Read The Ambitious Card (An Eli Marks Mystery) for Free Online Page B

to the audience, “how many of you would like Grey to stick around for this next segment?”
    Even if Grey had tried to decline, he would have been drowned out by the thunderous ovation the audience gave to this seemingly spontaneous suggestion. Moments later, he was re-wired with a microphone and seated at the other end of the table from me, where he still sat stiffly, refusing to look me in the eye.
    “We just had a great paranormal experience with psychic, mentalist, and spiritualist Grey,” the host continued, speaking directly into the camera. Without any prompting from the floor manager, the audience began applauding wildly. Grey smiled wanly and tilted his head a fraction of an inch, acknowledging their adoration.
    “And joining us now,” he continued, glancing down at his ubiquitous index cards, “is debunker and magician, Eli Marks.”
    He waited a beat too long, anticipating an interruption by applause, which clearly wasn’t coming. The floor manager, standing just off-camera, frantically gave the audience the applause signal. Their response was at best lackluster, clapping with the same enthusiasm that a group of kids might display when being forced to welcome the man who was about to kill Santa Claus.
    The host glanced at the index card again and then looked up at me. “So, Eli, you saw all of Grey’s performance tonight, right?”
    “Yes, I did,” I said.
    “As a debunker of paranormal events, did it set off all of your internal alarms? All the bells and whistles?” He chuckled good-naturedly.
    “Well, to begin with, I prefer the term skeptic rather than debunker,” I began, but he quickly cut me off.
    “Debunker, skeptic, either way you don’t believe that what Grey did here tonight was supernatural in any way, do you?”
    I looked from the host, to the crowd, to Grey, who was ignoring my very existence.
    “Here’s the deal,” I said suddenly, turning back to the host as I decided to just jump in and do it. “Grey is very good at what he does. Really. He has excellent crowd control, solid routines, and is obviously skillful. I have no issue with that. What gets me…what sticks in my craw, as my uncle would say…is that he presents the tricks that he’s performing as if they were real.”
    “You’re saying they’re not real?” the host asked provocatively.
    “Not one second of it. Look,” I said, leaning forward and gesturing toward Grey across the table from me. “Grey has a great mentalism act. Really. He could make a handsome living in a Las Vegas showroom for years to come with that act. Not at one of the bigger hotels on The Strip,” I added, “but he could still aspire to a job downtown.” My joke, such as it was, got nothing from the audience.
    “So then, if it’s all bogus, can you tell us how he does it?” the Host asked provocatively. “Let us in on all the little secrets?”
    I sat back in my chair with a sigh. “Well, you see, that’s going to be a problem. Essentially what Grey did tonight was a magic show, and we magicians are not known for our willingness to let our secrets out.”
    “A professional magician never reveals his methods?” the host offered.
    “Something like that,” I agreed.
    “Well, don’t take this the wrong way, Eli,” the host said, getting ready to go in for the kill. “But you appear to want it both ways. You say it’s all fake and not real, but at the same time you won’t explain how it’s done. That’s doesn’t seem quite fair, does it?” He winked at the audience and got a smattering of applause in response. They still hated me, but now for a new reason. That was progress of a sort, I guess.
    “Maybe I can meet you halfway,” I said. “What parts do you want to know about?”
    He glanced down at his notes. “Let’s start at the top. How did he stop his heartbeat?”
    I shook my head. “Sorry, folks, that’s a magic trick. I can duplicate it for you, if you like, but I won’t tell you how it’s done.”
    “Okay,