Free The Floating Lady Murder by Daniel Stashower Page B

known as the ‘Wizard of Kalliffa’?”
    “In those days, every Scottish magician had to take pains to avoid comparisons with the great John Henry Anderson. I think Mac might have done better without the exotic trappings, however. He was born too soon, really. He had brilliant ideas, just brilliant. The Floating Lady was like the holy grail to him. He nearly got there.”
    “But surely in his day there was little hope of perfecting such an ambitious illusion? It is only recently that we’ve developed the necessary mechanics.”
    Kellar chuckled. “It may amuse you to know that Mac created and discarded no fewer than five methods of floating a lady, including the one that Mr. Maskelyne is taking suchgreat pains to protect. Mac simply wasn’t satisfied with any of them. He invented the apparatus you may know as a ‘levitation banquette’—the piece of furniture upon which the assistant is resting as she begins to rise. It’s a wonderfully clever idea. The banquette appears to be so innocent, and yet—well, I suppose you know all about it. In any case, Mac discovered a means of causing the assistant to rise from the banquette and hover about five feet off the stage. I thought it was a thing of beauty, but he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted her to float out over the heads of the audience. ‘Got to get her off the stage and into the audience,’ he would say. ‘Knock down the artifice of the thing.’ ”
    “Floating over the heads of the audience,” Harry said, with a note of reverence in his voice. “That would be one for the ages.”
    “Exactly. Mac planned to debut the effect at the old Lyceum, which had a magnificent high dome, so that Mrs. McGregor could rise clear up to the top.” Kellar paused, gazing long and hard at the framed portrait. “Mac even had his patter all scripted. ‘Cast your eyes heavenward, my friends, and watch as she rises, rises, rises. Now she flings aside the high-flown theories of gravity and science like so much useless chaff. See how she floats, as though on a gentle zephyr, borne aloft by the hypnotic force of animal magnetism.’ ”
    “What happened?” Bess asked. “Why didn’t he show the effect?”
    A dark cloud seemed to pass over Kellar’s face. “He—he never got the opportunity. Mrs. McGregor passed away suddenly, and Mac couldn’t bring himself to go on. The performance had been all set. The theater was booked, and the tickets sold, but Mac— he simply couldn’t carry on. This coming Saturday night will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of Mrs. McGregor’s passing. I can’t imagine a more fitting tribute than to perform the Floating Lady at long last.” Kellar raised his glass to McGregor’s portrait and threw back the rest of his bourbon. “I really think I’ll get there this time,” he said. “I’ve been so close so often, but nowI’ve almost perfected it. I’ll make John Nevil Maskelyne look like a circus tout! If only—” his face darkened. “If only Le Roy doesn’t beat me to it. Damn clever fellow, for a Frenchman.”
    “I believe Mr. Le Roy is Belgian,” said Harry.
    “Whatever. All I know is that he’s smart as blazes, and he’s let it be known that he plans to introduce a ‘ Lévitation Mystérieuse ’ by the end of this season. If Le Roy beats me to the finish line, he may well take the bulk of next year’s bookings out from under me. A magician is only as good as his latest miracle. I started out doing shadow puppets and producing cakes from a hat. Do I do those tricks any more? No, sir, I do not. Quaint. That’s what those tricks are. And when one reaches my age, there is little distinction between quaint and antiquated. I’m going to be first with the Floating Lady, and there’s nothing Le Roy can do to stop me.”
    “Mr. Kellar,” I said, “you’re not suggesting that Mr. Le Roy had anything to do with the sabotage of the lion cage?”
    “I don’t know, young man. I wouldn’t rule it out. Not with a million dollars