Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 104, No. 4 & 5. Whole No. 633 & 634, October 1994

by Doug Allyn

  “Yes, it is,” Gloria told her.

  “It’s so nice to greet new friends. If you’ll proceed through those doors to the dining room, dinner is ready to be served. After that you’re invited to our hour-long stage show in the ship’s theater. Then you’ll have three hours to wander among the gaming tables if you desire. We close promptly at midnight.”

  “Thank you,” Nick told her.

  “Have a wonderful evening!”

  The food, with a choice of three entrees, was in the manner of pre-cooked airline meals. Judged by those standards it was pretty good and certainly reasonably priced. The food and the show were obviously designed to lure customers to the gambling later on. It wasn’t exactly Las Vegas or Atlantic City, but Nick guessed from the full dining room that they were doing well. The show consisted of a couple of forgettable comic acrobats. No one complained that it lasted only a bit over thirty minutes. By that time they were anxious to get to the gaming tables and slot machines.

  “They’re making a ton of money here,” Gloria commented later in the evening, joining Nick with a paper cup brimming with quarters.

  Before he could reply he spotted Lieutenant Weston moving down the aisle toward them. He introduced Gloria and commented on the size of the crowd. “It’s like this every night,” Weston assured him. “Got any ideas?”

  “Just one. I’d like to meet your friend Roster, the owner.”

  “He’s not exactly my friend,” Weston said, letting his eyes scan the room. “He’s always here by midnight to cash up, but sometimes he arrives late— No, there he is, by the roulette table. Come along.”

  Abe Roster proved to be a slender, dark-haired man with sharp features and a smooth manner of talking. He stared at Nick Velvet as if trying to memorize every detail of his face, paying scant attention to Gloria. “You’re a friend of Weston’s?” he asked, trying to confirm the relationship.

  “An acquaintance. Actually I’m a professional magician.” Gloria raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “Nicholas the Great. I’d like a chance to try out my act for you. It would be a big improvement over the acrobats.”

  “A magician.” He glanced now at Gloria. “What do you do — saw the little lady in half?”

  “It’s much more original than that. Let me try it on Friday night. I’ll perform free, as an audition. If you like the act we’ll talk about a contract.”

  Abe Roster rested his hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Look, friend, I know the show’s not the greatest. Neither is the food. It’s the gambling people come for, but I’ve got legal problems. The rest of it is thrown in to keep the politicians happy.”

  “Still, it wouldn’t cost you anything to give me a try.”

  The slender man squinted at Nick. “Nicholas the Great, huh? Lots of cute girls in tights?”

  “A few.”

  He turned away, then turned back again at once. “All right, I’ll go for one night, a free audition. Impress me and we’ll see about more appearances. Tell my stage manager what you’ll need as far as props, lighting, and rehearsal time go.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Roster. You won’t regret it.”

  “I hope not. If you’re a friend of Weston’s I guess you’re all right. One thing to remember — we bill the show as running an hour, but keep it short. I want them on the gaming deck with their money.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nick told him.

  He walked away and Gloria tugged at Nick’s sleeve. “What’s all this about a magic act?”

  “How else am I going to steal twenty-nine minutes, except by magic?”

  Friday was already almost upon them, and Gloria got the assignment of hiring four girls and renting costumes for the act. Nick spent all day Thursday on the riverboat, going over his act with the stage manager. He was a sandy-haired young man named Dominick Powell, and as he listened to Nick he simply scratched his head. “I don’t know. I never heard of anything like this.”

  “That’s why I do it, because it’s original. When I was a kid I saw a magician borrow a watch from a member of the audience, wrap it in a handkerchief, and smash it with a hammer. Then his assistant brought out a loaf of bread on a tray. He unwrapped the bread and there was a live rabbit inside the loaf. On a ribbon around the rabbit’s neck was the watch the magician had borrowed. I never forgot that trick.”

  “But you’re talking about a much bigger trick.”

  “I hope so. This is the nineteen nineties. Everything’s bigger!”

  “Gambling sure is. I never thought they’d have it all over the country with casinos on Indian reservations and riverboats, with lottery tickets sold out of machines at the supermarket and new states jumping on the bandwagon about every month. There’s too much organized crime getting involved, though. An honest man like Abe Roster doesn’t stand much of a chance.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Powell shrugged. “He’s been offered money for this place, but he keeps turning it down. Billy Burdeck told him his time is running out.”

  “Who’s Billy Burdeck?”

  “You must be new to the Gulf Coast. Burdeck controls most of the important gambling between here and Florida. He wants Abe out, one way or another.”

  “Well, all that business doesn’t concern me,” Nick told him. “Let’s get on to the lighting for my act.”

  Later Nick strolled around the ship, noting especially the lack of clocks on board. Casino operators never liked to remind gamblers of the time. What few clocks there were, in offices and employee locker rooms, would be controlled by a central clock, probably on the ship’s bridge.

  As he was coming down the gangplank in the late afternoon he saw Lieutenant Weston sitting in an unmarked police car waiting for him. “Get in, Nick. We have some things to talk over.”

  He slid into the front seat next to the detective. “Everything’s on target for tomorrow night.”

  “Tell me how you’re going to do it, how you’re going to steal the twenty-nine minutes.”

  “Let it be a surprise,” Nick told him with a smile.

  “You were talking before about drugging them, knocking everyone out. That’ll never do.”

  “I understand that. It’ll be something else.”

  “See, here’s the point,” the detective began, frowning as he tried to get his thoughts across in the fewest possible words. “The time has to be taken away from them, from everyone on the boat. The idea of drugging people removes them from the time, which continues as usual. I don’t want that.”

  “That’s pretty deep philosophy, but I guess I understand what you’re saying. If I’m successful I’ll be stealing the twenty-nine minutes from them and from the Cajan Queen itself.”

  “Exactly! That’s what I want.”

  “I need money for expenses.”

  Weston handed over an envelope. “That should cover it.”

  “The police down here must pay better than up north,” Nick observed, glancing inside the envelope.

  “Don’t ask questions.” Nick started to leave the car. “And be careful. I don’t want anything happening to you before tomorrow night.”

  Back at their hotel Gloria reported on her activities. “I’ve hired four models for tomorrow night. One of them even worked on the Cajan Queen before, so she’s perfect. They’ve been fitted for their costumes and they know what to do. A dress rehearsal tomorrow afternoon should top it off. How about you?”

  “The lighting is set. I’ll pick up a few props in the morning. Charlie Weston’s getting edgy. I wish I knew what was going on.”

  “Edgy in what way?”

  “He warned me to be careful.”

  “I suppose Abe Roster wouldn’t be too happy if he discovered we were trying to pull this off.”

  “I don’t know if it’s Abe he’s worried about. My problem is that I don’t know if Charlie Weston is an honest cop or a crook. A long time ago when I knew him he was honest. Now I’m not so sure. When you talk about stealing twenty-nine minutes from the patrons of a casino the f
irst thing that comes to mind is a robbery. That’s just about how long it would take for a gang to hold up the place and make off with all the cash.”

  “But he told you he didn’t want them knocked out. If he was planning a robbery that’s exactly what he would want.”

  “Let’s see what happens at tomorrow’s rehearsal.”

  Gloria chuckled. “Nicky, the master magician!”

  “It may be the start of a whole new career!” he told her with a grin.

  In the morning he rented a tuxedo, a cape, and a top hat for the show, then made the rounds of certain other suppliers for some needed equipment. After lunch, with Gloria and the four costumed assistants on the stage, he went through an outline of the show. The auditorium itself ran between two decks of the Cajan Queen, with guests entering from the dining room on the upper level, walking down to take their seats for the show, and then exiting at the front directly into the gaming rooms. There was seating for four hundred and seventy-five, but Nick had been told the reservations for that evening totaled just four hundred seventy-two. In addition, the casino workers, chefs, waiters, security guards, and other employees added up to forty-five people. Most of the waiters and waitresses doubled in the casino after the dinner hour, using the show time to clean up and change their uniforms.

  The four girls, Bonnie, Clair, Theresa, and Kimberly, were all attractive. Gloria’s choice of costumes was perfect, with sequins and legs notably on view. Nick showed them the claim checks they’d be using and explained what to do.

  “You go up each of the aisles collecting every watch and clock in the audience. You rip the claim checks on the perforations, give this half to the audience member and stick the other half on the watch. They’re self-adhesive and peel right off after you return the watches at the end of the trick. You put the watches in these bags.”

  Gloria had her doubts. “You’re not going to get every one. Some people simply won’t part with a valuable watch for a magic trick.”

  “It doesn’t matter, so long as we get most of them. And I think we will. If my patter is convincing enough, ninety percent of those people will surrender their timepieces.”

  “Then what?”

  “Once we get the bags backstage you take out the watches and set them all ahead twenty-nine minutes.”

  “Four hundred watches?”

  “There’ll be four hundred seventy-two in tonight’s audience, or maybe a few less with no-shows. Figure about four hundred watches. The girls will help you when they’re not on stage. We get the watches at the beginning and then do our other tricks while you’re changing them. When the watches are all changed you signal me for the finale. Regular analog watches will go fast, five seconds each at most. Some people still wear digitals and they’ll take a bit longer, maybe ten seconds. Figure you’ll do about ten a minute, per person. There’ll be at least three of you working on it all the time — thirty watches a minute. With luck they’ll be finished in fifteen minutes, but we can risk twenty if necessary. Five minutes at the beginning to collect the watches, five minutes at the end to return them. We’re off the stage in thirty minutes. With the missing twenty-nine minutes they’ll think they got an hour’s show and they’ll be ready to gamble.”

  Gloria wasn’t so sure. “I’d know the difference between a half-hour and an hour.”

  “These people will have eaten a meal, had a few drinks. We’ll keep the stage show moving fast, so time seems to be passing. If they’re in doubt they’ll find a clock somewhere and confirm that an hour has passed. That won’t be easy, though. In keeping with the old casino tradition there are no wall clocks in the gaming rooms. And you’ll notice there are none here in the auditorium.”

  “How will you change the others?”

  “They’re controlled by a master clock on the ship’s bridge. I’ll do it just before the show starts.”

  “Many of the employees will have watches.”

  “I’ll take care of that,” Nick told her. “Now let’s get on with the rehearsal. Remember, girls, we have to move fast on everything. Lots of tricks. We’re doing an hour’s show in thirty minutes.”

  Most of the tricks were simple things with cards and flowers and a pair of doves. One involved linking rings, an old favorite with magicians. Nick had known a few and had learned the others from a magic book. His performance wouldn’t win any prizes, but he didn’t need prizes. He only needed to keep things moving for thirty minutes.

  They ran through the entire show twice, cuing the lighting and even giving Gloria and the girls some practice at quickly resetting the time on various types of watches. Shortly after five o’clock, Nick was finally satisfied that they were ready. The six of them left the ship and went off to eat at a nearby restaurant. The four assistants had slipped coats over their costumes so they wouldn’t have to change again. Nick soon discovered that Clair was the most outgoing and knowledgeable of the four girls. Just nineteen, she’d worked as a dancer in a show on the Cajan Queen over the Christmas holidays and even knew Abe Roster.

  “Actually you could put on almost anything and the audience would be satisfied,” she told them. “They’re on board to eat, drink, and gamble. Mr. Roster puts on the show because it looks good in the ads, and it gives some of the dining-room staff time to change into their casino outfits.”

  “Midnight seems awfully early to close,” Nick said.

  “He’s trying to get the hours extended, but it’s tough. The whole operation violates the spirit of the gaming laws. He’s in trouble with the authorities and the other gambling ship — the legal one — that operates on the lake. Not to mention Billy Burdeck’s goons, who just want him out of business.”

  Nick nodded. “The gambling boss. Someone else mentioned him too. Tell me, Clair, just what is the procedure on board the Cajan Queen when it closes?”

  She shrugged, thinking about it. “First they shut down the tables and machines and clear everyone out. They figure about fifteen minutes to empty the ship of customers. Then the money is taken to the cashier’s office to be counted. The employees are all gone in another ten minutes and Abe Roster and his cashiers count up before locking the money in the safe overnight. An armored car picks it up in the morning.” She grinned at him. “Thinking of robbing the place?”

  “No, I just do what I’m paid for.”

  By six-thirty cars were beginning to arrive in the parking lot. Though they still had ninety minutes before show time, Gloria suggested they start back to the riverboat. Nick left them to ready things for the show while he made his way up to the ship’s bridge. Since the Cajan Queen never left its dock, there was no need to have crew members on the bridge. It was unoccupied now as Nick entered and checked on the clock. He saw at once that it would be a simple task to push it ahead by twenty-nine minutes, changing the other clocks as well.

  By the time he heard the slight sound of the opening door behind him, it was too late to hide. He turned and looked into the cold gray eyes of Abe Roster, holding a 9-mm automatic pistol in his hand. “The silent alarm system works quite well on my ship, Mr. Nicholas. Please raise your hands.”

  Nick Velvet smiled. “Put away the gun, Abe. I’m about to perform the greatest trick you’ve ever seen. I’m about to save your life.”

  The curtains parted to a recorded drum roll exactly at eight o’clock. Working the lighting panel, Dominick Powell spoke the announcement into his microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Cajan Queen is proud to present — Nicholas the Great!”

  Nick stepped forward and doffed his top hat, pulling from it endless bouquets of flowers, throwing his white gloves in the air where they became a pair of doves, tapping his cane on the stage to give birth to a momentary fountain. The audience gasped and applauded. He had them, for the moment. The girls appeared behind him, two on either side.

  After a few words of greeting, Nick told the men and women in the seats before him, “Because time is the enemy, time is a liar, and time is out of joint, I will ask my lovely assistants to pass a
mong you and collect all watches, clocks, hourglasses, and timepieces. You will be given a claim check for them and they will be returned, though perhaps not in the condition they are now.”

  The audience stirred uncertainly, but Nick was pleased to see that most of those in the front row parted with their timepieces. The assistants in their glittery costumes worked with charm and precision, as if they’d been doing it like that for months. When they delivered the four cloth bags to the stage and placed them in a pile at Nick’s feet, he knew the trick was going to work. One of the assistants brought him a heavy sledgehammer and he proceeded to whack each of the bags several times. The crunch of smashing metal could be heard over the gasps of the audience. For the first time Nick spotted Lieutenant Weston in the second-to-last row, watching him intently. He gave the bags a final kick and resumed the rest of his act.

  He ran through a few card tricks, seated on the edge of the stage, then tried the linking rings. When one of them got away from him and clattered onto the stage he had a joke for the occasion. The audience loved it. Finally, when he’d exhausted all his tricks and patter, he glanced into the wings. Gloria gave him a thumbs-up sign. Two of the spangled girls rolled out a large pie. With a recorded fanfare Nick produced a sword and cut across the top of it. They pulled out a bag identical with the ones still on stage and Nick opened it, feigning surprise as he removed a wristwatch with a tag stuck to it.

  “Number thirty-two!” he called out. A man came up to claim the watch, which was indeed his. The audience broke into cheers and the rest of the watches were quickly returned to their owners.

  Nick bowed and left the stage, then returned with his four assistants for a final curtain call. He received a hug from Gloria as he hurried backstage. “It was perfect, Nicky! You’ve got a new career.”

  “I’m afraid I wouldn’t last long among real magicians. Come on, let’s mingle with the customers and try to change any slow watches we discover.”