MYSTERY FILE #3: THE CASE OF MURDER
BY MAGIC
BY STIJN
HOMMES/ MACGYVERMAGIC, DECEMBER 2001
Shirley was enjoying her evening. She and Bo were
watching the magic show of the world famous magician Max Croft. So far
he had made assistents and animals appear besides several other mind-bending
illusions, including an act in which he had been flying all over the place.
The evening was drawing to a close as Max started his last act.
He entered the stage dressed in a long black cloak.
The music became more frightening. The sound of thunder came and Max was
surrounded by figures in dark cloaks and hoods. None of them was recognizable.
Another curtain moved away to reveal a high wooden device. A guillotine.
The struggling magician was brought towards the deadly contraption and
strapped down on the board behind it. Then the board was slowly turned
over so Max’ had was immediately below the sharp blade. Then a plate was
placed around his head to keep it from moving. The hooded figures took
their distance as the executioner stepped up to the cord that controlled
the blade. With one single pull the blade fell downward. Everything else
happened quickly. The executioner screamed people started to run around
on stage and the curtains were closed…
********
Shirley immediately jumped from her seat and ran
towards the stage. Bo followed her reluctantly. Everywhere people were
murmuring, unsure if this was part of the act. Shirley didn’t believe that.
The sound of the screaming executioner sounded far too real to be acted.
Shirley slipped through the curtains and went to the guillotine with a
pounding heart.
What she saw made her stomach turn over. Max’
limp body lay flat on the table; his skin still pink. But that didn’t mean
he was all right. He had literally lost his head. Bo had slowly approached
Shirley and turned to throw up his dinner.
“Hey! What are you kids doing here.” A man came
dashing onto the stage from behind the curtain and moved towards the teen
detective. Shirley looked him straight in the eye without blinking and
answered.
“Paying Max our last respects.” She turned towards
the body and cleaned some tears of her face. “Who are you?” The man seemed
to be nicer now.
“I’m Alan Potter, I am…sorry…was his manager.”
He sniffed and sobbed slighlty. “I don’t why this had to happen.”
“Do you know what could have gone wrong?” Shirley
inquired. Alan shook his head.
“I have no idea. I don’t know anything about magic.
Well, I know the backpalm, but that doesn’t really count, does it?”
“What about those hooded figures? Did any of them
have a reason to kill Max?”
“No, they hardly even know him. They’re just paid
to dance.”
“Is there anyone else besides Max, who knew how
the trick worked?” Alan thought for a minute before he answered.
“Yes. I think Melinda or Dan knew about it, but
you should really ask them.” Shirley thanked Alan and moved towards the
dressing rooms. But suddenly she turned for one last question.
“Were have you been this evening?”
“In my hotel until I left to come here at 7:45.
I was in the front row during the entire show.”
********
As soon as Shirley reached the backstage area
they could hear someone crying. They followed the sound until they reached
a door with a star marked ‘Melinda Davis’. Carefully Shirley knocked on
the door before she and Bo went in.
The room was a total mess. There were dresses
and feather boas all over the place. In the back a tall woman with black
hair, still dressed in a black cape. She was bent over her make-up table
and cried uncontrollably.
“Excuse me.” Shirley said as gentle as she could.
The woman turned to face the two teenagers so Shirley and Bo could see
she was totally pale. She was so shocked about Max’ death she didn’t even
the presence of two kids in her dressing room.
“It’s … it’s all my fault…” she uttered. Shirley
frowned.
“How’s that?” she questioned.
“I shouldn’t have pulled the rope.” Bo stared
at her in horror. “The show wasn’t going very well and with all the trouble
he had lately Max started to talk about suicide… but I never actually thought
he’d do it … not like this…”
“If I only I had known the guillotine was sabotaged,
if only I hadn’t pulled, Max would have still been alive.” she sobbed.
Bo had backed away a little and was now in a place Melinda couldn’t hear
him. While Shirley offered her condolences to the shaken figure Bo muttered
something under his breath.
“I know…”
********
A few minutes later they were back in the hallway,
but instead of turning towards the exit – what Bo had suspected – Shirley
turned right and embarked on a journey deeper into the backstage area of
the theater.
“Why do you even bother to look any further? I
think this is an open-and-shut case. Melinda pulled the rope like she always
did, but this time she rigged the device to really chop up Croft. What
is so hard about that?”
Shirley gave him a glare. “I’ll tell you what’s
wrong with that: the motive. Would you really kill your only means of income,
a man who you spent the last 15 years of your life with?”
Bo shrugged. “Fine, but don’t be mad at me when
I say ‘I told you so’.”
Shirley ignored this last remark and spoke. “I
heard that Dan was actually the real magician. He was Max’ magical advisor.
He created all the illusions. He knows how the guillotine works.” Her eyes
sparkled.
They reached another door, but this one didn’t
have a star on it. It had a simple nametag. Shirley knocked on the door.
“Come in!” a voice from the other side called. Slowly Shirley turned the
doorknob and entered the room; Bo followed close by.
The man in the room was turned away from the two
teenagers heavily involved in the construction of a weird device. “I don’t
know what I could possibly tell you, but feel free to ask anything you
want. I can’t guarantee an answer.” He turned round and saw his visitors
for the first time.
“I thought… never mind that. What are you doing
here?” the redhead asked the young sleuths.
“You seem to know that Max died.” Shirley said
with a serious tone. A long silence arose.
“Well yeah, I know how the illusion was supposed
to happen. I saw something was wrong immediately.” Bo was looking at all
the stuff in the room ranging from coffins to straightjackets. He picked
up a screwdriver as Shirley gave Dan an odd look.
“And now you’re already working again?”
“You know what they say: ‘The show must go on.’
Let me be honest with you. I don’t feel that bad about Max dying. He was
a slave driver and everyone knew it. All I know is that I didn’t kill him.”
Dan explained while he pointed at his own chest.
“And where have you been during the show.” Shirley
inquired.
“Just like you… in a seat…I like to watch a show
from the audience’s point of view. It gets the creative juices flowing.”
Dan replied.
“Any idea what happened to the guillotine, someone
must’ve messed with it.” Shirley suggested.
“No, it was in top shape when I tested it this
morning.”
“How * could * you sabotage it?”
“Sorry, but I’m not allowed to tell you that…It
would involve revealing the secret… Magician’s Code, you know?”
Shirley was silent for a moment. “Do you have
a deck of cards.” Surprised by the request Dan handed her one and watched
at the events unfolding before his very eyes. Bo had stopped his exploration
of the room and joined them too. Shirley shuffled the cards made a fan
of them and pushed it under Dan’s nose. “Pick a card…any card.” she said
theatrically. Dan took one, as Shirley returned the remaining cards to
a pile. When Dan remembered the card Shirley asked him to put it back in
the deck again. She shuffled the cards and handed them to Dan. “Try and
find your card and so will I.” she announced quizzically. Dan couldn’t
find it. “Now let me try.” She concentrated hard and started to cough.
Slowly a card exited her mouth. She unfolded the card and showed it to
Dan. “And here it is. Your three of clubs.” Dan applauded, while Bo just
looked in utter amazement. Was there anything Shirley couldn’t do?
“I suppose I can tell you how it works now, but…”
Dan pointed at Bo, “I’m afraid he’ll have to leave.”
“I’m going, I’m going.”
********
And do you know how it works now?” Bo asked Shirley
as they walked back towards the stage. Shirley smiled.
“Yes I do.” Then her face dropped. “But it still
doesn’t help in finding out who killed Max Croft.”
“Look at that!” Shirley said as they walked back
on stage, “Even a great illusionist like Max needed a servante.” Bo looked
at her wondering what she meant. “A servante,” Shirley explained, “is a
table with a secret compartment where the magician can hide stuff.”
“That’s all nice, but I still don’t know how you
did that trick back there with Dan.”
“Very simple,” Shirley stated, “when Dan returned
the card, I controlled it to the top of the deck and hid it in my hand
– that’s called a palm. When he was searching the deck I quickly placed
the card in my mouth. Nothing to it.”
“Can you show it?” Bo asked. Just as Shirley was
about to comply Alan Potter returned to the stage.
“What are you still doing here?” he snarled.
“I was just about to show my friend here something
I did earlier. Can you please hand me the deck of cards from that servante?”
Alan walked over to the table, took the cards from the compartment and
threw them to Shirley. She showed Bo what she had done during the trick.
“Is there something you don’t know?” Bo quipped.
The sudden sound of policemen bursting into the room was heard and Bo whispered
to Shirley.
“The police is here! Do you know who did it already?
I want to get out of here.”
Shirley whispered too. “As a matter of fact I
do.”
