Chapter 36 34

It's not really a stage. Ten years ago, in David.After Balzac finished his career as a touring magician and retired to buy this Smoke and Mirror Magic store, he divided the store in half and set up a small theater in the back half.He doesn't have a club license and can't sell tickets, but he still holds performances here (every Sunday afternoon and Thursday night) and publicizes it so that Balzac's students have the opportunity to perform on stage and experience standing on the stage The feeling of performing.At the same time, feel the difference between on stage and off stage.

Kara knows quite well that the difference between practicing at home and being on stage is like night and day.When you stand in front of everyone, there will always be some inexplicable things happening.Some tricks that were always poorly practiced at home will suddenly be perfect, as if a mysterious soul force has taken over your hands, and at the same time said loudly: Don't screw me up this time. Conversely, when you're on stage, you're probably going to pull off tricks that you've mastered so well, such as the French tear off of a coin, which is so simple you never want to prepare for any mistakes in advance. Skill.

What separates the store from the theater is a high-hanging black curtain. As the store door opens and closes with the sound of a faint electronic buzzer, the curtain occasionally flutters and ripples in the wind. Now, it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon. On this Sunday afternoon, people began to enter the theater one after another, actively looking for seats to sit down.When encountering magic and illusion performances, these people always sit up from the last seat, and no one dares to sit in the front row at the risk of being called on stage as a volunteer. Carla stood behind a black curtain, looking at the empty stage.The walls behind the stage are covered with mottled marks and cracks, and the warped oak floor is covered with dozens of tapes left by performers planning their walks during rehearsals.The background curtain of the stage was just a tattered wine-red square shawl, and the stage for the whole performance was not big, only about ten by twelve feet.

However, it’s still a stage, and when she’s on it, in the spotlight, she has to put on her best performance, as she does at Carnegie Hall. Like a juggler or a chamber magician, most illusionists simply string together a series of performances in which the performers carefully follow steps all the way to a climactic finale.However, Kara felt that this approach was like watching a firework show where each explosion was somewhat entertaining, but emotionally unsatisfactory overall because there was no theme or coherence between the explosions.The illusionist's performance should tell a story, with all the tricks interlocking, one leading to the next, and at the end bringing the audience several orgasms in quick succession, hopefully leaving them breathless with excitement.

More people entered the theater.Although she thought in her heart that she didn't know how many people would come today, it actually didn't make any difference to her.She likes Rob very much.The story of Woody: He stood on the stage one night and found that there were only three audiences in the theater; but he still performed as hard as he could when the theater was full.The only difference was that he invited one of the audience members to his house for dinner after the show. She is quite confident in her performance procedures, even for the smallest details, and was forced to practice by Mr. Balzac for several weeks.Now, in the last few minutes before the curtain rises, her mind is not on what will be performed, but on staring at the audience, enjoying a moment of peace of mind.She had thought that she had no right to feel such peace, and there were a lot of annoying things that made her feel unworthy of it: her mother's physical condition, her personal financial difficulties, M. Balzac's disappointment at her slow progress, And the breakfast-in-bed man who left three weeks ago and promised to call her the next day.Absolutely, I promise.

But the disappearing boyfriend trick, like the evaporated money and unhealthy mother tricks, can't affect her mood at this moment.When she is on stage, nothing can affect her. Nothing matters but to challenge the expression that will appear on the face of the audience.Kara could see it clearly: her mouth was smiling slightly, her eyes were wide in surprise, her eyebrows were raised high, and she was asking the most repeated question in every illusionist performance: How did they do it?If it goes well, she can see this expression on many people's faces; if it goes wrong, it will appear on very few people.

In the skillful tricks of close-up magic, the most representative actions are take-off and put-in.The magician creates special effects that allow the viewer to see one object transform into something completely different, when in reality he just subtly removes the original object and puts something else in its place.And that's exactly what Kara is doing now.She wants to take away the sadness, boredom or anger in the hearts of the audience, and put in the joy, bewilderment and peace. She wants to turn them into a group of joy, filling their hearts with joy for a while. It's almost time for the show to start.She peered into the auditorium again from behind the curtain.

She was surprised to find that most of the seats were full.Usually not many people come to the show, but today was a special day.She was glad to see Jenny coming from the nursing home, her huge frame momentarily blocking the passage to the theater.Jenny also brought several nurses from the Stuyvesant Nursing Home. They walked to the front and found a place to sit down.Also in the audience were some of Carla's friends, some of her colleagues at the magazine, and some from her Greenwich Village apartment. Then, just after four o'clock, the black curtain was drawn back.At this moment, the last audience member entered the theater—even if Kara had guessed for a million years, she would not have expected this person to be here to watch her performance.

It's pretty easy to get in and out of this place.Lincoln.Rhyme said wryly.He drove that shiny Storm Arrow wheelchair and stopped in the middle of the theater aisle of the Smoke and Mirror store.But today we don't sue for accessibility violations. An hour earlier, he had suddenly proposed that they all take his car (a van with a ramp for wheelchair access) and go to the magic shop to see Kara perform.As soon as these words came out, both Sachs and Thomas were taken aback. Rhyme went on: It would be a shame to waste such a fine spring afternoon indoors. Seeing the surprised eyes of everyone in the room Even before his accident, he had never spent time outside enjoying a spring afternoon.Rhyme hastened to say: I'm just kidding.Thomas, could you please go and bring the car here?

Just say please.The nurse replied. Now Rhyme looked around the humble theater and saw a fat black woman staring at him curiously for a while.The woman got up slowly, walked over to them, and sat down next to Sachs.She shook hands with Sachs, nodded to Rhyme, and asked if they were the same cops who had asked Carla to help.Rhyme said yes, and she began to introduce herself. So they learned that the woman's name was Jenny, and she was a nurse working in the rehabilitation center where Carla's mother had been raised.After listening to her self-introduction, Rhyme gave her a strange look.The girl immediately looked at Rhyme with knowing eyes, and said, "Oh, I'm making it too complicated. Actually, that place is a nursing home."

And I graduated from TIMC.said the forensic expert. The black woman frowned, shook her head and asked: I've never heard of this place. Thomas said: That's short for Traumatic Incident Mitigation Center. Rhyme said: "I call that place the Handicapped Hotel. But his temper is too bad.Thomas added. I have worked in a spinal center.We would rather have patients who lose their temper easily than patients who are too quiet and happy to frighten us. These people, Rhyme thought, had friends who could give them a hundred Seconals. .) into their drinks.Or, if they still have hands at their disposal, they can pour water into the gas stove, dip the pilot burner, and turn the gas switch to full. This is called: the four-stove gas stove suicide method. Jenny asked Lyme: Are you a C4 patient? Exactly. It's nice that you don't need a respirator. Is Carla's mother here?Sachs asked, looking around. Jenny frowned, then said: She didn't come. Has she been to Kara's show? The black woman said cautiously: Her mother didn't quite know what Kara's occupation was. Lyme said: "Kara told me her mother was sick, is she better now? Be better.said the black woman. Rhyme felt that there might be some story behind this, but judging from the woman's tone, he also knew that as a nurse, she was not very willing to tell strangers about the patient's medical privacy. At this moment, the lights in the theater dimmed, and the audience fell silent. A white-haired man steps onto the stage.He had a rosacea and a tobacco-stained beard. His features showed the ravages of time and hard life, but his eyes were still sharp.He walked to the center of the stage with a stiff posture, and stood next to the only prop on the stage (a Roman column carved out of wood), completely like a performer.Although the environment on the stage is simple, the suit on this man is a high-end product with excellent material and tailoring. Perhaps this is to comply with the rule: whenever you go on stage, you have to show your best side in front of the audience . Ah, Rhyme thought, this must be the notorious master David.Balzac.He doesn't introduce himself, he just turns his eyes to the audience, and stays on Rhyme for a little longer than the others.However, whatever was going on in his mind, he didn't show it and looked away.Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce one of my most promising students, Carla.She has been studying kung fu with me for more than a year, and today she will show you some hidden illusions in the history of our magic world, as well as a few tricks created by me or invented by herself.Don't be surprised he casts another magical look, right on Rhyme.And don't be surprised by anything you see today.Now, ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome Miss Carla. Rhyme planned to spend this hour being a good scientist.He loved the challenge of finding the tricks she used to perform her illusions, spotting her tricks, seeing how she hid her cards and coins, and figuring out where she hid her costumes for quick transformations.Still, Kara was far ahead of Rhyme in the game of finding fault, even though she had no idea that anyone in the audience was fighting her. The young woman took to the stage wearing a black bodysuit with a crescent on the breast and a sheer shimmering cloak, much like a translucent Roman toga.Rhyme had never imagined that Carla could be so attractive, and somewhat sexy, but she was dressed entirely sensually.Like a dancer gliding across the stage gently and smoothly, she slowly turned her eyes to the audience, and was silent for a while, her gaze seemed to fall on everyone, while the audience's anticipation for the performance gradually increased.Finally, she spoke.Change, she said in a playful tone: how fascinating change is.Alchemy turns lead and tin into gold. She held up a silver coin, placed it in her palm, then closed her palms and opened it, and the silver coin became a gold coin.She threw the gold coin into the air, and in an instant, the gold coin turned into a piece of glittering confetti and fell down. The audience immediately burst into applause and a cheerful uproar. The lights in the Changing Night Theater suddenly went dark, and after a while (only a few seconds), they immediately turned on again.become day.Carla was still wearing the same outfit at this time, but the tights, which were originally black, had now turned golden, and the crescent moon pattern on the chest had also turned into a dazzling star.She changed so quickly that Rhyme couldn't help but laugh.A red rose appeared in her hand.Turned into death She took the rose up in both hands and instantly turned it into a withered yellow twig.Turned into life again, the dead branches in her hands turned into a bunch of delicate flowers.Carla tossed the bouquet to a giggling woman in the audience.Rhyme heard her say in amazement: These flowers are real! Kara lowered her hands and looked at the audience again, with a serious expression on her face.In one book, her sonorous voice filled the theater.The book written by the Roman writer Ovid thousands of years ago is called "The Metamorphosis".The metamorphosis is like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly out of her open palm, which quickly disappears into the background. Rhyme, who studied Latin for four years, recalls how he struggled to translate parts of Ovid's works into English for his classmates. He also remembers that "Metamorphoses" is a series of fairy tales written in verse. .What is Karati trying to do with this book?Want to tell about classics to lawyer moms and kids who only think about Xbox and Nintendo? (Though Rhyme also noticed that Cara's skimpy, skintight costume really caught the eye of every teen in the audience.) She continued: Metamorphosis is a book about transformation, about people becoming another person, an animal, a tree, an inanimate object.Some of Ovid's stories are tragic, some are quite absorbing, but all have one thing in common.She paused, then said in a loud voice: Magic!A bright light and smoke suddenly rose, and Kara disappeared in the light mist. For the next forty minutes, Kara used some verses in this book as a guide to conjure up a series of illusions and tricks, which fascinated all the audience.Lime, who originally wanted to see through her tricks, quickly gave up this idea completely.That's right, he knew the stories she told, but even though he deliberately jumped out of the stories and focused on her hand movements, he didn't see any flaws once.After a long burst of applause and encores, Kara performed another quick cross-dressing, transforming first into a thin old woman and back again (young to old to young) before walking off the stage.Five minutes later, she walked into the audience in jeans and a white top to greet friends who had come to see her perform. A clerk from the magic shop set up a dessert table with red wine, coffee, soda and various biscuits. Don't have any whiskey?Rhyme asked, looking over the cheap drinks and food on the table. No, sorry.The young clerk replied. Sachs held the red wine glass and nodded to Carla who was coming.Kara said: Hey, that's great, I didn't expect you to come here to watch me perform. what can i saySachs said: It's incredible. Very well, Rhyme said, still looking at the table.Thomas, there may be whiskey hidden behind the table. Thomas nodded to Rhyme, then said to Kara: Can you change this wine?He took two glasses of Chardonnay, put a straw in one and brought it to his boss.You can't drink without this, Lincoln. Rhyme took a sip of white wine before saying: I really like your final young and old ending, I never thought you would do this, and I have been worried that you will turn into a butterfly and fly away in the end. You should be mentally prepared.When you meet me, you have to expect the unexpected.remember?It's a brain trick. Kara, Sachs said: You should be performing at the Fantastic Circus. She laughed, but didn't answer. I mean seriously, you're up to professional standards.Sachs insisted. Rhyme could see that Carla didn't want to talk about it.She only said lightly: I have my own plan, so I can't be too hasty.Many people make the mistake of jumping too fast all at once. Let's go get some eggs benedict, Thomas suggested: It's no better than my fresh hollandaise sauce, but I'm hungry.Jenny, you come too. The fat woman obliged and proposed a new restaurant not far from Jefferson's Market at Sixth and Tenth. Carla hesitated, but said she had to stay and work overtime because of the many routine tasks that had been delayed in preparation for the show. Miss, this is not good, the fat nurse said: You still want to work overtime at this time? Just a few hours.Mr. Balzac has a friend giving a private performance tonight, so he will close early to attend. Kara and Sachs hugged and said goodbye, they exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch.Rhyme thanked Kara again.We would never have caught him without you. We'll be in Las Vegas next time to see you perform.Thomas said. Rhyme steered the Storm Arrow wheelchair up the ramp and headed for the door of the store.On the way, he glanced to the left and noticed that Balzac, who was staying in the shop, had been staring at him.After being discovered, Balzac immediately turned and spoke to Carla who was walking over.But Kara immediately changed completely. In front of her master, she became a timid, shy, wary and fearful little girl. This is metamorphosis, Rhyme thought.At the same time, he watched Balzac slowly close the shop door, completely isolating the outside world from the magician and his apprentice.