104-Tricks of the Trade by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T15:13:38+00:00

Chapter 9

The Show Must Go On

At the last second, Larissa ducked. Joe heard Chet let out a cry and saw the knife land right at the spot where Larissa's head had just been.

Joe gasped, but in a second the pretty assistant was picking herself up from the stage. Lorenzo rushed over to her, but before he could reach her, Nat Dietrich was standing over Larissa, helping her up.

"Where'd he come from?" Joe asked his brother.

"You got me," Frank said. "Come on. Let's find out what happened."

With Chet and Frank close behind, Joe pushed his way through the crowd, which was still buzzing from the near-fatal accident.

"Quiet, please," a stagehand was announcing from the onstage microphone. "Everything is fine. Please stay calm." With that, a curtain was pulled, preventing the crowd from seeing what was happening onstage.

Joe pulled himself up onto the stage, found a gap in the curtain, and rushed over to where Nat Dietrich was looking after Larissa. Just as he got there, though, he saw Lorenzo push Dietrich away.

"I thought I told you to leave her alone!" he shouted.

Dietrich threw his hands up in the air. "You don't seem to be able to take very good care of her," he told the magician.

The two men squared off, and Joe was sure Lorenzo was getting ready to throw a punch. Quickly, he stepped between them.

"Take it easy!" he said to Lorenzo. "He was only trying to help."

Larissa's face was a mask of fear. "I'm okay," she managed to say softly. "Please don't hurt each other."

Dietrich reached over and squeezed Larissa's arm. "Take care of yourself," he said. "And you," he added to Lorenzo. "Make sure nothing like this happens again. The hotel can't be responsible for your mistakes!"

With that, the assistant manager walked off the stage. Lorenzo stared after him with his hypnotizing yellowish brown eyes. A look of pure rage crossed his face. He took a deep breath, turned to his assistant, and put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

Out of the corner of his eye, Joe saw Frank motioning to him. His brother was standing with Chet by the plywood backdrop, gingerly holding the knife. Joe went over to them.

"It looks normal enough to me," Frank told his brother. "What do you think happened?"

Joe took the knife from him. "Maybe Lorenzo's concentration was off."

"What are you doing with that?" Lorenzo barked from where he was standing with Larissa. "No one - no one - touches my props."

He let go of Larissa, rushed over, and grabbed the knife from Joe's hand. He took one look at it and started muttering to himself.

"Is something wrong?" Joe asked him.

Lorenzo caught his eye, then went back to examining the knife. "Probably not," he said abruptly.

Larissa was at his side now and was checking out the knife over his shoulder. "Lorenzo, look," she said, pointing at the knife. "Someone carved a nick in the handle. See?" she asked. "Right there."

Joe watched the magician give Larissa a scorching look. "So there is something wrong," he said.

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