very moment, Nutall was working some angle with Madame Ostrova. Things were sure to improve.
Thalia didn’t even have to crane her neck to look for the next train. It was already in view and coming in fast, making a racket like a million saucepans rattling at once.
The oldest of the four children, a boy of about six, was watching her wide-eyed. “Are you a nice lady?”
“No.” Thalia believed if one absolutely had to deal with children, it was vital to be honest. “I’m a stage magician.” To prove it, she did a French drop, concealing the coin in her hand until she reached in to pull a penny out of the boy’s ear. She handed the coin to him as the train drew up.
“You can’t be a magician.” As he gazed at the coin, the boy was a picture of scandalized delight. “You’re a lady.”
“Don’t be so sure about who can do what.” As the carriage doors opened and passengers emerged, Thalia reached out and extracted her penny from his sticky hand.
“Hey!” The boy’s face puckered in dismay.
“I am not a nice lady.” Thalia tossed the coin back to him. As she turned to board the last car in the train, she called back to him, “The moral of this story is don’t talk to strangers.”
* * *
Back at the boardinghouse, Thalia just had time to take care of the doves, confirm the snake was still alive and not yet ready for its next meal, and get in a bit of practice before Nutall tapped at her door to signal his return.
“Walk with me,” Nutall said. “Not far. We’re only going around the block.”
Thalia put on her hat and gloves and followed him out, ostensibly for a pleasant afternoon stroll. In truth, the walls of the boardinghouse were thin. If one wished to speak privately, it made sense to go elsewhere.
The day was still pleasantly sunny and relatively calm and uncrowded. When they reached a stretch of sidewalk with no one in earshot, Thalia spoke. “Thanks for cutting me loose. What did you and Madame Ostrova have to discuss that you couldn’t talk about with me there?”
“Madame Ostrova would never compromise her professional ethics by discussing one magician in the presence of another. She disapproves of Von Faber but he is still a stage magician, and so are you.”
“But she talked to you.” Thalia lifted her skirts and took a long step to avoid a puddle on the pavement.
“I may be your stage manager, but I am not a stage magician and never will be. Madame Ostrova was willing to speak frankly to me.”
“And?”
Nutall was silent as they walked past a newsstand. In the clear space beyond, he stepped to the edge of the sidewalk and looked up at the sky as if judging the weather. “In Madame Ostrova’s opinion, legal recourse would be a waste of time and money.”
“But the rifle! What if we can prove he stole the Bullet Catch from us?”
“Madame Ostrova says that Von Faber has something on the head of the Cadwallader Syndicate. That’s why he has a noncompete clause. It actually costs the syndicate money, shutting down acts that Von Faber says are copying him. They wouldn’t do that unless he knows something the head of the syndicate wants to keep a secret.”
“But—that’s blackmail.”
“It is,” Nutall agreed. “But Madame Ostrova seemed quite sure of her facts.”
“Right. Good.” Thalia set forth walking again, this time at a faster pace. “There are other syndicates. We’ll get a contract with one of them.”
“We could do that.” Calmly, Nutall kept up with Thalia. “In Madame Ostrova’s opinion, however, we should simply change our act so that it doesn’t have anything in common with Von Faber’s.”
“How will we know what Von Faber’s act is going to be? All he has to do is copy us again, and we’re back where we started.”
“We will go see Von Faber’s famous headlining act,” Nutall said soothingly. “If necessary, we will use some of the tricks in storage to mount an act that doesn’t use any of Von Faber’s current tricks. In the unlikely event Von Faber decides to change his act to copy us, then we will go to the authorities and charge him with stealing our rifle.”
The tricks in storage had not inspired Thalia. “What about your idea that Madame Ostrova will give us credit for a new trick to make up for the theft from our inventory?”
Nutall looked chagrined. “I didn’t get as far with that as I’d hoped. If