passes over her once she was in position, demonstrating wordlessly that there could be no hidden wires in place. Then, with the orchestra’s enthusiastic support, Von Faber gesticulated as if he were commanding the very air beneath her. The girl, apparently lost in Von Faber’s trance, rose slowly to float in midair above the divan.
The audience gasped and applauded even as Von Faber produced a gleaming metal hoop and passed it around the girl to prove there were no wires holding her in position.
Nutall sighed and folded his arms.
Thalia tilted her head, admiring the perfection of Mrs. Von Faber’s muscular control. Her spine rested on a metal rod set at a right angle to the lift rod, strong but hard to see, that held her full weight, giving the impression she was floating in midair. Her long hair added to the illusion, as did the spangles, each as big as a twenty-dollar gold piece, sparkling bright with every breath she took. It was a good trick, but the skill that made it convincing wasn’t Von Faber’s, except in the way he’d manipulated the gap in the hoop so it did not catch on the support rod and betray the subterfuge.
Nothing to worry about there. No trick of Thalia’s used levitation. She had seen the trick done far less subtly, by assistants who flopped limp as laundry on an ironing board while they were hoisted. Mrs. Von Faber, who was probably a trained dancer, managed to seem as if she truly were entranced, motionless yet pulsing with life.
Thalia remembered Von Faber’s disgusting expression as he’d complimented her on the chains she used in her act. Something in his gestures as he moved around the girl made Thalia think of the look in his piggy eyes that day at Madame Ostrova’s. If his assistant had been lying in bed, instead of floating in the air, Von Faber’s leering manner would have been right at home.
Von Faber stepped back and raised his hands to point at the floating woman. The orchestra took the cue and played her back down to rest again upon the elegant little divan as Von Faber mimed control. She lay there as if asleep, while Von Faber stood gloating over her. The orchestra played a lullaby, softer and softer, while he watched her. The music died away. Von Faber snapped his fingers, breaking the spell.
The girl woke. Von Faber held his position, looming threateningly over her, as she cowered back.
The curtain fell, the orchestra struck up a jolly new tune, and the lights came up for intermission.
Thalia sat back, appalled, as the whole audience came back to life, titillated into shocked whispering. Little by little, as the atmosphere lightened, members of the audience moved toward the doors to spend the interval stretching their legs, attending to calls of nature, smoking, or drinking.
Beside her, Nutall stifled a yawn. “Who on earth would copy that? One wonders why the man ever bothered with a noncompete clause in the first place.” He saw Thalia’s discomfort. “It’s just Von Faber’s way. He soils everything he touches. He can’t do a coin pass without throwing it into the audience, as if we were beggars awaiting his largesse. The levitation goes well enough, thanks to his assistant, but he turns it into a pantomime of helpless submission.”
“Is that what the pantomime was?” Thalia suppressed a shudder.
“His audience is not your audience,” Nutall reminded her.
Thalia grimaced. “I guess not. I’m out of work and he’s playing to a packed house.”
Nutall leaned toward her. “The man’s only advantage is his instinct for the lowest common denominator.”
“That and his noncompete clause,” Thalia countered.
“Yes, I’ve done a bit of research on that topic.” Nutall smiled. “It seems that Cornelius Cadwallader lends Von Faber his assistance in all manner of situations. I’m told he does what Von Faber tells him to do, whether he wants to or not. There is understandable speculation about the reason. Rumor has it, Von Faber knows something about Mr. Cadwallader that he, as the head of the syndicate, wants kept secret.”
Thalia felt her eyebrows go up higher than she’d thought they could. “Von Faber is blackmailing Cadwallader?”
“That’s pure speculation.” Nutall gave her a wink. “Von Faber also has excellent legal advice, which makes it unwise to make such statements.”
Intermission ended as the lights went down. Music built.
Thalia barely caught Nutall’s final whisper. “Such claims could be considered slander.”
* * *
The second half of Von Faber’s performance left the seaminess of the first behind. Von Faber