The Ambitious Card (An Eli Marks Mystery) by John Gaspard Page B

enthusiasm, he hadn’t established a sufficient ruse for coming out of the back room. He looked around the immediate area. He finally spotted a paper clip on a nearby counter.
    “There it is,” he said with fake relief as he picked it up and pushed his way back through the red curtain.
    I looked at Clive, who was smiling as he scribbled. He finished, adding a flourish to the last word, and looked up at me. “So, Eli, have you ever experienced a paranormal event personally? An occurrence you couldn’t explain with your traditional methods?”
    I looked over at the back room, expecting another dramatic, exasperated entrance from Harry, but the red curtain remained strangely motionless. I waited a couple of seconds, and then turned back to Clive.
    “Well, I certainly have experienced odd coincidences,” I said finally. “I think everyone has at some point.”
    “Like the phone ringing and you know who it is before you pick it up?” he offered.
    “Well, that’s not a paranormal experience,” I said. “That’s just Caller ID.” Clive laughed politely, which in my world is more painful than no laugh at all.
    “But, seriously,” he continued, “you must have had experiences that you, as a person and as a magician, cannot adequately explain.”
    “I’m sure I have,” I said. “But I’m a skeptic. I’m not a debunker. I don’t make the presumption that every supernatural occurrence has been faked in some way. As a skeptic, I am more inclined to look for a natural explanation before leaping to a supernatural conclusion.”
    “Would you like to encounter a true, paranormal experience?”
    “Sure,” I said. “Who wouldn’t? It would be cool. But that desire doesn’t cloud the part of my brain that first looks for the rational explanation. How about you?” I asked, turning it back on him. “Have you ever experienced something you couldn’t explain?”
    He smiled and shook his head. “I’ve yet to find anything that has completely mystified me, with the exception of your Electoral College. But hope springs eternal, doesn’t it?”

      
    That seemed to conclude the formal part of the interview, but at his request, I spent the next few minutes giving Clive a tour of the shop. In addition to demonstrating some of the most popular illusions, I also took care to point out a few of the classic effects that Harry had created.
    I also indicated the photos of Harry with celebrities that had been taken over the years. Clive seemed genuinely interested in everything he saw and he spent a long time examining the old framed photos that hung on the walls.
    “Magic is fascinating, isn’t it?” he said. “Like that trick you did last night, what was it called, The Returning Card?”
    “The Ambitious Card,” I corrected. “Yes, that’s a classic routine with literally hundreds of variations.”
    I stepped behind the counter, picked up a deck that was lying there and did a quick version of the routine, with one card continually returning to the top of the deck.
    “Amazing,” he said, studying my actions closely. “Simply amazing. How long would it take a person to learn that trick?”
    I thought this over. “Well, in its simplest form, it still requires a couple of sleights that do take a bit of practice,” I explained. “I don’t think this is the ideal trick for a beginner.”
    “And what trick would be ideal for a beginner?” he asked, leaning down to peer through the glass top on the cabinet.
    I scanned all the display cases quickly, finally settling on the perfect effect for him. “I think this is what you’re describing. It’s a little coin trick called Scotch and Soda.”
    “Oh, I like it already,” he said. “Sounds like something that could come in handy with my mates in a pub.”
    “Absolutely. This is an easy one that works anywhere at any time,” I said as I pulled a small, sealed Scotch and Soda package off its place in the display case and opened it up. “It involves a little