Gretel measured Fifi, looking irritated and still incredibly suspicious, giving way to some slight amazement when a piece of chalk suddenly appeared in her hands. Next, Fifi asked her to measure the rings.

  ‘So you can see,’ said Fifi, as Gretel chalked the last number on the board, ‘that there’s no way someone with my measurements could fit anymore then an arm through these rings, right?’

  There were nods in the audience, and murmurs of agreement and wonder.

  With the music growing louder and more exciting, Fifi rolled a ladder onto the stage, and after joining all of the rings together, she attached them to an overhead bar. They hung down like a chain.

  She rolled the ladder away. ‘Gorgeous Gretel!’ she cried. ‘When I’m gone, I know you’ll miss me – but please, remember to put one last ring on the floor of the stage, and maybe you’ll see me again.’

  With those words finished, Fifi did a forward flip. Soon, she was flipping and somersaulting all over the stage, her body weaving in and out of the rings in time with the music. I kept staring, trying to be sure: was this illusion, or was this her Púca side at work? I even got up, moved to the side of the room so I could see if she was actually jumping through the hoops at all, or if she’d somehow switched them for larger rings.

  But there was no illusion. This was all Púca – her body was switching states, becoming thinner, longer, to fit through the rings, and her speed was so quick, moving like a flash of blinding light – and Fifi was fully in control of that power.

  Finally, while doing a spin in the middle of the centre ring, Fifi moved so fast that she was like a coin, spinning on a table-top, a blur of movement that I couldn’t follow. And then, in a blink of orange magic, she was gone.

  Gretel did as Fifi had told her to, and placed the one remaining ring on the centre of the floor. As she stood back, Fifi rose from the ground, rose from nothing and into being once more, spinning and spinning, the sequins of her leotard catching the candlelight.

  Then, she bowed low and said, ‘Thank you, everyone. I’m Fifi Fantastic, and everything I did tonight was in celebration of a wonderful magician, and a wonderful woman – my friend, Hattie Trick!’ She raised her eyes to the Heavens and sent an air kiss upwards. ‘My beloved Hattie, may you entertain forever!’

  She bowed once more, and, in a choked up voice, said, ‘Enjoy the rest of your night!’ before running off the stage, and into the dressing room beyond.

  24. Through the Looking Glass

  The curtain came down, leaving Gretel standing on front of it, while the audience cheered. I ran up to join her, and we ducked beneath the curtain and ran into the dressing room. It was split into two separate areas, one for men and one for women. There was lots of make-up, there were rails of clothes, but there was no one inside either area.

  ‘But this is the only place to go beyond the curtain. Unless …’

  Gretel, Flopsy and I stared at the trap door in the centre of the stage.

  ‘She could have run down there, then up and out through the storage cupboard, maybe?’ Gretel suggested. ‘And just pretended to go into the dressing room first. But why would she run off?’

  ‘I don’t know. And I don’t think she’d need to run off.’ It was difficult to open the smooth, no-handled trapdoor, but I did it as gently and quietly as I could. ‘Fifi’s definitely part Púca, but she’s able to move as fast as any full Púca I’ve ever seen. She could have just vanished, if she wanted. I think …’ I paused, as some of the strands of this mystery began to finally knit together in my mind. ‘I think I’ve just figured out how everyone’s been disappearing.’

  ‘The mirror!’ Gretel gasped, saying exactly what I was thinking. ‘If she’s a Púca, she could have made another. When Púca make mirrors in pairs the mirrors become portals. They can do some amazing things, the tricky buggers. I’ve seen them make portal doors, portal mirrors, portal bloody paintings. You’re right. That’s how Hattie and Gavin disappeared. Fifi’s behind it all.’

  Flopsy shook his head. ‘No. No, she’s not doing it. If it’s anyone, it’s Wayne. He … he’s trying to ruin Laurence’s lovely club, to take all their customers away. Mrs Fay said he was part demon, didn’t she? And maybe … maybe he’s setting Gavin up, because he turned down the offer to work across the road. That’s it. It’s Wayne. Not Fifi. Wayne.’

  While I quickly messaged Finn to let him know what was going on, Gretel patted Flopsy’s head. ‘I’m sorry, buddy, but you heard what Theo said, and now this? Maybe Fifi’s in on it with her dad. The club could be insured. They could want it to fail, to get a pay-out. And Laurence is using his part-vamp skills to compel people into becoming crappy magicians. Maybe Gavin and Hattie found out and went against them, and … look, I don’t know the whole reason, but when we arrest them, they’ll fill in the gaps.’

  ‘They don’t own the club!’ Flopsy cried. ‘They just rent it from Mrs Fay.’

  ‘You don’t have to own the building to insure the business that operates there,’ Gretel argued. ‘They’re two separate things. Anyway, have you finished telling Finn what’s up, Wanda?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Good,’ said Gretel. ‘Then let’s get down there.’

  ≈

  Fifi was standing at the mirror, staring into it, when we arrived.

  ‘Hi there.’ She smiled, as though she’d been expecting us. ‘Sorry about bringing you up on stage, Gretel. I did have a reason, I’m sure of it. You know, I sometimes get a bit freaked out by the things I do up there. And tonight … tonight felt like magic. And it got me thinking …’ She stared at the mirror again. ‘I’ve been doing some really dumb things, and I think I’m about to do one more.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ I asked. ‘Look, Fifi, if you’re honest with us, we’ll be honest with you. We can help you figure out anything that’s freaking you out.’

  Fifi didn’t look back at me. She just ripped Flopsy from my arms, stepped through the glass, and disappeared.

  ≈

  ‘Well then.’ Finn scratched his grey hair, looking at the mirror. He’d arrived right after Fifi disappeared. He was wearing his favourite glamour, that of an incredibly hunched old woman. Sometimes, he was toothless as this woman, and sometimes he wore dentures. Tonight, he just had one or two teeth, and the half-moon spectacles he wore were in a bad state of repair. He could do a pretty convincing werewolf, too, but this glamour was far more entertaining. ‘That’s that. We know now. She’s a Púca. She’s made a portal mirror linking the club to who knows where. And she – and maybe her dad – are behind all of this. Somehow.’

  He groaned. ‘How, I don’t know. Tell me you’ve figured it out, you two?’

  ‘Not really,’ I admitted. ‘We figured out the mirror thing. Beyond that, not much makes sense.’

  ‘I think maybe insurance?’ Gretel shrugged. ‘Laurence using his part-vamp powers to make his performers lose their mojo so the club’ll go under and he’ll be able to claim some money? You can have policies like that, right? Insure against a business failing? I don’t know, it sounds even more unlikely, the more I think about it. And Flopsy definitely thinks the idea is crap. He thinks Wayne is behind it, seeing as the Queen told Wanda the guy’s a demon. Maybe he’s right. Wayne has a lot to gain if the Magic Hat closes. He could be targeting the magicians who turned him down when he offered them a job at his place.’

  ‘Nope.’ Finn sighed. ‘Not Wayne. We’ve now gone through his whereabouts and taken a peek through all of his security footage at his club. He doesn’t leave that place. And money is king to that guy, anyway. He wouldn’t waste his time plotting so elaborately to put Laurence out of business. He’d just do what he’s already doing – charge less for food and drinks and pay more to the performers. Fifi’s got to be the one, but maybe not alone – I’ve got officers watching her dad right now. Although he doesn’t seem to be doing anything other than serving drinks and mourning Hattie.’

  He glanced at Gretel. ‘Listen, I’ve stupidly gone and put a timer on this glamour, because the last time I wore it, it slipped a bit. Could you …’

  Gretel nodded, concentrating hard, saying words I didn’t understand and moving her finger in tiny but precise movements. Before my eyes, Finn’s glamour dissolved.

  ‘Oh, thank the goddess!’ He shook his body out. ‘I somehow give myself back pain when I’m disguised like that. Do I actually get old, because it sure feels that way? You know what, never mind. We have to go after Fifi, but the problem is, we can’t just walk through, can we? It could be a trap. We have no idea where the second mirror might be, because it certainly wasn’t in Gavin’s house or back garden, so it must be somewhere else.’

  Gretel blinked for a moment. ‘You know what? I didn’t register it at the time, but it’s big and bright in my mind right now. The house next door, number fourteen? I’m pretty sure I saw a cream soda bottle cap near the side entrance. The same brand as the Freaky Five drink. It could have just been windblown, but …’

  ‘No, no, you’re right,’ said Finn. ‘That’s where it is. In that house, or that garden. Every house on that road is abandoned. It’s the perfect place to kill someone. And Hattie’s phone, it was found at the hedge separating the two back gardens. There were signs of a struggle there too.’ He took a breath. ‘Right. We’ll go in that way, under invisibility. She’ll think we’re going to follow her through the mirror, so we’ll go another way and surprise her.’

  I glanced at the looking glass. Somewhere, on the other side, was Flopsy. And I had a sudden and strong sense that he was frightened. ‘You do that,’ I said. ‘I’m going this way. I’ve already dallied long enough. He could be hurt.’

  Finn looked like he was about to say no, but his face relaxed, and he said, ‘You know what? You can protect yourself better than the rest of us put together. You go that way, we’ll go the other. We’ll have a better chance of surrounding Fifi if she tries to run.’

  ‘Hopefully.’ I looked at the mirror, psyching myself up for what I was about to do. ‘But Finn, you didn’t see how fast that girl can move.’

  25. Run, Rabbit, Run

  It was just yesterday when I met Flopsy, but I already loved him as much as I loved all of the familiars that came my way. I’d follow him down any rabbit hole. I’d follow him through a mirror.

  But if you’ve ever gone through a portal mirror made by one of the Púca before, then you’ll know that there’s a secret to success. You don’t just walk. You have to walk with intent (or, if it’s wall-mounted, leap with intent). With a Púca mirror, there can be no hesitation. So, if you want to make it on the first try, you need to be a certain kind of person. The kind of person who’ll run headlong into every dangerous situation, with no thought for the consequences.

  Essentially, you have to be an idiot. And tonight (and possibly every night – and day, too), I was that idiot.

  As I launched myself through, I felt my body grow smaller, spinning and spinning, feeling queasy with each turn I made, until I fell out onto some wet, cool grass, fully-sized once more. I was in the back garden of number fourteen, the Downs. I glanced back at the mirror. It had been propped against a dilapidated garden shed, and it was – no surprise – an exact match for the one below the stage.

  There was no one around, which was nice. It meant that I could puke in privacy.

  After my stomach settled, I headed towards the house. The back door was ajar, and once I was inside, I could hear voices coming from upstairs. It was Fifi, and a man. Theo?

  I moved quickly then, making my way upstairs, and to a room with newspaper over the windows.

  So far, so serial killer.

  Fifi was sitting in a chair, tied up, while Flopsy shivered on her lap. Theo stood in front of another full-length mirror. It was too new, and too clean, to belong in this house. Which meant that it was yet another portal. There wasn’t just one pair of mirrors, but two.

  I thought of how I watched Theo travel up the stairs in the Magic Hat, after he’d spoken with Gretel and me. He could have sneaked back down, I supposed, and gone through the club’s storage closet, and down into the space below the stage while we watched Fifi. But I was almost certain that that was not what he’d done.

  Looking at the mirror he stood in front of, I felt sure that he had its pair hidden somewhere in his flat. I quickly messaged Finn, telling him to get an officer up there, just in case.

  Thank the stars for magic, I thought, while I typed out my message on my phone. If I were actually a human garda detective, as I’d been pretending to be, I couldn’t have just stood here, texting. I would have had to do something, possibly involving handcuffs, a stern voice, and a gun.

  But Fifi, Theo and Flopsy had no idea that I was in the room. Heck, I could eat a packet of crisps in front of them, and they wouldn’t know I was here. Although … if I wasn’t careful to put a decent boundary around me, they might see the crumbs. I was a very messy eater.

  ‘Why … why am I here?’ asked Fifi, her lashes fluttering rapidly. ‘I don’t understand how I got here. I don’t understand where I am. I … I stepped into a mirror, and then out of a mirror. My mirrors. Mirrors I made.’ She shook her head. ‘No. No, I couldn’t have done that. Why would I do that? That’s not possible.’

  Theo laughed, in a way that reminded me of all the nasty men I’d ever known (was there a laughing module in their Evil Villain class?).

  ‘Oh dear, oh dear,’ he said. ‘I just love you, Fifi. You’re always so blissfully unaware of the things going on all around you. And unaware, too, of the fact that I’ve been hypnotising all of you, each and every night.’

  He scowled. ‘Of course, a few of you needed a bit more work.’

  ‘I … I know that,’ said Fifi. ‘I think I know that. Why haven’t I done anything about it? Why amn’t I doing anything about it now? Because I think … I think I could. I think I could easily escape from these ropes, if I wanted to.’

  ‘Hm.’ He pulled his silver watch from the pocket of his cloak, and moved it from side to side on its chain. It was, quite literally, a hypnotic motion. ‘Fifi, repeat after me: you will not try to escape.’

  In a dull voice, Fifi said, ‘You will not try to escape.’

  Theo seemed to be having trouble keeping his patience. He ground his jaw for a moment, glaring at her, before saying, ‘Say I will not try to escape.’

  Obediently, Fifi repeated his words. ‘I will not try to escape.’

  ‘Good. Good.’ Theo palmed the watch, but didn’t put it back into his pocket. ‘Go on then. You can ask me whatever you want, Fifi.’

  ‘I don’t know what to ask you,’ she said. ‘I … I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t understand any of it.’

  While Theo was busy giving Fifi yet another glare, Finn and Gretel walked into the room beside me. No one but me looked their way.

  ‘Invisible and inaudible to everyone but our team?’ I asked.

  ‘Yip.’ Finn folded his arms, nodding to the scene in front of us. ‘So what’s he doing? Why’s he glaring at her?’

  ‘Because he’s been hypnotising her – and everyone – for a while, and even though he seems to have hypnotised her into coming here, she still has no idea why. Oh.’ I pulled the camera from my bag, looking at Theo through the aura filter. ‘There’s no red, no green, no nothing. Shouldn’t there be an aura if a vamp is doing psychic stuff?’

  ‘Did the Queen say he was a vamp?’ Gretel asked.

  ‘Nope, actually. She didn’t mention him at all,’ I said. ‘Oh, he’s about to talk again.’

  ‘Fifi.’ Theo was still quite glary-eyed. ‘You surely have some particular questions you want answered. Like … why did your daddy and Marge and Hattie lose their talent? Why did Gavin kill Hattie? Where did they all go? That sort of thing.’

  Fifi shrugged listlessly. ‘I suppose so. I mean, I’m curious, of course. But I’m mostly too scared to think straight.’

  With his anger barely in check, Theo began to move his watch again. ‘Follow the pocket watch with your eyes, Fifi. As you follow it, you won’t feel nervous anymore. You’ll just want to hear me tell you everything I’ve done. You’ll want me to explain everything that’s happened. As soon as I stop moving this watch, you’ll be ready, and willing, to hear everything I have to say. You’ll be …’

  He went on for a little while more, and Finn pulled out some energy bars and passed one to Gretel and one to me. I would rather have popcorn, or the aforementioned crisps, but this was good for now. We were all in this business because we were curious creatures. We wanted to hear what Theo had to say for himself – but if he was going to go on for as long as he seemed to be, then we would definitely need some sustenance to get us through. As soon as he did anything dangerous, we’d strike. Until then, we were going to let him tell us everything we needed to know.

  ‘I’ve been wondering about villains,’ Gretel mused thoughtfully, once she’d taken a bite of her bar. ‘And how they enjoy telling us everything they’ve done, and spewing out these really long monologues. But it’s obvious, now I’m looking at Theo. He thinks he’s done something really, really clever. And, even though he wants to get away with it, he also really, really wants everyone to know how clever he’s been.’

  Finn snorted. ‘Yip. That’s villains for you. The weird thing is, sometimes even when they’ve admitted it all, they still deny it afterwards. They try and tell you that you misheard, or misunderstood. They’re a fascinating breed. Oh, look – he’s stopped telling her what she wants to ask.’

  We turned our attention back to Fifi. Even though the watch was no longer moving, her eyes still darted from side to side, in a dazed way. When she spoke, her voice was heavy with exhaustion. ‘I’d like to know everything about your clever plan, Theo. I’d like you to tell me what you did, every step of the way.’