âPublicity. And then I can plan my final performance and end with the window trick.â
The magician and the former assistant looked at the boys. âMy fate â our fate â is in your hands,â said Mr. Madagascar.
Ty glanced over at Charlie, and then back at the magician.
âAs long as I get this monthâs rent,â Ty said.
âDeal!â exclaimed Mr. Madagascar. âNow come to my room and I will give you your cash.â
Ty pumped his fist in the air. âYeah,â he said. âSlamhammer!â
Mr. Madagascar looked confused, but he put his fist in the air too. âIndeed, Slamhammer!â he said.
The next morning proved Mr. Madagascar and Miss Drake right.
Newspapers, TV stations, and online channels were full of the mysterious disappearance of the magician from the Abracadabra Hotelâs fourteenth floor.
Everyone was talking about it, trying to solve the puzzle. There was even a new website â How Did He Do It? â where people posted their own solutions to the mystery.
True to his word, Mr. Madagascar reappeared at the hotel later that day. He gave a press conference that afternoon, and explained that he would soon perform the trick before the eyes of the public, in one last final show of magic.
Of course, everyone at Blackstone Middle School was talking about it. But they were more interested in an even more amazing event.
That morning, when Tyler Yu and Charlie Hitchcock returned to school, it was Tyler who was covered with bruises and cuts. Charlie, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine.
âUnbelievable,â said Charlieâs best friend, Andrew, as they sat down to lunch. Everyone in the cafeteria was staring at Charlie. âYou are the only person to beat up Tyler Yu!â
Charlie looked up from his lunch. âWho said I beat him up?â
âBut just look at him,â said Andrew. âYou obviously won the fight.â
âDonât always trust what you can see,â said Charlie.
* * *
That day, two secret notes changed hands.
In the break between English and American History, Charlie and Ty each shoved a note in the otherâs hand.
No one saw.
Ty read his note in his seat at the back of the classroom.
At his own desk, Charlie unfolded his note.
A few days later, Charlie and Ty stood once more in the vast, shadowy lobby of the Abracadabra Hotel.
Outside the building, an October thunderstorm crashed and boomed. Lighting flashed, lighting up the giant painting that hung on the lobby wall. The lightning reflected off Abracadabraâs dark shiny eyes.
Zombie eyes , thought Charlie.
Tyler glanced over and asked, âYouâre not spooked, are you, Hitch?â
Charlie put his hands in his pockets. âOh, no,â he said, rolling his eyes. âIâm standing in an empty lobby in a creepy hotel in the middle of a thunderstorm, and you just told me that thereâs a ghost floating around here. Why should I be spooked?â
He turned and looked out the hotelâs glass doors. Sheets of rain fell on the street and sidewalk. âIâm going to get soaked when I go home,â he said.
âWhen did you tell your parents youâd be home?â asked Tyler.
âUh, I didnât say,â Charlie said.
âGood,â said Tyler. âThen come on. Iâll show you the room where the ghost struck first.â
âBut why do you think itâs a ghost?â asked Charlie. âI mean, did someone see a spirit or something?â
âItâs because of the voice,â said Tyler.
âVoice?â Charlie repeated. Without meaning to, he shivered. He hoped Tyler didnât notice.
âAnd because of stuff disappearing,â said Ty. âAnd because of what Mr. Thursday said.â
Why did I let myself get dragged into another mystery with Ty? wondered Charlie.
Because it was another puzzle?
Because he was afraid Tyler would pound him into the dirt if