Dorothea Hall Mysteries

The Smell of Trickery

We arrived at the exhibit building already in character. Freddy clung to my arm and did her best to not appear to be looking at anything or anyone. She even stepped on a few toes of the customers milling about before we were let into the space. None of them seemed to suspect she was not actually a blind girl. I was impressed with her acting prowess. Maybe it was the right career for her, although I would prefer she become a baker. It was much more respectable to most people and didn't rely on being fascinating and beautiful as acting did.

Mr. Walker had purchased us tickets for the front row. I escorted Freddy to our seats and we whispered about the best way to make sure we were chosen to examine the machine. Emory as a carpenter and a chess player had given us a good description of how the original chess automaton was set up. Part of the illusion was the fact one could look all the way through the machine when the demonstrator opened all of the doors, but the person inside was on a seat that moved around inside the machine. The portion of the machine with the chessboard was thin enough that the operator was able to move the chess pieces via magnets.

"I don't think they'll have made this machine just like the other one. They'll need a new contrivance," Freddy whispered.

"I think the theater is improving your vocabulary," I responded in the same tone.

"I would like to call for an audience volunteer to examine the machine," the presenter said.

The showman for this machine was a young man who was very tall and had a bushy brown mustache. He scanned the crowd and his eyes rested on Freddy who was raising her hand high, and flopping it about, without worrying about hitting the hat of the lady sitting next to her. Fortunately the lady had seen us earlier and firmly believed that Freddy couldn't see. The man gestured for Freddy to come up.

I stood and pulled Freddy to her feet. "My sister is blind, so needs me to help her." As we approached the machine, I whispered, "Do you have a plan for figuring this thing out?"

"The first thing I'm going to do is smell it. If there's a person inside I should be able to smell him. It has to be sweaty stuck in with all the metal and clockwork."

I had to admit this was a solid plan. The man wouldn't object to a blind girl sticking her head close to the machine. I did wonder if Freddy would be able to smell anything though the oil and metal the inside of the machine consisted of. Maybe if she closed her eyes and concentrated. The man did let her stick her head inside and feel around the automaton. Freddy knocked everywhere and sniffed all over it. I couldn't tell from her expression if she found anything suspicious. The man pulled her out and we returned to our seats.

"Did you smell anything interesting?" I asked.

She nodded. "Some very expensive perfume. There's a woman involved in this somehow."