Daniel sighed. “That’s just it. Any outsider would have been noticed. There’s just not that much room backstage and nowhere to hide, and stagehands all over the place. Now you’d better show me the way up to your dressing room. I went over it last night, but again you might notice something that we haven’t.”

Bess led the way up the stairs, looked around her dressing room, and shook her head. “It’s all just the way it was. There’s my costume and there are Harry’s street clothes, waiting for him to change back into . . .” She burst into tears again.

Daniel glanced over her head at me. “I’ll have one of my constables escort you home, Mrs. Houdini. You’re clearly not up to anything more here today. But I would ask you to do one thing for me when you feel a little better. Remember I asked you to write down everything you have done since you came back to America—every person you’ve seen, every person who has spoken to your husband. I’d also like a list of any illusionist you can think of who was at odds with your husband. Those famous challenges. Anybody who might have considered himself your husband’s rival.”

“He has scrapbooks,” I said. “From what I could see, he has all of these challenges pretty well documented.”

“Then we’ll compare the scrapbooks to Mrs. Houdini’s own recollections,” Daniel said. “Maybe something will emerge. Maybe there’s one name that he left out.”

Bess nodded. “All right. I’ll try and remember everything.”

Daniel helped her back down the stairs and gave instructions to one of the constables.

“Are you coming with me, Molly?” she asked.

I looked at Daniel.

“I’d like to keep this young woman a little longer,” he said. “I have some more questions for her. Your husband’s mother is with you, is she not? And his brother?”

“His brother has gone back to Atlantic City. He left early this morning,” I said, and a quick look passed between us.

“He has another brother who is a doctor, doesn’t he?” Daniel said. “Maybe he can be summoned to attend to you.”

That’s odd, I thought. When Bess almost died, why did Houdini take her to a private clinic instead of summoning his brother, who was a doctor?

As she made her way down the theater aisle she turned back to us. “You will let me know the minute you have any news, won’t you?”

“I will, and the same goes for you, Mrs. Houdini. If your husband tries to contact you, please let us know.”

With that she pushed open the doors and was for a moment a black silhouette against the fierce sunlight outside.

“So what do you think?” Daniel asked me as soon as we were alone. “Did he do it?”

“I don’t know what to think,” I said.