Page 24 of Murder By Misdirection

“Yes, that’s what makes getting out of them more difficult, but also more amazing, don’t you think?” Max suggested.

Chu slammed the restraints onto the table. “This isn’t a joke, Mister Martin. Two people are dead, and we have copies of threatening emails sent by you to two different people. What are the odds that when our cyber unit goes through Mister Tanner’s emails they will find messages you sent to him?”

“The odds are good. But as I tried to explain it to Pro, you have to be aware of the misdirection. Someone is doing everything they can to point suspicion to me.”

“That sounds like paranoia, Mister Martin,” Chu replied.

“But as I told you, I called Louie and set up the appointment with him after I left my apartment—I mean Mrs. Thompson’s apartment this morning. It was just going to be a friendly chat. Lou and I are old friends. I thought together we could figure out the identity of the man who stole my trick.”

“I thought Albert Floss stole your trick,” Chu asserted.

Max shook his head. “He was just the middle man. Al was good, but he doesn’t have the knowledge to recreate an illusion on the level of Prism.” Max leaned back in this chair. “But Lou, he’d have the inside knowledge of who in New York could do it. Don’t you see, that’s why he was killed. He probably figured out who recreated the techniques of my effect.”

“This is all well and good, but so far, you’re the only constant in this case. Everything points to you!”

Max went on. “I’m telling you, find the man who drew those plans, and you will have your killer.”

“Unfortunately, at this time, that appears to be you, Mister Martin. End interview!”

Chu stood up from the chair, took his folder with him, and stepped to the door as Pro buzzed it open.

He slammed the door behind him and pointed at a nearby officer. The man was very tall, at least six-foot-eight. He had a square chin and a taut, lean body that gave the appearance of a normal man stretched out to the extended height. “Jacobs?”

“Yes, sir, detective.”

Chu pointed his thumb at the door he’d just exited. “Get this man into holding, and be alert, he’s tricky.”

“Yes, sir,” the officer said and walked to the door, which Pro buzzed open.

Using his long arms, Jacobs held the door open and guided Max out, taking him in the direction of the precinct’s holding cells.

“Tom,” Pro said as her annoyed partner drew near. “What if he’s…I dunno…on to something?”

“What he’s on to is a rap for two counts of Murder One,” Chu griped. “I hope he enjoyed his one day outside, because I think I will keep him in a cell from now on.”

“Can we hold him?”

“Up to seventy-two hours on suspicion. I intend to use every hour of that.”

“Okay,” Pro said and turned away, suddenly feeling guilty.

“Look, Pro, it’s for his own good,” Chu explained, sensing his partner’s conflict. “If he’s here in a cell and any other magicians are killed with the same MO, it will exonerate him.”

“I see that,” Pro divulged to her partner. “I just don’t know what to do with him here. He makes me so angry, and then I feel guilty that I get mad. A part of me wants to strangle him and another part just wants to sit down with him over coffee.”

“So you have mixed feelings.”

“Very mixed. And I don’t like it. I’m usually the person in control.”

Chu sat at the corner of Pro’s desk. “I know, and you’ve got the smarts that keep your temper in check. But, this has been a struggle for you.”

She shook her head. “I all but lost it this morning when I went to Mom’s apartment and there he was. I felt like all the years where Joe worked so hard to give us a life and a strong family had been erased by an intruder.”

“Family can be difficult,” Chu pondered. “I mean, I was raised by traditional Korean parents. Every day after school, I had violin lessons and Tae Kwon Do. When I decided to go into law enforcement as a cop instead of becoming a lawyer, you would have thought I had committed a high crime. To this day, my folks are always comparing me to their friends’ more successful children who are doctors and lawyers.”

“At least your parents stayed together.”

“Yeah, and there were other advantages. I acted as my parents’ translator from the time I could talk, which came in very handy at parent-teacher meetings. But our parents are who they are, just like we have to be who we are.” He shrugged. “I’m a cop.”

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