This is one of the nicest things I think I've written(which isn't to say its all happy and roses - My standard disclaimer should always be assumed to apply - but it did upset some people by being less of my normal style).
I believe it was for a maskingwriter/maskfiction competition about 10+ years ago, and i settled on this because i could not ever manage to figure out my Law & Order fanfic (Yes, seriously. No, you'll never see it).
I do not own any of the characters from Jonothan Creek, I was merely trying to do justice to the style of its early seasons.
Apologies for the formatting, this is the way I found it.
Jonothan and Maddy stood awash in a sea of beautiful people. An endless tide of sequins and tuxedos that ebbed and flowed in the delicate waltz known as "corporate networking". The gala event was a massive Event for everyone. Tickets had been rare and expensive. A ticket had been worth upwards of 3000 pounds and even at that price a great many had found them impossible to come by. Only people who had been "in the right industry" had connections to the magical ticket. Which was not to say that jonothan and maddy were not deserving by any means. There were a great many people who would have been horrified at the thought of him even considering not attending. He was *the* Jonothan Creek. A Genious of fabled proportions. There were whole books describing his crime solving exploits(written by maddy of course but authors are rarely memorable). The problem was that the myth dwarfed the man. For all the people who drooled over the pages that described his brilliance, none of them ever actually cared about talking to him. Which actually made him quite happy. He never much cared to talk to anyone if he had the choice. He was at the gala under sufferance anyway. Maddy felt it would be "a hoot" and as was often the case he had been tricked, coerced, blackmailed and then physically forced into going. It was a magician's gala. The opening of the Magic Festival and as such the invites had been strictly on offer for magicians of note from around the world. Contrary to the appearance though the evening was far more about connections and sales than it ever was about magic. Every second person in the room appeared to be selling their own show, or pushing for their own Television special. There were also the up and come-ers who weaved within the crowd trying to meet up with the older experts that were recruiting for their own shows. Maddy had taken to entertaining herself by collecting the pamphlets and flyers that less subtle members in the crowd were circulating.
"Have a look at this one Jonothan. - 'Wanted. Female assistant for soon to be vacant position in well known magic act. Must be young and flexible with a good understanding of magic fundamentals.' God they don't want much do they?" Jonothan appeared barely to hear her.
"I look like a waiter. I don't know why I let you talk me into this." Maddy continued on her own path of conversation, ignoring his moaning.
"do you think I could be a magician Jonothan? I mean who is it that says all magician's assistants have to be blonde leggy young........jonothan are you listening?" But he wasn't. Instead Jonothan was playing uncomfortably with his jacket sleeves.
"You look Fine Jonothan. Spiffy. I promise you no-one here thinks you look like a waiter."
At the worst possible moment a tall elegantly dressed woman wandered past jonothan. Looking down her nose at him he was handed an empty champagne flute accompanied by orders to keep them coming. For Jonothan this was the final insult and he made a straight line for the exit, Maddy tight upon his heels pleading for him to stay.
To Jonothan's dismay however, he was not to make it. He was perhaps 10 steps from the door when his path was crossed by "Master Magician" Adam Klaus. Klaus happened to be Jonothan's boss and as per usual the magician was flowing around the room oozing with charisma and self promotion. Tomorrow's paper would likely describe the "charming American, Adam Klaus" as a "World renound illusionist of almost unparalleled skill." Jonothan scoffed at the idea. Klaus was the most unimaginative klutz he had ever had the distinction of working with. Were it not for Jonothan's mastery of the mechanics of illusion Klaus would still be a two bit conman somewhere. The shame of the situation was that Jonothan was not a performer. Performing any stunt he had described would drive him to cold sweat and almost certainly lead to disaster. But devising them was an intellectual excercise unrivalled by anything he knew of....with the possible exception of solving them. There wasn't a single one in the room that wouldn't have given anything they had to secure him working for them. But he worked for Klaus, which meant that on occassions like this he often found himself being dragged around the room being shown off to Klaus' adversaries as though he were a prized jewel. Since Klaus was at that moment grinning from ear to ear Jonothan assumed that this would be exactly the same.
"Jonothan! I'm so glad I found you. I'd like you to meet someone. This is David Caisley. He's........" But Jonothan already recognised the name and the reputation. Caisley was a magician and a good one. Klaus would only ever aspire to be half the magician Caisley already was. Caisley apparently thought so too, he cut across Klaus without a second thought.
"So this is the Infamous Jonothan Creek. Your reputation precedes you." Jonothan was slightly uncomfortable with the attention and attempted to palm a little off.
"I don't know about my reputation, but I'd heard alot about you before the....." Jonothan kicked himself mentally. This was the one ground he knew he should NEVER cross. Caisley hadn't been in the magician's elite for almost 5 years now. For a while after "The incident"he had stopped performing entirely. It was a self imposed exile. Punishment for making a fatal mistake.
<wife needs to be put in here>.
The trick had been called "The Cage of Flaming Death", but as jonothan understood it it was barely more than a standard vanishing person trick. The catch was the flame. A solid wall of flames burst up on all four sides surrounding the assistant as she dissapears. That's the theory anyway. By all accounts it was an outstanding trick to see, but as is always the case with fire, an element of danger is ever present. One night like so many before it, Caisley's assistant stepped onto the platform. She was young and blonde and pretty as they always are, but this particular night she was also in mortal danger. There was a fault in the gas lines to the platform. The flame went where it where it shouldn't have. The trick was over in an instant, but as the curtain of flames fell away, so too did the charred remains of Janice Molbray. According to the press, Caisley had never forgiven himself for the brutal mistake. Though he had been back performing for over a year, it was clear that his act no longer held that same edge.
For the first time, jonothan was pleased when Maddy stumbled her way into the middle of the conversation. Her mouth was mouth half filled with food procured from one of the wandering valets.
"Well go on, who's this then?"
She asked between bites, nudging jonothan in the shoulder. Klaus looked somewhat irritated by the whole situation.
"As I was saying before.......This is David Caisley. He is....."
Maddy's eyes lit up.
"David Caisley! The magician! I saw you perform the cage of flaming death once at..OW!"
Jonothan smiled innocently but it was clear that he had kicked her. Maddy didn't seem to get the hint.
"What? I was just saying that it was a really good trick. I have no idea how he did it." In an attempt to salvage something from the awkward conversation Klaus cut back in.
"David is going to perform the gala opening performance for the festival tonight." He said. A small note of bitterness was present in his voice but all those present chose to ignore it. Maddy was particularly impressed.
"Really? Are you going to do that Cage of fire?" Both jonothan and Klaus dropped their heads in dismay, it seemed nothing could save this conversation. Their rescue came from caisley himself.
"Funny you should ask me that." Caisley said thoughtfully, his eyes still focussed on maddy's. "Tonight I shall indeed be performing that item. I feel the time is right. Now if you will excuse me..." Caisley politely bowed and before anyone could say another word he had dissapeared into the crowd, leaving Jonothan and Klaus both staring agape at the revelation.
*********
The Opening Night performance was just as important to the festival as the gala. It garnered many of the same patrons, and held just as much prestige but it had one vital difference as far as jonothan was concerned. It was not Black tie. Jonothan was far more comfortable outside the confines of the suit, and while still not exactly talkative, it was clear that this was a much happier man that took his place in the front row. His Personal biographer and sometimes irritating tag along had the seat next to him, but even maddy couldn't stop him enjoying the night. She was still attempting to excuse her faux pas from earlier now that she had been brought up to speed, but even this constant whining couldn't get him down tonight. Jonothan was about to partake in one of his favourite activities. Observing illusion. It was almost therapeutic to try and figure them out. His face was lit with a childish grin in anticipation.
The theatre lights dimmed as the stage announcer started into his intro. Klaus lent over sideways and whispered to jonothan.
"They always give these events to the hacks that do hypnotism. No-one appreciates the art of fine illussion anymore." Jonothan nodded and smiled, but he wasn't really listening. The Curtain was starting to open. The Show was on.
Caisley strutted out onto centre stage and began working through his opening monologue. He was dressed as the perfect stage magician. Top Hat, coat and tails, and when he finally got into the act it proved that Klaus was indeed right about the hypnotism. While Adam continued to whisper things like "hack" and "boring" under his breath, David Caisley began inviting people up onto the stage and putting them through what was a fairly standard Hypnotist's show. Everything Jonothan had come to expect was there. The girl eating the onion and believing it was an apple. The Man who barked like a dog every time he heard a bell ring. The teenaged boy he convinced to parade around as though he was the beautiful magician's assistant. Even the old woman that he tricked into believing she was stuck to the chair. Nothing was particularly inspired and jonothan was just begining to give up hope when the real fun started. The first real trick had been levitation. Not a ground breaker Jonothan realised, but a good starting point for the true crowd pleasers. Caisley's Assistant was quite good at it, straight backed and perfectly still while Caisley wove the rings around her in dancelike fashion. She was an old pro at this. But then Jonothan knew that already from the program. Louise Caisley had been David Caisley's assistant more than 10 years earlier. They had married just after his career had taken off, and she had stuck by him through it all. She had personally approved all the stage hands that helped on the show, and trained the assistants to do the main roles. More often than not she would still get up to do them herself, but it never hurt to ensure that there was a steady stream of ready replacements. Their second trick had been a magic bullet trick. Always a crowd pleaser, and as with all such tricks, just different enough to leave the audience wondering how it was done. The show went on with all the glamour and fanfare to be expected of such an opening. The Girl in the box of swords, An assistant cut in half so that the top half moved independantly of the bottom. Somewhere in the middle there was a great highlight as Caisley reached into his hat and over 50 white doves flew out, each one circling the room before returning to cages on the stage. It was an impressive trick, but nothing compared with what was to come.
The Performance had reached a conclusion and there was only one thing left. Two Stagehands in black strutted out to centre stage pushing a raised platform. it was approximately 5 foot high, supported by a single steel post on each corner and along one post was attached a long black hose. The 2 Stagehands left the platform in the center and quickly retreated to the wings of the stage, one of the returning seconds later with a stepladder which was carefully placed below the platform. Caisley posed next to the platform and a hush fell over the whole audience, they all knew the significance of this trick.
Caisley began with a speech.
"Ladies and Gentleman. Tonight's performance is in need only of a finale. A Finale befitting of such a grand occassion. The Trick I am about to perform has not been done in over 5 years. It is exceptionally difficult, and while attempting to perform it, more than one person has died. I would ask you to be perfectly silent as my lovely wife, and assistant prepares to perform The Cage of flaming death."
There was a murmur of shock in the crowd but it was quickly stifled as Louise Caisley strutted onto the stage. She had changed between tricks, and this time came out in the feminised version of david's tuxedo. black leather hotpants over fishnet tights. The tightest of tight white shirts beneath a black double breasted coat with long tails. A Black tophat which pulled up her long brunette hair. As she grasped david's hand and he led her to the first of the steps she held the complete attention of every person in the audience. Their eyes followed her 6 inch stillettos as one by one they mounted the stairs. When she had reached the top she turned and faced the audience. Completely wordlessly she raised her head to the roof proudly while David wheeled the stairs away. She was stranded on the platform now. David Clicked his fingers and the flames lit spectacularly from the bottom. What followed was stage performance at its finest. Louise posed on the platform, her hands raised to the roof, her eyes focussed on her fingertips while David dance around below, waving his arms, willing the flames higher and higher. As they reached to the point where her face was obscured he suddenly clapped his hands and they burst higher, turning a magnificently bright red. The Brilliance of the light kept up for almost ten seconds until david finally waved his arms again and in an instant the flames were gone.
The problem was that Louise Caisley was not.
Chaos occurred almost insantly. Louise Caisley had not only not disappeared, but she stood now in the center of the platform with a large samurai sword impaled through her chest and her body smoking all over from the charring of the flames. David Caisley yelled in a panic as her body stumbled forward off the platform and crashed onto the stage. By the time Everyone else had gathered around Caisley was leaning over the body of his dead wife crying and mumbling. It took almost a minute before the stagehands got the cue to close the curtains, but by then clearly everybody knew that this was no longer part of the show...
*********
Jonothan and Maddy sat patiently in the cold interview room at scotland yard 48 hours after David Caisley's devastating finale. Across the desk from them sat senior Constable Van Drummond, the man who had been given the task of interviewing all the witnesses. A short stocky man who was clearly unimpressed at having been lumbered with such a task. Maddy and Jonothan had actually been his first interview of the day, but as always Maddy's keen sense of what made a good story had seen them back there again trying to squeeze the detective for information. So far that task was not going well at all. Drummond was a detective and with that title came certain simple expectations. This crime was disobeying all of those expectations and so far he was at a complete loss. How is it possible to stab a person with an ornate sword in the centre of a room filled with witnesses? What made it worse was that he had been interviewing all of the witnesses now for almost two days and they all had identical stories. no-one knew a single thing that could help him crack this case. Jonothan himself had been musing over the problem for almost the same amount of time, coming to much the same conclusion. This was a truly baffling crime, even for an expert in such scenarios.
Maddy had been watching the two of them muse over the problem for almost an hour when there was suddenly a knock on the interview room door. Drummond looked up to see a young police constable there waiting to speak.
"Excuse me Sir. There's a woman here to see you. Says she's a friend and can help you with the magic case."
Drummond Groaned. Ever since the papers had got a hold of this one they had been dealing with every amateur sleuth in the whole of england. There wasn't a single crackpot that didn't have their own theory on how this was done so drummond very much doubted this woman was likely to be of the slightest bit of help. Still, at this point he was open to anything, so he asked to be shown the woman. She was an elderly lady, possibly in her mid to late 60's but Drummond recognised her instantly and knew she still had all her wits about her. Edna Marple had only retired from the court system 5 years earlier and prior to that had been one of the finest Judges the old bailey had had occasion to witness. Her mind was sharp and during her reign her eye for detail had been second to none. Drummond doubted much had changed in that department and was willing to listen to whatever the woman had to say.
Once she had been seated in the interview room with a cup of hot tea she began her tale.
"I heard of your case detective, and I believe I can be of some assistance. My husband and I went to see this Caisley fellow performing once and I remembered the faces. Well. Yesterday morning I was sitting at the bus stop nearest my home waiting to be taken into the city when a woman happened alongside me. She was a young thing, dressed in an indecently short skirt with a leather jacket that fell down to cover it. We got to talking and the young lady said she had once lived nearby. Well I thought nothing more of it you see. I knew that this woman was familiar but obviously I recognised her from when she had lived locally. It was only when I saw the news last night that I got to thinking harder about it. That was when I remembered. I knew the young woman not from my neighbourhood, but from the show you see. She'd been mr Caisley's assistant."
Jonothan and Drummond were baffled. Here was a reliable witness claiming that they had seen the deceased woman walking around alive since the murder. Neither of them had the slightest idea what to say. Eventually Drummond had to be sure. He reached into the folder in front of him to produce a large B&W glossy photo of Louise Caisley, just as she had looked for her promotional shots. the detective placed the photo carefully in front of the old woman.
"This is the woman you saw?" He asked levelly. Edna studied it for only a hint of a moment.
"Oh no detective. Not her. the other one." She reached deep into her pockets and produced a neatly folded flyer from some years earlier. Carefully she unfolded it and pointed to the photo of a young girl on the flyer. This one was blonde, but they all knew her anyway. Her name was Janice Molbray and she had been dead for over 5 years.
*********
Outside Maddy was bubbling with excitement. She could already see the book summaries in her head. This was going to be a best seller, there was no question in her mind. She nudged Jonothan.
"Can you believe that woman didn't know that Molbray had been killed? And to suggest that She'd been seen at a bus stop....." Jonothan nodded, but he was far away lost in thought. there had to be a link he was missing.
"How does a woman suspended on a platform manage to get stabbed in full view of a thousand people? And how does a woman who's been dead for over five years suddenly come back to life the next day?" Maddy chimed in with some humour.
"maybe the old woman saw a ghost? wooooooooo I'm the ghost of a magician's assistant be afraid of the bus! woooooooo" Jonothan shook his head, taking the whole suggestion far more seriously than it was intended.
"No. There's some rational explaination for all this, I'm just not sure what...."He trailed off and wandered away leaving maddy alone with her suggestions.
********
As Maddy saw it the situation wasn't so much a crime as a great mystery. The who's and the how's were far less important than the tale of everyone envolved. It was for this reason that she set about trying to find David Caisley. Caisley, she realised, was the one person at the core of this whole story. Jonothan would be the hero of course. She had complete faith in his ability to come up with a solution eventually, but in the meantime she was focussed on securing the rest of the story. She'd been told that Caisley was supposed to be in rehearsal but there seemed to be many question marks over whether he would be too upset for it. When Maddy found him in the theatre however it did not seem to be upset that was the primary emotion. As she entered the theatre Caisley was in a heated arguement with a tall thin man with a dark cheesy moustache.
"David you *HAVE* to. It's the perfect time! There are crowds lining up around the block to see this show. You're hot stuff David. That little mishap has put you on the front page of every newspaper in the western hemisphere. If you don't cash in on this you'll never get another opportunity."
Caisley had his head down but was obviously annoyed.
"I will NOT use the death of my own wife to cash in like it was some........Cheap advertising stunt!" He took a deep breath.
"I will continue doing shows, but I will not allow you to blow this up into a gimmick!" From on stage there was a crash and both men looked up to see an incredibly cute young blonde model that had just knocked over and smashed a large wooden box used in one of the many tricks. Suddenly aware that all eyes were on her she thrust her chest out, waved one arm in the air and announced "TA DA!" as though she had just successfully completed a trick.
Caisley shook his head angrily and stormed out of the theatre, heading directly toward the changerooms backstage. Maddy choked back a laugh as some of the other assistants came out to help the blonde fix her mess. When it was clear that they were all pre-occupied she snuck backstage to find caisley.
When she found David Caisley he had shut himself away in the shared changing room used by all the performers in his show. Maddy knocked lightly on the door and pushed her way in.
"Boy that girl is something huh?" she said, sizing up the room around her. It was a reasonably sized room, but she imagined far too tight once the 10 or so people who helped david's show were all crowded into it. There were stage mirrors every few metres along the walls, each one emitting a large amount of light so that there weren't any dark corners to the room, but the piles of boxes stacked along the walls only made the claustrophobic feeling worse. Caisley sighed.
"That's Britney. She's hopeless. She was auditioning to be my new assistant." He sighed.
"It's all too much." Maddy wandered through the room, trying to be discreet as she took full stock of everything in it. Jars of makeup sat on counters, racks of costumes ran along walls, everywhere she looked was the sign of a professional stage show. Maddy looked for something to ask but hadn't really thought of anything before she'd arrived. thankfully Caisley wanted to talk it seemed.
"My wife. Britney was her choice. She didn't used to like my having younger assistants but....and Britney was so terrible....My wife said she would learn and I wouldn't need to use her until she'd learned the ropes but now.... What am I going to do?" His lip trembled "My wife and I had our ups and downs of course. She would get terribly jealous at times but...." He buried his head in his hands and maddy leant over to comfort him. That was when she spotted the *something* she'd been looking for. She hadn't been looking for anything of course, just hoping that she'd manage to have *something* catch her eye. It was only a blonde wig, but there was a hint of pink latex attached in a way that made her curious. she could see no reason for halloween masks in such a professional show. As soon as Caisley had composed himself she made a feeble excuse and left. She didn't understand magic quite like everyone else seemed to which meant she needed an explaination. and she knew EXACTLY who to go to.
*******
Adam Klaus answered his front door wearing only a shavecoat. this was not unusual for Klaus, he could frequently be found wearing only a shavecoat, he felt it fitted his image as a playboy perfectly. Maddy took one deep breath and then came right out with it.
"Adam. I need to understand magic."
he hushed her with one hand and then beckoned her inside conspiracitorially, checking both directions outside as though they were discussing black market secrets.
Once inside all his showbiz charisma returned to him.
"Madeleine my dear, what could possibly have brought such a curiousity on after all this time?"
Maddy was pacing nervously as she replayed things in her mind.
"I was just over at David Caisley's looking in his dressing room and I saw something that I was wondering....would there....I mean I don't suppose that a magician would have any reason to be using a mask?"
Klaus laughed gleefully in response.
"I always knew that caisley was a cheap hack." He looked at Maddy a little more seriously.
"A good magician would never use a mask." Maddy looked puzzled, and just a little downcast.
"But...." Klaus Continued "Caisley has never in my opinion been a good magician. Any magician worth his weight would use twins. Masks are the fallback of a cheap amateur."
Maddy was now very confused.
"But I thought.........twins? I'm afraid I don't follow you..." Klaus shook his head and made a slight clicking sound with his tongue.
"My Dear lady. Does that boy jonothan never explain anything to you?" He moved past the fruitbowl at the end of his kitchen counter and on into the kitchen area. Maddy followed out of curiousity as he took down two identical blue coffee mugs.
"The teleportation trick. One of the simple staples necessary for any magic act. The Girl goes into the box on the right" he tapped one of the coffee mugs "And comes out of the box on the left. Now. Observe." He placed a single white grape on the benchtop.
"Our girl steps out in front of the audience. she parades around and then..." he placed the coffee mug upside down over the top.
"...steps into the box. Then Hey presto!" he lifted the other coffeemug to reveal a second grape, this one much smaller and a slightly different shape.
"The girl has magically transported to the other box."
Maddy shook her head.
"That's a different grape....er girl. it doesn't even look the same." Klaus grinned like a cat.
"Precisely. it doesn't *look* the same. Which is where our twins come into it. If the two look perfectly identical then no-one has cause to question that it is the same girl. looks fantastic on stage. Not to mention twins come with some.......added side benefits." His grin got broader. Maddy chose to ignore it, instead grappling with the implications this new information provided.
"so if you didn't have twins than you would use a mask...." Klaus sighed.
"its the same principle. The Girl goes in one door and someone dressed exactly like her comes out the other way. If you haven't got two identical girls its the way you make one average girl into an absolute stunner."
A wickedly evil thought suddenly overcame Maddy. she chose her words carefully.
"But, you don't use masks at all. Ever. is that right?" Klaus stared at her blankly for a moment before his lip started to slowly curl itself into a smile.
"I think perhaps I could chase one up. If it was for the right cause...."
*********
Maddy stared at the clothing layed out neatly on the bed in front of her. This was an insane plan. Completely nonsensical. She and Jonothan had always had something of a sexually strained friendship. There had always been mild sexual interplay but never before had she attempted to take it further. Yet suddenly now she was staring at a leather ensemble that would have made a callgirl blush and her mind was entertaining plans that envolved becoming a blonde bimbo and seducing one of her closest friends. The whole idea was laughably insane. She decided she needed to get to it before someone came and woke her up from this bizarre dream. She had stripped down to lacy underwear in preparation for what was to come so it from here on she knew she was entirely constructing a new persona.
That persona would start with leather pants. They were tighter than she thought it was possible for her to actually get into, but they had also been selected to be tight and she'd always known that sexy and comfortable did not necessarily go together.
After several uncomfortable minutes struggling with the uncompromising leather she finally managed to wrestle the pants closed. They were tighter than she had anticipated and for a moment she considered removing them. But looking down she found herself entranced by the reflections of the light in the glossy leather, and when they began to warm to her body temperature she decided she quite liked the way that they clung to her thighs and calves. That left her with something of a decision. originally she had intended to dress first before the mask, thus allowing her the luxury of free breathing as she did so, but now the perfect appearance seemed far more important.
Maddy hefted the mask to eye level to examine it carefully. something about it made her shiver with excitement. It was far superior to the one she had seen in caisley's dressing room. Wherever Klaus had managed to obtain it Maddy could tell took meticulous care in its construction. it was molded from what seemed to be a mix of latex and silicone, and though far thicker than the one she had seen discarded by Caisley, it had a life to it that the thinner mask had lacked. Each and every hair of this mask had been woven individually into the scalp to create a realistic hair effect that even promised to hide the velcro seam at the rear of the mask without leaving a trace. The front of the mask had been coloured and painted to the exact specifications of some exotic stage makeup and up close even managed the appearance of pores and dimples that would make it close to skin in its appearance. from hair the same colour as the inbuilt wig, some artist had delicately sewn a series of individual eyelashes into place above the eye sockets. The result was even more realism even when positioned above the crystal blue coloured perspex eyes which had been glued into place beneath half lowered silicone/latex eyelids. Whichever way she looked this mask was a work of artistic beauty. Even moreso she realised, this mask was a person. She held it out in front of her face and took one last breath as maddy. closing her eyes for a moment, she pulled the blonde ringlets out of the way before sliding the whole mask backwards onto her head. It squelched and flexed beneath her fingers as it moved its way slowly into place. The top half of the mask, from moulded cheekbones to forhead seemed largely inflexible, and thus seemed to jump straight into the position it should naturally occupy, so maddy instead was forced to focus on pushing the tiny, pliant nose into its proper position. After moments of pushing and sliding, the nose had finally lined itself up with her nostrils, and the chin also seemed to have little trouble sliding into place. Her new lips seemed puffy and ridiculously out of place, but she decided she would deal with that problem later, instead turning her focus to the velcro seem which was to seal her new face. A problem struck her. The mask didn't seem to fit her new face at all. There was atleast an inch at the back between either of the velcro sides and she could not see any way to breach that problem. After what seemed like hours and hours of tugging, and with her fingers and shoulders now sore from the effort, maddy finally managed to force the two sides into an unhappy union. Her head felt at first like it was going to explode from the pressure. Like her pants, the mask was clearly too tight. A single glance in the mirror though told her that the effect was completely worthwhile. As she played with the long cascading curls that danced from her mask, the blonde bombshell in the mirror mimicked her actions back at her. Maddy knew that the figure in the mirror was not complete but she was excited at the realisation that she was so close. Her vision she realised now was extremely limited, having lost peripheral vision almost entirely, but the effect was stunning. Klaus had explained the mask wearing process somewhat glancingly, but she understood that the next part of the mask process envolved using the latex and a brush to seal the mask to the skin along the neckline. She opened the bottle of liquid latex and instantly wished that the mask had removed her sense of smell. The fumes from the jar made her dizzy and almost sick but she quickly attempted to seal the mask as best she could. she painted the foul white liquid liberally around the seams she could reach, taking particular care not to get any caught in the wig which was now dangling around her neck and threatening to get in the way. Eventually, as the liquid was beginning to set on the brush and making the bristles increasingly hard to work with, she decided she had finished. The finished product, when it had set to become clear, would not be perfect, but she was sure it would be indistinguishable once concealer had been laid over the top. As a final thought she dabbed a small amount of the latex along her lips and pressed the silicone lips into place over her own. she held them there for afew minutes, and then once confident that they had stuck she opened her mouth and smiled. the full lips of a coquettish young woman smiled back at her. she blew kisses to herself, and then finally made some basic sounds and faces, daring the mirror to do something wrong. The lips stuck though. And as she moved through the faces she began to be taken in by just how realistic the face seemed to move. That the eyes didn't blink would no doubt concern anyone who stared at them for a long period of time, but in the course of normal movements they seemed real enough. She found that when making sounds she wanted instinctively to speak in more bimbo-ish tones. The sounds just seemed to fit the face so perfectly, it really was as if the face had become an entire person on its own. Maddy picked up the black leather top. It was a corset style bodice which she had chosen specifically to match the style of the pants, with the added advantage that it would pull her full stomach in a little and hopefully achieve a slightly more hourglass figure.
She draped it around her torso and slowly began to thread the laces. Her limited vision was making things difficult, but thankfully the lacing was at the front, making the process a little easier. She tugged the laces tight, and then as an afterthought took the deepest breath she thought possible and pulled the laces tighter again. The result was a tinier waist than she could remember ever having in her entire life but as an added advantage she noticed her already oversized chest was now swelling and threatening to burst from over the leather top. she quickly tied a bow and pressed it down inside the cleavage. The mirror now reflected the vision of a goddess. This new person was the image of a blonde in leather. It reminded maddy somewhat of a model who was pretending to be a biker. The black leather moulded itself to every contour of her body, hiding each of the imperfections and revealing only the perfection of this new creation. Maddy had some trouble with the boots. Knee high lace up boots were not her usual footwear and she was having double the problems as a result of the tight clothing that covered all of her body. Thankfully her arms were atleast exposed and with alot of huffing and reaching she finally managed to pull the two boots into place. They had Block heels and platforms but were only about 4 inches in the heel so she didn't have great issues with walking. Finally the costume was complete. "Bimbo Girl" stared back at her from the mirror all dressed up and ready to party. Maddy knew exactly where to go as well. With final touches taken care of(a quick brush run through the hair and a dabbling of concealer and powder) she was off out the door, her target now firmly within her sights.
**********
In the isolated windmill he called home Jonathan Creek was pacing. It had been days now yet he still couldn't get a grip on this whole Caisley Mystery. The woman had died on stage, in front of him, during a magic act no less! yet he had not the slightest idea how it had been done. Suddenly this whole reclusive thing didn't seem to be working for him. He valued his peace and solitude more than anything yet it didn't seem to be helping him in the slightest right at that moment. He stepped back over the events in his mind searching for some clarity. He'd spoken to the woman before the show. she'd climbed the stairs on her own. There was no way she could have left the platform once the trick had started, nor any way for someone else to have entered it. Then there was the baffling story of the old lady... Jonothan cursed himself for not understanding. He had to be missing *something* Just a single clue could make all the difference.
His train of thought was suddenly derailed by a soft knocking on his door. At first he thought he had imagined it. People rarely knocked on jonothan's door so the sound itself was foreign. He chose to live in a windmill in the middle of nowhere for very good reasons and one of those included not having his door knocked on at all hours of the night. Cautiously he opened the door just a crack and peered out, not even bothering to say a word, but expecting the visitor to explain themselves.
Instantly he was taken aback. The figure at the door was breathtaking. Dressed neck to toe in skintight black leather, poised on platform boots and made up with the excessive makeup of a stage performer, jonothan could only stare at the vision of perfection before him. He opened his mouth to gape for a moment and then finally blurted out some kind of question.
"Who....."
The Girl shook her head, allowing her blonde curls to dance around her shoulders then raised a single finger to his lips.
"There are no words." Her voice oozed sex. It leaked from her lips and evaporated into the air syllable by syllable. He opened the door only an infinitely small amount further but it was invitation enough. She strutted in with all the purpose of a dominatrix, shoving him in the chest and urging him up his own stairs and toward the bedroom. Their lips were entwined the whole way as she systematically tore each shred of clothing from his body. He fell backwards onto his own bed, his eyes open wide with the amazing situation. She lept up to straddle his body with her knees, staring down upon with a smile that mixed both predatory instinct and gleeful pleasure. In the Blissful hours that followed all thought of murder and mystery were replaced with pure biology and a magic all of its own....
*******
It was the smell of coffee that woke maddy the following morning. She opened her eyes slowly, allowing them to focus on the room around her. Next to the bed Jonothan had placed breakfast on a tray for her, but he himself was not around. She smiled to herself pleased with how everything had gone. The mask still clung to her face giving her the perfect appearance, though underneath she was starting to feel just the slightest bit uncomfortable. a glance in the mirror on jonothan's dresser however showed that she was still picture perfect despite the strenuous activities of the night before. She decided she could live with the discomfort of the mask until after food was done. She took a sip of the coffee and started into the muffin. The Food was excellent as usual, yet another sign that super genious Jonothan was faultless at everything. Well no everything. She smirked. He hadn't seemed to have noticed her disguise. It seemed to Maddy that sometimes even the insight of a genious could be clouded when sex was envolved. she picked up the last piece of toast from her breakfast tray and after a couple of bites decided it was time to remove "bimbo girl". She sighed. A part of her regretted having to return to normal. She was about to replace the toast and start the arduous return to being Maddy when she noticed the card. lying under the plate on the Breakfast tray was a decorated greeting card. She lifted it from the tray and looked at the pretty flowers that some company had printed onto the front, specifying this as a general purpose card(made for any occassion but just as expensive as if it had actually had a reason). Smiling she opened the card, wondering just what words of loving Jonothan had left for his voluptuous "bimbo girl".
It started simply, but already Maddy's smile had gone, replaced by a dumbfounded stare.
"Dear Maddy,
Thankyou for a wonderful night. I have left you breakfast, hopefully it will still be hot when you wake up. Last night managed to spark the piece of inspiration that was needed and I finally know how everything was done. I've had to go and check on afew things, as well as make some preparations. Whenever you choose to get up and remove the mask can you please call inspector Drummond? David Caisley will be at the theatre in dress rehearsals at 7pm tonight. If you can meet me there then I will explain it all.
Jonothan.
P.S. Don't throw out that mask.....you never know when it might come in handy."
For the first time since she had put on the mask the day before maddy screamed, and this time it was her own voice that echoed its frustration.
*******
At 7pm precisely Jonothan Creek entered the lobby of the run down theatre that David Caisley was using to rehearse his next performance. Maddy had been waiting with Klaus and the police contingent for over a half hour. Each of them was bursting at the seams to hear what solution he had. Jonthan had been careful to tell each of them only pieces of the solution. Just enough that they knew what he wanted them to bring and do, but not enough that they actually knew the answer. The detectives had some of their own theories of course, but Drummond knew of his reputation well from other police contacts and was not prepared to merely dismiss the eccentric Genius's ideas out of hand. Watching Jonothan's arrival any spectator could have been forgiven for assuming he was an arriving movie star. All of those in the lobby began speaking at once, each asking questions of him that he pointedly ignored. An impish grin now dominated his features. Jonothan knew he had the answer to the riddle that everyone was completely baffled by. Hardly any of those present noticed a weedy teenaged boy that followed jonothan into the lobby. The boy was in fact pushed aside as inspector drummond began his own approach to Jonothan.
"I just want you to know how much we're all looking forward to hearing your ideaýs on the case. I'm sure we can both help collaborate on this. Scotland yard is quite prepared to share any information that might help you mr Creek. For example we're quite sure that the testimony provided us by Edna Marple is, in all likelyhood, mistaken." Jonthan, who was still not at all used to being the centre of attention, decided to take the wind from The detective's sails straight off.
"I'm afraid you're wrong about that Constable. Not only is Miss Marple entirely correct in her report, but it also happens to be one of the most important pieces of information in this whole case." The detective looked at him with curiousity and Jonothan thought hard about whether to explain it all right there. Eventually he decided that the large majority of those present would not fully understand his solution if it were only explained. The solution could only be demonstrated, which meant that they were all headed into the theatre itself.
Maddy accompanied Jonthan through the double doors and into the theatre. On stage Caisley was in the midst of his normal rehearsals. To his direct left britney was slotting swords into a box. Maddy nudged Jonothan and whispered under her breath.
"how did you know?" Jonothan rolled his eyes.
"Please." he scoffed, not lowering his voice much at all.
"It was a mask. Latex has a taste and a smell too you know."
Maddy frowned.
"so you knew the WHOLE TIME?! why didn't you.....?"
Jonothan grinned.
"I quite liked it." He looked up at the stage as Caisley and Co had all stopped to look out at the arriving mob. Jonothan moved into the one mode of performance he actually enjoyed: Explaining the puzzle. From nearby each of those who were to play a role in his whole thing moved off to the wings of the theatre in readiness for their parts. detective Drummond moved to the front of the theatre to calm Caisley's protests of being interrupted.
"Mr Caisley, this is Jonothan Creek, he'd like to use some of your set if he may. We have afew questions and we think he might be able to answer them for us. If you could just take a seat..." Drummond pointed toward the front rows where Klaus and a contingent of police had positioned themselves.
Jonothan stood center stage and suddenly had a massive bout of stage fright. There were probably less than 10 people in total in this audience, but it was still terrifying.
"uh......The.....umm......"
He was saved as the figure of Maddy strode onto stage pushing the same platform as had been used by caisley in his performance.
"Oh....er...that's right. The Cage of Fire." Maddy's eyes rolled as she went back to the wings and returned with a stepladder. Without waiting for a cue She began to climb the steps.
Jonothan turned his back on the audience and gained enough in confidence to explain what was going on.
"Now. The Assistant enters the platform. Stands at center. Flame comes on...." Suddenly the Flames burst on all around the platform. There was no stage performance to the act. Jonothan made no effort to dance and summon flames as Caisley had. In fact the step ladder still remained in place for this show.
Jonothan then spoke a little louder to be heard over the sound of roaring gas jets.
"The Flames go off and..." The audience all gasped as at center a large figure with a sword protruding from its chest tumbled forward off the platform and onto the ground. Drummond yelled in panic. His career flashed before his eyes. He had approved of this little show because he had believed it would provide him an answer, yet now he had not only the same questions but also an extra dead body. Jonothan was quick to allay all fears.
"She's not dead. Its just a dummy. Look." Jonothan lifted the head of the dead body and the spine bent back in an exaggerated rubbery way. It was clear that only the sword was real. Caisley was outraged.
"Are you suggesting that My wife didn't die?? Are you implying that I faked her death with some rubber Mannequin??!!" Jonothan shook his head solemnly.
"No. Though I did toss around the idea at one point. The solution I found, was both far simpler, and yet infinitely more complex. Someone I know was talking in her sleep last night and happened to mention an old magicians trick I'd almost forgotten. The teleportation trick. It got me thinking what if it wasn't just the one girl..."
Caisley lept to his feet.
"This is ridiculous. You think my wife has a twin?!! That maybe there is some lookalike girl that swapped with her at her death? its preposterous!"
Jonothan again shook his head.
"No. I perfectly believe that your wife was the one that died. And I don't believe she had a doppelganger for this trick either." Caisley sighed with relief.
"On the contrary" Jonothan continued. "I think she had two." Caisley's mouth opened and shut again with complete disbelief.
Jonothan turned back to the platform.
"As you can see I recreated the event. right down to the details on the night. The solution is so deceptively simple that not one of you noticed that you were asking the wrong questions." Klaus smiled from the front row, where he was the only person still seated.
"I know. Where's the real girl?" Maddy appeared from somewhere at the back of the stage.
"Yoohoo. I'm over here."
Drummond was baffled.
"so....you're saying that the dummy walked up the stairs onto the platform and stabbed itself?"
Jonothan shook his head.
"It's a dummy detective. It can't stab itself. nor can it walk." Drummond rubbed his eyes as though a headache was starting to form.
"If the dummy didn't do it then how did the girl get back down?"
Maddy feigned surprise
"Down? I wasn't even up!" Jonothan stepped in to fill in details.
"The girl herself never set foot on the platform, because that was the role of the twin. That's where it gets so ingenious. In order to pull off such a perfect bait and switch you would have to have three conspirators." The detective shook his head. This was becoming more confusing by the minute.
"You see Inspector, the simplest truth of a trick like this is that the platform is not solid. There is always room to fit a single person into the hollow space. The reason it's important is that you can make a person look like they've dissapeared as long as they're well enough trained to know how to arrange themselves. So in the end the solution to this trick is no more complex than any you've seen a thousand times. Nobody stabbed the body on the fiery platform because the body was already dead. Probably had been stabbed the day before. Everything beyond that was all smoke and mirrors. Louise Caisley was killed by a sword it was put through her upper chest and her body was stashed in the hidden compartment of this platform before the show even started."
Caisley became indignant again.
"That's all completely ridiculous. My wife performed the show! She did all the tricks. She knew all of my secrets. All of my timing! besides Everyone saw her walk up onto that platform. And there's no way a dead body could have supported itself to stand."
Jonothan remained level.
"You're quite right. On all of those things. But I'm afraid there's a simple explaination for all of them. in order to stand the body needed someone to support it. Such support could only have been done by someone with a wire holding it from above." Jonothan moved over to the dummy and touched a very fine invisible wire. The wire was attached to the sword hilt and as jonothan moved it the audience could clearly now see that it ran up to the rafter and across to the wings where maddy had entered from.
"The killer would need to have stood over there, thus allowing them to pull the string keeping the body up until the correct time. And also to make sure that they could be the first person on stage to cut that wire before anyone noticed it." Caisley smiled, almost maniacally.
"Ahh.....but there's your problem see.....who climbed onto the platform? huh? You've got two killers!" Jonothan shrugged the question off.
"The person on the platform quite simply had no knowledge of anything. That is the truly brilliant part of the whole thing. The girl who took to the platform needed the skill to hide in the platform cavity, but no other skills. The audience had already seen the beautiful assistant do many tricks during the course of the night, so logically they'd assume that the assistant had many skills. But the girl who climbed up there only needed to dance and to hide. Someone who could do all that had already been trained earlier that night. Caisley turned toward britney with shock but jonothan shook his head.
"No her. Someone even less likely." Jonothan snapped his fingers and from the platform a second maddy suddenly sat up. her eyes were half closed and she seemed unruffled but from her lips came a soft, high pitched, but clearly male voice.
"Where am I?"
Caisley shook his head in confusion.
"At the beginning of your show you induced a number of people with hypnosis. one of them you asked to be one of your assistants. He danced amusingly for the crowd and then you returned him to the audience. Or you thought so anyway. The truth was that Louise Caisley, or the woman you thought was her stopped the boy before he got back to the audience and put him straight back into that hypnotic state. He was completely forgotten by everyone but oddly enough with some small backstage priming it was probably very easy to convince him to put on a mask, dress up in a female costume and then strut out onto the stage. Everyone knew what to expect so no-one noticed anything different. once he'd hidden he went into a post hypnotic sleep so when the chaos erupted no-one thought to look for him. Our killer wheeled him offstage and brought him out of the trance with no recollection of anything having ever happened. Everything worked out perfectly because no-one ever noticed the switch. Masks helped your killer remain unseen the whole time, and No-one was looking when it mattered most. It was the perfect bait and switch. But then you knew it would be......didn't you?" Jonothan looked straight past Caisley and into the eyes of Britney. They were half closed and showed no emotion but her mouth sneered. Caisley stepped in between the two.
"Now hold on.....Britney is only new...I only met her the day before yesterday. My wife hired her in fact."
"Mr Caisley that isn't Britney. And you may have met Britney the day before yesterday but it wasn't your wife that introduced you both. Was it Janice?" The sneer continued but just as Caisley was about to intervene the young girl spoke up, this time in a voice that didn't at all suit her young form.
"Oh Shut up David." She reached up to her neck and tore at it. The skin seemed to rip itself so that some of the inexperienced officers winced with pain and expected to see blood. But no blood came. Instead the skin of the neck gave way to part of the skin on the face, and eventually the whole head, hair and all fell away to reveal the rather sweaty face of Janice Mobray.
"You knew this would work because you'd done it before... probably some innocent fan girl that arrived asking for an autograph? You burned the body in advance and when the trick was over everyone believed you were dead. Suddenly you were away from the act and no-one was any the wiser."
Caisley stared open mouthed at his once trusted assistant. She spoke with venom
"Your wife was a bitch david. She treated us all like crap. I hated her! I wanted out of the show but she was insane. She started accusing me of having an affair with you. She went on and on. She made my life miserable. In the end I couldn't take any more. I trapped some miserable thing that came to the stage door and I made it look like your trick had backfired. Everything was fine until I came to see you rehearsing for the gala show. I wanted to see you perform the flaming death again. I stood in the dark, but she saw me. She confronted me. It started all over again. the lies. the accusations. She said she'd expose me to everyone. I couldn't take that. I grabbed one of your swords from the the props and I stabbed her." Jonothan continued it for her.
"But then you had to cover it up otherwise someone would know anyway. You probably figured it was only a matter of time before people found out you were still alive, but the trick had worked once so why not again. When Edna Marple spotted you the next day I assumed you'd be getting ready to leave the country. Saying one last goodbye. But you weren't. It wasn't the country you were saying goodbye to, it was your life. Because you'd already picked out your new one. That was why everyone said britney was such an awful magician. Louise Caisley would never have chosen a sub standard girl to be an assistant, but you would because you knew the girl would never get to be an assistant. You simply chose the prettiest girl available. One with no Background and no irritating relatives. Then you took over her life. Presumably that mask there was only a temporary measure....?"
Janice frowned.
"I had the plastic surgery appointment made to coincide with david's tour of europe. Its still a month away."
Jonothan smiled as the Police led Janice Moebray out of the theatre in handcuffs.
From the Front row of the audience Klaus Applauded loudly.
"Bravo! Bravo! my boy we'll make a performer out of you yet. Incredible stage presence! we should start planning your stage debut right away!"
Jonothan blushed.
"Not tonight." Maddy broke in.
"I'm afraid Jonothan is a little busy." Klaus looked surprised.
"Well. It turns out that jonothan left a certain someone at home asleep in bed to do all this....and I imagine Bimbo girl is quite put out by that. As a matter of fact I'd imagine that Jonathan is going to have to work pretty hard to stop from being spanked.
Jonothan blushed harder, but made no attempt to stop from being led from the theatre. He imagined he had a hell of a night ahead of him...
The End.
<Cue Danse Macabre>
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