‘Will you kindly tell me how long you’ve been on the bill at the Paragon, sir?’ A good opening question, requiring a short statement of fact. Get them into the way of repeating facts and they’d be hard put to introduce evasions later.
There was a lengthy pause.
‘You heard me, sir?’
Several seconds later, Virgo spoke: ‘W-when I am nervous I develop an im-p-p—’
‘—pediment?’ God, what appalling luck! His first major interrogation and he had landed a stutterer.
‘About six weeks is the answer to your qu-qu—’
‘I believe you’re a sword-swallower by training?’
Virgo nodded.
‘And you had an accident?’
‘At the Ti-Ti—’
‘Tivoli Garden. Then what happened, sir?’
‘S-s-sore—’
‘—throat. Yes, I can believe that, sir. You was taken to Philbeach House in Kensington, wasn’t you?’ Putting words into their mouths was not the recommended procedure, but this interview was liable to last all night if he didn’t.
Another nod.
‘Someone there offered you an engagement at the Paragon. Am I correct? Good. Now who was that?’
‘Mrs B-B—’
‘Body. Thank you. Now where did you first meet the Pinkus sisters—at Philbeach House? Right. Did the suggestion that they worked with you come from them or from you?’
‘From them.’
‘I see. And when did you first appear with them at the Paragon?’
Virgo held up his fingers. ‘Th-th—’
‘Three days ago? No? Three weeks. Very good. Are you still feeling nervous? What’s the name of your rabbit? Never mind. Look here, Professor Virgo, I need to hear your account of what happened tonight, from the moment you got to the theatre. Are you able to manage that? Have a drop of your whisky. Not for me, thanks. I’m on duty, you see.’
When he had upended the bottle for several seconds, Virgo seemed to recover some of his confidence. He was a decent-looking man, with regular features, but desperately thin. He wouldn’t last long in Newgate, Thackeray reflected.
‘G-got here about eleven. They didn’t want us here while the other show was in p-p—’
‘—progress.’
‘I wasn’t the first turn so I had some time to get my things ready. I put them outside the door here for the p-propman to collect and take downstairs.’
‘That would be your swords,’ recalled Thackeray, ‘and your table, with the wand, your hat, gloves and the glass of magic fluid. What was in that fluid, sir?’
‘W-water, and a little colouring.’ Virgo produced a small bottle of cochineal.
‘May I have it, sir? I’ll see that it’s returned. Now when were your props taken to the stage?’
‘During the m-m—’
‘Monologue. I see. Do you know who moved them?’
Virgo shook his head.
‘So they was probably waiting in the wings about twenty minutes, That’s a long time. Don’t people ever tamper with a conjurer’s tricks when they’re lying about like that, sir?’
‘Oh yes. You get lots of jokers in the theatre. That’s what happened to my swords at the Ti-Ti—’
‘Tivoli Gardens. Yes, sir. Then why did you allow your props to go down there so long before you did?’
Virgo raised his finger confidentially. ‘Ah, there wasn’t much they could do with those few things, was there? They could only add something to the magical fluid, and that’s a chance you take. Why, my assistant once swallowed a glass of d-disappearing liquid and found later it was dosed with ca-ca-cas—’
‘Cascara.’ Both men smiled. ‘So you came into the wings during the transformation scene,’ Thackeray went on, ‘and waited on the side opposite your table, which was brought on by er—a propman.’
‘Yes. I went through the tricks as usual. The swords and the fire-eating. Then I introduced Miss Lola. It’s odd you know. I never s-stutter during a per-per—’
‘—formance,’ said Thackeray. ‘Did anything unusual happen?’
‘Not really. I handed her the drink after she had taken off the cloak. Then I made sure that she—do you know the trick?’
‘She stood on the trap,’ said Thackeray in a superior way.
‘Yes. She drank the water, I shielded her with the cloak and she dropped through the trap as usual.’
‘But she screamed,’ said Thackeray.
‘Yes. That was the moment of her heart-attack, I suppose, poor child. She must have been terrified by the occasion. I don’t think I’ve p-played to such a distinguished audience in my life, either.’
‘What happened then?’
‘I finished the act and when I came off, the man from the trap-floor told me she was dead. I was speechless.’
‘I can believe that,’ Thackeray assured him. ‘A very tragical thing to happen, sir.’
‘A choker,’ said Virgo. ‘I shall have to change my act now. That trick is impossible without twin s-sisters. And s-sword-swallowing isn’t enough to keep a house like this one happy. They aren’t content until there’s a girl on the stage showing a plentiful amount of l-l—’
‘Lower limb?’ said Thackeray.
Virgo nodded. ‘So you see I can’t p-perform with Miss Bella on her own.’ He tapped the wand on his forehead. ‘Perhaps I could saw her in ha-ha—’
‘I shouldn’t,’ said Thackeray hastily. ‘There ain’t much future in that sort of trick, sir. Well, I’m grateful for your answers to my inquiries. I must get back to my sergeant now. If he should want to speak to you, where will you be, sir?’
‘In here for at least an hour,’ said Virgo with a note of self-pity in his voice. ‘I have to wait for the p-private omnibus to convey us all back to Philbeach H-H—’
‘Thank you, sir.’
Finding the trap-floor deserted, Thackeray eventually tracked down his superior in the quick-change room. One of the scene-shifters was stationed at the door to repel intruders. For the rest of that evening quick changes would have to be performed in the wings, a contingency unlikely to cause embarrassment to anyone at the Paragon. Thackeray established his identity by flourishing his notebook—what a comfort to have it on one’s person again!— and was admitted.
‘There you are, Constable,’ said Cribb. ‘I was starting to wonder if you were lost in the dressing-rooms.’
Thackeray returned a sharp look. ‘The questioning took longer than you’d think, Sergeant. The Professor had a defect of speech.’
‘I’m not surprised. If you swallowed swords for a living you’d probably impair your faculties in time.’
‘That’s a risk I don’t propose to take, Sarge,’ said Thackeray firmly, now on his guard against any suggestion of Cribb’s. He repeated Virgo’s story, referring only briefly to his notes. ‘So I can’t believe he would deliberately poison Miss Pinkus,’ he concluded, ‘seeing that he’d only known the girl three weeks. Besides, she and Bella was needed for the disappearing act. It won’t be easy finding replacements. And in case the thought had crossed your mind, Sarge,’ he added, grinning, but still with a certain wariness, ‘I don’t happen to have a twin brother.’
‘Even if you had, Thackeray, I can’t picture him in spangles and tights,’ Cribb reassured him. ‘No, from what I gathered when I questioned our friend Plunkett, the Professor ain’t likely to be looking for replacements. He’s a pure-bred sword-swallower and fire-eater. The disappearing trick was put in at the insistence of the management. The patrons don’t take to any kind of turn, however excellent, without its provision of undraped female flesh. But Virgo only performed the disappearing trick under protest. When you’re shoving swords down your own throat to impress an audience you don’t like to sully your act with conjuring-tricks, or so Plunkett tells me.’
‘That puts it in a new light, Sarge. Now you mention it, he didn’t seem particularly put out that he wouldn’t be
