She remembered the mirror on stage for Clarissa Bale’s murder. What had Christopher called it? Pepper’s Ghost? He’d projected his image into this doorway. It was the other one that mattered.
Paige went over to the other doorway. There, she heard footsteps down beneath the stage, along with panting that sounded as though Stephen Booth was in pain. Had Paige winged him with one of her shots?
Even if she had, she knew that wasn’t enough. He was still in a position where he might escape, especially if what Antoinette said about the tunnels was true. She had to get after him and bring him to justice. And if her shot had done more than just graze him, he might be in need of medical attention to ensure that he could be brought in alive to stand trial.
Paige knew that she had to go after him, but she also didn’t like the idea of simply abandoning Antoinette when the killer might still be about. For all Paige knew, he was waiting for the moment when Paige went after him in order to try to kill Antoinette once more.
Paige’s phone rang while she was still considering that problem. She was relieved to see that it was Christopher calling. Paige took the call, hoping that he wasn’t too far away.
“Paige, are you there? I’m on my way to the park,” he said.
That was good to hear; Paige had wanted to do all of this alone to prove that she could, but now, she found herself wishing Christopher were there to back her up.
“I’ve found the killer,” Paige said. “He tried to kill a final victim, but I stopped him. He’s currently trying to escape.”
“I’m two minutes out,” Christopher said. “Don’t do anything before I arrive, Paige.”
“Hurry,” Paige replied, and hung up.
Don’t do anything? She knew it was the right advice. She ought to just wait for Christopher, but the problem with that was the very real risk that the killer might get away.
Especially if Antoinette was right about the tunnels down there below the park. Those meant that Stephen had a ready-made escape route. Maybe that was the whole reason he’d chosen this spot for this “performance,” reasoning that he had a way to get out of there without being caught if anything went wrong.
If so, Paige wasn’t sure that she could wait for Christopher even now. She had to get after Stephen, or risk losing him completely.
“How does the mechanism work?” Paige asked Antoinette, taking her to the frame. “How do you activate it?”
“There’s a catch here,” Antoinette said, pointing it out. Until she showed it to Paige, Paige couldn’t see it. It was practically invisible against the frame.
Paige stood within that frame. “So I just stand here and press it?”
“Yes, but… you’re going to leave me here?”
“My partner is going to be here in a minute. I can’t let Stephen get away.”
Paige stood within that frame, holstering her gun so that it wouldn’t go off as she fell. She took a deep breath, and then hit the button.
The floor fell away from under her feet, at for a moment, Paige tumbled down into emptiness. She kept her arms in, not wanting to hit the trapdoor on the way down. It only took her a second or two to fall, but there was still that feeling of weightlessness there, that feeling of hanging in space.
She hit a large crash mat that had obviously been placed there for just that purpose. Paige felt the impact of the fall, and rolled to her feet, getting out her gun again and looking around to try to find Stephen.
The saw he’d been using lay abandoned on the ground, along with several boxes of what looked like props. There was a barrel full of oversized swords that were clearly designed to be as showy as possible on stage, and a couple of boxes of scarves and rings, balls, and giant cards, as if Stephen hadn’t been sure what to bring out on stage.
Paige could hear footsteps now, beyond the room she was in. There was a doorway leading to what looked like a long tunnel, and Paige set off in that direction, a flashlight held under her gun, following the sound of the footsteps.
She found the source of the footsteps quickly enough. A phone sat on the ground, the sound coming from it with almost metronomic monotony. Paige felt a flash of fear then as she realized that she had been tricked.
She turned quickly, wanting to cover the way she’d come, and saw Stephen bearing down on her, a huge prop scimitar held ready to swing straight for her head.