There was a puff of smoke, and Robert Chesterfield appeared on the stage wearing a black hooded robe with flowing sleeves. “Ladies and gentlemen—” Chesterfield began.
“You’re a fraud, Chesterfield. And a traitor!” shouted a man dressed in a tuxedo who was walking down the wide aisle that separated the rows of theater seats. He was five seven, lean, muscular, and ruggedly handsome. Jet-black hair, a Roman nose, and clear blue eyes gave the man the appearance of a leading man in a 1940s movie.
“I’m going to expose the secret behind this trick you’re hopingwill save your pathetic career—the same way you exposed the illusion I use to close my show,Mysterioso.”
Several members of the audience gasped. A masked magician who called himself Mysterioso revealed the secrets behind magic tricks on a popular television show. His identity was a heavily protected secret. Several death threats had been received by the show’s producers.
“That’s David Turner,” Robin whispered to Jeff. “He’s one of the top magicians in Las Vegas. He replaced Chesterfield at Caesars Palace when the casino didn’t renew Chesterfield’s contract. He’s also rumored to be Claire Madison’s lover. A few weeks ago, Mysterioso revealed how Turner makes a car disappear while it circles around a racetrack on the stage. It’s the trick he’s known for, and he closes every show with it.”
“I thought you didn’t watch that show,” Jeff said.
“I don’t. It was big enough news to make the papers. Caesars Palace pays Turner millions, and people come from all over to see that trick. Attendance has fallen dramatically since the TV show.”
“Who let this two-bit charlatan into my house?” Chesterfield asked.
Two security guards materialized from the end of the aisle and started walking toward the intruder.
“I asked David here.” Claire flashed a glacial smile. “If your trick is any good, you should be able to fool a professional magician.”
“Yeah, Bobby!” Augustine Montenegro shouted. “We’re a bunch of rubes, so it shouldn’t be hard for you to fool us. I’m interested to see just how good this so-called amazing illusion is.”
Chesterfield hesitated for a moment. Then he smiled at his rival. “Very well, David, I accept your challenge. And now, if you will take a seat, I will proceed to amaze and astonish you.”
Chesterfield’s three assistants appeared at the back of the theater and started pushing the dolly with the sarcophagus down the aisle, toward the stage.
“In ancient Egypt, those who offended the gods were entombed alive in a sarcophagus and died a horrible death,” Chesterfield said. “I am known as an escape artist. Tonight, I will perform the ultimate escape: I will cheat death.”
Chesterfield’s assistants pushed the sarcophagus up the ramp.
Chesterfield pointed at the pyramid. “This, my friends, is the Chamber of Death. Those who enter have never returned to join the living.”
One of the assistants pressed a button, and the top of the dolly tilted down. Then the three women pushed the sarcophagus onto the stage and maneuvered it so it was between the sides of the pyramid with one of the long sides facing the audience.
Chesterfield pointed to the sarcophagus. “I will be placed in this coffin alive.” Chesterfield surveyed the audience. “Are there any among you who may be affected by sheer horror? If so, I suggest that you leave the theater, because what you will see next is not for the faint of heart.”
Chesterfield waited. When no one left, he walked to the first box and whipped off the black cloth, revealing a glass cube filled with writhing snakes. There were gasps from the crowd.
“This cube is filled with some of the world’s most dangerous snakes: cobras, vipers, and Cleopatra’s favorite, the asp.” The magician pulled off the cloth that covered the second cube. “What you see in here are some of the most poisonous scorpions known to man.” Chesterfield pointed to an object on the side of the coffin. “Please note the chute on this side of the sarcophagus. When I am locked in this coffin, my assistants will send this horde of death dealers down the chute and onto my body. According to the literature, I should be dead within minutes.”
Chesterfield paused dramatically.
“In our audience is my attorney, Robin Lockwood. Miss Lockwood, would you please come onstage and inspect the sarcophagus to make sure there are no hidden doors through which I can escape?”
Robin was embarrassed, but she was too fascinated to reject the offer. She walked up a flight of stairs at the side of the stage and went up to the coffin. She leaned down. It looked solid. She ran her hand around the coffin and knocked on every surface. After a while, she stood up. “I didn’t find any escape hatches.”
“Thank you, Miss Lockwood. You may return to your seat, and I will enter the Chamber of Death.”
Chesterfield stepped into the coffin. A cover lay on the stage. One of the assistants picked up one end, and another picked up the other end. Then each assistant stood on a side of the sarcophagus and raised the lid so it was suspended over the sarcophagus with her back to the audience.
Chesterfield sat up in the gap between the assistants holding the lid so Robin could see him in the coffin. The third assistant stepped in front of the coffin between the assistants who were holding the lid and pushed Chesterfield down. When she stepped back, the other two assistants lowered the coffin lid.
Padlocks were attached to chains that were threaded through loops on either side of the coffin. When the coffin lid was secured, an assistant pushed the roller offstage so the audience had an unobstructed view of the sarcophagus.
Another assistant turned to the audience. “The gods have decreed Lord Chesterfield’s death. His fate is sealed.”
Two of the assistants put on gloves. One opened a lid on top of the cube containing the snakes. The other gloved assistant opened the chute facing the audience. Someone gasped when a handful of wriggling reptiles was shoved down the chute.
Suddenly, Robin heard the sound of fists beating against the inside of the sarcophagus.