Read The Dragon Done It for Free Online Page A

"You lied."
    "I prefer to think that I refused to betray a sacred trust."
    "Do you know how many years in the slammer you could get for not betraying that particular sacred trust?"
    "I was mostly truthful," replied Marvin. "You asked me if I had any grudge against Micro and Macro, and I told you truthfully that I didn't, that they were my good friends."
    "Then why did you put a spell on them?" asked Mallory.
    "They're my friends, and the salt of the earth and all," answered Marvin, "but friends come and go. Money stays."
    "Not when John Justin goes to the track, it doesn't," said Felina helpfully.
    "Who paid you to do it?" asked Mallory.
    "You're the detective," said Marvin. "Can't you guess?"
    "How many women in the show?"
    "Seventy-three."
    "That narrows it down to seventy-two suspects," said Mallory. "It doesn't really matter. We're not cops, and we're not here to arrest anyone, but my money's on Madame Nadine."
    "Why her?" asked Marvin.
    "She's the one who warned you I was coming."
    "Well, you're partly right," said Marvin. "That's not bad for one morning's work. If I ever need a detective, you're the man I'll come to."
    "Reverse the spell or you're going to need an intensive care unit long before you need a detective," said Winnifred, who hadn't put her Magnum away.
    "You don't have to return the money," said Mallory. "Like I said, we're not cops. All our clients want is for you to reverse the spell."
    "That's all my clients want too," said Marvin with a sigh.
    "Explain," said Winnifred.
    "It wasn't just Madame Nadine," said the magician. "She delivered the money, but all the women were jealous of Circe. They offered to pay me to turn her into a sea slug, or a fat old wrinkled broad"—he missed Winnifred's outraged glare—"or something like that. But no red-blooded man would ever do that to anything as perfect as—" a deep sigh "—Circe, so I told them no. Then the women decided that if they couldn't have Micro and Macro, they'd take up a collection—Madame Nadine paid me, but they all chipped in—and fix it so they would have to leave the show and Circe couldn't have them either."
    "Okay, that's about what I figured once I saw Circe," said Mallory.
    "Isn't she something?" said Marvin enthusiastically. "You get the feeling that if you live an absolutely perfect life, she'll be waiting for you at the end of it."
    "I don't think I want to hear any more of this," said Winnifred irritably.
    "Let's have the rest of it, Marvin," said Mallory.
    "It turned out that the women missed Micro and Macro so much they decided half a loaf—well, actually, about an eighth of a loaf once Circe arrived—was better than none. So they offered me double what they'd paid me to reverse the spell."
    "Then why didn't you?"
    "I can't !" Marvin said miserably. "This spell can only be stopped. It can't be reversed."
    "You're sure?"
    "They're my friends. Why would I do this to them? And more to the point, the money was twice as good."
    "So if you stop it today, they'll each be six-footers for the rest of their lives?" said Mallory.
    "That's right."
    "Could you make me big enough to kill and eat a gorgon?" asked Felina hopefully.
    "Certainly," said Marvin. "After all, I am Marvin the Mystic." He frowned. "But I couldn't make you small again."
    "I'd be too big to sleep on top of the refrigerator," said Felina. "Maybe you could shrink one of the gorgons instead. They look so tasty!"
    "John Justin," said Winnifred, "you suddenly have the strangest expression on your face."
    "Felina just gave me an idea," said Mallory. "Marvin, can I borrow your cell phone for a minute?"
    The magician muttered a chant and snapped his fingers, and suddenly Mallory found a Louisville Slugger in his hand.
    "Oops, wrong spell," said Marvin apologetically. He tried again, and this time Mallory wound up with a phone.
    "I'm just going to step out into the locker room for a couple of minutes to make a private call," he said. "I'll be right back."
    He left the office, and