Mr. Chesterfield do the trick, there’s this flash and he appears behind the audience.”
“Is this part of the trick, Miriam? Is he trying to build the suspense?” Claire asked. “If it is, tell us now, because I’m getting worried.”
“No, no. I don’t know why he’s not here. He … he’ll probably turn up,” Ross said, but she didn’t sound as if she believed what she was saying.
“Did you tell him I was here, Claire?” Joe Samuels asked.
“Yes.”
“Then this is just some of your husband’s bullshit. He’s hiding from me because he knows I’m gonna nail his ass.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Horace Dobson said. “The trick was terrific. Right, Lou?”
“I have to agree.”
“See, Joe. You’ve got to admit it lived up to the hype, which means Lou is going to feature Bobby in his show and we’ll all be making money. Why would he hide after everything went so well?”
“You’re forgetting one thing,” David Turner said.
“What’s that?” Dobson asked.
“Once the public learns that Chesterfield is Mysterioso, his career will be over. His show will be picketed, he’ll be sued by me and every other magician he’s tried to ruin. Someone might even try to kill him.”
“Like you?” Dobson asked. “Where were you during the performance?”
“What are you suggesting?” Turner asked.
“Magicians can move around undetected. How do we know that you didn’t figure out the trick, kill Bobby, and hide his body?”
Turner smiled. “I’m glad you think so highly of me. I’m pretty sure I know how the trick works, but I couldn’t possibly do what you’re suggesting in such a short period of time. Besides, Claire was sitting next to me, and Mr. Montenegro was sitting on my other side during the performance. If I left my seat, they would have noticed.”
“Like everyone noticed Bobby get out of that coffin?” Dobson countered. “And how did you find out that Bobby was Mysterioso?”
“I told him,” Claire said. “David and I have been seeing each other. When Bobby found out, he was furious. I knew Bobby was Mysterioso, but I kept his secret until he tried to ruin David by exposing the secret behind his most famous trick.”
“You bitch!” Dobson shouted.
“Let’s everyone calm down,” Robin said. “You’re forgetting that we don’t know what happened to Mr. Chesterfield. If this is part of the trick, he’ll show up. If it’s not, we should start a search to see if we can find him.”
Robin turned to Miriam Ross. “Can you think of someplace Mr. Chesterfield might be hiding?”
Ross laughed. “A million places. This house is huge.”
“Without revealing how the trick works, can you tell us where Mr. Chesterfield would have ended up after escaping from the sarcophagus?”
“I don’t know how the trick works.” Ross turned to the costumed assistants. “They do.”
“Ladies?” Claire asked.
The women looked conflicted.
“We can’t say anything,” one of the assistants said. “We signed a nondisclosure agreement about the trick. If we say anything, we can be sued.”
“I can think of three possibilities here,” Robin said.
“Tell us,” Claire said.
“First, this is part of the trick, in which case, Mr. Chesterfield is fine and he’ll show up soon. Second, Mr. Chesterfield escaped from the coffin, but something happened to him that’s making it impossible for him to appear.”
“Such as?” Horace Dobson asked.
“He was injured accidentally or he was injured intentionally by someone and is either dead, a prisoner, or badly hurt.”
“You said that there is a third alternative,” Ross said.
“From what I heard today, Mr. Chesterfield had a number of reasons to run away. Mr. Samuels is threatening legal action, Mr. Turner has just exposed him as Mysterioso, which may ruin his career and force Mr. Holt to cancel his act. And those are the problems I know about. Mr. Chesterfield put me on retainer but never told me why. I have to assume that he was anticipating legal problems, and my specialty is criminal law.”
“I suggest that we wait a few more minutes,” Jeff said. “If Mr. Chesterfield hasn’t turned up, we should search the house and grounds in case he’s injured.”
Jeff turned to the assistants. “Since you know how the illusion works, you should check on places he might be when we leave the theater. That way, no one can accuse you of giving away how the trick works.”
* * *
While most of the guests and employees searched the house, Jeff and Robin volunteered to search the cliff behind the house. The sun was setting, but they could still see fairly well in the pale light that remained. The air had grown