The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer

Author:Brad Meltzer [Meltzer, Brad]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
ISBN: 9781455571222
Google: cyQnvgAACAAJ
Amazon: 1455559520
Goodreads: 31933276
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2018-03-06T05:00:00+00:00

46

You’re looking at me like I’m supposed to know what that means,” Zig said.

“Even I don’t know what their current operation is—but I know the history,” The Amazing Caesar said. “You never heard the stories? Houdini and his Blue Book?”

“I looked online. Said it was some sort of codebook.”

“Not just a book. It was part of Houdini’s act. At the peak of his fame, his shows had three parts: First, there was the magic…” In the palm of Caesar’s hand, he squeezed the silver dollars. He opened his hand; now they were gone. “Second, he’d do his escapes—from handcuffs, straitjackets, and of course the Chinese water torture one. But during the final years of his life, the best part of every show was when he’d expose the fraud of local mediums.”

“Y’mean like fortune-tellers?”

“Back then they were called spiritualists. They even had their own religion—Spiritualism—based on the idea that you could talk to the dead. Today, of course, it makes you think of palm readers and crystal balls, but in those days, this so-called religion was big business.”

“And people believed it?”

“It was right after World War I. Families who lost their sons in battle got preyed upon by hucksters offering séances. To Houdini, whose heart was broken by the death of—”

“His mom,” Zig said, remembering what Waggs said, which he’d confirmed online.

“Exactly. Houdini felt that pain personally from the loss of his mother. From there, he made it his mission to go after spiritualists. He saw it as the most hurtful crime of all—ripping open old wounds and taking advantage of someone’s lost family member, or lost child. I mean, can you imagine?”

Zig could. He’d been imagining it since the moment he thought it was Nola in the morgue, since the moment she returned to his life. The worst of it was last night, when she manipulated him into going to her office just to see who would follow. Zig could live with the maneuverings; indeed, he had to respect her for a smart play like that. No, for Zig, the real pain came from what it showed him about himself.

A decade since the funeral, he wasn’t a novice mourner. Zig knew where his scars were; he was used to living with them on a daily basis. Plus, he worked in death, spending years using it to inoculate himself against the shattered feeling that came with the loss of Maggie. To be around so many young fallen took away the greatest weapon in death’s arsenal—just being with other mourners, Zig no longer felt alone.

And then, Nola appeared—this girl who saved his daughter—and in an eyeblink, all that protective work was unraveled, tearing his skin off in sheets and reminding him of the one thing he’d worked so hard to overcome: The deepest wounds—the ones that pierce you to your core—they heal, but they never disappear.

“Can you please tell me what this has to do with the Blu—”

“I already did. It was the secret of Houdini’s trick—the secret behind all his tricks. Big motion covers the small motion, right?” Caesar asked.

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