Dorothea Hall Mysteries

The Mysterious Trunk

The original automaton had the torso and head of a man dressed with a turban and Ottoman robes, which had led it to be nicknamed "The Mechanical Turk." There was no figure in this machine, until the man worked a handle in the side and a female torso, dressed as some sort of fortune teller rose out of the machine. The figure was painted entirely in silver, and wore a flowing robe and a large purple turban on its head.

"Meet Madame Agnieszka, the fortune telling chess player who can read the moves from your mind in order to defeat you at your own game," the man said. "We have a well known philanthropist and chess player, Mister Victor Harvey, who has agreed to be Madame Agnieszka's opponent for the evening."

"Isn't that Bella's husband?" Freddy whispered.

"He must have decided to come and experience the device for himself," I said.

Mr. Harvey sat in the wooden chair provided and said, "Lady's first."

The match began. Even with my limited chess knowledge, I could tell that the machine was playing quite well. Another thing we'd been told about the machine is that the controller could flip some levers which would tell the operator inside the Turk things using a secret code. The young man sat on a chair at the back of the stage, seemingly fascinated by the game and nowhere near his machine. Mr. Harvey took some time contemplating each move. He had a smile on his face like the one I'd seen on Emory's when Freddy was playing a good game. Whoever was controlling "Madame Agnieszka" had to be an experienced player.

"I've figured it out," Freddy whispered. "Take a good look at madame and how she moves."

I took her advice and realized a number of things. One, the arms of the fortune teller didn't move like clockwork, they were far too flexible and natural. Two, the paint on Madame Agnieszka's face was running just a bit from what had to be sweat. There was a person halfway in and halfway out of the machine playing chess. Now, how could we prove it?

Madame Agnieszka was the victor. Mr. Harvey shook hands with the operator and looked quite pleased. I wasn't sure whether he thought the machine was real or had just enjoyed the challenge game. Freddy and I left with the rest of the spectators, but she pulled me into the alley behind the building.

"I bet if we wait here and watch the back door we can meet the woman behind the machine," she said.

I was willing to give it a chance. Twenty minutes later the tall man exited through the door and ten minutes after that a woman came out carrying a small trunk. Freddy and I moved towards her.

"Hey Madame Agnieszka," Freddy said, "we wanted to congratulate you on your victory tonight."

She set down the trunk. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just taking out some laundry for Mr. Collins. I'm his housemaid."

"You might be that also, but you're also an expert chess player. We won't give you away, but there is someone who would like to meet you," I said.