“I guess we won’t know until things have had a chance to simmer down. Archie knew a couple of the girls who disappeared, Anita and Embry. But then, so did Bernie. Honestly, I think Zeke is our strongest suspect at this point. His anger toward Julian was palpable.”
“I agree. Let’s get to that office.” We head that way, and Jasper takes a cautious step into the room first. “All right,” he says, flicking on the light to a small room brimming with wall-to-wall dark mahogany bookcases. And each spine of those books boasts of magic. There must be hundreds of books on the art in here. His desk is lacquered black and has lion paws for feet. There’s a large crystal ball sitting on the corner of it, but other than that it’s barren. “Here we are.” Jasper pulls a couple of pairs of gloves out of his pocket, and we each put them on. “Have at it, Bizzy.”
“So where do you think he would have these treasured journals?” I ask. “Michaela made it sound as if he poured all of his trade secrets into them.”
“He’s a magician. He could be hiding them somewhere unique. Or perhaps in plain sight?”
“You’re right,” I say, pulling random books off the shelf and opening them. “He’s a magician…” I take a step back, admiring the literary treasures in the room, and note the ceiling is painted a dark hue of purple. “He really broke faith with the rest of the house in here, didn’t he?”
“Sure did,” Jasper says, pointing to a shelf above the window with a series of crystal awards on it. This is the only room in the house where Julian actually shines.”
“Huh.” I note something odd in the bookshelf next to the door. “Look at the thickness in the wood here. It’s asymmetrical to the rest of the bookshelves.”
Jasper steps in to examine it.
“And this side is noticeably thinner.” He points to the right about three feet.
“What do you think it means?” I ask, running my fingers along the thinner side of the bookcase, and no sooner do I apply a bit of pressure than the bookshelf itself dips in and out before floating ajar on the right. “Ha! It’s a secret passage.”
Jasper carefully opens a three foot section of the bookshelf like a door, and behind it sits a black wall with silver stars painted over it—but what makes me gasp is a tall, heavily carved wooden filing cabinet made to look like the neck and head of a dragon. Jasper flicks on the lights in this tiny space, and that enormous dragon’s head looks as if it’s about to lunge at us.
I bury my head in Jasper’s chest a moment. “Oh, wow, it’s ugly.”
“It’s a work of questionable art, all right,” he says, stepping inside. “It looks as if this is a closet of some sort.”
He’s right. The entire space is about three feet wide by four feet deep.
We make our way to the terrifying dragon’s head with its mouth open and forked tongued hanging out. It’s magnificently carved out of dark-stained wood, and the eyes look as if they’re made of cut rubies.
“Go ahead.” He points to the carved silver handles that run down the filing cabinet. “Do the honors.”
I pull open the first drawer, and inside we find stacks of memorabilia. Mostly event flyers like the ones they hand out at the door of the Magic Castle, and most of them are from that exact location. The second drawer is brimming with notebooks in every shape and size, and I can’t help but shed a victorious smile.
“Bingo,” I say as we both begin to pore over the books. Inside the pages are tons of tricks Julian’s amassed and detailed instructions on how to pull them off, including tips on how to improve them.
Jasper points to a star system that’s on the top of each page.
“He’s giving them honest ratings. It seems Julian was determined to master his craft.”
“He was one of the best, according to Archie,” I say.
After nearly twenty minutes we’ve combed through each of the pages and found nothing other than the greatest secrets to every magic trick known to man.
“You know what?” I close the drawer once again after we’ve shoved all the journals back inside. “I feel as if I just unwrapped all my presents before Christmas Day.”
“Me too. But as long as I have you in my life, I still believe in magic.”
“Aww,” I coo. “Come here, Detective. I’ve got a clue for you.”
He leans in and I plant a wet one right over his lips.
“Hey?” I pull back with a devious smile. “How about we make some magic happen right here in this secret compartment?”
“It might make things interesting once forensics shows up tomorrow.”
I make a face. “You’re right. I’d hate to leave any DNA evidence behind. Let’s check out this last drawer and split.” I slide it open, and a single file sits inside on its back with the letters TBM written boldly in black.
“TBM,” I say as I pick up the thick file and peel it open. “Oh my God, Jasper.”
“Bizzy,” he says my name breathless as pictures of familiar women tumble out of it. “These are no eight-by-ten glossy studio shots. These are candid pictures. These women are in thick crowds—completely oblivious to the camera.”
“And he’s circled them.”
The first is a picture of Anita Dolman laughing at the Magic Castle. She’s near the bar and speaking to a few other women. Her face is circled with a red marker, and next to it reads the words last scene. There are two more shots just like it for Embry Knight and Shelly Grant, and they all seem to be at the Magic Castle.
Jasper carefully holds the picture of Anita up to the light. “This was done with a laser printer. I’m guessing he got the images off the security camera. We’ve got the tapes. I bet I can see these in motion.”
“Jasper, look.” I point to the
