“That’s all we need to know. I’ve tested them, and they are magical.”
I brought out my phone and displayed the image of the cong on the screen. I held the display over the magic mirror so that Gabriel could see it.
“Hold the image there while I make an adjustment to my magic mirror. Ah yes, I can see it now. Do you have photographs from other viewpoints?”
“Yes, I do. I’ll show them to you,” I said as I showed Gabriel photos of the different sides.”
“Yes, just as I thought. That cong is a Remote Viewer. It can be paired with up to seven other viewers. By looking through the center hole you can see whatever is being seen through one of the other viewers. You can select which one of the paired viewers you are seeing by holding one of the seven sections of that cong between your thumb and forefinger. It is not as useful in this age of cellular telephone cameras as it once was.”
“Thanks, Gabriel. How about this one?” I asked as I displayed a photo of the flat piece of jade.
“Ah, that one is more useful. That is an Omnilingual Communicator. It allows two people who speak different languages to perfectly understand each other.”
“So it’s a universal translator.”
“Yes, but it is more than that. It allows you to understand exactly what the other person intended to communicate, even if that person mistakenly used a wrong word or if your language doesn’t have a word that would translate correctly. Each person understands the other as if both people were expertly fluent in the same language. It can even be used to communicate with people who have only a primitive language with a limited vocabulary.”
“Does it read the people’s minds?”
“No, the thoughts have to be verbalized. No other thoughts are communicated.”
“How do you use it?”
“The symbols at each end of the Communicator are identical. Each person holds one end of the device with his thumb on that symbol.”
“So both people have to hold the piece.”
“Yes. It only allows communication in real time between two people.”
“It doesn’t sound like either of these devices could be used as a weapon.”
“They are not intended to be used as weapons, but the Remote Viewer could be used as a spy camera.”
“We think that Wei Liu, the Chinese magician, is trying to recover these artifacts for the Chinese government. Do we need to prevent him from recovering them?”
“No, Robert, there is no need to prevent the return of these magical devices to China. As members of the League of Light, you have no responsibilities regarding these devices.”
“Thank you, Gabriel, you’ve been a big help.”
“You are quite welcome Robert, and Rachel. Be well, love each other, and may peace be with you.”
Gabriel’s imaged faded from the depths of the magic mirror.
“Well he was certainly more helpful this time,” Rachel remarked.
“Yes, it seems that Gabriel and the League don’t want to have anything to do with this case.”
“And that’s fine with me,” Rachel said. “We have enough going on without being given another task by Gabriel, although he pays better than anyone else.”
“I’m sure we’ll get more work from Gabriel in the future,” I said. “I’m glad we can just concentrate on proving Mary’s innocence.”
“What do you think of Gabriel’s description of the two magical jade artifacts?” Rachel asked.
“The remote viewer would have been a very valuable device in the days before television and web cams. The translator would still be very useful. The way Gabriel described it, it has the ability to undo the curse of the Tower of Babel.”
“You mean like in the Bible?” Rachel asked.
“Yes. According to the Book of Genesis, at one time all humans spoke the same language and were able to coordinate their activities to such a degree that they started to build a tower so high that they would be able to reach heaven. God didn’t like this hubris, so he cursed humanity so that the people spoke different languages and couldn’t understand each other, thereby making it impossible for humanity to work together as a united people.”
“I know the story. The artifact is sort of a deBabelizer, isn’t it?”
“That’s a perfect name, the deBabelizer. It’s better than Omnilingual Communicator.”
“It’s after seven, Professor, and I’m hungry. Can we put together some dinner?”
“Good idea, let’s see if we can glean something from the fridge.” I opened the refrigerator, and we scanned the shelves. “We can make a nice salad with lettuce, bacon, blue cheese crumbles, cucumber and onion. I have a tomato on the counter, but I don’t have any meat to add.”
“That’s OK, we can just put in lots of bacon, if that’s OK.”
It was definitely OK, and so we made a large salad accompanied by potato chips and white wine. Naturally, the conversation centered around the Martingale case.”
“I think we should go see Mary tomorrow morning,” Rachel said.
“Sure, to what end?” I asked.
“I want to tell her about Mr. Tsong’s email and see if she’s open to giving up the jade artifacts.”
“What are your plans for the artifacts?”
“I think that we need to return them to China.”
“Has Wei Liu got you scared?”
“No he does not have me scared. He should be scared of us, in my opinion. I just think returning the magical artifacts to China is the right thing to do. Their magic is pretty harmless, but they do have historical significance for China, and they were illegally smuggled out of their country.”
“What about Wei Liu’s Snoozer?”
“Yeah, we should return that, too.”
“So we’re going to just hand over all the goodies with no quid pro quo?”
“No, we need something in return.”
“What’s that?”
“We need Liu’s henchman, Seymour’s murderer, the guy we’ve been calling Chan. That will clear Mary.”
“Do you expect Liu to just say, ‘Sure, take my friend. These artifacts are sufficient remuneration’?”
“No, we’ll have to capture Chan first, then return the goodies.”
“Somehow, I don’t think Wei Liu will be satisfied with that trade.”
“Well somehow, Professor, we’ll have to make him satisfied with the trade.”
“OK, it’s your show. I’m here to help in every way I can.”
“Thanks, it will definitely take all our skills. We should get plenty of rest tonight. I’m going to my apartment. I’ll call Mary in the morning and set up a meeting.”
Rachel went downstairs, and I cleaned up the dinner dishes. I spent the rest of the evening reading and went to bed early.
Chapter 28
The next morning, a bright and warm Saturday, Rachel called to say that she had set up a meeting at Mary Martingale’s house at nine thirty. Rachel declined to come up for breakfast and said she would call at eight forty-five when she was ready to go to Mary’s house. She asked me to bring the printout of our last email from Mr. Tsong. At eight fifty, I met Rachel on the porch, and we got into Fred for the trip to the Martingale residence.
We arrived on time, and Mary met us at the door. She ushered us into her home office where she had a carafe of hot coffee and a plate of doughnuts.
“Please have a seat,” Mary said. “Let me pour you a cup of coffee. Cream and sugar?”
“Black for Rachel, and a little cream for me,” I replied.
“This is very nice of you,” Rachel said. “It reminds me of going to Dunkin Donuts with my father.”
“I’m not familiar with Dunkin Donuts,” I said.
“There aren’t any in Oregon, but they’re all over the Northeast—like Starbucks here.”
“I’ve been to Dunkin Donuts,” Mary said. “I like their doughnuts better than Krispy Kreme.”
“Me, too,” Rachel agreed.
“Are y
ou from the East Coast?” Mary asked.
“New Jersey,” Rachel answered.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in New York,” Mary said. “That’s how I know Dunkin Donuts. How is your investigation going?”
“It’s going well,” Rachel said. “We know who killed Seymour, unfortunately, he’s in China.”
“China! How did he get here to kill Seymour?”
“Magic,” Rachel replied.
“You keep talking about magic. Are you really serious?”
“Yes, Mary,” Rachel said. “It turns out that magic is real. The Professor and I have a theory about what happened here on the day Seymour was murdered.”
“What’s your theory?”
“First a little background, through our investigation we have determined that the three jade pieces that Seymour got from Mr. Tsong were illegally smuggled out of China. The Chinese government is cracking down on what they consider to be theft of their cultural heritage. I don’t know if it’s because two of the pieces are magic, or if it’s standard procedure, but China has a magician investigating the theft and trying to recover the artifacts.”
“Oh my,” Mary exclaimed.
“Last Sunday, two Chinese magicians teleported into your study while you were talking with Seymour. We don’t know everything that happened, but we know that they cast a sleeping spell on you so that you don’t remember anything that happened. During the course of their break-in, one of them killed Seymour. We identified him by a fingerprint on the dagger he used for the murder.”
“How did you identify his fingerprint?”
“We went to China and fingerprinted him.”
“How did you do that?”
“Magic.”
“Are you two magicians?”
Rachel and I looked at each other.
“Yes,” Rachel said, “we are. That’s why Charlene hired us to investigate your case.”
“Oh my. So Charlene knows about your magic.”
“Yes, but we try to keep it confidential. We’d appreciate it if you would keep it confidential also.”
“Oh yes, of course. Who would believe me anyway? Please continue with your story.”
“OK, so we identified Seymour’s killer, now we just have to capture him. There’s also the problem of the stolen Chinese artifacts that you have. It’s just a matter of time until the Chinese government tracks them down. They may even contact US Customs or some other agency and demand that they confiscate them from you.”
“Could I go to jail again? As a smuggler?”
“I’m not trying to frighten you, but the Chinese government does consider you and Seymour to be thieves. They have killed Seymour and, we think, one of Mr. Tsong’s agents. They may even be hot on Mr. Tsong’s trail.”
“What can we do?”
“Well, as you know, we used Seymour’s Yahoo mail account to contact Mr. Tsong as if we were Seymour. Initially, Mr. Tsong was a suspect, but we determined that he didn’t know that Seymour was deceased. Yesterday, we sent him another email, and his attitude has changed dramatically. He claimed that the jade pieces were just trade samples, and that he gave them to Seymour as examples of what he could manufacture for you. Here’s a copy of that email.”
Rachel handed Mary the printout, and Mary read it intently.
“So Mr. Tsong doesn’t want any payment and he doesn’t want the pieces back?”
“That’s the way it looks to us,” Rachel said. “We think that he’s afraid of being arrested, or worse, by the Chinese government. In a previous email he told us that he wasn’t able to return to China because the government was interfering with his business.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble with US Customs, and I certainly don’t want those Chinese magicians after me,” Mary said. She was starting to sound distressed, and I was worried that the pressure would be too much for her.
“Don’t worry, we have a plan,” Rachel said. “We want to return the artifacts to the Chinese government and at the same time bring Seymour’s killer to justice. That will prove that you’re innocent of his murder, and it will put a stop to any allegations of illegal importing by your company.”
“Can you really do all that?”
“I believe that we can. We’ll need to take those last two jade pieces.”
“That’s wonderful. I don’t want them anymore. They’re a curse. I’ve already lost Seymour, and that’s too much. I don’t want to be killed or to go to prison. Take them, please.”
“Will you call Connie and tell her to turn them over to us?”
“Oh yes, right away.”
“And please tell her to keep them locked up until we get there.”
“She won’t be there on Saturday. Let me see if she can meet you.”
Mary left the study to call Connie in private.
“I think you scared Mary,” I said.
“Yes, I’m afraid I did. Fear is justified in this case, though. I really needed for her to realize how serious her situation is.”
“I didn’t quite realize how serious it is myself,” I admitted.
“I think we’d better plant a homing beacon here in the study,” Rachel said. “We’ll need to be able to translocate here at a moment’s notice.” She then took one of her business cards, turned it over, and wrote “Mary’s study” on the left side of the back of the card. She then wrote the same thing on the right side and tore the card in half. Walking over to the bookcase, Rachel selected a book and hid one half of the card between the pages.
Just as Rachel returned to her chair, Mary entered the study and told us that Connie would meet us at the warehouse at ten forty-five. We said our goodbyes and left the Martingale residence.
As we drove away, Rachel handed me the other half of her torn business card. “You’d better take charge of this homing beacon,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll need it.” I put the card in the steel box I carry in my magic bag.
We arrived at Martingale Asian Antiquities early and waited in Fred until Connie arrived to let us in. Connie was friendly and business-like, just as she had been on our previous visit.
“Mary said that we have to give the jade pieces to the Chinese government,” Connie said as we entered the office.
“Yes, it appears that Mr. Tsong illegally smuggled them out of China,” Rachel replied. “We contacted Mr. Tsong, and he doesn’t want the pieces back. I think he’s on the run from the Chinese authorities.”
“Well it’s best that we get rid of them then,” Connie said. “Do we have to get involved with US Customs?”
“We’re trying to avoid that,” Rachel replied. “If Customs gets involved, they’ll probably treat Seymour as an illegal importer, and they may shut down your business. If we can return the pieces before there are any charges, either here or in China, then I think we can put this whole episode behind us.”
“I wish we had known about this before Seymour’s death.”
“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Rachel said. “We’re just trying to make the best of a bad situation.”
Connie had the two jade pieces locked in the company safe. As soon as she handed them over to us, I put them into my steel box. They were magical after all.
“I wish there was some official way for us to return the artifacts to the Chinese government,” I said as we drove back to the Goose. “I hate to just hand them over to Seymour’s killer like ransom paid to a thug.”
“Not only the artifacts, we also need to return Wei Liu’s Snoozer.”
“That really irks me, though. We don’t need another Snoozer or the magical artifacts, but I hate to let a bully have everything his way,” I said.
“Wei Liu won’t have everything his way. We’re going to take Chan, his henchman. Seymour’s killer needs to be brought to justice. We don’t have any moral ground to stand on in regard to the Snoozer and the artifacts. It’s clear that the artifacts were smuggled out of China illegally, and you stole Liu’s Snoozer.”
“But why did they have to
kill Seymour? Even if Wei Liu didn’t put the wakizashi into Seymour’s heart, he was complicit in the crime. He’s an accessory.”
“Maybe not,” Rachel speculated. “Remember, either Liu or Chan, his henchman, had to snap back to China and leave the other magician in Seymour’s home office for a while. Since Liu doesn’t appear to speak English, it would be logical to leave Chan behind to interrogate Seymour. Now I’m thinking that Seymour’s murder probably wasn’t planned. The Japanese dagger was a weapon of opportunity. It could be that Chan wasn’t acting under Liu’s orders when he killed Seymour.”
“But Mary was put to sleep with Liu’s Snoozer. Only Liu could have done it.”
“Liu could have snoozed Mary before he snapped back so that she wouldn’t remember Chan questioning Seymour.”
We arrived back at the Goose, and we decided to have some lunch. The first thing I did was to put the two magical jade artifacts into my safe along with the broken bi.
“How about clam chowder and BLT sandwiches for lunch?” I asked.
“Sounds delicious.”
I heated up some Ivar’s Clam Chowder and slapped together a couple of BLTs using some of the pre-cooked bacon I had in the refrigerator. Rachel poured a couple of glasses of iced tea.
“What’ll we do next?” I asked before biting into my sandwich.
“The first order of business is to capture Chan. We need to trick him into translocating into Mary’s study, or we need to capture him in China and immediately translocate him into the study. We can’t risk moving him around Portland. The police might figure out that he’d been moved from one location to another. Their CSI unit is pretty good.”
“I assume that we have to take him alive,” I remarked.
“Of course. We can’t go around whacking people just because they’re murderers.”
“We could render him unconscious though, right?”
“Absolutely,” Rachel confirmed. “I’m sure that snoozing him will be the most humane and effective way to capture him.”
“Maybe we could lure him into Mary’s study using the bi,” I suggested.
“Liu has probably given up on using the bi as a homing beacon,” Rachel said. “Even if Liu did try translocating with the bi, he might not bring Chan. We’ll probably only get one chance to use the bi as bait. We’ll need to make it count.”
Crimes of Magic: The Yard Sale Wand Page 19