“Okay,” he said, and glanced at Marina. “If my math skills are correct, we’ve got forty-six people, am I right?”

“That’s correct,” Marina answered.

“Great.” He rubbed his hands together. “So, let’s get down to business. My name is Jay Fields, and I’m a stage illusionist. I’m proficient in a number of arts, one of which includes cold reading and mentalism. Solving mysteries is something of a hobby of mine. Just think of me as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, or better yet, consider me your deus ex machina, here to solve the unsolvable. At the very least, I’ll endeavour to put a criminal behind bars. As you’ve all probably heard by now, there have been two separate incidents of violence and attempted rape against women in this circus in the past several weeks, as well as a murder two years ago. All evidence seems to suggest the crimes were carried out by the same person. The evidence also suggests that that person is in the room with us today.”

Quiet elapsed, and a tension filled the space. Jack’s arms tightened around me, and I wondered if he was thinking what I was thinking. That I could have fallen victim to this sicko if I had been in our room that night instead of Lola. Jay paused for a moment to let everyone absorb the information, and there were a couple of grumblings amongst the gathering. I heard Pedro swear and ask how Jay, an outsider, thought he could come in and begin pointing fingers at people. His argument made me wonder, and not for the first time, if he was the man we were looking for. His behaviour in the past certainly indicated a slight deviancy, but did that mean he had the ability to rape and kill? I wasn’t quite sure. In the end Marina stood, her voice booming loud around the tent.

“Now, you all need to listen up and listen good. I agreed to have Mr Fields here today, and so long as you’re innocent, you have nothing to worry about. So please, can you all shut up complaining and let the man get on with his job?”

Her reprimanding tone worked to hush the grumblings, and Jay sent her a look of gratitude before giving her a dashing little bow. “Thank you, Marina.” She dipped her head to accept his thanks, and then Jay began to pace.

“Now, I’m going to go around the room and ask each one of you a set of three questions. These questions will consist of the following: What is your name? Where were you born? And what is the name of the street you grew up on? Of these three questions, I want you to give me two correct answers and one lie. You can lie on any one of the questions you wish, but do not, under any circumstances, tell me which one. Everybody got it?”

Once Jay’s instructions were understood by all, he walked to the far right of the room and fired off his three questions. The first person to be asked was the stuntman, Raphael.

“What is your name?” said Jay.

“Raphael Suarez.”

“Where were you born?”

“Brazil.”

“What is the name of the street you grew up on?”

“Rua Santa Teresa.”

I noticed that after each question was answered, Jay took a moment to stare at his interviewee. When he was done with Raphael, he moved on to the man sitting next to him. It was a long and tedious process, truth be told. Jack and I were sitting on the opposite end from where Jay had started, so it took about a half hour for him to reach us. He smiled at me warmly and asked me the questions. I decided to lie on the second one. I knew from my accent that my lie was probably obvious, but hey, just because I sounded Irish didn’t mean I was born in Ireland.

“What’s your name?”

“Lille Baker.”

“Where were you born?”

“Argentina.”

Jay give me a little grin before asking the final question. “And what is the name of the street you grew up on?”

“Fitzgerald Street.”

“Thank you, darlin.” The way he spoke to me gave me a warm feeling in my tummy, like he held an affection for me already, and he barely knew me. He only knew that I was in love with his brother, and that seemed to be good enough for him. He moved on to Jack next, and soon he was done asking everyone the same three questions. I had no idea what he was up to, but the glint in his eye told me he had a plan.

“Have I gotten everyone?” Jay asked, and there were a number of yeses from the gathering before a noise sounded from the back of the room. I twisted in Jack’s lap to see King had knocked over a chair while trying to stand up. “Ah, not everyone, I see,” said Jay as he hopped off the stage and strode towards King, who glowered at him and rubbed his temples like he was suffering from a headache.

“Hey, there,” said Jay, eyeing King closely. Jack and I shared a look. We both knew that King was a wildcard, and there was a good chance he’d say something rude or insulting.

“What do you want?” King griped, and tried to move past him, but Jay did a suave little sidestep.

“I want to ask you some questions. Will you play ball?”

“Piss off.”

Jay chuckled and took another step closer to King. I watched him as he tilted his head, taking a moment to study Marina’s brother, and he seemed intrigued. “I bet you could tell me some stories,” Jay observed almost absently.

“I need a smoke,” King grumbled, and moved to walk by Jay again. He was clearly growing impatient.

“I’ll tell you what. You come sit up the front, let me ask you some questions, and I’ll buy all the cigs and booze you could wish for.”

King eyed him suspiciously, then finally nodded his agreement. “You better not be lying.”

“Cross my heart,” said Jay, swiping his finger over the left side of his chest in an “X” shape before gesturing for King to go sit up at the front. King stumbled by him and took the seat on the other side of Matilda, who looked at him sadly when she saw how uncared for he was. Jay came to stand before him.

“I’m going to ask you three questions. I want you to answer two correctly and lie on one of them. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, two true, one false. I’m a drunk not an idiot.”

“No, I imagine you’re far from it,” said Jay, his brows drawing together in what looked like concern. “So, the first question, what’s your name?”

King coughed his pained cough and answered, “King. Oliver King.”

“Where were you born?”

“London.”

“And what is the name of the street you grew up on?”

King seemed pained as he considered his final answer. “Molesworth Street.” I wasn’t quite sure why, but I felt like his third answer was the lie.

“Thank you, sir,” said Jay before turning to address the gathering again. “Okay, so this is where things start to speed up. Now I’m going to ask you all one question. I don’t want you to lie here — I want you to tell the truth. The answer will be a simple yes or no. Once you’ve answered, I’ll either tell you to move to the back of the tent or to stay where you are. I repeat, I do not want you to lie to me.”

He began to the right again with Raphael, shooting off his question. “Did you attack Julie Young last night?”

Raphael seemed appalled by the very idea and answered immediately. “No.”

“Thank you,” said Jay. “You can go to the back of the tent.”

Raphael rose and walked down the aisle before sitting in the very back row, folding his arms as he lowered himself into a seat. Jay moved on to the next person and then the next, asking everybody the same question in rapid-fire succession. Sometimes, if he wasn’t happy with the answer, he asked twice. He even asked Julie herself. She furrowed her brow at him.

“How on earth can I attack myself?” she complained.

“Just answer the question, darlin.”

“No, I didn’t fucking attack myself,” she deadpanned.

“Okay, good,” said Jay, raising a hand. “Stay where you are for now.”

In the end, both Jack and I were at the back of the tent with almost everyone else. He ran his hands soothingly up and down my arms, which worked to rid some of my restlessness. I wished Jay would speed things up and discover the culprit already. The only people left at the front were Julie, Pedro, King, Luan, Aiden, and Antonio. Jay asked all of them to stand in a circle around him. He paced a moment as they watched, and then began asking them all the same question again, though this time it was phrased slightly differently.