The Doc Justice Files - Mystic Mayhem part 6
by Direwolf

Chapter 6 - Curtain Call

"Do you really think these disguises will work?" Alex muttered to Go-on. To her eyes, they all looked about the same as they usually did. Justin had been in charge of disguises and had simply had Alex change her style of dress, tuck her hair under a wide brimmed hat and add a pair of glasses. She couldn't help but wonder if Randini would be fooled.

"It's just fine," Go-on insisted. "Your own mother wouldn't recognize you."

"She has been dead for years!"

"Even her ghost would be confused. Go on! It's just nerves talking you know. You and Britt were the only two he's seen and she's not here. Everything will be fine."

Alex took a deep breath. Go-on was right and she had enough tradecraft to know how easy it was to make a simple, yet effective disguise. The human eye looked for specific things and tended to fill in the rest on it's own. It was one of the principles of stage magic, in fact.

It was late afternoon and she and Go-on were loitering near one of the desks in the lobby of the City Savings and Loan on Forty Fourth Avenue, pretending to read over loan documents. Justin, his hair slicked back and a pair of glasses perched on his nose, was playing the role of a bank teller. She didn't know where Lucas, Britt or Fu Lee where though Justin had indicated that they were part of the plan as well. Right now, Alex was more concerned that she had been wrong about the holes in the alleyway and this would prove to be a false lead.

Alex was still debating the issue in her mind when the bank robbers arrived. Just like the last time, it was Randu and his half dozen henchmen barging in the front door, several of them with drawn guns.

"If you will do me the honor of standing still, we shall make this as painless as possible," Randu proclaimed.

Alex noted that once again, a fresh rose graced his lapel and her stolen gem glittered in his snow-white turban.

She gritted he teeth to bide her time. Justin had been emphatic that no one should start anything until the right moment and that they would all know when that was. Alex tried to be patient and swore this time, if Randu tried to pull his diapering act, she was going to be there.

Once more, Randu stood watch and performed small tricks while his men set to work filling canvas bags with money from the cash drawers. None of the bank personnel offered any sort of resistance. Justin had spoken with the bank manager and secured his help in laying this trap. Justin had promised the bank manager that he would reimburse the bank for any loses they might suffer at the hands of the robbers. But as time slipped by, Alex couldn't help but wonder what the signal was that Justin was waiting for. At this rate, the bank robbers would be done in minutes and on their way. And the heart of the Romanoff's' would be gone as well.

Alex was sure her final nerve was ready to snap where she heard it, in the distance, the sound of police sirens.

The reaction among the bank robbers was dramatic. The gun-wielding hood that advised Randu that it was time to leave from the pervious robbery started and looked ready to run. He grabbed his boss' arm.

"Randy, is somethin' wrong? They can't be comin' here, right!"

The self proclaimed Amazing Randu, or Randini, or, as Alex suspected, Randy seemed suddenly confused. He tapped the sides of his turbaned head as if trying to tune in the mystic vibrations that appeared to have abandoned him. The sirens were noticeably louder.

"How the devil..." He muttered, and then came to a quick decision. "It's not worth the risk. Let's blow, boys!"

That was the cue Justin was waiting for.

Once again, Alex was startled to see just how strong Justin was. He stood up from his stool, reached across the marble counter and grabbed one of the robbers who had been looking over to his boss for instructions. With a heave that split open the back of his brown jacket, Justin hoisted the man into the air. The robber emitted a single strangled squawk as Justin tossed him over his shoulder. The man hit with a crash and lay moaning on the floor. In a single smooth movement, Justin vaulted over the counter and stripped off the torn remains of his a jacket. The shoulder holster and pistol was clearly visible.

"You are all under arrest!" Justin shouted.

Time slowed to a crawl.

Alex reached into her bag for her slender .38 caliber automatic, switching off the safety as she drew it out. Go-on's hand dipped into his coat pocket and emerged with a revolver. He was moving as well, trying to close with Randy and the man she assumed was his second in command. Justin's heavy Army Colt automatic was clearing his holster. The patrons and staff of the bank were dropping to the ground. The afternoon sun had broken through clouds and bright shafts of light glowed in through the windows. The siren's rose in the distance like a call to battle. And the remaining robbers were reacting as well.

The two men still standing holding bags of money started for the door. Of the two gunmen, one ran for the door as well, the other turned his shotgun towards Justin. Randy was assessing the situation, his brown eyes flicking back and forth as he looked for his best way out. And the man in the cap and brown coat, turned towards Alex and Go-on gun in hand.

The shotgun fired first. But Justin was already moving.

The storm of pellets tore through the space he had occupied moments before, ripping into the wooden counter facings. Justin was in mid air as he fired, completing a rolling dive that ended in a crouch. He didn't have to fire a second time. His bullet struck the gunman in the thigh, spraying blood and knocking the man back.

Alex realized that the thug in the cap was about to shoot Go-on. That determined her first target. The gun in her hand cracked as he ran and the man toppled back, crimson staining his chest.

But Randy hadn't waited either.

The turbaned man must have realized his plans had gone seriously amiss. It was time to get out fast. In a move Alex recognized, Randy snapped his right hand out and gun materialized from his sleeve. He fired once, then waved his left arm and cloud of thick purple smoke erupted out. Then he ran. But he didn't run for the door where his men were crowded, tangling with each other. He ran for the plate glass window.

Alex wasn't watching Randy's escape; she was staring at Lord Gawaine. As the closet one to him, Go-on had been Randy's target. The shot struck in the chest, right over the heart. Gawaine looked startled as he took a final faltering step and crashed to the ground, his unfired revolver in hand.

"Bloody hell," he gasped.

Another shot sounded. Randy had fired into the plate glass, weakening it before he crashed though, his forearms crossed in front of his face to protect him from the shards.

Alex was torn. She saw Randy escaping but knew Go-on might need help. Then she saw Justin heading for his old fiend. And that decided it. Justin had acquired a great deal of medical training simply by necessity. And she was closer to Randy then he was. Alex raced for the window.

The moments of indecision had cost her precious seconds. Broken glass was still falling from the shattered window as she burst out on to the sidewalk. The scène was eerily familiar. Police cars were rounding the corner and Randy was vanishing into the mouth of an alley. She considered firing but didn't want to risk loosing more time. With both of them running, it was an impossible shot. Alex raced after him.

When she reached the corner of the alleyway, he was gone. But while she was waiting in the bank, she had plenty of time to consider the puzzle of the vanishing bank robbers as well as the clues they had found. And Alex thought she knew what the answer was. At the mouth of the alley, she took a firm stance and remembered where she had seen the holes drilled into the pavement. She held her gun steady.

"Should be right about there...." She hissed in Russian as she squeezed the trigger.

The bang of the pistol shot reverberated back from the alleyway's walls, the echo mixed with the crash of shattering glass. Shards of thin, silvered glass rained down from where the bullet had struck. For a moment, it looked as if the air in the ally was breaking into pieces, then she saw the full picture. Justin and she had been right. A clever arraignment of angled mirrors had been used to create a ‘vanishing point' in the alley. Anyone who ducked into the space would be invisible from the mouth of the alley. It was a cleaver piece of stage magic, nothing more.

As the mirrors broke, Alex saw the startled figure of Randy suddenly reveled.

"Don't move!" She snapped, pacing foreword with her gun steady. "Quite ingenious. You set the mirrors in advance, then you and your men took refuge behind them, counting on the fact no one would take the time to search the alleyway immediately in the aftermath of the robbery. Once you had a moment, you folded down the mirrors and escaped in the confusion. Your accomplices in the truck would come by latter and collect the props."

Randy bowed and grinned sardonically. "Congratulations, you have figured out how the trick was done. Now it's off to jail I suppose.'

He signed dramatically and raised his hands.

This time, Alex was ready.

Cards exploded from his right sleeve, fountaning over her even as a second gun snapped into his left hand. Alex fired first. The shot struck a half-inch about the heart of the Romanoff's. There was a crackle of breaking glass and a curl of smoke snaked up from the neat hole in Randy's turban. Randy dropped his gun and raised his hands.

"I think that is the finale," she said.

Alex kept her gun trained on Randy's back as she took him back to the bank. She assumed he had more tricks up his sleeve, both figuratively was well as literally. She turned him over to the police who cuffed him immediately, then ran back into the bank. She saw Justin kneeling over Go-on.

Here heart seemed to freeze in her chest. She never would have willingly traded Go-on's life for the Heart of the Romanoff's. No bauble, not even a priceless heirloom, was worth that.

"Is he...?," She whispered.

"No, but not by bloody much, I can tell you," Go-on wheezed. His face was white with pain but Alex realized there wasn't any blood on his chest even though she could see the hole the bullet made in his jacket.

"Not more stage magic!" She exclaimed.

"No, just a good old Yankee dollar." Justin showed her what had stopped the bullet. It was a Morgan silver dollar, the surface dented from the impact of the bullet. "He had this slipped into his inner coat pocket quite by chance. The bullet hit the coin, which protected him. Better then a speech and an eyeglass case, though I think he may have a cracked rib."

Go-on nodded. "It feels like one. As to the coin, keep it old boy. I think I used up my ration of luck. But if it can save one life, why not another?"

Justin grinned and stuffed the dented coin into his own pocket. "So, Alex, did you catch our bank robber?"

"Oh yes, he's with the police right now. I realized how they were pulling their vanishing act and shattered the mirrors. Going to explain the rest?"

"Once I test my theory. Officer, if this man tries to get up, sit on his legs. No arguments, Go-on. A real doctor needs to check your ribs."

Go-on tried to protest, insisting he wanted a look at the reneged mystic in chains but the officer Justin addressed made it clear he was quite willing to follow Doc Collins' orders. Go-on had no choice but to rest on the floor for the ambulance. Alex and Justin walked out of the bank to where Randy was being held. The magician looked dangers at Alex as they walked up. Alex smiled back sweetly.

"The answer is right here." Justin lifted the punctured turban from Randy's head.

"That's mine!" the robber protested but a balled fist from one of the cops under his nose silenced him.

Justin turned the turban over, showing Alex the interior.

"A radio!" She exclaimed. "That's how he did it! He must have had accomplices watching the police stations and telling him when the police started in his direction so he and his gang could get away!"

"Exactly. It was the same Sunset City Glass Company that showed up righter after the robbery to get the mirrors out the alleyways. Britt, Fu Lee and Lucas were given the job of finding it near the police station and rounding up the rest of the gang. I figure they managed quite nicely."

Alex was still staring at the radio tucking inside the turban. "It's amazing. It's so small! What sort of tubes must be in there and how did he use it?"

"It's a wonder of technology, I'll grant you that. I don't think I could make one this small. It's going to take some study. Too bad this one is damaged." He poked his figure into the bullet hole in the turban. "Nice shooting by the way."

Alex's face hardened into a grim smile." Actually, it wasn't. No excuse at that range but I think I need to adjust my sights. The shot hit about four inches high."

A week and a half latter, Justin sat alone in a small room in on the lowest floor of the city jail. A worn, cigarette scared wooden table with two hard chairs was the only furnishings. A single light bulb in a green metal shade hung over the table. An open file lay on the desk in front of him.

The door swung open. A police detective came in with a manacled prisoner in faded blue prison overalls.

"Here's the mug, Doc," the detective growled as he set his prisoner none too gently in the other chair. "You want to me stay on case he get's frisky?"

"That won't be necessary, Detective, " Justin said, still looking at the pages, "I think I'll be all right."

The door swung shut. There were several long moments of tension filled silence as Justin continued to turn pages.

"Randy Olsen," Just said at last. "Also known as Randy Oslo, Ren Hodgsen, and the Amazing Randini. To this list we can add Randu the Mystic. Quite an impressive rap sheet you have here."

Randy shrugged. "I've been around. What's it to you?"

"I need information about the radio you were using. It's a wonder of technology and I don't believe you made it. So I want to know where you got it from."

The bank robber laughed. "Maybe I've got talent you don't know about. In any case, why should I tell you anything?"

Justin looked up and his steely eyes seemed to glow with an inner, leashed anger. Randy instinctively recoiled from the sheer power of his gaze. It was like suddenly realizing you were facing a consummate predator.

Doc Collins' voice was carefully controlled, soft enough that Randy had to listen to hear each word, but somehow, all the more the frightening for it's reasonable tone. He was glad there as the length of the table separating them.

"Along with the list of federal crimes you are facing, such as bank robbery, there are two charges of attempted murder, of foreign nationals in fact. One of who is an English peer and both of whom I consider very close friends. I enjoy a very cordial relationship with the police force and am in a position to have a lot of sway in what happens to you from this day forward."

Justin stood up and leaned forward, looming across the table.

"Make no mistake. I am not offering a deal to get you out of jail. You will be spending quite a long time on Alcatraz. What I am offering you is two things, the first is that there will be and end date on your sentence, one you can expect to live to see. The other is the chance that your confinement won't be the hellish equivalent of Devils Island. Do I make myself clear!"

Randy forced himself to swallow past a suddenly very dry mouth. "Yeah, I understand. I'll tell you what I know."

Justin sat back down. "I thought you might. Let's hear it."

Randy ran his cuffed hands through his short brown hair. "It went down like this. Six months ago I was coming back from Los Angles by train. When I got off the station. I was in kind of hurry so I didn't notice when I got the wrong bag. There were both black leather bags, the size of brief cases. The claim check numbers were one digit off, a seven rather then a one, go figure. Mine had some cloths in it, which wasn't much too lose. I keep all my stage pops with me. The one I got had the radio in it and a bundle of sawbacks.

"At first, I was worried that whoever's bag I had was going to come looking for it, then I realized there wasn't any real way for them to trace it. I played with the radio for a while and figured out how to make it work. I used to use a crystal radio when I was a kid. It had an impressive range of frequencies. I thought about selling it but then hit on the idea of using it to let me know the cops were heading my way. Joey and I came up with the idea of knocking over banks."

"Did you ever hear any thing interesting when you were using the radio?'

"Yeah, a couple of times high up on the frequency band. American voices talking what sounded like some sort of military code. I never tried figuring it out. Didn't see any profit in it."

"Anything distinctive about the case it came in and do you still have it?"

Randy shook his head. "Nah, tossed it quick. It was a top-loading briefcase with a padded interior."

"Any markings?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it. On the top flap, inside like it was stamped in gold. Looked like an American eagle with a cluster of lighting bolts in its claws. Funny, I figured it was a manufactures mark or something like that. Mean anything to you?"

Just nodded slowly, remember the men he fought on the docks intent on recovering the crate that held the stone tablets. The eagle clutching thunderbolts had been their insignia. "Yes, it means something to me, but I'm not sure what. However I have the very strong feeling I am going to find out."

To be continued...