Chapter Thirty-Seven
The sound of several footfalls striding down the theater aisle had Jack flicking her eyes past Tobias to the commotion. It was Sergeant Kellerman, accompanied by Dr. Morton and the photographer, who was lugging his hefty equipment with him.
As Tobias went and spoke with them all, Jack’s eyes were unaccountably drawn back to the Vanishing Lady, who silently sat there in the chair, her glassy eyes wide.
It was a strange thing how a person’s eyes stayed open when they died, almost like death was allowing the living one last glimpse at what the person had seen before they had been taken.
And what Jack saw in the woman’s eyes was terror…
Or perhaps that was Jack’s own impression of the sight before her.
But really, how could the woman have felt anything but terror, when confronted by a madman?
And he was a madman, despite what Dr. Morton had explained about the clinical definition of the term.
No sane person could perpetrate this sort of evil on another person.
As Tobias and the others stepped closer to the body, with the doctor beginning his examination, Jack turned her back away from the victim and glanced over to the chair up on the stage, her gaze drawn to the gleaming skull perched atop the pile of bones.
The bones certainly looked real, having a more yellowy, cream color to them than the stage props often used for bones, which were far whiter normally.
Though props had come a long way in the years since Jack had been actively involved in stage magic, so the doctor would have to confirm whether they were in fact human or not.
Regardless, though, it was a horrid sight.
And now it seemed they were a step closer to Jack’s own finale in this depraved horror show.
Well, she was determined to find and to put a stop to Thomas Clorren’s plans.
But how would she do that, when she had no idea where he was and didn’t even know who the man had become?
Yes, they thought him to be Dr. Patterson, but that was only an illusion, after all.
He could be disguised as someone completely different right now.
She could have passed him on the street and not even recognized him.
It had been fifteen years since she’d seen him last in his disguise of Tommy Smith, and he’d always been very shy and quiet, keeping to himself much of the time.
At twenty-one, Thomas had been a rather thin young man with a mop of blond hair, but now he was in his late thirties, so he’d mostly likely filled out and matured, as men did.
It was all so confusing, and Jack wondered whom he’d chosen for his next victim, the Mystery of Maguire Illusion.
Was it to be Mary Brunham or someone else to play the role of the assistant in another gruesome illusion?
An illusion that terrified the audience when a woman standing up right on the stage and holding a ceramic vase was cut in half at the waist by the magician, with the bottom half of her body vanishing, while the top half of her body stayed suspended, floating in the air.
The audience was then horrified yet mesmerized when the woman began talking and floating about on the stage, seemingly still alive.
Then the magician used a flash bang of magnesium powder, which lit up the stage for a second, after which the woman suddenly reappeared attached to her lower body and was miraculously restored, whole and unharmed.
It was a clever optical illusion, of course, featuring the use of dim lighting on stage, black curtains, misdirection, and a dummy of the bottom half of the assistant, along with the assistant herself, whose bottom half was hidden by black drapes.
Powerful gas lamps were directed towards the audience to dazzle their eyes, causing dark shadows to blend seamlessly into nothingness, while bright contrasts like metallic chains or handkerchiefs drew attention away from the concealment.
At the very moment when the woman was initially cut in half, she would fling the vase to the side of the stage, which would smash and distract the audience for the second needed for the trap door to open on the stage and the lower half of the dummy’s body to disappear down a hidden trapped door.
The woman’s upper body—now extended behind the drapery—moved naturally, speaking or gesturing as if detached, exploiting the audience’s focus on lit elements to hide her full figure, while her bottom portion was hidden behind the hand curtains of the framed stage.
It was a simple yet clever trick that created the eerie effect of autonomous body parts seemingly defying physics and the laws of nature. It had been a popular illusion of her father’s too.
Jack could only imagine what the Coffin Conjurer had planned for this one…
It sent a shaft of fear through her heart even considering it.
Tobias was right; why did magic tricks have to be so macabre?
Perhaps if they weren’t, Thomas Clorren would never have tried to twist them so effortlessly, using the true essence of the illusion itself against the assistant to horrific effect.
They had to stop him before he could be allowed to carry out such an act. But how could they stop a ghost, as Tobias had called him?
Perhaps to stop him, Jack had to draw him out…
but it was doubtful that Tobias would ever agree to her using herself as bait.
But it might be the only way to get the monster to reveal himself.
Though she’d have to place herself in a situation where Thomas would feel comfortable confronting her, which meant convincing Tobias to leave her alone.
After all, she doubted Thomas, even as deranged as he clearly was, would be willing to confront her with Tobias present.
Unless she slipped away from Tobias and tried to lure the monster out herself?
She could potentially set a trap for him, and if he got close, she knew what tricks of his to look for, though he would also know her own tricks to either trap him or escape from him too.
It was risky but potentially the only method that might work.
But without knowing where Thomas Clorren was, then she had nowhere to slip away to.
“Are you all right, Jack?”
She blinked and turned back around towards where Tobias was standing in the front row, staring at her in concern, as were the other three men alongside him. “I’m fine. Why?”
“You just seemed like you were a million miles away,” Tobias replied.
“I was. My apologies.”
“What’s that?” It was Iain who asked the question as he pointed to the floor in the row behind the victim.
“What is what?” Tobias replied.
“There’s some dirt and flecks of something on the floor over here,” Iain replied.
“There’s a bit underneath the chair of the victim too,” Tobias added, glancing down to the floor.
“Hmm, that is strange,” Dr. Morton said, picking up some organic material from the floor. “Perhaps a bit of dirt from someone’s shoes?”
“It’s some sort of plant material,” Iain murmured, peering down at his fingers before bringing whatever the substance was up to his nose. “Maybe a bit of some sort of flower; there seem to be some fragments of white petals too.”
“Could be. Most likely accidentally left here, having been unintentionally transferred to the carpet from the sole of someone’s boots,” Dr. Morton replied.
Iain smelled the substance again. “That smells like orchids, it does.”
“‘Orchids’?” Tobias asked.
“Aye, orchids,” Iain confirmed. “Don’t you think, Doc?”
The doctor smelled his own sample. “I’m not sure, to be honest. It’s possible, though perhaps unlikely, given how rare and expensive orchids are.
I won’t know for certain what actual plant it is, though, until I get it back to my laboratory and examine it under a microscope.
” He took out a jar from his medical bag and deposited the sample inside, then glanced over the chair behind the seated victim.
“Your mother’s ballroom was filled with orchids,” Jack said, turning to Tobias.
“Hundreds of them,” Tobias confirmed.
“That’s a bit of a coincidence, isn’t it?” Iain added.
“I don’t like coincidences,” Tobias said.
“But why would the killer go there, though?” the doctor asked. “What interest would he have with your mother’s ball?”
“Caleb Dodd is performing a magic show there tonight,” Tobias said. “And if Caleb is somehow involved in all of this, then it might not be a coincidence at all. The killer could well have been in my mother’s ballroom helping Caleb set up.”
“And it did look like Caleb’s staff was building a frame up on the stage, didn’t it?” Jack added.
“It did. Is that significant?” Tobias asked.
“The Mystery of Maguire Illusion, which should be the next illusion being desecrated, if he stays true to my father’s order of performances, uses a custom-built frame up on the stage, with black curtains and lighting to conduct the optical illusion.
” Briefly, she explained the illusion to them all, and after she’d finished, all their faces were staring back at her with looks of weary horror.
“Magic illusions are terrifying, Miss Hart,” Dr. Morton said. “No offense to your father, but what sane person comes up with these sorts of ideas? They’re dreadful.”
“That’s their purpose, Doctor,” Jack replied. “The more outlandish and terrifying the illusion, the more ticket sales. Which, at the end of the day, is the ultimate goal.”
“Didn’t Caleb say he no longer performed your father’s older tricks?” Tobias asked.
“He did, but the frame being built up on that stage had the hallmarks of the frame that would be used for the Mystery of Maguire Illusion.” It did seem Caleb was involved in all of this somehow, though to what exact extent, she wasn’t entirely sure.
“I didn’t think about it at the time, but now that I do.
Like you said, it’s far too coincidental. ”
“Especially if Caleb is potentially an accomplice of the Conjurer,” Tobias added.
“Caleb found me, so perhaps he also found Thomas?” Jack replied. “And if he did, perhaps Thomas convinced him to join him, or to teach him more materials? I don’t know…”
“Do you think he’d risk his show, though, being associated with a murderer?” Tobias asked.
“Caleb is so obsessed with trying to be the greatest magician in London,” Jack said.
“He’d work with anyone if he thought it was a means to achieving that.
Though in terms of risking his own neck or his show?
I don’t think so, but that that doesn’t mean he wasn’t manipulated or used.
Thomas always struck me as far more intelligent than Caleb, and with Caleb’s self-vanity and ego, it wouldn’t be too difficult to manipulate him.
Especially if Thomas Clorren wants to start incorporating a live audience into his acts. ”
“But if Dodd is performing tonight,” Iain said, speaking up, “isn’t that too soon for the killer to murder someone else? Given he’s only just killed this poor lass today? All the other murders have had at least a few days between them.”
“Actually, I don’t think it is too soon,” Tobias said, rubbing at his chin. “Didn’t you tell me, Jack, that magicians love to use misdirection?”
Slowly, she nodded. “They do. Time is one of things they often misdirect too.”
“What better way to misdirect our attention than by setting up the timing so that we assume we have more time to investigate between killings?” Tobias replied. “And not suspect my mother’s event?”
“That would be a clever misdirection,” Jack agreed.
“Which is why we have to assume that the magic show my mother’s hosting tonight might be the scene of another murder,” Tobias said, pulling out his pocket watch. “And damn it, we have less than half an hour until the performance starts.”