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“I guess that’s how it is for most people,” Chu agreed, and they both turned away from the window.
“Yeah, but today was different,” Pro observed, looking over the bullpen, the movement of the detectives, men and women as they worked their cases. “For the first time, I actually saw my parents as people who were attracted to each other. That look in Max’s eyes when he saw my mom. I never noticed that before.”
There was a knock at the window, and Mark Jeffries was waving them in. Pro stepped forward, but Chu raised his arm to block her.
“Not you, Pro,” he stated curtly.
“Tom, you can’t do this to me—”
“I have to, Pro,” he reasoned and turned to face his partner. “Look, the fact that you were in on the arrest alone could give any lawyer reasonable cause to get this case dismissed. I can’t have you in on the interrogation. You observe from out here.”
Pro swallowed back her anger. “Yes, sir.”
“When this is all blown over, you’ll think about it and know I’m right, Pro.”
“Yes, sir,” Pro griped and stood by the button to buzz her partner in. Chu pushed the door open and stepped in as Pro turned the volume up on the speaker. She also hit a button that activated the cameras in the room to begin recording the interview.
Chu quickly stated his rank and the case number, then added, “Interview with suspect Maxwell Martin, aka Max Marvell.”
This got a smile from Max.
“Mister Martin, you were discovered in Albert Floss’s shop by two officers this morning at eleven hundred, is that correct?”
Mark gave a nod to Max who said, “Correct.”
“You were found with what appeared to be a rope in your hand, is that also correct?”
“Correct.”
“Would you please explain why you were there with what appeared to be the murder weapon?”
This got a chuckle from Max.
Elisha moved from Pro’s desk to stand next to her daughter.
In the interrogation room Chu huffed, “Is something funny, Mister Martin?”
“Sorry. I found that rope on Mister Floss’s chest when I arrived, and I picked it up out of curiosity. I found it funny, because that rope couldn’t be the murder weapon. It wasn’t even rope. It’s a special kind made for magicians; it’s just foam with a cloth coating. You could no more strangle a man with that than you could climb a mountain with it.”
In spite of herself, Pro nodded in agreement and muttered, “Exactly as I thought.”
“What was that, dear?” Elisha asked.
“Nothing, Mom,” Pro replied, her eyes not moving from watching her father.
Chu leaned forward. “Could you please explain why you were there?”
“Certainly,” Max declared. “I came to New York because Mister Floss was stealing one of my effects.”
“Excuse me?” Chu challenged.
“He was stealing an effect of mine I named ‘Prism.’ It is an illusion I created for my stage show that uses two glass geometric shapes and the magician appears to vanish on a bare stage in a flash of rainbow light.”
“Pretty neat,” Chu mused, and made a note on a paper in front of him.
Max looked aghast. “Pretty neat? No, sawing a woman in half is ‘pretty neat.’ This is a routine that took me te
n years to perfect. This one illusion redefines what is possible to accomplish live on stage.”
