Murder by Illusion

by Giles Ekins

  She rises, picks up the discarded dress, shivers her body and transmogrifies herself back into Lilith van Dante.

  Tchort now stands beside her, gazing dispassionately at Charlie’s corpse, smoke still swirling from his blackened mouth.

  ‘Dura lex, sed lex’ he quotes. (The law is harsh, but it is the law)

  The law is harsh, but it is the law.

  AFTERMATH

  In the days that follow

  ‘This case may well be unique in pathological history.’

  THE LOCAL POLICE DOCTOR, Dr. Earnest Maxwell, verifies that Selene is dead, not that there was too much doubt about the fact, since her head was lying in a basket beside he body (although Charlie could have advised that that did not necessarily mean anything) The body would remain in- situ for examination by a Home Office pathologist before release to an undertaker for transfer to the mortuary at Whitburn General Hospital.

  Charlie’s body is found on the beach by two small boys, brothers on holiday, who had come to the beach early to look for crabs in the rock pools (they were too late, the tide was already incoming ) As they run back to tell their parents, Colin, the youngest boy, cuts his foot on broken glass.

  Aidan Fitzpatrick, the tour manager, calls Hector Ricciardo, the promoter, to tell him that Charlie and Selene were dead under circumstances as yet unclear. Ricciardo immediately cancelled the remainder of the tour, mostly as a mark of respect for Charlie and Selene, but also as a hard-nosed business decision because no matter how much Billy Boy Boston might protest to the contrary, Charlie was the undoubted star of the show. There were only three more dates left on the tour in any case and the police investigation was bound to cause delay, it was a no brainer decision. Billy Boy Boston can scream and shout and threaten to sue as much as he wants. Go ahead, Billy Boy.

  BODY OF ‘HEADHUNTER’ SUSPECT FOUND ON WHITBURN on SEA BEACH.

  Police today confirmed that the body found on the beach at Whitburn on Sea, is that of Charles Chilton, the stage magician wanted for questioning in connection with the ‘Headhunter’ murders. The cause of Mr. Chilton’s death is unconfirmed and his body has been transferred to Whitburn General Hospital. Since the death occurred under unusual circumstances, it was referred to the Coroner, Dr. Geoffrey Oppenheimer who orders that a Coronial post mortem be carried out.

  In a related story, Charles Chilton’s assistant, known only as Selene, died on stage at the Seville Theatre in Whitburn during the performance of the notorious ‘Devil’s Guillotine’ illusion. Police are trying to determine whether this was a tragic accident or an act of murder committed by Charles Chilton before taking his own life when he realised that the police were closing in on him.

  Two other members of Chilton’s stage act support team, known only as Keith and Jon are sought by the police in connection with the murders.

  MYSTERY SURROUNDING MURDER SUSPECTS DEATH.

  In a report to be issued to the Coroner by Dr. Martin Goodenough, the Home Office pathologist who carried out the autopsy on the body of ‘Headhunter’ murder suspect Charles Chilton, he states that the cause of death ‘appeared to be a case of ‘spontaneous combustion’ in that all internal organs had been incinerated.’ No trace of an accelerant was found in the body, e.g. petrol or other flammable liquid and no indication that Chilton has swallowed acids or other corrosives, apparently ruling out suicide. There were no external burns on the body as is normally the case in ‘spontaneous combustion’ and Dr. Goodenough added that he could not find any record of similar cases where internal organs were so completely burned in this manner, ‘This case may well be unique in pathological history’ he added.

  The Coroner, Dr. Geoffrey Oppenheimer today formally opened and adjourned the Inquests on Charles Chilton and Selene, to be resumed upon the completion of police enquiries.

  BODY MISSING FROM MORTUARY.

  Police were today called to Whitburn General Hospital Mortuary where the body of the woman known only as Selene has gone missing. Mortuary staff have been interrogated as to the disappearance and questions raised as to the adequacy of the mortuary security system. Hospital management stated that the security system and CCTV installation had recently been upgraded and were at a loss to understand how such tight security could be breached and a body removed. Police are examining the CCTV footage.

  Selene was the stage assistant to ‘Headhunter’ suspect Charles Chilton and died on stage when…

  Following an anonymous phone call, police broke into the apartment above Michael O’Daly’s Magic Lantern magic shop in Tottenham. Inside a large chest freezer, the police found ten frozen heads, identified as :

  Michael O’Daly, known as Michaelmas Daisy. Remainder of his body not recovered.

  John (Jack) William Yates, assistant to Michael O’Daly, Remainder of his body not recovered.

  James Kieran McGuire, lead singer with the group ‘Attack Dogs.’ Remainder of his body not recovered.

  Mario Salvatore (Sal) Capello, bass player with the group ‘Attack Dogs’

  Remainder of his body not recovered.

  Sheila Anne Dudley, murdered in Salford

  Sandra Worthington, murdered in Skegness

  Miriam Adebayo, murdered in Llandudno.

  Fiona Helen Reid, murdered in Buxton,

  Lauren Scholes, murdered in Kingston upon Hull.

  The head of Samantha Bostwick, reporting missing in Kings Lynn, is also identified and her name added to the growing list of ‘Headhunter’ murders.

  (Some months later, Henk van Kreveld, a geography teacher living in the small Dutch town of Scharendijke, reads an article about the Headhunter murders in De Groene Amsterdammer magazine. He vividly recalls the headless body that washed up on the shore nearby and was buried in the local church and he subsequently calls the police to suggest that ‘Onze Zuster God bekend’ might be Samantha Bostwick. The body is exhumed and DNA testing confirms that it is that of Samantha, giving her parents at least some sense of closure)

  Clarrie sits in her favourite chair, rocking her body back and forth, her hands clasped about her very pregnant belly as if for comfort and support. The news on the television is saturated with Charles Chilton and the ‘Headhunter’ murders with talking heads reporting from outside the ‘Magic Lantern’ in Tottenham and every other murder site whilst Charlie’s photo and details of the killings are splashed across the from page of every newspaper.

  When she had seen Charlie on the ‘Wonderful World of Magic’ she had known, just known, that something was not right, she had felt it deep inside, a gut feral instinct that something was wrong. ‘Charlie,’ she had whispered to herself that night, ‘what have you got yourself into? What in the Hell have you done?’ But this, this was not the Charlie she knew, and yes, the Charlie she had loved as her best friend. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she wept for him, her friend, her wonderful unreliable chocolate teapot, Charlie Chilton.

  (In due course she gave birth to a baby boy but Frank would not allow her to call him Charlie or Charles. ‘I’m not naming my son after a notorious mass murderer,’ and for some perverse reason Clarrie stubbornly refused to call the baby Frank, possibly as punishment for Frank’s infidelity. Eventually they compromised on Francis Haydock Wilding, Clarrie insistent on at least one name in memory of Charlie. ’Anybody would think you were in love with the bastard,’ Frank grumbled.

  ‘No, but he was my best friend.’

  ‘I thought I was your best friend?’

  ‘No, you are my husband and the father of my son.’

  And Frank never could puzzle out the meaning of that statement)

  Davidson Kellick was not a happy Detective Chief Superintendent, far from satisfied with the state of the investigation which was now seemingly stalled.

  He had suspects but no arrests.

  He had bodies but no answers.

  Keith and Jon remain elusive, still unidentified. No records of their employment were found, nothing Charlie’s chaotic financial and banking affairs indicated any payme
nts to anyone known as Keith or Jon, the tour management had no record of them, they did not travel on the tour bus and kept to themselves when at a venue, whilst not aloof they did not socialise or go for a drink with any of the other road crews.

  The identity of Selene also remained a mystery; no record of her existence could be found anywhere, not in Michael O’Daly’s workshop or apartment, in Doreen’s apartment or his mother’s house in Durham. Selene’s body remains missing and despite extensive CCTV coverage of the morgue and surrounding corridors, no image of Selene or body-snatchers appear on any of the CCTV footage examined by the police, she seemed to have simply vanished into thin air.

  No fingerprints could be found for Jon, and those prints presumed to be Keith and Selene’s did not match any prints held by the National Policing Improvement Agency on the National Fingerprint Database (IDENTI).

  Kellick had the burnt body of the prime suspect but you cannot prosecute a dead man. He seethed with frustration, the investigation must remain open, never officially solved and with it, his chances of promotion disappeared as completely as the body of Selene.

  Mr. Asmodeus Tchort, wherever he was, reviewed the newspaper and television reports with some satisfaction. ‘You see, Charlie, I am a man of my word, I guaranteed that your name would l go down in history and I have kept that promise.

  Doreen is in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet, her stomach has been in permanent turmoil since the news about Charlie broke. She has all the newspapers scattered about the bathroom floor, lurid headlines such as ’MONSTER CHILTON KEPT HEADS IN FREEZER,’ ‘HEADHUNTER CHILTON HORROR,’ and ‘HEADHUNTER SERIAL KILLER CHARLES CHILTON’ leap out at her.

  She sobs convulsively. This is not the Charlie Chilton she knows and loved and married, the Charlie Chilton who still owns a part of heart. She cannot believe it. Will not believe it. ‘Charlie, Charlie, what have you done, what could have possessed you…’

  With a lurch of horror she looks up to the mirror bought to replace the one smashed that memorable morning.

  ‘NO, CHARLIE, NO, NOOOO…”

  EPILOGUE

  Ten murders. Ten heads.

  And Charlie Chilton is named as the prime suspect and reviled as a mass murderer.

  But how many of the murders did Charlie actually commit?

  For sure he did not kill Michael O’Daly. Or Jack Yates.

  Neither did he kill Jimmy McGuire or Sal Capello of the ‘Attack Dogs.’

  Nor Sheila Anne Dudley or Samantha Bostwick.

  But yes, he did kill Sandra Worthington when under the hypnotic control of Selene.

  So what about Miriam Adebayo, Fiona Helen Reid and Lauren Scholes?

  Did Charlie kill them as well?

  Who knows? Charlie is dead and Selene, Keith and Jon have disappeared from the face of the Earth.

  And, for sure, Mr. Asmodeus Tchort is never going to come and tell you.

  Or at least I hope not.

  THE END

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  All of the illusions mentioned or described in ‘The Satanic Disillusionment of Charlie Chilton’ are actual working illusions as performed by magicians everywhere, with the obvious exception, of course, of the Devil’s Guillotine. The Vanishing Lady illusion which went so wrong for Charlie and Clarrie in Whitburn is the author’s variation on other vanishing illusions and is perfectly practical.

  Although I know how most of the illusions work, I do not intend to divulge the secrets. Let others spoil the fun.

  * * *

  [1] Pied du roi – the foot of the King, a unit of measurement in France before the introduction of the metric system, roughly equivalent to an English foot i.e. 12”; however there was no standardised measure so that a pied du roi could vary considerably in length according to local usage.