Chapter Thirty-Six #2
The man paused and had to gather himself.
“I didn’t know that she, um, that she was dead, so I yelled out loud to her, asking her what on earth she was doing there, but of course she didn’t answer…
When I got closer, I saw that, um… that she was dead and her mouth had bits of spittle and froth coming from it, and her lips were blue…
” He gave a hoarse cry. “Inspector, who would do such a thing to anyone? And why did this fiend choose to desecrate my beautiful theater with such death…? I mean, I just can’t fathom how anyone could do such a thing to that woman… It is ungodly. It truly is…”
“Have you had any magicians performing in this theater recently?” Tobias asked.
“No, not for a long time. Goodness, it must have been about twenty years ago or more now. I used to host a lot of the truly great magicians. At least, I hosted them before they got great. Once they achieved that status, they moved on to far bigger theaters to perform in.”
Jack spoke up. “Did you host the Magnificent Maguire here?”
“Why, yes, I did. He was just starting out too. Goodness, that was probably closer to about twenty-five years ago now.” Mr. Warren glanced over to her.
“He used to bring in some wonderful crowds with his new mesmerizing and macabre acts. In fact, it was here he first performed some of his most rememberable illusions: the Mythical Creatures, the Curious Professor, the Vanishing—” His voice suddenly broke off.
“Oh, my goodness, the lady inside the theater, that’s the Vanishing Lady Illusion.
This is the work of the Coffin Conjurer, isn’t it?
He’s replicating Maguire’s illusions to devastating effect… ”
“I wouldn’t say replicating,” Jack replied. “Given Maguire never killed any of his audience members or assistants.”
“No, no, of course he didn’t,” Mr. Warren hastily agreed.
“Are you certain it was a bastardized version of the Vanishing Lady Illusion that was used on the lady in there?” Jack asked.
Mr. Warren slowly nodded, his face taking on a slightly green shade.
“Yes, very certain. Even down to the gold-dusted skull sitting on top of the pile of bones that have been placed on a chair up on the stage. Why, even the red silk shawl that’s thrown over the back of the chair is the same style Maguire used, as is the costume that the lady herself is wearing, a white Grecian dress…
Though of course in the illusion, she’s discovered alive in the audience, not looking like that…
That horrible tinge of blue to her lips…
Her glassy eyes of death staring back at me…
” The man pressed his lips together, looking like he was about to be ill.
“Excuse me for a minute.” He rushed over to a waste bin and began heaving into it.
“Is everything secure around the theater?” Tobias turned and asked Andrew, who nodded.
“Yes, sir. We have some men guarding all exits, and we’ve done a sweep through of the theater, confirming no one else is here, just Mr. Warren, and of course the, um…
victim in the main theater area.” Andrew hesitated for a moment.
“I don’t think it’s Mary Brunham, sir. The woman in the theater has blonde hair and doesn’t really resemble the photograph of Miss Brunham from her parents’ house the other evening. ”
“I suppose that’s something; however, another woman has still lost her life.” Tobias sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “Make sure the men know to canvass for missing girls and women in the area too, matching this victim’s description.”
“Yes, sir,” Andrew replied. “He’s not leaving it long between killings, is he?”
“No, he’s not.” He felt like kicking something. They were running out of time. “Dr. Morton and Phillip should be attending shortly. See them in when they arrive,” Tobias told him.
“Yes, sir.”
He turned back around. Mr. Warren was wearily taking a seat on one of the lobby benches. “And keep an eye on Mr. Warren, Andrew. Watch him, making sure he’s all right but that he doesn’t leave.”
“He’s not a suspect, is he?” Andrew asked.
Tobias glanced over to Jack. “Does he look like he’s wearing any disguises?”
“No,” she replied, with a shake of her head.
“Then no, he’s probably not a suspect,” Tobias answered Andrew. “However, until we confirm his alibi and his exact role in all this, he’s not to go anywhere, and no one else is to speak with him. Go make sure he’s all right, will you?”
“Yes, sir.” Andrew bobbed his head up and down, then strode over to Mr. Warren.
“Are you certain you wish to see what’s inside?” Tobias asked Jack, wondering just how much a civilian unused to seeing murder could or even should handle.
“Honestly, no, I don’t want to,” she replied, raising her chin as she glanced past Tobias to the closed doors of the theater. “But whoever the victim is in there, she deserves justice, and perhaps I might be able to help her get that with some insights into the illusion itself.”
Tobias nodded. “Very well. I’ll enter first, though.”
He strode over to the doors and opened them, his eyes glancing across the space and observing all the areas he could see.
It was a relatively small theater compared to some, with seats for probably about two hundred spectators.
There was one wide aisle down the middle, leading to a raised wooden stage.
Up on the center of the stage was a lone chair, with what looked like a pile of bones sitting in the middle of it, while the theater spotlight from above shone brightly down onto a gold-dusted human skull sitting eerily on top of the pile.
He pressed his lips tightly together, knowing that the skull was probably human too… which meant another murder victim. Was there any end to this killer’s perversions?
His eyes glanced to the front row, and as Mr. Warren had said, seated there with her back facing them was a woman. Their next murder victim, it seemed.
Slowly, he walked down the aisle towards the stage, his eyes traveling down each row of chairs as he passed them, ensuring there were no surprises anywhere.
Then he came to the front of the theater and turned to the left side of the aisle.
“It doesn’t look like Mary Brunham.” This poor woman bore no resemblance to Mary; she had blonde hair and blue eyes and seemed far too young to have become caught up in a killer’s web.
Who was she, though, was the question. Though her death clearly hadn’t been as gruesome as the previous victims’, given there was no blood or body parts cut, it still didn’t look as if her death had been easy.
Her lips were bluish purple, with a foam and spittle still gathered at the corners of her mouth, most likely suggesting some sort of poisoning.
Her eyes were wide and held an expression of horror in their depths.
The killer had also dressed her in a white Grecian gown trimmed with gold lace, with a yellow, silk cloak wrapped over her shoulders. And like the second scene, her body had also been strapped with ropes, tying her to the chair to keep her upright.
He glanced back over his shoulder to see Jack standing in the aisle still, taking a breath before she straightened her shoulders and continued over towards him.
“It looks like what you described to me as the Vanishing Lady Illusion,” Tobias said.
“Yes, except the lady who reappears seated in the audience is meant to be alive.” Jack brought her hands up to her temples and rubbed them. “He’s even left the gold-dusted skull on top of the pile of bones on the chair. Do you think they’re human bones?”
“Knowing the sort of evil we’re dealing with… most likely.”
“We have to find him before he does this again to anyone else.”
“I know we do,” Tobias agreed, wondering how they’d find a ghost who’d successfully convinced people he’d been dead for years and was most likely masquerading as someone else. That was the pressing question.
His attention was caught by the victim’s yellow cloak and what seemed to be a card peeking out from the upper pocket.
If he wasn’t mistaken, like the other victims, she too had had a Jack of Hearts playing card left upon her person.
Tobias walked over, then bent down and retrieved the card from the pocket. “Three of five is written on it.”
“How do we catch him, Tobias? He’s killed so many people already, with at least three to go in these grotesque performances of his, myself included in that number.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Tobias growled, fierce in his resolve that he would protect Jack with all he had. “We will find Thomas Clorren and put a stop to his rampage of terror, before he can murder anyone else. I promise you, Jack, we will.”
They had to. Because her death wasn’t an option. It would break him, and he knew it.