The Last Illusion

“But this is an American passport and it says he was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, on April sixth, 1873.”


“That’s not right,” Bess said, sitting up now. “He was born in Budapest. And his birthday is March twenty-fourth. Why would he have given false information for his passport?”

“I’ve no idea,” I said.

Bess took the paper from me and examined it, still shaking her head. “And he applied for this in 1900. He already had a passport long before that. I don’t understand. Unless—”

“Unless?”

“Unless it might have been difficult for a person who was a Hungarian Jew to get into Russia and to some parts of Germany,” she said, “so he decided to claim to be American born.”

“He was taking a risk then, wasn’t he?” I said. “Lying on a passport application, especially someone as well known as he. It’s a wonder he didn’t wind up in jail.”

“I don’t understand,” she said at last. “I don’t understand anything anymore. I just want my husband back safely. Find him for me, Molly. Promise me you’ll find him.”

“I’ll do my best, I promise,” I said, hoping that this was a promise I could keep.





Twenty-one


I had just put the passport back in its drawer when I heard voices downstairs—a woman’s voice raised in anger and a man’s deep, calm tones. I opened the door and picked up the pronounced accent of Houdini’s mother. “No, I vill not allow—” she was shouting.

Then, “Calm yourself, madam, please.”

Then heavy steps coming up the stairs and Daniel’s face appeared from the darkness of the hall.

“Ye gods, she’s a harridan, isn’t she?” he demanded. “Wasn’t going to let me in even when I told her I was a policeman.” He nodded politely to Bess, who now sat with her bedclothes drawn up in a display of maid-enly effrontery, which I found amusing, considering she spent most of her time appearing in front of strangers in a scanty costume.

“I’m Captain Sullivan. We met briefly last night,” he said.

“You have news for me? You’ve found him?” Her voice quavered.

“Not a trace so far. That’s why we need your help,” Daniel said. “Do you think you’d feel strong enough to accompany us back to the theater? We haven’t touched anything since last night. I’d like you to take a look for yourself and see if you notice anything unusual that might give us a clue as to what happened.”

“If you think it will help, I’ll come,” she said.

He smiled at her. “Good girl,” he said. “Hurry up and get dressed, then. I’ll be waiting in the automobile outside.”

“An automobile. Fancy that.” She looked rather impressed. “Harry was talking about buying one in Germany this year. We were even shown around the factory where they make them.”

“Were you?” Daniel looked equally impressed. “Mercedes-Benz, you mean?”

“Oh, yes. They adore Harry over there. He’s always so interested in the latest machines they’re making. He says they are so much more advanced than we are and of course they love showing off their superiority. They think a lot of themselves in Germany, you know.”

“We shouldn’t waste Captain Sullivan’s time,” I said, as she appeared rather taken with him and willing to go on chatting. “Do you need me to help you get dressed or should I wait in the automobile with Captain Sullivan?”

“You can help me if you like,” she said. “I don’t know how steady I’m going to be on my pins after what I’ve been through.”

“We’ll see you downstairs then,” I said. Daniel nodded and closed the door behind him.

“He’s awfully charming for a policeman, isn’t he?” she said as she stood up. “Good looking too.”

“Not bad, I suppose,” I agreed. “Now what will you be wearing, do you think? It’s a hot day out there again.”

“That’s one of the things I liked about England,” she said. “It was never too hot. I liked England a lot better than Germany but there’s no place like home, is there?”

I wondered if she’d also seen that new play The Wizard of Oz where that line featured prominently, and smiled to myself.

It took a while to lace her into her corsets, given that I wasn’t used to the process myself, and then to fix her hair to her satisfaction, but Daniel greeted us with no sign of impatience as he assisted Bess into the front seat of the automobile beside him and then me into the back.

“Hold on to your hats, ladies,” he said and we set off at a great rate.

“I’d like to get some details straight before we reach the theater,” he said over the pop-popping of the motor. “You’ve been away from America for a while, I gather.”

“Three years,” she said. “Most of it in England and Germany, but we were also in Hungary and Harry went to Russia too. I stayed behind that time. Harry thought that Russia might be a dangerous place for me.”