by Debra Snow
Shaut backed down and returned to his seat. “If Floss was right, he didn’t go anywhere. That’s why Max used it as his last effect. He doesn’t actually disappear; it just looks like he does. In his show, he would vanish, the lights would go out, and then the entire cast took their curtain call with Max in the center.”
Pro got to her feet. “Then take us back to your basement and show us any other exits.”
“There aren’t any other exits, just the one front door. When I had the renovations done, I even blocked off the stairs inside the building so that the only way in or out was that door.”
“Didn’t stop Max,” Chu noted.
“Believe me, I will have my assistant upgrade my security system to include that door from now on,” Shaut said as he rose and followed Pro as she headed out of the building.
“And you’re the only one who goes down there?” Pro asked over her shoulder.
“Only me and my assistant,” Shaut said, as they stepped outside and walked down the concrete stairs.
“Where is Brent today?” Chu asked.
“It’s one of his half days. He’ll be here later to juggle phones if there is an emergency so we can both get ready for the show tonight.”
“That’s right,” Pro said. “A Night Of Wonder is in an off-Broadway theater every Monday night.”
“For twenty-six years,” Shaut pointed out proudly. “It is the longest running magic show in New York—maybe the world!”
They reached the sidewalk and Shaut stopped. “Hey, you guys ought to come to the show tonight! It’s usually a sell-out, but I am sure I can find some seats for a pair of New York’s finest!”
“Mister Shaut, we really don’t—” Chu began.
“We’d be delighted,” Pro quickly put in. Chu looked at her with surprise, but she gave him a nod, and he made no objections.
“Great! I’ll arrange it as soon as Brent gets here. Two tickets under the name of Chu, okay?”
“That will be fine,” Pro said as they moved past the two uniformed officers, which were Bailey and Barker again.
Chu stopped and turned to Barker, who smiled. “CSI all done?”
“Yes, sir, everyone left, detective,” she said, trying to be serious but smiling anyway.
Pro noticed that Chu gave her a wink.
They stepped into the workshop. The crystal prisms were stationery, and everything looked the same.
“All right, so where was he when he disappeared?” Shaut demanded, and went to the nearby control box and activated the power switch.
Chu stepped into the spot Max had achieved his vanishing act. “He was here, about two feet in front of this box.” He indicated the cabinet with the purple and light-red stripes inside.
“Hmm. Well, let’s give it a go,” Shaut said and activated the machinery.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Pro exclaimed.
“I’m not sure of anything,” Shaut said as the prisms began to spin.
“What should I do?” Chu questioned.
“Just stand there,” Shaut said, and hit a button. There was the odd whirring noise again, and the tall crystals spun madly, but Chu was there and quite visible. The deafening whine forced Pro to cover her ears again, and after about thirty-seconds, Shaut hit another button and turned it off.
“Doesn’t work now,” Shaut said as the rotating platforms slowed down and the noise ceased.
Pro looked at the box Shaut held. “Where’s the foot pedal? And the thing it was attached to?”
“What?” Shaut said, and turned the box over in his hands. “There’s no foot pedal, and no way to attach one.”
Chu walked over. “We both saw Max use a foot pedal.”
Pro nodded. “Yes, and when I hit that red power control, the cord from the foot switch was attached to a small box about the size of a pack of gum.” She pointed at a spot on the box where there was a perfectly round hole. “I think it was attached there.”
“So he brought something along to make it work,” Shaut grumbled. “He must have been here earlier and figured out what was missing.” He put the box down. “That crazy bastard.”
“We still don’t know where he went,” Chu said.
“That I might be able to help you with,” Shaut said and moved past Chu to the large cabinet. “You said he was standing in front of this box, right?”
Chu crossed his arms. “Yes, so what?”
“I’ll show you,” Shaut said, as he stepped into the cabinet and drew the curtain closed along the front.
“He didn’t go into the box or close the curtain,” Chu complained.
“Well then,” came Shaut’s voice from the box. “Open the curtain and take a look!”
Chu walked up and yanked the curtain aside, and gasped. The cabinet was empty.
Pro smiled and shook her head as she drew closer. “I didn’t recognize it. That’s a mirror cabinet.”
“Right you are!” came the disembodied voice from inside the box. “Perhaps you will allow me to reappear?”
Pro stepped and pulled the curtain closed. A moment later, the curtain was slid aside by Shaut who stepped onto the floor.
Chu was dumbfounded. He walked over and stepped into the box, but everything appeared normal. “What just happened?”
“Some basic tricks in the magic lexicon,” Pro said, then turned to Shaut. “May I show my partner how it works?”
“You know how to use it?” Shaut asked, an eyebrow raised.
Pro glanced into the empty box and nodded. “I think I can work the gimmick.”
“Gimmick?” Chu said, still in the box looking around. “I can barely fit in here!” He tapped the back wall. “Where did you go, out the back?”
“He went nowhere,” Pro explained. “Here, step out and I’ll show you.”
Chu shrugged and stepped to the floor and Pro got into the box.
“Okay impress me,” Chu grunted.
“You’ve been impressed enough. Let me just explain it. You see these vertical stripes? They are designed to catch your eye.”
“I guess, but that doesn’t explain where Mister Shaut or Max went.”
“What you don’t know is that there are two mirrors on both side walls of this cabinet. They are hinged, with the backs of the mirrors painted with these stripes,” Pro said. “There are also the exact same design under the mirrors, to create the illusion the box is empty.”
“I still don’t get it,” Chu insisted.
“I’ll show you,” Pro said as she got into position. “When the curtain is closed, all I have to do is pull two cloth tabs on each side.”
She pulled a small piece of cloth on the inside of the cabinet that Chu hadn’t noticed. There was a shimmer of light, as the right wall slid into the box to cover her. She then pulled the other tab and the left one moved. The two mirrors met in the middle and once in place, they reflected the striped inner wall.
The box looked exactly the same, except Pro could not be seen hidden behind the reflective panes.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Chu wondered and scratched his head.
“And to get out,” Pro’s muffled voice said from in the box, “you just push them back into place.”
The walls of the box shimmered as the large mirrors slid back into their original positions, and Pro was back.
“I hope you know that both of you are now sworn to secrecy!” Shaut said. “I don’t want you giving away one of magic’s best tricks.”
“That is impressive, but it isn’t what happened,” Chu asserted. “He didn’t get anywhere near that box, and we would’ve seen him if he did.”
“Not if the prisms actually bent the light around him,” Pro said. “I think I get it now. The prisms refract the light in such a way that it creates a blank space. If the magician is standing directly in the correct position, it looks like he vanishes.”
“But how did he get in the box, if that’s where he went?” Chu said, still unsure of the premise.
“The blank space was c
reated right in front of the box. All he had to do was step into it, pull the mirrors into place, and we’d never even see him. Think about it. We both were distracted and were looking at the foot pedal and control box to shut off the spinning prisms. In that moment, he stepped into the box and pulled the mirrors.”
Chu frowned. “Okay, let’s say I buy that. Where did he go after that? He’s obviously not in the box now.”
“He’d have to sneak out,” Shaut suggested.
“No, we were here until the uniforms and the CSIs arrived,” Chu said.
“The CSIs!” Pro announced and quickly walked to the door.
“Is she always this hyper?” Shaut asked.
“You have no idea,” Chu sighed.
Bailey and Barker came into the room, led by Pro.
“Officers, I have a very important question for you. How many CSI investigators were on this scene?”
“Two,” Bailey answered.
“No,” Barker corrected, “it was three.”
“I only saw two go in,” Bailey said, knitting his brows.
“Detectives,” Barker said a bit defensively, “I am sure I saw three leave. Remember, Bailey, the two headed for their vehicle, and about a minute later the third guy came out.”
“Right, that’s right,” Bailey brightened. “The one in the white coveralls.”
“Yes, with the face mask and the hood on,” Barker added.
“He gave us a thumbs up as he went out.”
“By any chance,” Pro interjected, “was he about six-two?”
Both officers nodded.
“Yeah that sounds about right,” Bailey said.
“Thank you, officers, you can return to your posts, please,” Pro said and turned to Chu and Shaut. “I guess we now know how he got out of here.”
“If that’s correct, then he had a CSI coverall here,” Chu said.
“Probably hidden in the box,” Pro nodded. “He could have just changed in there.”
Shaut looked at them both with concern. “Look, you guys gotta protect me. Max has killed two people—”
“Three,” Chu said without a beat.
“Three?” Shaut bellowed. “Who?”
“Michael Mystique was found yesterday, Mister Shaut,” Pro remarked.
“Strangled like the others,” Chu put in.
“See! I’m in danger. He can pick any lock!” Shaut panicked.
“Calm down, Mister Shaut. We will leave the officers here to guard your house, and Detective Chu and I will personally escort you to your show tonight.”
“Detective Thompson, may I speak with you?” Chu said.
“Excuse us, Mister Shaut,” Pro said and stepped over with Chu to a corner of the workshop.
“I thought we agreed to ask for reassignment?” Chu whispered.
“We’re going to be taken off of it tomorrow anyway,” Pro told him quietly. “And who knows, if Max is really after Shaut, maybe we can catch him. Besides, you’ll get to see a great magic show tonight.”
“To be honest, I’ve had quite enough magic. So far, all it has done is given me a headache.”
“You’ve only put up with it for a few days. I’ve dealt with it since I was a toddler.”
“All right. But I’ll need a couple of hours to clear my paperwork, and then I can go with you.”
“I have the day off anyway. I’ll babysit Shaut.”
Chu nodded, and the pair returned to Malcolm Shaut.
“I will be escorting you today, sir,” Pro explained. “My partner will join us when it is time to leave for the show.”
“What is going on?” Brent Williams asked as he stepped in. “Why are those policemen at the door? I had to explain to them that I work here.”
“We had a break-in, Brent,” Shaut said. “We need to get an alarm on this downstairs door, today!”
“Who could have broken in?” Brent stated, aghast.
“Max Marvell, that’s who,” Shaut declared. “That’s why we need an alarm! That man is dangerous.”
Brent turned to the detectives. “Did you catch him? Is that fiend off the streets?”
“Max Marvell is hardly a ‘fiend,’ Mister Williams,” Pro objected.
“I believe anyone who has kills people is a fiend!” Brent stated haughtily.
“And the answer is no,” Chu explained. “He was able to get away.”
“And he used Prism to vanish in front of us,” Pro added.
“He used Prism?” Brent gasped. “Here?”
“Yes, Mister Shaut was surprised that it could be used at all,” Pro went on, watching Brent intently. “He told us he couldn’t even make the platforms rotate.”
“I…uh…worked on it in my free time,” Brent admitted.
“Did you?” Shaut said. “But you kept telling me that buying the plans was the only solution.”
“I know how important it was to you. I thought if I could make it work, that you would be pleased.”
“You hear that!” Shaut boasted. “This is the kind of people I hire. He put in extra time on his own to make me happy.”
“But how did Max get it to work?” Williams said as he walked to one of the oblong crystals and looked at it carefully.
“He attached a foot pedal and some kind of little box about the size of a pack of gum,” Pro said.
Brent frowned. “It must have contained a computer chip and the necessary software to run the machine. That was my problem, getting the prisms to spin at the right speed and in the right directions.”
“How did he know what would work with what you built?” Chu asked.
Williams shrugged. “He must have snuck in here to see what I’d come up with.” He turned to Pro and Chu, his eyes wide. “That means he’s been here—more than once.”
“I’m lucky I wasn’t murdered in my sleep!” Shaut blurted.
Brent Williams looked at the detectives angrily. “You must make sure Mister Shaut is protected.”
“I intend to,” Pro said. “I will be by his side for the rest of the day and will personally escort him to the theater.”
“Just you?” Williams sneered.
“Officers Bailey and Barker will be posted here until we return from the show tonight.”
“And after that?” Williams insisted.
“After that, we will see,” Pro said. “There is an APB out on Max and he could be picked up at any minute.”
“Hmph!” Williams grunted. “But not by you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Pro growled.
“Nothing that isn’t obvious,” Williams said, chin held high. “You’ve had several opportunities to capture Marvell, and yet each time he slips through your fingers.”
“So what?”
“It seems that the person helping him get away is none other than his own daughter who happens to be a detective at NYPD.” Williams stepped closer. “I heard he got out of a holding cell at your precinct.”
Pro’s back straightened, and she seemed to become taller next to the man. Though they were both five-eleven, Pro seemed to grow and tower over him as her cheeks grew flushed.
“I would never help a prisoner escape,” Pro hissed with vehemence.
“But you have to admit,” Shaut said, and leaned against the table saw, “he always seems to escape when you’re nearby.”
Pro crossed her arms. ”Are you suggesting—”
Shaut stood and raised his hands defensively. “It’s just weird, that’s all. You say you recognized the mirror cabinet. Why didn’t you know what it was earlier, when you could’ve caught the guy?”
“He has a point, detective.” Brent smirked.
“Nevertheless,” Chu said, “Detective Thompson is assigned to Mister Shaut as your protection, and Officers Bailey and Barker will remain here to watch the residence.” He stepped toward the door. “What time do you go to the theater, Mister Shaut?”
“6:00 PM,” Shaut replied.
“Good. I will return then.” Chu gave a nod to Pro, who
was still actively working to control her temper, and went out the door.
“Why don’t you head upstairs, Mister Shaut?” Williams announced. “I’ll clean up and lock up down here.”
“Good idea, Brent. I have some things to do in the office,” Shaut replied and headed out the door, as Pro followed him outside. “Detective, would it be possible for you to get some coffee?”
Pro’s jaw flexed as she fought to control herself. “Sir, I—”
There was a scream from inside the workshop. Without a pause, Pro pushed Shaut to the ground, leapt past him, and crouched at the door with her service weapon drawn out in a two-handed grip.
“What is it!” Pro demanded, seeing Brent Williams standing near one of the large pieces of equipment she thought was a lathe. She jumped to her feet and strode over, her weapon pointed at the ceiling.
On top of the machine was a letter-size piece of paper. Printed in bright-red letters was the word:
MURDERER
Pro looked to Williams, who turned to her wild-eyed. “This is the work of Max Marvell! How dare he accuse Mister Shaut of being a murderer! He’s the killer!”
He grabbed the paper and tore it in two before Pro could say anything.
“Wait!” she finally said. “I don’t get it. Forensics went through this room. Why didn’t they find it?”
“It was under a cloth that covered the machine,” Williams whined. “Hidden so that Mister Shaut would find it. Detective, you have to protect him. You have to protect us!”
“I intend to, Mister Williams,” Pro said, holstering her weapon. “Why don’t you accompany us upstairs and lock this room for now?”
He nodded and made his way toward the door with Pro following. But she glanced back to take a final look at the ripped sign as it lay on the floor.
17. Mismade Lady
The early afternoon was spent in sheer boredom for Pro. She sat in the small waiting room between the office of Malcolm Shaut, who made phone calls and clicked away at his computer keyboard, and the opposite office of Brent Williams who worked at his own computer and answered his own phone calls.
She sent Bailey for coffee instead of going herself, as she wanted to make Shaut happy and really needed another cup herself. She even asked Brent Williams if he wanted anything, but he passed.