Page 85 of The Girl Who Knew Too Much

She smiled. “In that case, I’d love to know how the Lady Vanishes in the Mirror works.”

He was pleased that he had managed to distract her, however briefly. In the few days they had known each other, her smiles had rarely lightened the shadows in her eyes. But at that moment her curiosity had temporarily overridden her fears.

He turned away before he was utterly lost in the magic, and pulled off three more tarps, revealing three more tall mirrors.

“In the illusion the lovely assistant—in this case the magician’s lovely partner—stands in front of one of the mirrors,” he said. “Right about where you’re standing now, in fact.”

She met his eyes in the looking glass.

“Shouldn’t I be wearing a skimpy costume?” she asked.

He was almost certain that she was flirting with him. It was both encouraging and unnerving. In the old days he had been very good when it came to doing a cold read on a person from the audience. But Irene was still very much a mystery in so many ways.

He gave her clothes an appraising look. Her menswear trousers defined her small waist and flowed gracefully around her legs. The pale yellow blouse with its feminine bow at the neck and long, full sleeves made her look both innocent and seductive.

“The skimpier the better,” he said. “After all, the assistant’s main job is to distract the audience. But what you have on will do for now.”

“What happens next?”

“Good question,” he said.

He did not realize he had spoken aloud until he saw that she was watching him with faintly raised eyebrows.

Each of the four mirrors was mounted on a set of wheels. He rolled three of them into position around Irene. She was now surrounded on three sides.

“Notice that all of the mirrors have reflective surfaces on both sides,” he said. “When properly illuminated onstage, all the mirrored surfaces tend to dazzle the audience.”

“More distraction.”

“Right. It’s one of a magician’s most valuable tools. Now, note that three of the mirrors are mounted on narrow frames. When they are turned sideways to the audience, it’s obvious that there is no room for even a very slender assistant to be concealed inside.”

“Aha. But the other one has a hidden compartment?”

“Yes.” He opened the mirror and showed her the long, narrow box inside. “It’s just wide enough to allow a slim assistant to stand upright. Next, I position the fourth mirror in place. She is now surrounded on all four sides and concealed from the audience.”

He pushed the fourth mirror into position.

“The assistant opens the mirrored box and gets inside, right?” Irene said from the interior of the mirrored chamber.

“Yes, she does.”

He heard a hinged door open and close. In the old days the hinges would not have squeaked. Chester had kept them well oiled.

“Are you inside?” he asked.

“Yes. This is really a very small space, isn’t it?”

“The boxes are always small, which is, of course, why magicians’ assistants are usually small, slender people. If we were doing this onstage, a large curtain would descend at this point, covering the four mirrors. The entire assembly, including the mirrored box with the assistant inside, would be hoisted off the ground to show the audience that there is no secret hiding place beneath the mirrors. The whole thing is then lowered back to the stage. I pull one of the mirrors aside and the audience sees that there is no assistant inside the chamber.”

He rolled one of the mirrors out of the way. Irene had vanished.

“Nicely done,” he said.

He pushed the mirror back into position. “Now the process is repeated. The curtain is lowered and all four mirrors are hoisted off the floor. The assembly is lowered back down to the floor. The assistant steps out of the concealed box. One of the mirrors is rolled aside and we see that our lovely assistant is back, having just magically emerged from a mirror.”

He rolled one of the framed mirrors aside. Irene smiled at him.

“It’s all so simple,” she said.