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“It was supposed to be me.” Sanjay gulped so audibly that it would have been comical if it hadn’t been for the situation.

It was two hours later, already midafternoon, and Tempest and her three best friends had gathered in the turret above her bedroom after Sanjay was done giving another statement to Detective Blackburn and Ivy had wrapped up a few hours of work at the Locked Room Library. Sanjay had only believed Tempest’s text messages after he’d listened to the voicemail messages from the detective. Until the police got involved, Sanjay thought Tempest was simply trying to provoke him.

“I don’t know how I missed it,” Ivy said. “But it’s so obvious. It’s like I’ve been training my whole life to solve a mystery like this, and I failed completely.”

“You’re not filling me with confidence that we’ll solve this.” Sanjay tugged at the brim of his hat, causing an errant flower petal to escape. He gasped in horror when he spotted it.

“Then let’s figure it out,” Tempest said. “Nobody besides Sanjay knew that Lucas would be switching places with him at that moment. Right?”

She thought back to that devastating moment when she thought Sanjay was dead. When the body was lying unmoving on the floor and it was clear something was wrong. She shook off the feeling.

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Sanjay confirmed. “What’s the point of putting in the work to create an illusion if it’s not going to surprise people?”

“Before the lights went back on and we found Lucas lying on the floor,” Ivy said, “it was dark, like we wanted it to be for the drama, but it couldn’t have been completely dark. We didn’t have blackout curtains.”

“It only seemed so dark because our eyes hadn’t yet adjusted,” Tempest said. “But the darkness affected everyone. Nobody had night vision goggles.”

“That you know of,” Gideon pointed out.

“We would have spotted that,” Ivy said.

“So it was me they were after.” Sanjay paced back and forth. “Why didn’t Blackburn simply tell me that in the first place? Why did he let me think I was going to jail?”

“Isn’t being stalked by a murderer worse than jail?” Gideon asked.

“Why did I agree to help Lucas in the first place?” Sanjay wailed. “This is what being a nice guy gets me. Your dad’s home security system is still in place, right?”

“It is,” said Tempest. “But I don’t think you’re especially in more danger now. If you were the intended victim and the killer screwed up, it would be risky to kill again so soon.”

“Unless it’s time-sensitive,” said Ivy. “If that’s the case, they’ll try again.”

Sanjay’s eyes bulged.

“Good point,” said Tempest, and Sanjay’s eyes bulged even more. “Seriously, Sanjay. We need to think about who’d want to harm you.”

He groaned. “Why can’t we just have a normal summer like normal people? Going to the summer stroll together, indulging in food and drink specials at the local restaurants and bars, buying gifts from local crafts shops, and taking our photo in the vintage photo booth at the town square information desk.”

“That’s never been your life,” Tempest pointed out. “And you wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Sanjay smiled. “It’s true. Who wants normal? Give me a curmudgeonly animal mascot any day. Where’s Abra, anyway?”

“He’s happy in his castle,” said Tempest. “But I’ll go get him if you need an emotional support bunny for cuddles.”

“Bunny cuddles sound good to me,” Ivy said, “but I’m supposed to have dinner with my sister and her family tonight. It’s one of the last family dinners we’ll have at the house, so let’s just hurry up and finish figuring out who wants to kill Sanjay. I brought a bag of books from the library, but we should start with facts from Sanjay.”

“I’m famous,” said the man in question. “Lots of people resent that. Or they’re upset I won’t be their best friend or their boyfriend.”

“You’re semi -famous,” Tempest corrected. “Just because your stage name includes the name Houdini doesn’t mean online searches for Houdini are people looking you up.”

Sanjay ignored her and flipped his bowler hat in the air. It touched the high, pointed tip of the ceiling and landed back on his head. “Two guys in particular are jealous and bad-mouth me online any chance they get, and one woman from my Hindi Houdini Heartbreakers fan club had to be kicked out because she had an unhealthy obsession with me, but luckily, she lives in Germany. None of the problematic people I know of live in California, and none of them would have paid someone to stab me with an ice pick that night.”

“What about anyone who’d benefit monetarily from your death?” Ivy asked. “That’s the most common motive.”

Sanjay frowned at her. “You’re really creepy when you say that so matter-of-factly. But no. My manager made me set up a will before I performed my illusion escaping from a coffin in the Ganges River, but it’s incredibly boring. My money goes to my parents, with a request that my mom set up a fund for young magicians struggling financially. Even if you don’t believe my parents love me, they’re very well off already. No motive there. And are we really entertaining the notion that someone there that night is a contract killer?”

“You’re right,” said Tempest. “It’s far more likely it’s someone who was there. Who have you offended among our suspects?”

“I’ve helped Enid in the past,” Sanjay said, “so there’s no way she’d want to kill me. I barely know Cameron or the actors. And I’ll take it on faith that none of you want to kill me. That leaves the most likely possibility being that Mrs. Hudson found a way into the house that we don’t know about.”

“You know her?” asked Gideon.

“I met her for the first time that night,” said Sanjay, “but she was awful to me. I wouldn’t put it past her to want to get away with a murder—of anyone—just to do it.”

“Oh!” Tempest cried.

“I was mostly joking,” said Sanjay.

Tempest shook her head. “So much has been going on today that I totally forgot my grandfather got some helpful information about Mrs. Hudson. She didn’t sign her own petition against the library, and it looks like she wasn’t even trying to gather signatures. Hardly anyone has signed it.”

“That could just mean the community loves the idea of a new library,” Ivy pointed out.

“Mrs. Hudson is hiding something,” Tempest insisted. “I don’t think she’s really trying to kill the library, but what if someone else was? If someone wanted to prevent the library from opening, a murder there would hurt its chances. So even if they thought they were killing Sanjay, the fact that it was accidentally Lucas wouldn’t make a difference.”

“You mean no reason to kill again?” Sanjay perked up.

“Only if that theory is right that it’s about the library,” said Ivy, “not a specific person they wanted to kill.”

“And that theory makes less sense,” Tempest added, “when we think about the fact that the body disappeared.”

“It was your theory,” Sanjay grumbled.

She glared at him. “I’m brainstorming. Why would you think solving a murder would be easy?”

“I’ll have you know that I’ve solved—”

“Um, I don’t know that murder is the easiest way to get a library project shut down,” Gideon cut in.

“Finally,” said Sanjay. “A voice of reason.”

“They did try minor sabotage first,” said Tempest. “Remember the water damage, and the sliding bookcase was also wrecked.”

“When was this?” Sanjay asked. “Nobody tells me anything around here.”

“We’ve got to be overlooking something important,” said Gideon. “Do we even know for sure that nobody else knew Lucas would be there that night? Sanjay, how do you know who else Lucas told?”

“He wouldn’t have…” Sanjay trailed off. “Oh. You mean if he was lying about trying to impress Kira and had another motive, we don’t know what he was up to.”

“Without knowing that,” Gideon said, “we don’t know who Lucas would have told his plan.”

Sanjay groaned yet again. He really was having a terrible day. “So was I the intended victim or not?”

“You should lie low for now,” said Tempest. “Just in case.”

“I can’t. I signed that stupid contract to perform at the summer stroll this weekend.”

“But these are extenuating circumstances,” said Ivy.

Sanjay gasped. “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you all what I learned after I left you at Veggie Magic. Tempest, I forgive you for forgetting what your grandfather told you. You’re right that today is a hot mess. When you and Detective Blackburn told me I was the one who was supposed to be dead, everything else slipped from my mind.”

Tempest raised an eyebrow. “You were investigating? I thought you had something personal to take care of.”

“I was fulfilling a personal obligation. I did a full rehearsal for the Hidden Bookshop’s staff, showing them the Inexhaustible Bottle act, and how they could choose one of three wines from the same wine bottle. They wanted four, but I pointed out that it’s mostly a visual act, so red, white, and rosé do the trick. Nobody is impressed if you have a burgundy and a merlot pour out, since they look nearly identical. They—”

“Sanjay,” said Tempest. “Focus.”

“Right! Right. Milton was there.”

“That’s not suspicious,” said Ivy. “We know he’s a rare book guy who works at the Hidden Bookshop. Is there a name for a rare book expert?”

“I think it’s ‘antiquarian’ something-or-other,” said Sanjay. “But he’s not . That’s the thing I learned. He lied to us. He’s not their rare books expert. He’s their accountant .”

“Why would he have lied about that?” Ivy asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s embezzling and thought I was onto him and was there that night to catch him? Or maybe he’s even the person who suggested me to Lucas.”

“But you don’t know him,” Ivy said, “do you?”

“Not personally, but I’ve occasionally visited that bookshop when I’ve got time to kill in Hidden Creek before traffic lets up back to the city. I’ve bought a couple of really old and rare magic books from Aurora, which is how they know me. Do you think this means I won’t have to perform at their booth after all?” Sanjay looked hopeful for the first time all evening. “I never thought I’d utter these words, but I hope Milton wants to kill me. I’m pretty sure that would get me out of my contract with the Hidden Bookshop.”