“David Dragonstone!”

The young magician lowered his arms and squinted into their flashlights. “What — what’s going on?”

Tyler stepped out from behind a statue that held twin thunderbolts. Charlie thought his friend looked angry enough to start throwing thunderbolts of his own. “You’re the jerk who hit me!” Ty said.

“It was an accident,” cried Dragonstone.

“It was no accident when you stole that statue of Aphrodite,” said Annie.

“You kids are nuts,” said Dragonstone. He quickly turned to exit the room, but the door was locked. He rattled the knob, but it still wouldn’t open.

“How do you like our magic trick?” said Ty.

Dragonstone turned to face them. His eyes gleamed angrily. “What are you doing in here, anyway?” he demanded.

“What are you doing here?” asked Annie.

“He’s looking for that clue I supposedly remembered that would point to his guilt,” said Ty. “But there is no clue, Dragonstone. We just made that up.”

“It’s a trap,” said Charlie.

A feeling of relief hit him like sunshine through an open door. He was glad his first hunch was right. Cozette was innocent. But then, what had she been close to confessing before Dragonstone arrived?

Dragonstone laughed. “A trap? Don’t be stupid. I just came in here to take a look at these incredible sculptures.”

“But you’ve seen them before,” said Charlie. “Plenty of times. Probably in old photographs that belonged to your grandfather. Or was it your uncle?”

Dragonstone was silent.

“I looked him up on the computer,” said Charlie. “Ernesto Endriago. Endriago means ‘dragon’ in Spanish. And that’s where you’re from. Spain.”

“Anyone could have known about these statues,” said the magician.

“Only Brack and Ernesto knew about them,” said Charlie. “They got delivered to the wrong floor and ended up locked in this room for years. Only those two men knew about them. Or whoever they told. And I thought it was weird that in all this time, after fifty years, that now is the time when someone actually tried to steal them. The first time you ever performed here.”

“Pure coincidence,” said Dragonstone, folding his arms. “I have nothing to do with this.”

“You just said it was an accident that you hit Tyler!” Annie pointed out.

“Did I?” said Dragonstone. “I must have been shocked by the flashlights. I didn’t know what I was saying. Besides,” he added, “it’s my word against yours. You have no proof.”

“We got plenty of proof, you creep,” said Ty.

Charlie noticed a bead of sweat forming on Dragonstone’s pale forehead.

“We have a videotape,” Charlie said. “It shows a man carrying a statue into an SUV.”

“Does it really?” said Dragonstone. “Does it show me? Can you see my face?”

“You know we can’t,” said Charlie. “Because you were wearing a mask. But we did see something. We saw the SUV. And we saw the license plate. We can give that number to the police and find out who owns it.”

Suddenly, the door swung open. “We already have,” said Brack. Behind him stood three police officers.

The men crowded into the room. “We also found a pair of keys belonging to the SUV in your room, Mr. Dragonstone,” said one of the officers. “Right now we’re examining the SUV. We found it parked a few blocks away from the hotel.”

“This is ridiculous,” said Dragonstone. “First of all, how could I possibly have been in this room, when your friend here got injured, when I was outside all the time?”

Charlie smiled. “Because you weren’t outside. You were inside all the time!” Then he explained how the magician had managed his trick.

Dragonstone had stolen the statue of Aphrodite, loading it off the dock and into his SUV. That was around 12:15.

Then he returned to the hotel. He planned to steal a second statue. Dragonstone was inside Room 1308 when Charlie, Ty, and Cozette entered. It was too late to find a hiding place, so Dragonstone stood off in a corner, frozen still. In the dim light of a flashlight, and wearing his trademark white suit, he would blend in with the statues.

Charlie had seen him out of the corner of his eyes, but mistook the magician for a statue. That’s why Charlie had thought all twelve of the statues were in the room at that time. Then, after Ty pushed Cozette and Charlie into the hall and locked the door, Dragonstone tried to find a better hiding place. But he was afraid Ty might see him. So he knocked him out.

“I would never be so brutal,” cried Dragonstone.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” came a voice from the doorway.

“Theopolis!” cried Charlie.

The evil magician, wearing his dark cape, looked angry and sad at the same time. He starred at his young partner. “You and I had coffee with Brack in his home the other night,” he said. “I was in disguise, because I know how Brack feels about me.”

Brack was silent.

“And then when he unmasked me,” continued Theopolis, “I left and returned to my room. But you stayed behind.”

He pointed to Dragonstone. “I found out that Brack had vanished the next day. I decided to use it to my advantage and finally take over this hotel. But I did not realize who had kidnapped Brack, until I saw this room today. Then I knew. You are the grandson of the famous Ernesto Endriago, and I knew he had sent the statues here. Brack had told me about them, many years ago. But I had forgotten all about them. Until today.”

Theopolis turned to Brack.

“I am sorry about all this,” Theopolis said in a low voice. “I had no idea to what depths Ernesto’s grandson would sink!”

“That still doesn’t explain how we saw Mr. Dragonstone come in from the hall after Tyler was attacked,” said Cozette. “How could he get out of the room?”

“He never did!” said Charlie. “After hitting Ty, he hid beside the door, in the dark. He used the black cape that he covered up the statues with, to hide himself. To melt into the shadows. Then when Rocky broke down the door, everyone started crowding into the room. Dragonstone just joined the crowd. No one noticed how he got there. We were all too busy looking at Ty.”

“Look!” shouted Annie. She aimed her flashlight at a dark corner of the room near the door. “There’s the cape! It’s proof!”

Then the room burst into chaos.

Dragonstone waved his hand and an explosion lit up the room like a firework.

People shouted and screamed and ran toward the door. And after all the pushing and shoving and jostling, a police officer cried, “Dragonstone! He’s gone!”

The officers split up and ran down several hallways, searching for the magician.

“It was flashpowder,” said Theopolis grimly. “An old trick.”

“The old tricks are the best,” said Brack.

Annie turned to her friend. “Cozy,” she said. “Remember earlier, when you said you had something to confess?”

Cozette blushed. “I couldn’t take being in the room any longer. I had to tell you guys that I’m afraid of the dark!”

“Just like brainiac here,” said Tyler, nodding toward Charlie.

Theopolis cleared his throat loudly and then said, “I shall go and tell our audience there’s been a change of plans.”

“Wait!” said Brack, holding up a hand. “A change, yes. But not a cancellation.”

Theopolis stared at his former partner and frowned. “You mean —?”

“We’ll go on instead,” said Brack. “You and I. I’m sure we can improvise a show. A good show, too.”

“But what about Dragonstone?” asked Charlie.

“Oh, I doubt if the police will find him this time,” said Brack. “He’s far too clever. But at least you and your friends foiled his plans. And saved the hotel from losing millions of dollars worth of art!”

“What do we do now?” asked Tyler.

Brack bowed to him over his cane. “You run downstairs and grab the best seat in the house, young man. For the show must go on!”