Carol O’Connell - Shell Game

Mallory released him and picked up the crossbow. Prado was taking deep breaths and looking down – flirting with the fall. Perhaps the drugs were kicking in again. Below him, the assistants were helping the magician to climb inside his glass coffin.

„What happens now, Prado?“

He looked up at the crossbow as she pointed it toward the stage. His voice was close to calm. „I’m sure you don’t want to kill a chorus boy. Anyone can do that.“

The assistants separated the sections of the glass coffin to expose the black cummerbund of Futura’s tuxedo. And now they slipped the magician’s hands and feet through the holes in the glass and manacled him by wrist and ankle.

„The cuffs are breakaways,“ said Prado. „No problem with a key this time. Franny wouldn’t even risk that much.“

The assistants draped both halves of the coffin with red cloth.

„He’ll be out of the coffin in another minute or two,“ said Prado. „Now, if he was a limber young boy, he’d snap the breakaways on his legs and curl up in the front box. That’s another tired old cheat.“

One of the assistants blocked the audience view of the space between the separated glass sections. The man took a thick log of black cloth from under his cape and placed it in the coffin.

„That’s a cheat to make the audience think he’s still in the box when the razor comes down. It matches Franny’s tuxedo.“

A bundle of red material was pushed into the front half of the coffin.

„And that’s another cape for Franny. He’ll put it on before he rolls out the back side of the coffin. The rear walls are hinged. Then he’ll blend in with the chorus boys.“

A man in a long red cape was coming out of a crouch by the front section of the coffin.

„That’s Franny,“ said Prado. „Now count the assistants. There are seven on stage right now. The act started with six.“

The pendulum began to move again, back and forth over the slot between the boxes.

„There’s a microphone in the front half of the coffin,“ said Prado. „In a minute, a machine will send a layer of fog across the stage. That hides the wire while an assistant plugs it into the coffin. Very cheap sound equipment, almost as old as Franny. When you hear his voice on stage, he’ll be in a back room screaming into a speaker.“

The pendulum was dropping closer.

„When Max did this act, he didn’t drape the coffin. You could see him in there beating the glass while he screamed. You watched the razor shred his cummerbund. No fake blood, nothing crude. But people swore they saw Max’s blood dripping rivers onto the stage. Franny’s version is second-rate all around. Boring as a closed-coffin funeral.“

Prado was suddenly much too talkative, too helpful – stalling for time. With her free hand, she reached down, gripped his collar and pushed his head forward over the planks. „You won’t walk away from this if he dies.“

He twisted his head up to smile at her. Sweat poured down his face, his eyes bulged – the smile persisted. „I thought you’d be more understanding, Mallory. You’re in the justice profession.“

„No, that’s someone else’s job. I’m only the law. If I wasn’t, I’d toss you off this catwalk right now. Justice is easy. What I do is so much harder.“

For all the fear, his smile was broadening into the genuine article. Was it the drugs? Or was he aiming her like a gun? Yes, he was only trying to control the timing. It was important that Futura died first.

The seventh man was leaving the stage. The six assistants stayed to dance while the pendulum dropped lower. A door closed backstage. Was Futura already in the back room? Was Malakhai waiting there? She had missed something. That was why he smiled.

Mallory turned and ran toward the end of the catwalk and started down the ladder. What if the gun was only misdirection? Did Malakhai plan to kill Futura the same way Louisa died – in a replica of the same room?

The microphone version of Futura’s voice was screaming from the coffin, „Wait, something has gone wrong!“ And simultaneously, she heard the same voice from the back of the theater, muffled by walls. Four rungs from the floor, she jumped from the ladder and drew a bead on the caped figure heading toward the back room. „Malakhai! Stop! Or I’ll drop you.“

He moved behind a round plaster column. The illusion of transformation was perfect. His red cape had disappeared when he emerged on the other side of the pillar in a dark suit and tie. Her stolen revolver was dangling from his right hand.

The voice from the stage was crying out for help. Low clouds of machine-made fog rolled across the floorboards, covering the wires. She could hear Futura in the back room where he felt utterly safe shouting fear into his microphone.

„It’s not going to happen, Malakhai. I’ve got three arrows in the magazine. I want my gun back. Now! I will shoot you.“

„Yes, I know. You would’ve been astonishing in the war. Oh, wait – wrong period. Sorry. The other night, Riker told me you were raised on cowboy movies.“

He held out the gun on the flat of his hand.

She used the crossbow to gesture toward the floor. „Put it down.“

He set it on the floor in front of his shoes. „So how did you like Charles’s act?“

„Kick it over to me.“ The stereo yelling was ongoing. The pendulum must still be dropping. She never looked toward the stage; that way lay misdirection. „Kick it over. Now!“

He sent the gun scraping across the wood with the tap of his foot. It came to rest in front of her. She held the crossbow on him and dipped low to retrieve her revolver. In a split second, she had checked the visible chambers, each one packed with a bullet.

„Always wise to check the whole cylinder.“ He leaned back against the post and folded his arms. „I might’ve taken out the first round. Were you disappointed in the Lost Illusion? You didn’t say.“

„Charles didn’t get it right either, did he?“

„No, but Max would’ve been proud. I watched Charles’s rehearsal. That was quite a risk he took – and all for you. Whenever I think of the two of you, I see ghosts.“

„You knew I’d never be able to talk him out of it.“

„Not if you held a gun to his head.“

„Something could’ve gone wrong.“

„That’s true. And Charles knew that. Max’s effect was actually less dangerous, but more stunning. How did you know Charles did it wrong?“

„It wasn’t – enough. Just an escape routine, no magic. There should’ve been magic.“

„So my tutelage has paid off. Well, Charles made the best of it, opting for comedy. But Max did the impossible and made everyone believe in it. I could show you, but I’d need the crossbow.“

„Yeah, right.“

„So skeptical, Mallory.“ He held out his hand, believing that she would actually give it to him. „Why the hesitation? You have the gun. Surely a bullet is faster than an arrow? Your cowboy movies must’ve taught you that much. If you still want to know how the Lost Illusion worked, I’ll show you. If you wait till tomorrow, I might have another stroke. And then you’d never – “

She shook her head. It was not going to happen.

„But, Mallory, you like the edge so much. What’s the worst thing that could happen? A duel? A showdown? Give me the crossbow. If you want to know how the trick is done, it’s going to cost you something – a risk.“

„No way.“

„I’d never hurt you, Mallory. I’ve never lied to you.“

The idea was seductive. Her reflexes were better, faster. And she did not believe that he wanted her dead, but neither was she a practitioner of absolute faith. Training her revolver on his heart, she turned the crossbow upside down and three arrows fell to the floor. Now she held it out to him.