Page 24

They weren’t far from the town square park, so Tempest led Sanjay to a bench on the edge of the grass, under the shade of an oak tree with large drooping branches that would hide them from view if a patrol car drove by.

“You really think gathering signatures for a petition in favor of the library is worth killing over?” Sanjay asked.

“Mrs. Hudson might think so.”

“So there are two petitions on opposing sides?” Sanjay typed a search into his phone. “Got it. Oh, I can’t sign. Hidden Creek residents add their address to verify they’re local, not just random people getting caught up in a cause they saw online.”

“Which makes it less of a motive, since even if his videos to save the library went viral, the impact would be more symbolic.” Tempest stood up from the bench and spun into a pirouette. One spin was enough to clarify her thoughts. “Murder isn’t always rational. Plus, I’m still not completely convinced this isn’t about a book—maybe not a rare book in the traditional sense, but these are libraries. Doesn’t it make sense that a book would be at the center of everything?”

“Misdirection or coincidence is just as possible.” Sanjay’s face reddened as he scrolled on his phone. “Lucas had nearly as many followers as I do. How is that possible? I’m the Hindi Houdini.”

“He posted constantly about every aspect of his life as he tried to make it as an actor. You don’t want that level of intrusion into your life.”

“Don’t I?”

“Stop worrying about your virtual popularity.”

Sanjay gave her a sour pout. “We’re far too exposed out here, even under this tree. We went to the effort of shaking my tail. I don’t want to be surveilled again.”

“Veggie Magic is right down the street.”

Sanjay turned up his collar as they walked down the block to the café, which only made him look more suspicious.

They found a table in a cozy back corner of the second-floor balcony that overlooked the larger first floor, and ordered coffees and pastries. This was the section that would host the guests for the private meals before this weekend’s dinner theater. If there was a mystery play this weekend at all.

“Now that you’re properly hidden, ready to get back to Lucas?” Tempest asked.

“Already ahead of you. His last post about saving the library was two days ago, not long before he texted me to ask for my help with Kira.” Sanjay looked up from his phone. “Where does Kira fit into this?”

“I don’t know. It seems like Lucas lied to you about wanting your help to impress her, but I don’t know her too well. Most of our conversations have been about libraries. She adores her job at the Hidden Creek Public Library. She loves libraries so much that she stays even though she hates her boss, and she’s definitely on the pro–Gray House Library side. She made sure we’d all signed the petition in favor of the new library getting approved.”

“I’ll grant that you’re right that this petition might be a big deal,” Sanjay admitted. “But if that makes Mrs. Hudson our main suspect, I don’t see how she could have done it, since she was trapped inside with you. Did you see her the whole time? Like, every moment?”

“I did.”

Sanjay’s face fell. “Which leaves me on the hook.”

“What happened to your optimism?” Tempest watched her friend’s face. She’d known him for so many years that even though he was the consummate performer and knew how to hide his emotions, she could tell when something was off. “You’ve also been uncharacteristically snippy this week. It started before the murder.”

“Pick a card.” A deck of cards appeared in his hand, in place of his phone. He fanned the cards in front of her.

“Only after you answer my question.”

“How do you know my card trick isn’t the answer?” He leaned his elbows on the table, letting her see the deck more closely.

“Fine.” She ran her index finger across the fanned-out cards before picking one. He couldn’t have forced a certain card upon her.

“Look at your card without showing me what you’ve got, then slip it back into the deck.”

She peeked at the king of hearts and nodded, then pushed the card back into the deck, about a third of the way in, making sure it was even with the other cards.

“Let me tell you a story,” Sanjay said as he casually shuffled the deck. “There once was a boy who loved magic. His parents convinced him to have a practical career and go to law school. He was weak and acquiesced. He flunked out.”

“Wait.” Tempest stared across the table at this man she thought she knew so well. Clearly, she didn’t know everything. “You didn’t leave of your own free will?”

He shrugged and kept shuffling. “Technically. Only because I was about to be asked to leave. How can anyone focus in law school? Contracts are filled with pages and pages of the most excruciatingly minute details. They’re the worst.”

“Sanjay. You practice sleight-of-hand tricks and grand illusions that require more concentration and precision than a hundred-page contract. You spend thousands of hours with hyper focus.”

“Of course.” He cut the deck using a deft move with only his left hand. “But that’s only because magic is wondrous and meaningful. Contracts? They’re mostly about how to make sure you can eviscerate another person, should you choose to do so. The single lecture we got on the history of contracts? Now that was fascinating. Did you know that contracts started as clear, one-sentence agreements long before we reached our current nightmare era of contracts?”

“You’re rambling.”

He was also still shuffling the cards with a single hand and making it look so effortless that Tempest felt a twinge of envy. She was good at many aspects of illusion, but close-up magic wasn’t one of her strengths.

“Really.” He slammed his palms together. “How can people be expected to understand contracts?”

“You have to read contracts when you agree to performances.”

“Exactly.” He laughed bitterly and flipped the cards through the air. They fanned out in a beautiful arc before landing gently at his feet. Only one card remained in his hand.

The king of hearts.

Tempest’s card.

Sanjay hadn’t seen which card she’d picked; she was sure of it. There were half a dozen ways he could have done it—probably more—but she hadn’t noticed which method he’d used, making it look like magic. No, feel like magic. That was the whole point.

She smiled—until she saw that the card had been altered. Slicing through the center of the king of hearts was the jagged line of a black Sharpie, making it look as if the king had been ripped in half. In addition to the jagged line, a solitary black teardrop fell from the king’s eye.

A server dropped off their coffees, Tempest’s chocolate croissant, and Sanjay’s slice of pie. He loved the pie here. Normally, his face would have lit up like that of a child and he would have immediately scooped up a bite of pie. But not today. He barely registered its presence.

“No,” Tempest murmured. The king of hearts was obviously meant to represent Sanjay. That meant… “You didn’t. You signed a bad contract?”

“I was distracted! My manager was on vacation, and it seemed like such a small event that wouldn’t do any harm… I screwed up.”

“What did you do?”

“It’s what I’m about to do.” He stabbed the warm peach pie with his fork but still didn’t take a bite.

“How bad is it?” Tempest tried not to show the horror in her face. Some of the gigs from her past were so horrid that she’d blocked them out.

“I thought I was signing up to perform magic at a private event that’s local to you, so we’d have time to hang out. I was told it was for the Hidden Bookshop’s new wine bar. The bookshop is celebrating the grand opening of their extension.”

“I know all about it, and Milton works there. That doesn’t sound bad at all.”

“What I really agreed to do was be a shill for the Hidden Wine Bar’s signature line of wine during the summer stroll this weekend. It’s not a private function I agreed to do; I’ll be at a pop-up on the sidewalk in front of the Hidden Wine Bar on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.” He crumpled the playing card in his hand.

Tempest winced inwardly, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She understood why he was wary. In their profession, reputation was so important. When it came to private events, Sanjay always said yes to friends, but carefully considered other requests. And public ones? He was far more selective about what he’d agree to.

“Is that really all that bad?” Tempest asked. “This is just Hidden Creek. It’s not so different from performing for a friend. The couple who own the Hidden Bookshop are lovely. Alex and Aurora. My grandfather is friends with them.”

“Your grandfather is friends with everyone.”

This was true.

“I met them before signing the contract,” Sanjay said, “and you’re right that they’re lovely people. They’re in their seventies and could easily have retired, but they love the bookshop too much. Aurora started growing wine grapes on the steep, otherwise-unusable part of land behind their house, and they got such a good harvest that they decided it would be fun to add a wine bar to the bookshop and bottle their own wine. Nobody in their right mind does a home renovation.”

“You do realize that’s what my dad and I do for a living, right?”

Sanjay waved away her comment. “You bring magic into people’s homes. But a straightforward renovation? They all cost twice as much and take twice as long. It’s better to get something new.”

“The storefront next door was already there. It was a small project. All they had to do was knock down part of one wall.”

Sanjay blinked at her. “Secret Staircase Construction did their renovation?”

Tempest grinned. “Of course. It’s a local bookshop, and didn’t you notice it’s a sliding bookcase that serves as the secret entrance to the wine bar next door? Anyway, the renovation was under budget for once, and they’re quite well-off—that’s why they can play around with a wine bar that’s never going to make much money—and I’m guessing they pay good rates to magicians they hire?”

Sanjay’s cheeks flushed. “I should have known there was a catch when they offered to pay me so well. And I know you said it’s not so bad, but they requested the Inexhaustible Bottle.”

“The kids’ trick?”

“Exactly. But in this case, they want me to use it so I can serve adults any type of wine they request from the same wine bottle. Red, white, or rosé, all from the same bottle, to sample their wines.”

“I know that trick is a bit beneath what you’re capable of, but it’s a good one. I’ve done that one on stage with a teapot. It gets a good audience reaction.” She didn’t add that it was indeed an audience of kids.

“Don’t you see? I’m using magic to publicly endorse their amateur wine! Like a paid spokesperson in a commercial.” His face perked up. “Oh. Maybe if I’m arrested, I won’t need to perform this weekend. A silver lining.”

“That’s a bit overdramatic, don’t you think?”

“The Hindi Houdini is my life , Tempest. I guard that identity carefully. But with this? I’m no longer an independent entity.”

“It’s really not that bad.”

He scowled at her. “I’m a corporate shill.”

“Only for one weekend, and it’s—”

“Tempest. For someone who’s achieved so much, you can be amazingly clueless sometimes.”

“I really don’t think it’s that bad. And maybe—”

“You’re not listening to me! Sometimes your friends just want you to be there for them. To commiserate. You don’t have to solve my problem. You can’t . I don’t expect you to. Even if I’m wrong about how bad this is—which I’m not—it doesn’t matter. I just wanted you to listen.” Sanjay shook his head as he tossed more money than was necessary onto the table, then stood and walked off without another word.

“Where are you going?” Tempest called after him, not caring what other diners thought.

“Not that you’re listening to what I’m saying,” he said without turning back, “but I have things to do that don’t involve you.”

Tempest sat alone in stunned silence as Sanjay disappeared from view.

She was about to go after him, when a hand grabbed her arm.