A vision of Gus and Sid, dressed Mongolian fashion and galloping astride through Central Park flashed into my mind before Sid said, “So tell us your dramatic tale.”

“A horrible tale, actually,” I said and repeated what I had told Gus.

When I’d finished there was stunned silence.

“How utterly awful,” Sid said at last.

“She needs coffee, Sid,” Gus said and started to put the French rolls into a wicker basket.

“She most certainly does. You must have been most upset last night. Why didn’t you come over to us when you got home? You know what late hours we keep and we could have given you a stiff brandy.”

“Perhaps her intended was there to offer her more comfort than we could give,” Gus said, giving us a knowing look.

“No, I came home all alone. Daniel sent me home in a cab,” I said. “He had to stay on to conduct an investigation into the incident.”

“A nasty accident, surely?” Sid looked up from putting a small cup of thick black coffee in front of me.

“The illusionist himself didn’t seem to think so,” I said. “He thought his act had been tampered with.”

“Who would do such a fiendish thing?”

“I have no idea. I had to take Mrs. Houdini to her dressing room so I missed a lot.”

“There is a Mrs. Houdini?”

“Indeed yes. A delicate little thing like a china doll. She was in hysterics when she saw the poor girl.”

“Most women would be,” Sid said, giving Gus an amused glance. “I am afraid you have doomed yourself to not being socially acceptable by not being able to produce an attack of the vapors, Molly. A most useful accomplishment for a woman.”

Sid sat beside me at the table and opened the newspaper. She scanned the first pages while Gus and I sampled the French rolls.

“Ah, here we are. ‘Tragedy at Miner’s Bowery Theatre.’ Here’s the whole thing in grim detail, written by someone who was an observer on the spot. They are certainly on the ball at The New York Times, aren’t they? All the news that’s fit to print indeed.” She read us the piece out loud. “Oh, and you’ll be pleased to hear this, Molly. The management has agreed to provide free tickets to a subsequent performance for those who were not able to see Houdini last night. Well, I call that big of them.”

“The show must go on. That’s what they say, don’t they?” Gus commented as she slathered more apricot jam onto her croissant. “We should go and see for ourselves, Sid. Will you and Daniel be going back tonight, Molly?”