Illusions of Evil by Carolyn Keene

called out. “Hey, George, over here!” They looked around, and George spotted Chris Clarke sitting in a wheelchair parked across the aisle.
    â€œHi, Chris,” she greeted him. “Considering who’s performing, I’m surprised your mom let you come here today.”
    â€œAw, she doesn’t know about the magic show. She just dropped me off for my regular physical therapy session. Why don’t you pull a chair over and sit with me?”
    George smiled at Nancy and Ned. “How can I resist? See you two after the show.”
    Just then Dr. McGill stood up in front of the audience. “I want to thank you all for beinghere,” she said. “And now, without further ado, I am proud to present the great Adriana Polidori!”
    Two nurses pulled apart the dividers, and Adriana stepped out. She was wearing a classic magician’s costume consisting of a top hat, tails, and trousers, but the dressy men’s clothes were cut to fit her figure, and she looked strikingly feminine. She smiled warmly at the audience.
    â€œYou know,” she said, leaning toward them and winking conspiratorially, “I don’t get a chance to work with a small audience much anymore, and that’s a shame. All the best magic tricks are done close up. That’s part of the—”
    She was interrupted when a small girl in the front row sneezed. Adriana reached into her pocket and handed the little girl a red handkerchief. “Bless you,” Adriana said.
    â€œThank you,” the girl answered as Adriana took a step back.
    But there was something surprising about the handkerchief, and both the girl and Adriana watched in amazement as a blue handkerchief, tied to the first, came out of Adriana’s pocket. Adriana tugged on it, and a yellow one emerged. A green handkerchief followed, then another red one, and another and another, until a small pile of handkerchiefs lay at the girl’s feet.
    For the next half hour, Adriana maintained a constant patter of jokes and small talk as she did card tricks, pulled rabbits and doves out of her hat, and juggled. She involved several of thechildren in her act, giving them bunnies to hold, pretending to pull coins and eggs from their ears, letting them choose cards from her deck.
    The children were delighted.
    For her finale she produced a length of rope from her top hat. “Who will help me?” she asked. Then her eyes settled on Nancy. “Aha! A volunteer!”
    She explained that she wanted Nancy to tie her to a chair. “And make certain the knots are tight.”
    Nancy worked for several minutes, using all her best knots. At last she stepped away. “There,” she said. “You’ll never get out of that!”
    Nancy returned to her seat, and several audience members stepped up to check the knots. The last was Dr. McGill, who said, “If she escapes from this, I’ll eat her top hat!”
    The magician nodded to a nurse, who wheeled one of the room dividers in front of her so that the audience couldn’t see her. For long moments the audience fidgeted.
    Then Dr. McGill called, “Ms. Polidori, are you all right?” There was no answer. “Ms. Polidori?” Now the doctor was concerned, and she told the nurse to move the divider aside.
    When she did, the audience gasped!

Chapter

Ten
    T HERE SAT A DRIANA , reading a newspaper, her limbs totally free of the ropes!
    The audience broke out in amazed cries and applause.
    Adriana grinned like the Cheshire cat. She took off her hat and extended it to Dr. McGill. “Hungry?” she asked.
    Everybody laughed.
    â€œHow’d she do that?” Ned whispered.
    â€œYou’ll just have to ask her,” Nancy teased.
    After the show, as Adriana mingled with the audience, Nancy, George, and Ned approached her.
    â€œHello,” the magician called to them. “Did you like my performance?”
    â€œIt was wonderful,” George said