Deadly Magic by Elisabeth Crabtree Read Free Book Online Page B

while they waited for the police to arrive.
    “ It’s just such a horrible accident.”
    Grace look ed at her watch again and sighed. She stood up. “I’m going to try to find a police officer. What more could they want from me tonight?” Just as she started to walk away, Ethan grabbed her hand and pointed to the stage.
    Grace breath ed a sigh of relief, as the detective that had spoken to her last came onto the stage. Trailing behind him was Ilya Dragovich and a few more police officers.
    Grace sat back down next to Ethan.
    “ I hear this is exactly how your wife died,” the detective in charge said, walking to the crystal chest.
    Ethan and Grace exchanged looks. Obviously, the police didn’t know they were still in the audience. Making as little noise as possible, they both shrank down in their seats at the same time.
    Crossing his arms in front of himself, Ilya said sharply. “No. In fact, it’s nothing like how Juliet died.”
    The detective scratch ed his head. “Now that’s interesting because I was told your wife died performing a magic trick where she was suspended from the ceiling. She died right there out on that very same stage.”
    Ilya shook his head. “Whoever told you that was lying or mistaken. My wife died in Germany. Not on this stage. I didn’t come to New York or to this stage until just recently.”
    Taking out a notepad from his breast pocket, t he detective made some notes. “Uh huh.” He looked up. “Go on. I’m listening.”
    Irritat ed, Ilya inclined his head. “She was not performing. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the Düsseldorf police. They investigated her death at the time and ruled it an accident.”
    “ What was the name of the police officer?”
    Ilya glar ed at the detective.
    “ We’ll probably want to talk to him.”
    “ Werner Schultz.”
    The detective wrote the information down. “Is he still in Germany?”
    “ Oh, I don’t know,” Ilya said sarcastically, “we sort of lost touch after my wife died. Drifted apart.”
    The sarcasm was not lost on the detective. “Uh huh. I’m just trying to sort everything out Mr. Dragovich. We don’t want any mistakes, do we?” When Ilya didn’t respond, the detective asked, “So, how many people were performing with your wife?”
    “ What does my wife’s accident have to do with Lily?”
    “ We’re just trying to get our facts together. The situations are so similar. It’s rather curious, don’t you think?”
    “ No,” Ilya said slowly. “Like I said the situation is not the same. We were not performing. We were practicing a new illusion.”
    “ But your wife was suspended—”
    “ No, she wasn’t. She and one of our stage assistants were up in the rafters, setting up. The beam they were standing on fell.”
    “ Did your wife usually take part in setting up for such activities?”
    Ilya hesitat ed. “Sometimes. It depended on the illusion. Our stage assistant was showing Juliet part of the set up.”
    “ Didn’t she already know?”
    “ No. Lily was actually supposed to be up there helping to set up, but she had sprained her ankle a few hours before. My wife was preparing to go in her place.”
    The detective look ed up from his notepad. “Sprained her ankle? Gee, I didn’t realize magic was so dangerous.”
    “ She sprained her ankle running for a cab.”
    The detective grunt ed. “So, what happened to your assistant?”
    “ Lily?”
    The detective shook his head. “The stage assistant.”
    “ She managed to catch the next beam over. My wife was not so lucky.”
    “ Uh huh,” he said, scribbling in his notebook. “Her name? The assistant?”
    Ilya sigh ed. “Teresa Ricardi.”
    “ Her address?” He looked up from his notebook. “We would like to interview her as well.”
    “ I don’t know. I retired after my wife’s accident to take care of my children. I haven’t kept in touch.”
    “ Retired?” The detective looked around at the stage. “It doesn’t look like you