The Monolith Murders Read Online Free Page A

if someone from the audience would please come up on stage and help him with the trick. Maureen volunteered a highly reluctant Fred.  
    When Fred reached the stage, Leslie asked, “What’s your profession, sir?”
    “I’m a police detective.”
    “So you’re a detective?”
    “Yes, that’s what I said, can I go now?”  
    Leslie could see that the random selection he had made from an overflowing audience with numerous potentially more cooperative candidates had been a huge mistake.
    “So, if you’re a detective, do you think you can detect how I perform this trick?’
    Fred thought for a second, “I see no reason why I couldn’t.”
    “Well, sir, I’m going to give you a rare opportunity. I want you to thoroughly examine this box and see if you can find any hidden exit. You are a good detective, are you not?”
    “My wife considers me the best; I will check out your apparatus thoroughly; but don’t blame me when the entire world discovers how you do this trick.” Fred’s comment received specks of laughter from the audience.
    Fred entered the shadowy box looking for a release lever or handle, any moving piece –nothing. Then, to the audience’s delight, he exited the box, got down on his hands and knees and proceeded to look under the slightly elevated contraption. Fred was amazed that even the bottom of the unit appeared to be securely attached by large metal bolts. He asked Leslie for a stepladder; again the audience reacted with laughter.
    Leslie said, “Is your last name, by any chance, Monk? I believe I saw you recently on a TV rerun.”
    More laughter rose from the audience. Fred ascended the ladder and observed carefully the configuration of its top. More steel bolts, all securely tightened. He examined the composition of the bolts—no question about their functionality; they were all manufactured from high strength steel, nothing that would break away under slight pressure.
    Leslie said, “I’ve only reserved the theater for a total of three hours. At the rate you’re going, we’ll probably extend into the evening’s show time. Will you help me pay the additional auditorium rental bill?” The audience chuckled.
    Leslie thought, maybe this guy is the perfect foil; he’s added his own compulsive brand of humor to my show.
    Now frustrated, Fred attacked the container with unleashed intensity. He looked at the unit’s every seam, pushed on each part checking for movement and hidden spaces. He re-examined the top to see if there was a hidden release lever. But in the end he found nothing that would allow someone inside to escape.  
    He asked Leslie, “Are you going to move the unit before your assistant enters it?” Fred guessed that if Leslie moved the unit next to the stage curtain, the accomplice could somehow escape behind the curtain unnoticed.
    Leslie asked, “Do you want me to move it?’
    Fred said, “No.”
    “Would you arrest me if I did?”
    “That’s a very strong possibility,” Fred said smiling.
    “Then I don’t think I will.”
    Finally Fred returned to the audience where he watched in amazement as Leslie’s assistant disappeared from the box.
    Maureen whispered, “How did he do it, Fred?”
    “I don’t have the foggiest idea.”
    After thunderous applause, Leslie said, “You’ve been a great audience so I will perform one more trick for you before you leave.” Leslie asked for two audience volunteers. Two young women bounded to the stage giggling as they ascended the steps. Leslie told them both to stand in one area of the stage where he proclaimed that his powers were the most concentrated.
    “Sure, his powers are the greatest there,” Fred whispered sarcastically. “It’s trap door time.”
    Mesmerized by Leslie’s performance, Maureen responded just above a whisper, “Shut the hell up, Fred.”
    Then Leslie did something that Fred was totally unprepared for. Leslie closed his eyes, placed his arms out in front of him and pointed toward each of the