Cozette handed Charlie her set of keys while she used her phone to call for help.

“The key’s not working, Cozette,” said Charlie.

“Tyler must have turned the deadbolt,” said Cozette. “I don’t see a keyhole for that.”

“I hope someone comes soon,” Charlie said.

Annie and Rocky were the first to arrive.Rocky Brown was a teenage boy with long blond hair who also worked at the front desk. Charlie quickly explained what happened.

“Stand back,” said Rocky. He rammed the door with his shoulder. It wouldn’t give.

“That only works on TV,” said Cozette.

“I just need a little more momentum,” said Rocky. “Now, look out. I don’t want you guys to get hurt.” He took several steps back, drew in a deep breath, and then ran toward the door. His shoulder slammed into the wood like a linebacker tackling a tight end. The frame shattered, and splinters flew into the hall. “I broke my shoulder!” Rocky screamed.

Charlie and Cozette beamed their flashlights into the darkness.

“Tyler!” cried Annie.

Just inside the room, on the floor, lay the motionless body of Tyler Yu.

“Could someone call a doctor?” asked Rocky. He sat out in the hall, holding his left shoulder.

Then, things became even more confusing. Over Rocky’s groans and Annie’s cries, Charlie heard more people arriving. Walter and Miranda Yu shoved their way to the door. Brack hobbled in on a cane. Theopolis and David Dragonstone, obviously alerted by the noises drifting up to their rooms through the open ramp, joined the crowd. Charlie heard some of the hotel’s residents as well, ex-magicians and performers like Mr. Madagascar, Dottie Drake, and the reclusive juggler Mr. Thursday, who had just moved into the hotel the week before.

Charlie found himself in the room, kneeling over Tyler, although he didn’t remember how he got there. And as he glanced up, he saw more and more onlookers stepping through the broken doorframe and entering the dark room that had been unused for fifty years.

“Oh my dear, is that Tyler?”

“Is he alive?”

“What are all these statues doing here?”

“What is this place?”

“He’s breathing. He’s breathing!”

“I think I’m going to faint. Do you think the floor is clean enough?” That was Dottie Drake, at one time a famous magician’s assistant. Her silver hair was swept up in a tall pile and she clutched her throat in terror. “Oh, that poor boy,” she said. “The poor boy. I really do feel faint.”

“Everyone move back!” yelled Miranda Yu. Even in an emergency she looked cool and professional. “And no fainting!” she said. “We don’t have time for that. Someone call a doctor. The rest of you, wait outside.”

Out in the hall, the scene reminded Charlie of a dentist’s waiting room. Except for the crying. Annie was weeping softly as Dottie Drake hugged her. Rocky was weeping rather loudly.

Charlie stared at Theopolis, but the magician would not meet his gaze.

I know he has something to do with this, thought Charlie. But I need evidence. How did he do it? How did he get into a locked room with Ty, when Cozette and I were standing right outside the door? And — more importantly — how did he get back out?

Wait!

Charlie stood up. He grabbed his flashlight and headed back inside the room. Mrs. Yu was sitting on the floor, gently rubbing Tyler’s back. Her head snapped up. “Outside, Charlie,” she ordered.

“But I have to look at something —”

“Out,” she repeated.

Charlie had learned early on not to mess with the Yus. They all meant business, each in their own way. He stood for a moment, gripping his flashlight, not saying a word. He simply looked at Tyler’s motionless body.

He had never seen the boy so quiet, so vulnerable. It was like looking at a fallen soldier. Above Ty’s body stood the statue of Ares with his outstretched sword.

Then Charlie turned and walked out, just as the ambulance team was hurrying in with their bags and a stretcher.