s attention was always divided. ”
Tobias raised a brow but said nothing, while Dodd shifted his weight from foot to foot, his restless energy increasing.
“Besides, I was only his apprentice for such a short time,” Dodd continued, seeming to latch on to that explanation. “And it was so long ago too… In truth, I really didn’t know him well at all…”
“Sounds like something the killer might say,” Tobias replied, his face completely without expression as he stared steadily at the man.
His words had the effect of making Caleb Dodd blink as sweat began to gather on the man’s forehead.
“Jack!” Dodd swung his gaze desperately over to her. “You know I’m no murderer! Please tell him so.”
“But, Caleb, it’s been so long since we saw each other last,” Jack replied, her voice very much in earnest. “In truth, I don’t really know you well at all anymore…”
Tobias nearly laughed aloud as Dodd jaw dropped slightly, with Jack essentially mirroring the man’s own words back to him. She was as quick with her wits as she was with her hands.
Dodd stood there, his mouth agape and at a loss for words, which Tobias gathered would have been rare for someone like him.
For a moment, he wondered what Jack had seen in the man.
Yes, Caleb Dodd was what would be considered by most women as classically handsome, Tobias supposed, but the man himself was self-absorbed and a complete bounder.
“But… But I’m not a murderer,” Dodd stammered, swinging his gaze back to Tobias. “Inspector, I had an alibi for the other night! An ironclad alibi, as you well know.”
“I’ve recently been reminded that misdirection is one of the tools of the trade for a magician,” Tobias replied. “Making the audience think you are somewhere when you’re actually somewhere else entirely. Isn’t that so?”
“Well, yes, in manner of speaking,” Dodd agreed, his eyes swinging desperately between Jack and Tobias. “But I was on stage. My show is everything to me!”
“Where were you this morning from midnight to six A.M.?” Tobias asked him, pulling out his notepad and pencil, then flicking open to a blank page.
Dodd licked his lips, and he blinked, looking anywhere now but at Tobias. “I, um, was practicing my routine here before I headed home to my apartment about one in the morning, where I then went to bed. Alone,” he hastily added.
“Was anyone with you at any stage to verify any of that?” Tobias asked, knowing, with the certainty of fifteen years on the job questioning all manner of people, that the man was lying.
“No, of course not. Why would there be? I don’t want anyone else seeing my illusions,” he declared before seeming to realize the predicament he’d placed himself in. “And after my practice session, I was exhausted, so I, um, went straight home to bed. Alone.”
“You mentioned being alone before,” Tobias said. “So you have no alibi for last night, then?”
“Well, no… Why, has there been another murder?” Dodd asked, his eyes widening in alarm.
Tobias had to admire the man’s acting skills if he was pretending to be unaware of another murder, given he did seem to be genuinely worried.
“Jeremiah was killed, Caleb,” Jack replied, staring at the man with an intensity, almost as if she could see into his soul.
“Jeremiah…” Dodd’s voice trailed off. “Not using another of your father’s illusions?”
“The Palingenesia was used on him.”
“Oh, God.” Dodd stumbled over to a chair and sunk onto it. “Surely not?” His eyes swung wildly back to Jack, who nodded in confirmation. “But no… the Palingenesia… Such a thing is almost incomprehensible… Was it mirroring the illusion exactly?”
“Down to the very basket used to contain his arm and leg,” Jack confirmed.
“And you think I could have had anything to do with such madness?” Dodd’s outrage was palpable. “After all we’ve shared together, how could you think such a thing of me?”
“We never shared anything more than illusions, Caleb. You more than anyone know that,” she said, her voice rational and without any emotion.
Tobias found himself oddly glad.
“Did you kill Jeremiah?” she asked Dodd without blinking.
“Of course I didn’t!” he yelled, his voice shaking. “I am a magician, not a monster. I would never debase magic which such vile filth like whoever is doing these hideous acts.”
The vehemence in his voice rang true with a sincerity that Tobias believed. “Well, if you aren’t the killer, then perhaps you want to tell me the full truth of where you were last night.”
Dodd’s attention returned to Tobias, and a wall came down over his eyes. “I don’t know what you mean. I’ve told you the truth of where I was.”
“Who were you with, then?” Tobias asked. “And if I don’t believe you’re telling me the full truth this time, I will arrest you for perverting the course of justice.”
Dodd’s jaw dropped open and he sat there for a moment starting at Tobias. He obviously saw that Tobias was completely serious as he eventually nodded and pressed his lips together.
“Very well,” Dodd began, taking in a deep breath. “But I must ask for discretion. From both of you.” His gaze jumped over to Jack. “I know you probably still harbor me ill will—”
“I haven’t bothered to think of you in years, Caleb,” Jack interrupted. “So when I say I don’t harbor you any ill will any longer, it’s the truth.”
Her words seemed to convince the man, and he nodded before returning his attention to Tobias. “The truth is, I was here practicing, and then I did go back to my apartment, but I wasn’t alone.”
“Yes, I assumed that,” Tobias said. “Who were you with, then?”
He licked his lips nervously. “If it was known who I was with, my career would be ruined… So please, Inspector, the information I’m about to tell you can’t get out. I’m begging you.”
“If it’s a legitimate alibi, and you had nothing to do with these murders, then it will stay confidential,” Tobias stated.
Dodd nodded and took in another fortifying breath. “Very well, then. I was with the Duchess of Surrey.”
Tobias raised a brow. The Duke of Surrey was a powerful man not to be crossed, nor would he be willing to happily accept his young wife making a cuckold of him. “I saw his name on the playbill for your show outside.”
“He’s the financial backer for my show,” Dodd confirmed. “If he found out about myself and the duchess, I fear he would pull all financial assistance. It would ruin me.”
“He’d shoot you at dawn and ensure your body was dumped in the Thames, never to be found,” Jack said, not mincing her words as Dodd’s face went white. “The man is not to be trifled with. Even I know that.”
Tobias agreed with her assessment of the situation. “And the duchess can confirm your alibi?”
Dodd hastily nodded. “She can, most assuredly. Just please though use discretion when you confirm that with her.”
“Oh, dear, Caleb,” Jack tittered. “You do know how to get yourself into a mess, don’t you? Especially when it comes to your inability to keep your trousers on.”
“She seduced me!” he exclaimed, righteous indignation in his voice. “And one doesn’t say no to a duchess…”
“You’ll be seeing the inside of a jail cell, if you’ve lied to me,” Tobias warned him.
“I haven’t, I promise!” he was quick to assure Tobias.
“Have you sold the secrets of the Palingenesia to anyone, Caleb?” Jack asked.
“Sell the secrets of an illusion? I am a magician, Jaqueline. I would never do that.” Indignation rang in his voice.
Tobias could again hear the lie in his words, and so did Jack, going by the narrowing of her eyes.
Slowly, she approached Dodd, who was still seated in his chair. The man shrank back against the seat. “Last time you lied to me, Caleb, I ruined your show. Lie to me about this, and I promise you, I will ruin you for good. You will never work as a magician in this industry again.”
“You don’t have the power to do that,” Dodd replied with a sneer, though it was lacking confidence.
“Once I reveal the secrets of your illusions, which are all based on my father’s work, given you don’t have the skills to create your own, every magician in London will start using them, and your show will be insignificant.”
“You wouldn’t dare… Your father would turn in his grave.”
“After how you used me to get them in the first place? I rather think he would rejoice in your ruin.”
“You really would, wouldn’t you?” There was shock and a reluctant acceptance in his voice. “Very well. About six months ago, a man approached me after one of my shows, offering me a ridiculous amount of money to explain the intricacies of five of your father’s illusions.”