and then suggest changes to their behavior. When the patient woke from the trance, they had no memory of talking with the doctor.”
“What have I done?” Carter murmured.
Ridley nodded. “This procedure became known as mesmerism. More recently, entertainers latched onto the idea. Some performers have even used mesmerism to frighten people. A common thread I discovered was that when performed onstage, the act is easily faked.”
“Faked, like Sandra Santos’s psychic act?” Leila asked.
“And B. B. Bosso’s sideshow performers!” Theo suggested.
“Exactly. What we need to find out is how real are Kalagan’s powers? Is he like the shamans of old? Is he like Dr. Mesmer? If Kalagan is getting inside the heads of Mineral Wells citizens, then we need to figure out how to help them get out from under his grip.”
“Or maybe he is just a charlatan,” said Theo. “A con artist.”
“Like my uncle Sly!” said Carter.
Ridley nodded again. “If he is just a con artist, then Kalagan has still somehow found a way to get people to do his bidding. Which would make it easier for us to stop him, because it removes any mystical element from his attacks.”
“I don’t believe in mysticism,” said Carter.
Leila chimed in. “I don’t know. I like to imagine that magic exists on some level. Real magic. Not just tricks.”
“Whatever the case,” Ridley went on, “I thought it would be helpful for us to know as much about our opponent as possible, so I took it upon myself to look up Kalagan’s history. Since the end of the summer, I’ve visited the town hall, the records office, and some local newspapers. I would have just gone to Mr. Vernon himself, but as we all know, he keeps secrets.”
“Only when he’s trying to protect us,” Leila said.
“What else have you got in your notebook?” Carter asked.
“This Kalagan fella has lived quite a life,” said Ridley, riffling through more pages. “Let’s see. Kilroy Kalagan was born a little over four decades ago, right here in Mineral Wells to a young couple named Augustus and Diana.”
“Kilroy?” Theo repeated, shuddering. “His name is Kilroy?”
Ridley flipped over another page. “Oh, this part was surprising: Kilroy actually had a twin brother named Kincaid.”
“Twins!” Olly blurted, reaching across Ridley and smacking his sister’s arm. “Just like us.”
Izzy made a shocked face. “Hopefully not like us at all!”
“Kilroy’s brother, Kincaid, died when they were babies.”
“How sad!” Leila cried out.
“That’s probably what messed him up,” said Theo.
“Some of us have lost family members without turning into criminals,” said Carter.
Theo’s brown eyes went wide. “I am sorry, Carter. I did not mean—”
Ridley cleared her throat and went on, “Mick Meridian told us about the blaze at the resort, where Kalagan’s parents worked. Kilroy and Vernon argued about the Emerald Ring’s finale trick for the Mineral Wells talent show. The group was practicing its routines in the basement of the rear lodge when Kilroy’s trick sparked a fire. The fire spread quickly to the hotel above them. His parents died as a result, leaving Kilroy an orphan.”
“Like me,” Carter choked out.
“Not like you.” Leila rested her hand on her cousin’s shoulder. “Your parents might still be out there.”
“Kalagan has since claimed that the fire was Mr. Vernon’s fault,” Ridley continued. “He blames Vernon for every awful thing in his life.”
“Is it weird that I kinda feel bad for him?” asked Leila.
“Yes,” said Theo. “But we will try to look past that.”
Ridley turned another page. “So, Kilroy ended up at Mother Margaret’s Home.”
“That’s where Dad and Poppa found me!” Leila proclaimed.
“Interesting connection,” said Ridley, squinting and making a note in her book. “Kilroy had trouble staying put at the orphanage. He would often take the train back to Mineral Wells, I believe, to check in on the old Emerald Ring. And on Sandra Santos especially, on whom he’d had a crush.”
“Creepy,” said Theo.
“From there, whenever the authorities dragged Kilroy back to the orphanage, he was always getting into trouble. Stealing the other kids’ things. Shoplifting from local stores. And there was one incident that was so disturbing to the staff of the orphanage, they actually had him moved to another home in another part of the state. After that, I couldn’t find any more information about him.”
“But what was the incident?” asked Olly.
“Yeah!” said Izzy. “You can’t just leave that part out.”
Ridley sighed. “It’s complicated. But from what I could gather from the police report, he tried to make the entire staff of the children’s home believe that a burglar was breaking in at night and