Now You See It (18 page)

“I don't know. WizBoy was the only one backstage unless Jilly somehow snuck back there when we weren't looking. I can't see Jilly throwing a knife that accurately, though, unless she's been taking lessons from Fancy. And was the intention to kill Rahnee or just scare her?”

“Any way the knife could've been rigged? Any of these magicians good with wires and strings?”

“Not that I know of. And as for the little bone, it could've fallen off earlier and happened to be near the case.”

“Or young Mister WizBoy is doing a fine job of misdirecting us.” Jordan looked around the room and scratched his stiff brush of black hair. “Well, I sure as hell don't believe in magic, so there has to be an explanation. We just haven't found it.”

Chapter Twenty

Magic in Here

I didn't believe in magic, either. On my way home, my head was dizzy with mysteries. Taft Finch's murder, the missing Houdini box, and now, someone throwing a knife at Rahnee—if indeed, Rahnee was the intended target.

It was after ten, and the house was quiet. Camden was sitting on the sofa watching
Forbidden Planet.
He muted the sound, and then reached for a pad and pencil. He wrote, “Now what?”

“Someone threw one of Fancy's knives and hit Rahnee in the shoulder.”

“Is she okay?” he wrote.

“The cut needs stitches, but I think she'll be all right.” I sat down in the blue armchair. “These magicians are an ornery lot.”

“Suspects?” was his next note.

“I found a little bone off WizBoy's key ring right by the case, but the Wiz insists he's being set up. Bart was sitting with Fancy when the incident happened. Lucas was with Jolly Bob. WizBoy was the only one backstage. That leaves Jilly and about thirteen other people.”

Camden frowned. “Thirteen?” he mouthed.

“From what I can tell, everyone was out front watching the stage. If I've got thirteen more suspects, I'm going to shoot myself.”

Camden wrote, “Jilly?”

“Aside from some jealousy, I don't know. She's certainly not strong enough to have folded Taft into the trunk.” I put my feet up on the coffee table. “If WizBoy's playing me, I'm going to wring his scrawny little neck.” I yawned. “Anything else from the happy couple?”

He wrote for a while and passed me the notepad.

“‘Rufus would like for you to be a groomsman.' As a reward for all my sound advice, I'm sure. I'll be glad to.”

Camden took the pad and wrote something else.

“‘Sheila's excited about performing miracles.' Well, that's nice. ‘Plans to unveil a secret tomorrow.' I'll bet Ellin can't wait.”

He added, “A ratings bonanza.”

“We'll have to be sure and watch.”

***

Friday morning, Kary was already in the kitchen when I came down for breakfast. She was buttering some toast and asked if I wanted any.

I sat down at the counter. “No, thanks.”

“Angie is so excited about her wedding. She said she's going to start on her dress today.”

“Have they set a date?”

“Not yet. Maybe around Christmas.”

“So what would you like? Christmas wedding? Spring?”

“I'd like to know what happened last night at Taft's memorial service.”

“Yes. I promised to keep you informed, and something definitely happened last night. Someone threw a knife from Fancy's case at Rahnee and hit her in the shoulder.”

“Good lord. Is she okay?”

“Fortunately, she wasn't badly hurt. WizBoy swears he didn't do it, even though I found a little bone off his key ring backstage. Everyone else was out front. I didn't see Omar there, though.”

She brought her toast and sat down across from me. “One of his grandchildren had a birthday party last night. I didn't get a chance to ask him about Jolly Bob and WAM.”

“The next time you see him, ask him what he knows about Rahnee and Fancy. While you're at it, a little background on Jilly and on WizBoy might be useful, too.”

“All right.”

“Now that you've gone full tilt into the detective world, I expect results.”

“You'll get them—even if I have to search every dark alley in Parkland.”

The sparkle in her eyes told me she was teasing. Before she could say anything else, I leaned over the counter and kissed her.

“Now what was that all about?” she asked.

“A little fringe benefit from the Randall Detective Agency.”

“The Randall and Ingram Detective Agency.”

“That'll cost you more than a kiss.”

***

I left the house in a pretty good mood. When I stopped by the Magic Club, Rahnee was in her office. She looked pale, and her shoulder was bandaged.

I pulled up a chair. “How are you doing?”

“It hurts, but I'll manage.”

I motioned to the huge flower arrangement on the desk, complete with tiny stars and top hats. “I see you have an admirer.”

“They're from WizBoy.”

“I wanted to talk to you about him. Is he capable of running the club?”

“We had a long discussion earlier in the week. He had some legitimate complaints and some good ideas for the club. I've decided to give him more responsibility. I know he looks like a useless teenager, but he's a hard worker, and he really knows his craft.”

“You're sure no one else was backstage?”

“Just WizBoy.”

“What about Jilly?”

“If she was backstage, I didn't see her. And why would she attack me?”

“Did Jilly know about your affair with Taft?”

“I don't see how. We were very discreet.”

I know a thing or two about women. And one thing I know is that they
always
know.

Rahnee shifted her arm and winced. “Taft liked Jilly, but he felt she was too young for him.”

“He told her this?”

“No, he was very careful not to get her hopes up. He'd stop by the bar and have a drink, maybe talk a little, but that's as far as it went.”

That was far enough to get Jilly's hopes way up. “What about his offer to put her in his act?”

“I don't think he was serious. He liked working alone.” Her gaze went to the flower arrangement. “WizBoy is desperately in love with her. If she'd give him a chance, he'd teach her all kinds of magic, make her his assistant, create illusions for her to perform. She doesn't realize what she's missing.” She looked back to me. “That's the problem, isn't it? We don't realize what we're missing till it's gone. Taft was a wonderful man. I really should've tried harder to make things work. Do you know what I mean?”

We don't realize what we're missing till it's gone.
I didn't want to go down that road. “How interested is Jolly Bob in the Finches' collection of magic memorabilia?”

“He was always after Lucas and Taft to sell him something or another from their collection. I know he offered to buy the box from them, but they wouldn't sell. They'd rather have this bet of theirs.”

Would Jolly Bob have killed Taft to get his hands on the box? Would Bart?

“Do you have any idea who could've taken the box from the club?”

“No.”

“Did you know Taft was the one who ended the WOW/WAM feud?”

This surprised her. “Where did you hear that?”

“The woman at Ali's Cavern. She said Taft had taken care of the problem. After Jolly Bob revealed how Omar's illusion was done, I think Taft gave Omar a new illusion, or gave him money to buy one.”

Tears slid down her cheeks. “That sounds like something Taft would do. And he wouldn't want everyone to know about it. Omar's the one who caught Jolly Bob stealing? I didn't know that, either. No wonder they hate each other.”

I got up. “I'm going to talk to a few more people. I'm glad you're okay.”

“Thanks for telling me about Taft. He was always willing to help another magician.”

And another magician was willing to shove him into a trunk. The more I learned about Taft, the more I wanted to catch his killer.

Before I left, Rahnee wrote me another check. I went to the bar, hoping to speak to Jilly, but she wasn't there. Since no one was in the club, I went around behind the bar. I found two interesting things. A playing card, the three of clubs, was wedged in a crack in the floor. Of course, since this was a magic club and practically everyone knew card tricks, I didn't think too much of it. There were probably cards wedged everywhere. But when I pulled it out, I saw a familiar pattern on the back, a pink and red paisley design. Dirk Kirk had indeed been here.

However, the more interesting thing was a box of something called Sneeze Ease. I reached for it.

An annoyed voice said, “Can I help you?”

I looked up and across the bar into Jilly's dark wary eyes. “Yes, you can. Is this yours?”

“Yes.”

“I've never heard of Sneeze Ease. Do you have allergies?”

“Yes. Did you want something?”

“I want to know about the Houdini box. When Lucas first had the box, WizBoy says he brought it to the bar. Do you remember seeing it?”

“Yes. He thought he could get it open. Of course he couldn't.”

“Then Lucas took it back, right?”

“Yes. After that, he decided to have this contest with all of us.”

“Any money involved?”

“No. He only wanted to see if anyone could get it open.” She crossed her arms. “Do you mind coming around from back there? I have work to do.”

“Sorry.” I came back around. “Did you know there was a card wedged in the floor?”

She took her place behind the bar and opened the register. “There are cards everywhere.”

“Mind if I take this one?”

She gave me a look as if to say, why in the world would you want it? “No. Go ahead.”

WizBoy came around the corner of the stage. “Randall, I want to talk to you.”

“Sure. Excuse me, Jilly.”

She nodded. WizBoy motioned for me to come to the stage. He kept his voice low. “Have you found out anything?”

“Not yet.”

He wiped his palms on his jeans. “Man, I don't like this at all. You think the police are planning to arrest me?”

“Calm down. The police don't have any proof. Rahnee doesn't believe you threw a knife at her. She's the only one you have to worry about.”

“Yeah, but I been wracking my brain trying to think of anybody I might've insulted, or anybody who wants my job here. If they think I'd hurt Rahnee, what's to keep them from thinking I murdered Taft? The police would like that. Solves both the crimes at once.”

“Where do you keep your keys?”

He patted his back pocket. “Right here.”

“You never take them out, set them down somewhere, loan them to anybody?”

“No, never.”

“So somebody picked your pocket, took off one of the little bones, and then returned your keys before you noticed they were gone.”

He scrunched up his face so hard I thought his features might fuse together. “Okay, when I first got the key ring, I showed it to everyone ‘cause it was cool. Then maybe a couple of weeks ago, Rahnee left her keys at home and she used mine to lock up. I got them right back, though. And Jilly had to borrow them because she accidentally locked herself out Monday night.”

“The Monday we found Taft?”

“Yeah, I remember now. She was really upset and crying and left her keys on the bar. She called me and I came over and let her in so she could get them.” He looked disgusted. “I thought I was being helpful, you know, coming to the rescue and all that? Didn't make things any different between us.”

“You let her in, right? She never had your keys?”

“Maybe for a minute or two. What the hell are you saying?”

“I'm saying everybody associated with WOW is supposedly good at sleight of hand.”

“She'd have to be a genius at sleight of hand, and believe me, she's not.”

WizBoy was getting riled and probably would have asked me to step outside had Rahnee not called for him. “WizBoy, could you come here a minute, please?”

His dark look disappeared. “Look, what do you charge to solve things? I'd better hire you.”

“We can discuss that.”

“Later. I'd better see what Rahnee wants.”

I thought Jilly had gone, but I heard sounds behind the bar like very large mice having a party. I glanced over the bar. Jilly was down on her hands and knees, trying to get something from one of the lower compartments.

“Need some help?” I asked.

“No, thank you. I can manage.” She rummaged around and pulled out a stack of towels. “Did you want to ask me something?”

“I understand you're pretty good at sleight of hand.”

She gave me a wary look. “Sort of. Why?”

“Did you ever think of getting an act together for the club?”

“No. I'd rather be an assistant. It's more fun and the costumes are prettier.” She stood and put the towels on a shelf behind her. She gave me a more thoughtful look. “You're a detective, right? But are you a magician, too?”

“The Remarkable Randall.”

She gave me her full attention. “Do you need an assistant?”

“I might.”

“Well, watch this.” She went to the register and hit a button that made the drawer pop out. She got three quarters, put them on the bar, and proceeded to make them disappear.

“That's excellent.”

The quarters reappeared in her hand. “I can do lots of other tricks, too.”

“I'm surprised no one's hired you.”

“Me, too,” she said glumly.

“You don't want to work with WizBoy? He seems interested in you.”

“All he wants to do is run the club and hang around with Rahnee, even though she's way too old for him.”

“Sounds like you don't like her, either.”

“Don't get me wrong. Sometimes I'm annoyed because she thinks she's so great and everything, but I like this job, so don't think I'd be hiding backstage throwing knives at her.”

“Who would be?”

Jilly leaned forward on the bar. “I wouldn't put it past Fancy to have something rigged up in her case.”

“And what's Fancy got against Rahnee?”

“She probably didn't tell you, but when both of them were starting out, Rahnee beat Fancy out for all the best jobs because Rahnee would do anything to get an audition.”

“Are you saying she slept her way to the top of the magic world?”

Jilly gave me a lofty look. “That's the way I heard it.”

“Intriguing stuff, Jilly, thanks.”