04 Feb The Amazing Nicolas Hemlock

Do you know what a mentalist is, by any chance? By definition, it’s someone with amazing observational skills who uses them to figure things out about people. Kind of like reading their mind. It doesn’t sound too interesting to watch, but you’d be surprised!

My Dad was a big fan of Magicians. In particular, he loved the mentalists. He couldn’t do it himself, but he just loved to watch. He usually took me and my sister Gina with him, and we grew up immersed in the world of magic. We even got pretty good at some small tricks! My specialty was close up magic. Card tricks and multiplying balls. We used to talk about being part of a sibling act, although it never went anywhere. But of all the magicians and mentalists I’d ever seen, none of them beat out Nicolas Hemlock’s show at the Poetic Theatre.

To anyone who doesn’t live in Hamilton, the Poetic is an old, but beloved theatre on Hamilton Mountain. It’s kind of a landmark. Going inside feels like stepping back in time. It’s not particularly large, but the art deco design feels like a classic theatre from the ‘20s or ‘30s. I’ve heard it used to be a movie theater, and I can believe that.

I’d seen countless shows in there through the years, but Nicolas Hemlocks was the best.

He’d come onstage with his assistant, a beautiful young woman in a long white dress. They’d stand on opposite ends of the stage, and whatever he saw, she would read off perfectly. It sounds so simple on paper, but they took it to its logical extreme.

She would read people’s Driver’s Licenses without them even taking their wallets out of their pockets. He would make people draw something, and she would draw too, blindfolded so she couldn’t see. Both his Assistant and the lucky audience member would draw the exact same image. Not just similar. Exactly the same, line for line. He even picked people from the audience and she would tell them things about themselves, but simple things like favorite artists and actors.

Hemlock’s claim was that ‘He was speaking to her telepathically’. Of course, it was all smoke and mirrors. How couldn’t it be? No one is really telepathic. Even now that I’ve seen what I’ve seen, I think I can claim that much safely.

When I heard Nicolas Hemlock was returning to the Poetic, I was enthused. His show had remained on my mind for years since I’d seen it! The opportunity to see what had changed, or see if his act held up after all these years was something I didn’t want to pass up. I saw the Ad on the bus, heading into work one morning and I immediately messaged Gina about it. She was just as pumped as I was. I’d bought the tickets before the bus even stopped.

As the date of the show approached, my excitement grew. It was like finding out your favorite band was releasing a new album! Building anticipation. I’ll admit, I did follow Hemlock a bit. I knew he’d done shows in the USA. He’d even fooled Penn and Teller and performed in Vegas! Returning to the Poetic was kind of a big deal. It was a small venue, nothing special. I was surprised when I didn’t see much marketing for the show. I would have thought they’d try and go all out, but it didn’t seem like they did.

The night of the show, Gina and I were there first. We got our seats and our popcorn. For as little marketing as there seemed to be, the turnout was incredible! I’d never seen the theatre so packed!

The opening act was a Sinatra-style crooner with an angelic voice. He was one hell of a warm-up! But as he finished, the lights dimmed.

For a moment there was silence. Then came a spotlight. A woman stood on the stage, dressed entirely in white. She was young and beautiful. She seemed radiant and almost more than human. Her charming smile lit up the room.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen. It’s the man we’ve all been waiting for. The Master of the Mind. The Knower of the Unknowable, The Prince of Illusions himself, the inexplicable Nicolas Hemlock!”

Hemlock stepped out from behind her. The move seemed almost impossible. He was a massive man that towered over her and was far too wide to hide behind her. His hands were outstretched to welcome the applause of the audience and they gladly gave him what he wanted.

“Thank you! Thank you!” He cried. Hemlock was somewhere in his mid-60’s. He seemed as if he was a giant on the stage. Not fat or particularly tall. But dominating and powerful.

“It’s so wonderful to be back in Hamilton… It’s been so many years and I’ve missed this place!” There were a few cheers from the audience.

“Now, before I continue and since she was so kind to introduce me, I’d like to introduce my lovely, lovely assistant, Elizabeth!”

The applause for her was just as thunderous, and Elizabeth seemed to shy from it a little bit. Hemlock just kept his winning stage smile.

“Elizabeth and I met a few years back, and it’s been a pleasure touring with her. Every now and then… you do meet special people with who you share a connection. My act has always been a two-person act, but people meet and part ways. Everyone has their commitments, and I’m very, very lucky to have Elizabeth with us today. She and I share a unique telepathic connection. We can send each other thoughts. We can see what the other sees, and today we are here to show you just how much we have honed this ability!”

“That’s right, Nick!” Elizabeth chimed in, “This is a very rare connection, but when it’s made, it is so powerful!” She looked over at Hemlock, “I think a demonstration is in order, isn’t it?”

“Yes my dear, I think it is! Now… let’s get this show on a roll!”

What followed was quite simply the best performance I’d ever witnessed. Hemlock and Elizabeth seemed to be so in touch. I’d seen countless magic acts throughout my years. But none like this. I couldn’t figure out how they did any of the tricks.

The obvious highlight of the show started early on when Hemlock gave a piece of paper to several different audience members. He even gave one to Gina. Everyone wrote something different down on each paper. After some thought, Gina wrote the word ‘Toad’ on it. I was right there to ensure that the paper never once left her hand. At the same time, Elizabeth wrote down a prediction as to what the papers would say at the end of the show. When that finally came around after almost two hours of demonstrations of their ‘telepathic connection’, Hemlock requested we all hand the papers back. From those papers, he formed a sentence.

A toad sleeps in the tree

Then, they opened up Elizabeth’s prediction envelope, which had sat in plain view for the entire show. Inside, the paper read.

A toad sleeps in the tree

The applause for that trick was deafening. Gina was in awe and I’ll admit, I had no idea how they pulled it off either! It had to just be misdirection, of course. But it was no less incredible! Hemlock hadn’t just held up, he’d gotten better!

And I had to say as much to him.

As Gina and I left the theatre after the show, I spotted a door leading to the backstage. I paused for a moment, staring at it. It was unguarded. No one to stop me. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d done something like that. Gina and I had pulled a similar stunt to try and meet Bon Jovi.

Gina paused beside me and seemed to already know what I was thinking.

“Come on, let’s do it!” She said, taking my hand and pulling me towards the door. Any doubt I had was immediately dispelled. The door was unlocked and we slipped into the back unnoticed. From there, it was easy to keep walking like we belonged there. No one tried to stop us.

We spotted Nicolas Hemlock in the hall, outside his dressing room.

“Hey! Mr. Hemlock!” I called and he looked up. In person, he seemed just a bit smaller. His age was more apparent up close. But he had a kindly smile.

“Hello. What can I do for you?” He seemed to recognize that we weren’t part of the staff.

“Oh, I just wanted to say I loved your show!” I replied, “It was really something else!”

His kindly smile widened from a formality into something genuine.

“I’m glad. Some days I worry I’m getting played out!” He said and laughed nervously.

“Not at all! I’m kinda an amateur magician myself and I can see how you fooled Penn and Teller! You’re incredible!”

“Well, glad to see I can still inspire the youth.” He said softly, “I don’t think you two introduced yourself…”

“Oh, right! I’m Troy Sanders!” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. My sister was next.

“Gina Sanders. He’s my brother. You’re basically his idol.”

I’m pretty sure I blushed at that, but Hemlock didn’t seem put off.

“Really? Well, I’m flattered! Hey, I was about to grab a bite. How would you two like to join me, and maybe even offer a recommendation?”

My heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah! Absolutely!” Gina answered for me. “We know a pretty good place a few blocks away. Walking distance, if you’re interested! It’s a steakhouse!”

“That sounds good.” Hemlock replied, “If you don’t mind waiting around a bit, I just need to finish up and we can walk over!”

He nodded respectfully before disappearing. My heart was racing in my chest.

“See? I’ve got your back,” Gina said confidently. I almost hugged her. She gave me a playful punch on the shoulder.

Sure enough, Hemlock came back not ten minutes later.

“Sorry to keep you kids waiting!” He said, “My crew’ll clean everything up. I’m a little too old for the heavy lifting.”

“Is Elizabeth coming?” I asked. Hemlock shook his head.
“She’s gone back to the hotel. She usually eats before the shows anyhow. I can’t. I get too nervous.” He laughed awkwardly, “I don’t know how she does it, but she’s a natural on stage. She’s got some real talent.”

As we walked to the restaurant, we talked about magic. Mr. Hemlock was honestly very pleasant company. It was a wonderful surprise. I’d been a little afraid that he’d be some cold curmudgeon. But he was anything but!

“You know, it’s been a while since I got to actually meet some of the audience,” Hemlock told us as we sat at the steakhouse. He’d ordered a rare cut of beef and white wine.

“I might have a drink with the crew over dinner, but after the show… I’m usually dining alone. It doesn’t lead to the healthiest choices! Besides, touring takes a lot out of you. Sometimes you’re so tired when it’s done. All you want is to sleep.”

“There’s gotta at least be some reward to it though,” Gina replied.

“Oh, there’s plenty of reward! But I’m starting to think it’s a young man’s game.” He sighed. It didn’t seem upset. Just wistful.

“You know… Hamilton was where my career started. I played my first shows here.”

“I know.” I admitted, “I remember seeing you when I was a kid.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Really now? Well. Hopefully my act holds up!” He chuckled, “Ah, but I digress… Part of the reason why I came back is because I was thinking it might be best to end it here.”

I felt my expression drop.

“You’re retiring?” I asked.

“Why not?” He replied, “I’m 67 years old now. I think I’ve gone about as far as I can go. I can’t really top what I’ve already done. There’s a dignity in knowing where the end is.”

His hand absentmindedly went to a string around his neck. I hadn’t consciously noticed it before. It was some kind of necklace he wore under his suit.

“Well, you’re sure as hell ending on a high note,” Gina said. Hemlock nodded in response.

“That’s part of the plan, my dear.” His eyes focused on me, and he seemed to think for a moment.

“Although… I suppose I’m thinking of something that hasn’t occurred to me already. Troy, you said you’re something of a magician yourself, right?”

“Yeah.” I replied, “Close up stuff mostly. I’ve always been fascinated by mentalism though!”

“Well, maybe I can teach you a few things.” He replied. If my jaw could’ve hit the floor, it would have. It took me a few minutes to actually respond properly. Hemlock knew my answer before I could even say it.

“R-really?” I managed to stammer out.

“I’ll tell you what… I’ll be at the Poetic tomorrow morning going through some practice. Stop by and maybe I can teach you a few things.”

“Yes! Of course, absolutely!”

Nicolas Hemlock cracked a smile, and popped a bite of steak into his mouth.

“I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then.” He said.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. I was back at the Poetic bright and early! The old art deco style of the theatre seemed less surreal in the daylight, but it still had its charm.

I followed the directions Nick (He’d asked me to call him that instead of Mr. Hemlock) had given me to get into the theatre via the back entrance. An employee led me to Nick’s room where he sat playing a game of solitaire as he waited for me. He was dressed down quite a bit from last night. I barely recognized him without a suit on. But he stood up to greet me warmly.

“Ah, Troy! Glad you could make it!” He said and clasped my hand to shake it

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” I said and immediately regretted it. It sounded so corny and pathetic. But Nick didn’t seem to mind.

“Ah, no worries. Elizabeth is out on stage. I told her what was going on. We were going to give you a little private demonstration. But first, I wanted to get an idea as to where you were at. How much do you know about mentalism?”

“Well, I know it’s mostly based on probability, subliminal programming. There’s a few math tricks for the numbers ones… I can do some basic tricks.” I admitted. “Grey elephants from Denmark for instance.”

“Not a bad start.” Nick replied, heading out towards the stage, “Our tricks are a bit more elaborate. I designed a few in my time that build off of those principles. Although… Well, people always like Bigger and Better. That’s where it gets hard. I did find a simple little trick that can help you, though. It’s as close to genuine mind reading as you’re likely to find.” He said.

We stepped out onto the stage together where Elizabeth was waiting. She wore the same flowing white dress from that night and still had a charming smile. Up close, however, it seemed a little forced.

“Troy, you remember Elizabeth, right?” He asked.

“Of course!” I reached out to shake her hand, but she didn’t reciprocate the gesture. Her smile faded a little.

“It’s nice to meet you, Troy.” She said softly in that angelic voice of hers. She seemed to be keeping her distance from me.

“Nick says he wanted to give you a demonstration of my… abilities, as it were.”

“Yeah, I’d love to learn how you do it!” I replied. Her smile outright died and she glanced towards Nick. For a moment, I got the impression that she was angry with him. But whatever was on her mind, she didn’t say it out loud.

“Very well… Nick. How should we start?”

“How about his wallet?” Nick said. “Let’s find out what’s in there.”

Elizabeth exhaled through her nostrils.

“Okay… I’m seeing… Cash. Two twenty dollar bills. One ten. Fifty dollars in total.”

Watching her work up close was surreal! I had no idea how she knew!

“Health card… It’s old. No picture. Driver’s license expires in 2021…”

“That’s amazing!” I said softly, and looked over at Nick, “I guess you saw last night, when I paid for dinner?”

“That’s a good eye.” Nick replied, “But no. It’s a little more… complicated than that. Let’s hear some more Elizabeth.”

She nodded slowly and continued.

“You have two hundred and four dollars in your bank account. But it’s not all of your money. There’s a fifteen thousand dollars in a separate account. Seven thousand of which was embezzled using the company credit card.”

I felt a sudden pit in my stomach.

“I see a girl… Brown hair. Pretty blue eyes. She smiles at you often. You smile back. Her name is… Jane? Jessica? Janet? Yes. I see now. Janet. You’re afraid to ask her out. You don’t know if you’re good enough for her.”

I stood there frozen as Elizabeth calmly told me about my crush at work. Janet and I had never had much in the way of meaningful conversation and I hadn’t told anyone about how I felt! Not even Gina!

How the hell could Elizabeth know this?

“Now… I see a man. He’s worn. Haggard. His clothes are dirty. He’s old. Tired. I see a car. A blue Toyota.”

Gina’s car.

Oh, God… I knew what she was going to say next. I wanted to stop her but Elizabeth continued, unaffected by what she was learning.

“I smell alcohol. I see the headlights. I can see the look of terror on his face… W-why didn’t you stop? No… No, you didn’t… It was her… The girl… Ginny? No. Gina.”

Elizabeth’s eyes opened.

“You said someone had backed into her in a parking lot.” She said, “You tell yourself that, that man survived… But you know the truth.”

My legs were shaking. I stood in wide-eyed shock as Elizabeth stared at me with silent judgment.

“W-what is this?” I asked, my voice hoarse and broken.

Nick stood quietly beside me.

“This is a bit beyond regular mentalism,” he replied. “Let me show you.”

We returned to the dressing room in silence. Elizabeth didn’t follow us.

From a desk filled with clutter, Nick took out a pair of books. One looked ancient and was bound in leather. The other was a simple notebook.

“I found this a number of years ago. A friend of mine liked to dabble in archeology. He caused some trouble when he started to decipher this thing. See… This is what some people like to call a grimoire. After he passed away, I adopted the book. I was so sure it was real magic that I wanted to study it. I wanted to see what it could do. All through these years, I’ve barely even finished translating half of it.”

He laughed dryly, and offered me the notebook.

“The vital spells are in there. Take a look.”

I thumbed through the notebook in a daze, barely reading Nick’s neat handwriting.

“For the longest time, I’ve thought about a successor. Like I said, I’m getting a little old for this, and Elizabeth’s time with me is almost up. She’ll be leaving soon.”

“What is she?” I asked, “A demon?”

“No, she’s human.” Nick replied, “Well… She was…” His eyes settled on a large steamer chest in the corner of the room.

“See… The living can’t read minds. But the dead can. If you know how to bind them, they can tell you things. But the binding only lasts for so long. It’s why I have to change assistants so frequently. Elizabeth is a powerful spirit. One of the strongest I’ve had in a while. Knowing that I’m unlikely to hit the jackpot again, like I have with her, is one of the reasons I’m retiring. That and the fact that I’m too old to scope out a new assistant and it’s only a matter of time until I fail to control them. I think it’s obvious that Elizabeth resents me. She’s justified in that. I stole her life from her. But at least tonight will be her last show…”

I stared at Nick in confusion, then horror as I began to understand what he was telling me.

“You’re killing those girls,” I said. Nick nodded slowly.

“Yes. I am.” He took the necklace out from under his shirt. I could see that at the end of it was a small glass vial filled with a dark red liquid. I didn’t need to be a doctor to know that it was blood.

“As long as she’s got blood to give, I’m safe. But Elizabeth’s body is dry. It’s time to either quit or find someone else. If I try to summon her without her blood to guard me, she may act a little impulsively. It’s why her last show is tonight.”

“You should turn yourself over to the police,” I said, my voice hoarse. Nick laughed.

“And what? Say I murdered my assistant six months ago? They’ll never believe it! No one would! Which is part of why I’m telling you. My secret is safe. But my legacy…” He paused and stood up.

“It’s been in the back of my mind for some time now. The show must go on, Troy! I need a replacement!”

“I am not killing people and performing some sort of blood ritual!” I replied, backing away from him, “I don’t know what the hell gave you that impression, but that is sick!”

“You’re a man with drive, Troy! You could be a great magician! You could be one hell of a mentalist! I’m giving you the opportunity to take the world by storm! I’ll even teach you how to do it the old fashioned way, don’t worry! But this show is too good to die and it’s a young man’s game, Troy!”

He offered a hand to me, but I stumbled backwards. His expression soured, and it was the last thing I saw before I left the dressing room and Nicolas Hemlock behind.

I thought about calling the police. I really did. But Nick was right. They’d never believe me. The story itself was absurd! There was no way in hell I could ever prove it! I hadn’t seen the body. I’d seen Elizabeth up on stage. Tonight people would see Elizabeth up on the stage! No one would believe she was a ghost!

I paced my house trying to think up what to do, and at last I realized my only option was to reach out to Gina.

Hey, sis. Need your help. Something is really wrong and I’m freaking out!

She didn’t reply. I tried to distract myself as I thought up a plan of action. Most of my day was already wasted. But that was fine.

When my phone went off with a notification from Gina, I pounced on it.

Can it wait for tomorrow? I’m at Nick Hemlock’s show! Surprised you’re not here! I was gonna surprise you!

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no…

I suddenly felt sick. I didn’t know if Nick was going to try to sell her the same bullshit that he sold me or if he had something worse in mind.

I texted Gina back. I told her everything but she must have turned her phone off for the show because I don’t think she ever got my messages!

There was only one option. Call a cab and get over there. If Nick had anything in mind, I wasn’t going to let him get away with it!

The cab took its sweet time to arrive. The anxiety I felt was so overpowering I couldn’t think straight. I loathed every stop in traffic. Everything that slowed me down from my mission to reach the Poetic! It took me too long to get there.

I was smarter than to go through the box office. I didn’t have a ticket and I knew they wouldn’t let me through. Instead, I used the same entrance I’d used earlier that day to creep through the backstage.

I could hear Nick’s powerful voice as he addressed the audience. His show was already well underway. I snuck out of the backstage and into the lobby, where I was able to get into the auditorium. I was lucky to find a seat so I wouldn’t cause a scene, and I scanned the audience for any sign of Gina. I should have recognized her ginger hair immediately, but in the dim lights, it was hard to tell for sure.

I reasoned that I could wait the show out. I could catch her as she left. The theatre wasn’t that big and only had one exit. It was a solid plan in concept! In practice however… my plan failed. As the show ended and the audience left, talking eagerly about how great it had been, Gina was not among them.

From the stage, I could’ve sworn Elizabeth stopped to glare at me from the stage before disappearing off of it.

I stayed until the audience was gone, my heart racing. There’d been no sign of Gina, and there was only one person I could ask about it.

As I advanced towards the stage, determined to find Nicolas Hemlock and make him tell me where the fuck my sister was, he made the search easy for me.

He stepped out from behind the curtain in his immaculate suit. Alone as always.

“Hello, Troy,” he said. The empty theatre made his voice echo.

“Where’s Gina?” I started to ask, but Nick was ahead of me.

“I understand you’re upset, Troy. But you made your position on my offer very clear. I understand. I take no offense!”

I stopped a few steps from the stage.

“I can tell you’re afraid.” Nick said, “Even from there I can almost hear the rapid beating of your heart. You really loved your sister, didn’t you?”

As I started to ask another question, Nick interrupted me again.

“I know, I know. ‘What did you do with her.’ I suppose I’m avoiding the question, aren’t I? Yes. I gave her a special pass for the show, and yes. I killed her. I needed another assistant, Troy. I can’t retire with no heir and she does have a certain presence to her. She’ll be a star, just like Elizabeth was!”

“You… you son of a bitch…” I said under my breath. All I could see was red. All I could imagine were my hands around Nick’s throat, and I hope his ‘telepathic powers’ told him that!

I sprinted at him, leaping up on the stage and I punched Nick with all my strength. Even if he’d been expecting it, he hit the ground hard. I seized him by the collar of his finely pressed suit and hit him again and again. Any sounds I made were not words. Just angry screams of rage.

Nick tried to cover his face with his hands but I wasn’t inclined to show him anything resembling mercy. He was going to suffer… and I was going to draw it out.
“Please! N-no! Stop!” he rasped, “I… I can stop it, Troy! I… I can stop it!”

Those were the words that broke through to me.

“How?” I demanded, gripping him by the lapels. Nick coughed. He was missing some teeth and his nose was broken. His voice was low and distorted.

“S-stab the corpse… There’s a silver dagger in my dressing room. Put it in her heart. It… It’ll sever the connection… She’ll move on. She’ll b-be at peace…”

I let Nick drop to the ground and I hit him one last time for good measure. I wanted to kill him but… No. I wasn’t going to sink to his level.

“When I’m done… I’m getting the cops. I’ll show them everything, you bastard!”

Nick coughed and rolled onto his stomach. He tried to pick himself up weakly. As he did, his necklace dangled from his neck… or at least what was left of it. The vial had clearly been shattered during my assault, and Nick noticed that too.

“No…” He rasped, unaware of my threat. The broken vial was the only thing that had his attention.

“No… Not like this!”

Behind him, I saw something that resembled a shimmering mist. For a moment, I thought I recognized a figure of a woman in the mist. It almost looked just like Gina!

Nick rolled onto his back, hands up in protest.

“Wait, WAIT! STOP! NO!”

Gina’s spirit fell upon him and as it did, Nick’s final cry died in his throat. The shimmering mist smothered him and his face remained frozen in a look of absolute terror. His hands vainly tried to claw at his unseen assailant… but there was nothing he could do.

He died faster than he deserved.

The theatre was dead silent. I went into the dressing room where the steamer trunk sat. The dagger sat atop of Nick’s notebook and I took it reverently in my hand. With trembling fingers, I opened the steamer chest.

In death, Gina looked so peaceful. Her eyes were closed. Her face was calm. It looked like she was just sleeping. She was dressed in the same white dress Elizabeth had worn. Just seeing it sent shivers through my body.
“I’m sorry…” I said under my breath. I moved her arm to find the best place to slide the knife into her heart. The movement was quick and undramatic. I stabbed her and left her to rest.

“I… I hope you’re at peace… I love you, sis…”

Tears streamed down my cheeks but I left the steamer trunk open. I felt tired and I collapsed into Nick’s chair, taking my cell phone out of my pocket.

Time to call the police. Time to tell them everything.

But as I dialed the number, I spotted something. Nick’s notebook was partially open. I could see the string of another necklace hanging out of it, and my curiosity got the better of me. I opened the notebook and found a vial of blood, much like the one Nick had worn, marking a page. I saw my name amongst the text and as I read it, that sick feeling returned.

Troy,

I am sorry that I lied to you. I realize that if you are reading this, I am likely dead. It had occurred to me that you may end up killing me on account of what I intend to say to you.

I would advise you to put the necklace on. Those who die in the steamer chest are bound to it, and can interact with the world around them to an extent, on account of the charms I’ve placed inside the chest. This can include hostile behavior. I’d hate for you to get hurt.

You will soon realize what I’ve done, and you will be angry. But as I’ve said before Troy, it’s a young man’s game. I’ve left you everything you need in this notebook. It’ll help you succeed. Maybe it might even help you surpass me. I wish you luck in your upcoming career, and I hope that what I’ve done does not tarnish me too greatly in your eyes. I needed a successor. I needed a legacy. You are the perfect man to carry my legacy! The show must always go on.

* * * * * *

“Troy?”

I looked up to see Gina standing across from me, wearing the white dress. Her voice was heavy with fear and she looked down at her own corpse in the trunk.
“Troy, what is this? T-Troy?”

I stared at her in silent horror… and I understood.

He hadn’t killed Gina. I had. That spirit on the stage? That must have been Elizabeth, freed from her bondage and exacting her long-overdue revenge.

In his last moments, Nicolas Hemlock had pulled his greatest trick yet, and it wasn’t even magic.

Now I’ve told my story and in doing so, broken a cardinal rule. A magician never reveals his tricks, but now I’ve gone and done that. None of you will believe me anyway.

I should finish this up. Gina and I are performing at the Poetic tonight, and it’s time to get our show on a roll.