Free The Floating Lady Murder by Daniel Stashower

was a perverse good fortune that you and your brother happened to be there when Boris escaped. If what I believe is true, then whoever tampered with this lock did not expect that the lion would break out of the cage until tomorrow.”
    “Tomorrow?”
    “During the performance in Albany. At the opening of the Lion’s Bride illusion, I cause Boris’s cage to appear in a puff of smoke. I use a pair of smudgepots to cover the workings, and the flash as the pots go off usually causes the lion to startle. In fact, we planned it that way so that Boris would roar and swipe at the bars of the cage—good, dramatic stuff —just to show that it wasn’t a man in a lion suit or some such fakery. But if Boris had knocked against the bars with this lock on the door—”
    “—The cage would have sprung open,” Harry said.
    “Exactly. And a ferocious, hungry lion would have been turned loose.”
    My sister-in-law made a curious noise and seemed in danger of fainting. Harry took her hands and rubbed them. “I’m all right, Harry,” she insisted. “I just couldn’t help but picture the scene in my mind. It was frightening enough when the theater was relatively empty, but a full house—”
    “Exactly,” said Kellar.
    “But what about your safety measures?” I asked. “Surely youhave your handlers standing ready backstage in case anything goes wrong?”
    “Of course,” Kellar replied. “But you saw how long it took them to respond to your dilemma yesterday. If he had escaped during a live performance, the creature might well have been loose for two or three minutes before we could bring him under control.”
    “He might have killed as many as a dozen people in that time,” said Harry. He turned to Kellar, as though considering an even more grim prospect. “Your career would have been ruined,” he added.
    “My life would have been ruined,” Kellar said emphatically. “I don’t see how I could have lived with the knowledge that I had caused such carnage.”
    Harry picked up the lock and examined it a second time. “When was the last time you performed the Lion’s Bride?”
    “We’ve not yet done it before an audience. We bought it from the Great Lafayette when it became clear that the Floating Lady wouldn’t be ready in time. Lafayette can take it right back as far as I’m concerned.”
    “But you’ve rehearsed the effect?”
    “Of course. The day before yesterday. We ran it seven times.”
    “I take it the lock was in working order at the time?”
    “Unquestionably. Boris rattled the bars of the cage several times during each rehearsal. Boris is usually a very docile creature. Under normal conditions, the flashing of the smudge pots is required to rouse him to a show of anger.”
    “Falling scenery appears to have the same effect,” Harry noted.
    “Just so,” Kellar said.
    “When did the rehearsals end?” I asked.
    Kellar glanced at his wife. “It must have been before six o’clock. Eva and I kept a dinner engagement in the city. Yes, six o’clock or so.”
    “So sometime between the end of rehearsals and the mishapthe following afternoon, someone must have tampered with the lock.”
    “So it would seem.”
    “Boris doesn’t spend all of his time in the cage, does he?”
    “No. At the end of rehearsals he was taken off to an exercise pen in Brooklyn.”
    Harry banged the lock mechanism against his open palm once or twice. “Who would have access to the cage once rehearsals had ended?”
    “That’s just it, Mr. Houdini. I run a very tight ship. You know what steps one must take to protect secrets in this business. My equipment is held under lock and key whenever it is not in use.”
    “At the theater?” I asked.
    “Yes. Under guard. A fellow named Danbury. Been with me for some years. A very reliable person, you may be assured. Old army man.”
    I set down my glass. “Are there any members of your company who might get access to your equipment after hours without rousing the suspicions