only a brief, curious glance but the man's
image stuck in his head for
the rest of the day. He pushed it out of his mind and continued on
with his week. It was a Wednesday when they met. The meeting occurred
by accident, at least on Eoin's part it did. He had been walking home
from a dinner meeting when he heard a voice call out to him. The voice
didn't use his name, but he knew that it was addressing him. He had
never heard the voice before, but he knew it belonged to the man he
had seen on Monday.
"...And you, young man; do you know where the king of swords is
hiding?" Eoin turned to see the man sitting behind a makeshift table
at the edge of a small alley. The table consisted of a discarded plank
of plywood set on a few trash bins, covering the wood was a slightly
grungy sheet with a floral pattern that slyly nudged your mind towards
thoughts of the Baltic. On the table, or more accurately, sliding
across the table, were three red party cups which had evidently evaded
the bin at more than a few parties. Eoin was impressed, he thought
tricks like this were reserved for trashy novels and television shows.
He allowed the man a brief smile and began to turn away, but as he did
he suddenly knew exactly where the card was, it was in the man's hat.
This was the second time on that Wednesday that Eoin experienced the
strange feeling of knowing something which he couldn't possibly know.
As he paused, mid-turn, he looked at the crowd gathered around the man,
some had lost their money, some were about to lose their money; he
looked at them and decided to oust the con man before he took anyone
else's money.
"It's in your hat," he said in the direction of the man. The man
looked back to Eoin, for his attention had already wandered to other
victims.
"Did you say something, young man?" He asked with a curious half smile
which looked both predatory and ridiculously friendly.
"The card, the king of swords, it's in your hat." Eoin repeated. The
man's smile broadened and a look of extreme pleasure seemed to radiate
into his face.
"Very impressive, young man, very impressive indeed," The man said in
a voice which seemed to be meant only for Eoin to hear, and then, in a
louder voice obviously meant for the crowd, "A crafty guess, my young
friend, a crafty, yet anatomically incorrect guess. The card in
question is, in fact, in my left waistcoat pocket!" And with that, a
very small and old looking card flew out of his left waistcoat
pocket (the higher of the two) and fluttered onto the makeshift table
where it landed facedown. "Oh, do be my guest, dear boy, please!" The
man flamboyantly bowed toward the card with his hands and, with his
eyebrows, motioned for Eoin to flip the card over. Eoin walked toward the table
and knew he had been tricked; the card he flipped over would be the
king of swords which he thought was in the man's hat. But the man had
cheated, Eoin didn't know how it was possible but he knew that the
card had been in the man's hat and somehow made its way into the
waistcoat pocket. He flipped the card over and as he knew it would be,
it was the king of swords.
"But he still cheated!" Eoin yelled to the crowd, "The card wasn't
under any of the cups, so you had no chance of winning the bet!" He
was starting to get truly angry. The crowd looked from Eoin to the
man, not appearing to fully understand that they had been conned.
"What my good friend fails to comprehend is that it would make no
better sense to have the king of swords under the cup than it would to
have the queen of cups in my knife pocket!" He exclaimed as he drew a
small knife from the same left waistcoat pocket (the higher of the two) and
unsheathed it. "Behold my friends, the answer to your temporary mental
discomfort!" The man then stabbed the center cup, waved it above his
head and, by some sleight of hand, made both knife and cup seem to
disappear. Sitting on the part of the table which had been covered by
the cup only a moment before, was the queen of cups. The crowd was
silent for a moment and then burst out with wild applause; Eoin
couldn't believe his eyes, the man had conned these people with
nonsensical magic tricks and they were applauding him.
the rest of the day. He pushed it out of his mind and continued on
with his week. It was a Wednesday when they met. The meeting occurred
by accident, at least on Eoin's part it did. He had been walking home
from a dinner meeting when he heard a voice call out to him. The voice
didn't use his name, but he knew that it was addressing him. He had
never heard the voice before, but he knew it belonged to the man he
had seen on Monday.
"...And you, young man; do you know where the king of swords is
hiding?" Eoin turned to see the man sitting behind a makeshift table
at the edge of a small alley. The table consisted of a discarded plank
of plywood set on a few trash bins, covering the wood was a slightly
grungy sheet with a floral pattern that slyly nudged your mind towards
thoughts of the Baltic. On the table, or more accurately, sliding
across the table, were three red party cups which had evidently evaded
the bin at more than a few parties. Eoin was impressed, he thought
tricks like this were reserved for trashy novels and television shows.
He allowed the man a brief smile and began to turn away, but as he did
he suddenly knew exactly where the card was, it was in the man's hat.
This was the second time on that Wednesday that Eoin experienced the
strange feeling of knowing something which he couldn't possibly know.
As he paused, mid-turn, he looked at the crowd gathered around the man,
some had lost their money, some were about to lose their money; he
looked at them and decided to oust the con man before he took anyone
else's money.
"It's in your hat," he said in the direction of the man. The man
looked back to Eoin, for his attention had already wandered to other
victims.
"Did you say something, young man?" He asked with a curious half smile
which looked both predatory and ridiculously friendly.
"The card, the king of swords, it's in your hat." Eoin repeated. The
man's smile broadened and a look of extreme pleasure seemed to radiate
into his face.
"Very impressive, young man, very impressive indeed," The man said in
a voice which seemed to be meant only for Eoin to hear, and then, in a
louder voice obviously meant for the crowd, "A crafty guess, my young
friend, a crafty, yet anatomically incorrect guess. The card in
question is, in fact, in my left waistcoat pocket!" And with that, a
very small and old looking card flew out of his left waistcoat
pocket (the higher of the two) and fluttered onto the makeshift table
where it landed facedown. "Oh, do be my guest, dear boy, please!" The
man flamboyantly bowed toward the card with his hands and, with his
eyebrows, motioned for Eoin to flip the card over. Eoin walked toward the table
and knew he had been tricked; the card he flipped over would be the
king of swords which he thought was in the man's hat. But the man had
cheated, Eoin didn't know how it was possible but he knew that the
card had been in the man's hat and somehow made its way into the
waistcoat pocket. He flipped the card over and as he knew it would be,
it was the king of swords.
"But he still cheated!" Eoin yelled to the crowd, "The card wasn't
under any of the cups, so you had no chance of winning the bet!" He
was starting to get truly angry. The crowd looked from Eoin to the
man, not appearing to fully understand that they had been conned.
"What my good friend fails to comprehend is that it would make no
better sense to have the king of swords under the cup than it would to
have the queen of cups in my knife pocket!" He exclaimed as he drew a
small knife from the same left waistcoat pocket (the higher of the two) and
unsheathed it. "Behold my friends, the answer to your temporary mental
discomfort!" The man then stabbed the center cup, waved it above his
head and, by some sleight of hand, made both knife and cup seem to
disappear. Sitting on the part of the table which had been covered by
the cup only a moment before, was the queen of cups. The crowd was
silent for a moment and then burst out with wild applause; Eoin
couldn't believe his eyes, the man had conned these people with
nonsensical magic tricks and they were applauding him.
He turned to leave and once more was stopped
mid-turn; the man was using the same
voice he had used earlier, the one which was just for Eoin. "Very
impressive work today Mr. Emmerson, meet me tonight for a drink? We
could discuss whether it was the consistency of the card or of
myself that allowed you to be fooled. What do you say to the Monkey
Bar? The ninth minute of the ninth hour?" And before Eoin could
respond, the man had grabbed the sheet covering the wood by its edges,
pulled it up in the air and vanished down the dimly lit alley.
voice he had used earlier, the one which was just for Eoin. "Very
impressive work today Mr. Emmerson, meet me tonight for a drink? We
could discuss whether it was the consistency of the card or of
myself that allowed you to be fooled. What do you say to the Monkey
Bar? The ninth minute of the ninth hour?" And before Eoin could
respond, the man had grabbed the sheet covering the wood by its edges,
pulled it up in the air and vanished down the dimly lit alley.
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