Free Angel Killer by Andrew Mayne Page A

magician?”
    I’ve been thinking about that a lot since last night. I don’t have a specific answer. “I don’t know. I’d say not. Magic techniques are available to just about anyone who wants to find them. Most magicians aren’t creators. And to be honest, magical thinkers, I mean people who invent tricks, are extremely rare. They usually find work elsewhere, in Hollywood, designing games and other stuff.” I leave out joining the FBI. “His method here is nothing like what would be used for a traditional buried-alive illusion. Superficially similar, but it ends there. He’s just very, very clever.”
    I pause for any further questions. None. I breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone turns their attention back to Knoll.
    The long burn is in the back of my mind. “There’s one other thing.”
    Knoll sits back down and raises his eyebrows. I’m afraid I’m pushing, but it has to be said.
    “If he’s thought this through, he doesn’t want us to solve it. That means he’ll do things to lead us down blind alleys. He’ll distract us. He’ll make us reach for the wrong conclusion.”
    “How do you mean?” asks Knoll.
    I remember an illusion I used to do for reporters and reach out to the conference table to pick up a set of keys from Knoll. I pass them from one hand to the other with my fists closed. “Which hand are they in?”
    Knoll points to my right. I open the hand and show that it’s empty.
    “I think this is more than sleight of hand tricks, Agent,” sneers the blonde.
    “You’re right,” I reply. I open my left hand. I’m holding Knoll’s BlackBerry. There’s silence followed by a few stifled laughs.
    “Well shit,” shrieks Danielle. “That girl just burned a room full of us FBI folks.” She gives me an approving look.
    “My point is that smart people are smart because we are generally very good at knowing where to focus. Which means we’re sometimes the easiest ones to fool.” I look around the room. “Me too.”
    Ailes speaks up. “Jessica, do you think this is the last we’ve seen of the Warlock?”
    I glance at Dr. Chisholm. “I think your division and the people at behavioral analysis would have a better answer than me.”
    Chisholm gives me a smile. “We have our thoughts. But I’d like to hear yours.”
    I’m still in the spotlight. The room is looking at me, expecting me to pull off another stunt. I’m not an expert on behavior and hate to be put on the spot for something outside my expertise. I go with my gut. “No. This isn’t the last. He’s just getting started. This is how a magician gets your attention. The website defacement was the poster calling us to the show. The Chloe murder is his opening effect, something quick, to the point, which tells us to take him seriously. Now he’s going to follow through with something else. Something bigger. You saw the news today. This is only the start.”
    Chisholm nods his head. He knows this too. “Why do you say that, Agent Blackwood?”
    “Because he’s that second kind of magician. The dark kind. He doesn’t want us to show that he’s a fake. He’s the kind of magician that thinks he’s special, that despite the trickery there’s something about him that is magical. Jim Jones used to do mentalism and hypnosis. That’s how he got nine hundred people to follow him down to the middle of nowhere. Their kind only get stopped one of two ways. They either get exposed or they die.”
    “Either way is fine by us,” replies Knoll.
    I shake my head. “I don’t think you understand. The ones that die without being exposed have religions built around them. I can name a handful of religions that really took off when their founder died. In a sense, they became immortal by dying. That’s what the Warlock wants, what every dark magician is after, to be thought of as a god. And gods don’t care how many people they kill.” I shut up and sit back in my chair.
    Chisholm follows up my comments with some analysis about the