The Mad Magician Page #4

It was then that I determined

to write to you and ask you to come here.

Oh, of course, this roomer may not be your

husband, but it's well worth investigating.

What name did he use?

Ward Jameson.

What did he look like?

Oh, he's a very striking man.

The moment I laid eyes on him,

i said, there's a character.

I collect characters.

I'm a writer, you know.

- Murder mysteries.

- Alice prentiss.

Oh. Here's a picture of my husband.

Lt's a much newer one.

Frank. Frank, what did I tell you?

I knew it in my bones.

Yes, my dear, in your bones.

This is the man, Mrs. ormond.

Is he here now?

Oh, no, no.

He spends very little time here,

but he did tell the maid

that he'd be in late tonight, very late.

Oh, my dear, you... you do want

to make up with him, don't you?

Why, of course. Lf only he'd let me.

I don't think

that will be too difficult.

Frank.

Yes, dear?

Oh, yes, my dear.

Now, my dear child,

I've handled situations like this

in dozens of my books,

and they always turn out

in a very interesting way.

Oh?

- Frank.

- Huh? What?

Shh. He's here.

Ross.

What is the matter?

Can't you speak?

Or is the shock of seeing me

too much for you?

What are you doing here?

What am I doing here?

Well, after all, I'm your wife.

Where would I be

but with my husband?

How did you find me?

Well, that was easy.

You shouldn't have rented rooms

from a woman who writes.

You might have guessed

she'd be curious about you.

Do the prentisses know you're here?

Why, of course, my darling.

Who are you?

You're not Ross.

You're don, aren't you?

It's amazing. Incredible.

I think it would fool

anybody in the world,

with one exception.

The woman who lived with both of you.

Why are you masquerading like this?

Are you trying to help him against me?

Where is he?

Well, don't stand there

staring at me. Answer me.

He's dead.

Yes.

You killed him.

Yes.

Aren't they going to find him?

I don't think so.

[Paughs]

It's all right, don.

You don't have to worry about me.

I would never turn you in.

Did you think that

i wanted him for myself?

I wanted his money,

and now I've got it.

You've made me a very rich woman, don,

and I could love you for it.

I could love you all over again.

Why, I know... I know

I've been rotten to you.

I made a terrible mistake.

I'll make up for it.

We could get married again.

We could be happy.

We can buy anything we want.

My poor, dear Claire.

Don.

Don't you know

i wouldn't dare trust you?

No! No!

Mr. ormond! Mr. ormond!

Open the door!

Frank! Frank, do something!

Here. Here.

Get the police.

Yes, my dear.

Thank you.

Er... Mr. gallico...

Mrs. ormond was your former wife.

Yes, sir.

Do you believe

ormond killed her?

Apparently he was with her

when she died.

Mr. prentiss, you'll testify to that?

Oh, we have to, inspector.

We heard their voices.

We heard her call him by his name: Ross.

Why should he kill her? Tell me that.

I think I can show you

that ormond convicted himself.

Now, he's going to show you

his newfangled fingerprints.

It was adopted officially

by the French, two years ago.

No two sets of prints are alike.

Come here and I'll show you what I mean.

Now, here's a print of the index

finger of ormond's right hand.

Where did you get it?

From articles ormond handled

while he was rooming with the prentisses.

Now, here's a second print taken from another

source and blown up to the same size.

You will notice that the prints

match each other, line for line.

I found this print on the surface of a gold

bracelet that belonged to Mrs. ormond.

I remember the bracelet.

She was wearing it

the night she was killed.

Well, we know the man we want.

The job is to find him.

That'll be all, thank you.

Oh, uh, don't leave town.

We may call you anytime.

Good day, everybody.

I suppose you found the same

fingerprints in ormond's house?

Yes. In his own room.

Fresh ones, apparently.

He must have made them the night he

packed a bag and moved into your house.

Are you sure it was Ross ormond

you rented rooms to?

I identified his photograph.

Yes, but you could have been mistaken.

You are not infallible, madame.

Now, if you'll excuse me,

i have an audience waiting for me.

I hope they hiss him off the stage.

Oh, Mr. gallico.

Your work simply fascinates me.

It's so unusual.

I wonder if I could visit

your studio sometime.

Why, of course. When I have

something interesting to show you,

I'll get in touch with you.

Oh, thank you so much.

Good-bye.

Alice. Alice. What are you up to?

Oh, nothing, my dear.

Nothing at all.

He's an odd character.

I may put him in a book.

Besides,

I have the strangest feeling

that I've known him before.

Hello. Mr. prentiss? Oh, this is gallico.

Tomorrow morning at 11:00 I'm staging

a sort of dress rehearsal in my studio

of a new trick I've been building,

and remembering your wife's request,

I'm inviting you

both to be present.

Can you come?

Well, Mrs. prentiss isn't here at the

moment, but I'm sure I can speak for her.

Almost sure.

Uh, we'd be delighted,

Mr. gallico. Delighted.

This is the first private showing

of a new illusion

I've built for my own use in the theater.

Karen knows how it works,

and she's going to assist me.

But for the most part,

the machine you will see is automatic.

Until it is shown in the theater,

i must keep it a secret

so that no other magician

can steal the idea.

This audience had to be one I could trust,

and Karen suggested that I invite you.

Oh, Mr. gallico, we're so flattered.

Yes, this is quite an event.

Sit down, please.

Well, here we go.

Gallico the great presents his sensational

new illusion, the crematorium.

This device feeds the body,

which is to be destroyed,

into the fire chamber of the crematorium.

Once inside, it releases the body,

leaves it there, and then withdraws.

But unless the machine is shut off,

it automatically repeats the performance

within 40 seconds.

Gas is the fuel, operating

under a forced draft of oxygen.

It takes a few moments

for the heat to build up,

but once it gets started,

it develops a temperature

of 3500 degrees fahrenheit.

All right, Karen. You take over.

Well, how did you like it?

Well clone, gallico. Well clone.

- How did you get in here?

- Through the door.

Then you knew

that I was showing this trick.

Oh, yes. I have ways

of finding out what goes on.

Can you blame me for being curious?

Take it easy, gallico.

There's no harm done.

We'll see about that.

Did you like it?

It was terribly exciting.

Oh, but isn't it dangerous?

Of course, I knew it wasn't you in there

while the burning was going on,

but supposing your escape device

didn't work and you oouldn't get out?

What then?

The assistant controls

the magician's escape.

She lets the boss out

just as the flame comes on.

And what if she

doesn't like the boss?

Ashes to ashes.

This thing is more than an illusion.

It really works.

Oh, it's... it's still hot.

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