The Magician's Secret (Nancy Drew Diaries #8)(25)

Hugo didn’t deny it. He wasn’t confirming it either.

“I realized this was the best place for you to hide out. If you’d been at the Riverview, Ayela and Ariana would have insisted you go with them to the courthouse. You weren’t about to rush to support your friend, whom you’d just betrayed, so this was the most convenient spot to wait. As soon as the reporters hear the news, they’ll immediately rush to the courthouse. Then you can quietly leave, completely unnoticed.”

“You’re talking nonsense, Nancy,” he said.

“I don’t think so. I’m confident I have this all figured out. In fact, you told me you’d committed this crime yourself,” I said to Hugo. “Not in those exact words, but close enough. It just took me a while to understand.”

“I’d never say that.” Hugo sat across from me, which made me wary. He met my gaze and said, “Drake Lonestar stole the gems.”

“That’s what you wanted us all to believe,” I said. “You told me yourself that magic was all about distraction and misdirection.”

He nodded. “That I did. It is. So?”

“I’ve been thinking about that ever since. Everything in this case pointed to Drake Lonestar. You set up Lonestar to appear to be the thief while you took the gems.”

“It’s not wise to accuse someone without proof,” Hugo said, starting to rise. “Tell me, Miss Drew. What is it that you think you know?”

I glanced back at the bathroom. Hopefully Bess or George had called the police by now and they were on their way.

With a deep breath, I pressed forward. “You pulled off a good trick, Hugo, and for a while there I bought the illusion, just like the police and everyone else.”

He frowned but didn’t speak. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bess, George, and Sawyer slip out of the bathroom and into the back of the room.

“I’ve learned that there are several kinds of magic,” I said. “Drake does illusion, so you created a robbery that obviously fit within that type. The video with the darts gave the illusion that coming to River Heights was a coincidence. It wasn’t. You somehow knew that Candy Corlean stored millions of dollars of loose gems at the shop and that the ones you stole would be easiest to take.”

I continued. “Using gum to clog locks so that they don’t completely close is a classic illusionist move. So you left gum on the floor of the jewelry store. It’s also well known that video is often used in illusion.” George had told me that.

“But the truth is, you used escape magic to actually open the locks and the gem cabinet. You just made it look like an illusion in order to frame Lonestar, who is a known illusionist.” George and Bess moved closer to me, leaving Sawyer near the door. “And then there was the trick at the courthouse.”

When Drake rattled the handcuffs in the judge’s chambers, he was silently telling me I was searching for a thief who was an expert at escapes.

“You never meant for the box to end up in the evidence locker,” I said.

Bess caught on. “Oh! You kept the gems you wanted, then planted the rest in the mandala box and put it in what you thought was Drake’s hotel room. You probably thought it was Drake in the shower. It was John Smallwood!” Bess shook her head. “Imagine your surprise when it turned out he’d been a jewel thief and they confiscated your box. Poor John Smallwood,” Bess groaned dramatically. “Serious case of wrong place, wrong time.”

“Can I make a guess here?” George asked. “The box belongs to Gritty Grand. Drake wasn’t lying when he kept insisting it wasn’t his. But you knew that putting the gems there would once again point to Drake as the thief because of his tight relationship with Gritty.” She quickly put in, “A relationship that doesn’t look like divorce to me.”

Hugo flinched.

“So the box ended up in the evidence locker. You didn’t want to lose the jewels, so you used Houdini-type escape magic to break in and out of the room and the courthouse.” I didn’t know how he got the key, but as George had said about Houdini, I was pretty sure there was one hidden on Hugo somewhere. . . . I instinctively glanced down at the soles of his shoes, nice-looking dress shoes with a small heel. It seemed possible that the heels could have been hollowed out.

It was Bess who said what I was thinking. “In many ways, you are a better magician than Drake Lonestar.”

“I know!” Hugo stood and paced the room. “It’s true. I can do escape and illusion. So why don’t I have the big show? Why don’t I have the cash? Why didn’t I get the girl?”

Hugo was growing angry, and it made me nervous.

More than anything, I wished the police would come rushing in just then. I also realized that I hadn’t yet persuaded Hugo to actually confess, so I took a deep breath and plodded on.

“All those lies. Drake trusted you to be his friend! You convinced him the lies were to protect him from fans, but really they were so you could steal millions and frame him for it.”

Hugo’s face flushed, and he pumped his fist. “Listen, I met Gritty first. I was in love with her, but like everyone else, she was dazzled by Drake.” He grimaced. “Gritty picked Drake over me, and they married in secret to prevent a lot of celebrity buzz. When I found out, I advised them to get divorced. They believed me when I said it would be best for both of their careers. So they did officially, though for all intents and purposes they still acted and lived as a married couple.