"Jonathan Creek" and characters beloved creations of David Renwick, copyright David Renwick.


Simply Illusion
by elfin

The night of January 2nd 2000; London's West End was heaving with those still celebrating the new millennium, and the two ambulances, one fire crew and four police cars that had rushed to the Prince of Wales theatre at 9:46pm had taken longer than usual to arrive. Outside that theatre the audience that had been inside were crowded around in small groups, some talking to police officers, some talking to excited reporters. Both ambulances had already left the scene; one en route to the Royal Hospital, sirens blazing, the other back to the Middlesex hospital in no rush.

There were people everywhere, inside and outside. The stage had been cordoned off by the police, one of whom was speaking to the star of that night's show, Adam Klaus. Obviously shaken, Adam was taking a certain Detective Inspector Gideon Pryke through what had happened, how the simple trick worked and how it couldn't possibly have gone wrong. What he didn't know - couldn't understand for the life of him - was why it had gone wrong. It had worked before, a million times before. Something terrible had happened, and it was thanks to the acute observance of his creative consultant that his brave assistant was still alive.

From the stage, Gideon looked across into the auditorium.

At the back, leaning sideways against the wall, a familiar-looking young man was standing, physically shaking, tears streaming unheeded down his face. He'd seen it all, standing at the side of the stage as he usually did when he wasn't needed elsewhere during a show. It was the blood that had alerted him. They used stage blood usually, but they'd run out this evening, and none had been set tonight. Therefore the blood dripping from the slats in the box into which Adam Klaus was dramatically pushing the second of three sharp sword blades had to be hers, it had to be real.

For the first time in his career a live illusion had gone terribly wrong and someone had been hurt. He'd given the emergency code, shouting it clearly enough to be heard by those on and off stage. An ambulance had been called immediately as the procedure decreed, and the first aid guys had been alerted. Then he'd surprised Adam - and the entire audience - by running onto the stage and opening the lid of the box.

Now, though, the shock had set in. His fault. Despite everything, despite all the checks, all the security and safety regulations, despite the simplicity of the trick itself, Felicity was on the way to hospital with a stab wound. His fault.

On the stage, Adam followed Gideon's line of sight and saw his consultant standing by the back wall. He swore softly to himself, then, before anyone could stop him, he had ducked under the police tape, jumped down off the stage and headed for Jonathan. Two constables stepped forward but Gideon stopped them, turning back to the scene set on the stage.

"Jonathan...."
The gentle American lilt touched the other man who looked up miserably.
"Adam... I'm so sorry...."
But Adam was actually reaching for Jonathan, putting his arms around his friend, bringing him close. Not usually tactile, Jonathan allowed himself to be held.
"It wasn't your fault." His tone was adamant. "Someone played with the equipment. We both know this trick is foolproof. Whatever went wrong wasn't your fault."

Maddy came to an abrupt halt as she ran into the auditorium. Jonathan was leaning into Adam a little awkwardly, one hand still laid flat against the back wall. Adam was speaking to him quietly, reassuring she hoped. Incredible how someone she believed to be shallower than a fish pond could do exactly the right thing when it was needed. She glanced across to the stage and was greeted by a wave from the police inspector. Relief calmed her rolling stomach. Gideon Pryke wasn't an idiot, he would know that a magician wouldn't sabotage his own show, and he wouldn't even consider Jonathan as a suspect. This was an accident, surely?

Stepping viciously on her innate curiosity, she headed quietly for the pair standing on the other side of the auditorium. Not wanting to intrude unnecessarily, she simply covered Jonathan's hand against the wall with her own. Adam saw her and smiled. Jonathan turned his hand under hers and squeezed her fingers in a gesture of thanks but he didn't open his eyes and he didn't move. Maddy could almost understand his need for Adam's reassurance at this moment. This show - this career of his - was his life. He loved what he did. To lose it would destroy him. Adam's confidence and trust in him was possibly the most important thing he needed to be reassured of right now. Maybe it was the most important thing in his life, and much as that might have irked her, it made him what and who he was, and she wouldn't change him for the world. And as Adam spoke to Jonathan, as he reaffirmed that trust, Jonathan cried against him.

Maddy ached for him, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand, offering her own comfort. This rare show of emotion from them both touched her.

Finally seated on the end of the back row, with Adam twisted around from the seat in front and Maddy standing behind him, her hand on his shoulder, Jonathan looked up into the gentle eyes of the clever Detective Inspector who had been one step ahead of him throughout the Marella Carney case.

"You all right?" Jonathan nodded, smiling uncertainly, wiping his eyes on his sleeve again. "I'm playing at being a real policeman with the boys at the Met for a while, on loan as it were." He explained his presence to the two people he knew while glancing at the one he didn't. "You were telling me about the illusion, Mr Klaus."
Jonathan and Adam exchanged glances, and Jonathan was the one to answer Gideon. "It's simple. An assistant steps into the box, lies down, lid is closed. Adam turns the box until the feet are facing the audience and flexes a couple of special swords about to show they're real. He pushes the swords one at a time into slots in the side of the box and the blades are seen to come out through the other side, giving the illusion they're going through the woman inside. Three go in, the box is turned 360 degrees to give the audience a full view, then the blades are pulled out again and the assistant climbs out to take a bow."
Gideon nodded slowly, working the puzzle through in his mind. "Right. So... the blades slide into the sword handles and are held in place by some catch in the slots in the box. The woman inside pushes false blades out from the other side of the box, ensuring the timing's right. Thus the illusion." He smiled that smile that had driven Jonathan mad from the moment they'd met on the stairs at the Carney place. "Am I close?"
Jonathan sighed, there was nothing he hated more than people working his tricks out. "The sword blades retreat into the handles when a catch is in place, thus they'll stand up to scrutiny by an audience member if Adam so decides." He smiled wryly for a moment, but it soon faded. "The catches can't have worked.... The blade went straight into her side...."

He closed his eyes, remembering the blood, remembering the horror when the realisation had hit. Tears leaked from his eyes and he felt Adam's hand squeezing his arm gently, just below the wrist. Seldom did Adam surprise him, but he would look back on this night with a slightly changed opinion of his employer. He met Gideon's watchful gaze and attempted to pull himself together.

Adam, the more likely suspect in Maddy's eyes at least, stated again that he'd shifted the catch on each sword. The first blade had gone into the shoulder slot with no problems. It was the second blade that had stabbed her. He couldn't understand it anymore than anyone else could.

"Go home, all of you," Gideon told them eventually. "This might look clearer in the morning." Only Maddy noticed his pointed glance at Jonathan, and it was she whom he took to one side a few minutes later. "I'm clearing you and Jonathan for access to the scene. When he's calmer, when he's thinking more clearly, bring him back here and get him to check the equipment over again. He designed it, it's my guess that he'll be able to spot anything amiss with it better than anyone." Maddy nodded, thankful. "No one will touch anything up there until he's seen it."
"Thanks." She looked back at where Jonathan and Adam still remained seated, talking quietly. "I might have to push him into this one."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Gideon handed her a card. "Give me a ring in the morning?"

*

Maddy woke to the blissful silence of the country. Last night - or rather the early hours of this morning - she'd brought Jonathan home and hadn't wanted to leave him by himself. Despite the fact that sex was none existent in their unique relationship, they'd shared a bed several times and at just gone one this morning they'd collapsed together on the double bed on the second floor of the windmill. Jonathan hadn't spoken for much of the journey out of London, and although they'd both lain awake for hours she'd left him to his own thoughts, simply reaching out at some point to take his hand.

Now, though, she was alone.

Getting up, dressing hurriedly, she started down the stairs to the first floor and stopped half way. She sighed inwardly, feeling that aching again in her heart. Jonathan was sitting on the floor, legs out to one side, playing with the scale model of the mechanics used in the trick that had gone so wrong the night before. The expression on his face revealed none of the usual enthusiasm he held for his chosen hobby and job, rather something close to disgust for his own work. He looked lost and, to her now, slightly vulnerable.

She took the rest of the stairs quietly, crouching beside him, putting her arm around his shoulders. Without looking at her, he shook his head. His voice a shaky murmur, he told her, "I don't understand. It can't have gone wrong, there's nothing to go wrong." A tear fell to the model on the floor. "I can't believe I hurt someone. This is meant to be entertainment. If anyone's going to risk themselves, it should be me!" Wiping his eyes roughly with the heal of his hand, he asked roughly, "Why didn't she scream?"
"Jonathan...." Unconsciously, Maddy echoed Adam's comfort of the previous night. Putting her other arm around him, she pulled him gently against her, holding and soothing while he cried; while the grief, self-inflicted guilt and undeserved pain were finally released in a torrent of emotion. The Jonathan she'd known for almost a year would always rather walk away from a situation before showing any real feelings. She kept defences up around herself to protect herself from the pain the world had shown her. She had often wondered what had driven him to protect himself in a similar fashion. She'd only seen him laugh a couple of times, only known him to get angry once, facing the most extreme circumstances he had remained calm, controlled, his true feelings hidden inside the walls that surrounded him.

Those walls had crumbled. The strange world in which they existed together had now invaded his world, his life.
"You once told me that there was always danger in what you did, there was always risk. You can't' blame yourself for what happened, it was an accident." She hoped to feel a nod where his head was rested against her shoulder, but instead his head moved from side to side, his body still trembling in her arms. "Adam doesn't blame you, you can't blame yourself."
"Someone's responsible," he stammered, "Felicity's in hospital."
"And she's going to be fine." She pressed a kiss into his hair. "It's all right."

He calmed quickly, burying it all inside him she imagined, pulling away from her with some embarrassment and a mumbled apology. "Sorry."
"Don't be daft." She squeezed his shoulder, moving her hand down his arm. "Not as if I haven't cried on you before, is it?"
He looked away, wiping his eyes with his fingers. "That's not the point."
"Oh, that's right. You're a man, you're not supposed to have tear-ducts." She kept her voice gentle as she sat back on to the floor. At the moment the last thing he needed was a dose of her often cutting sarcasm. "This is me, Jonathan. Your soulmate, the one you'd like to have a coffee with?" That at least got a smile. "It's all right."

Silence settled between them for a short while, always an easy one from what Maddy could remember. Finally she used her hand on his shoulder as a lever and got to her feet. "I'll stick the kettle on."
She had just got to the stairs when he turned to look up at her. "Has our Inspector given us access to the theatre?"
Maddy smiled, hiding her relief; she'd had no idea how she was going to make that particular suggestion. "He thought... you might want to look over the equipment, make sure nothing looks tampered with."
He nodded, another small smile breaking through. As she started down the stairs, the phone rang.
"You want me to get it?"
"No." Jonathan reached out and grabbed the phone handset from the desk in the centre of the room. "Jonathan Creek."
"Hi there. How are you doing?"
Yet another smile, one that Adam couldn't see at his end of the line, but one he hoped would be there.
"I'm all right."
"Liar. I thought I'd let you know that Felicity's fine, she's in no danger and she's comfortable. The police are going to talk to her this morning."
"Thanks..... Adam, look...."
"Jonathan, please don't say anything stupid. You're invaluable to me and you know it." There was an embarrassed silence, and in the magician's mind he could picture the expression on his unassuming consultant's face. "Are you planning on looking the stuff over today?"
"Yeah. For all the good it'll do."
"You never know. Can I meet you there?"
"Sure." He glanced up at the clock. "We'll be there by eleven."

*

"Miss Carlston?"
Felicity opened her eyes and smiled at the Police Inspector who had stepped into her private room. Adam Klaus was paying for everything, picking up all her bills as an apology. It was the least he could do, he'd said.
"I'm Felicity Carlston."
"Detective Inspector Gideon Pryke. This is Sergeant Richie. We have some questions about last night."
"Of course."

Just under an hour later, Gideon closed the door of her room and walked in silence down the hospital corridor with his sergeant at his side. Only when they'd stepped out of the hospital did he slide on his sunglasses and frown across at his faithful companion.
"So, what's to be made of all that, ay? We need a pair of tweezers to extract the small truths from all the lies. The question is... why?"

*

Maddy stood with Adam at her side, both of them watching Jonathan as he searched the stage for any clue as to what went wrong. All three swords lay to the side of the box, and he crouched down, picking up each in turn, pushing the blade in with his fingers. All three retracted just as they should have done.
"What made you stop?"
They looked at one another before Jonathan glanced at Adam.
"Stop?"
"Pushing the sword in... what made you stop?"
"You did. You gave the signal. Shouted it at the top of your voice if I remember correctly."
Jonathan stood. "Nothing else? You didn't... feel anything odd when you pushed the blade in?"
Adam shook his head. "Nothing."

Maddy watched, and she recognised the puzzlement in Jonathan's face. She expected the usual investigations to continue, but instead he backed off from the equipment and walked over to the steps at the edge of the stage. He paused on the top one, regarded by his two friends. "What?"
"That's it?" Maddy tried to keep the edge out of her voice with only minimal success.
"What do you expect from me?" His face creased. "Everything's as it should be."
Maddy titled her head, frowning, but it was Adam that spoke up. "But it can't be, can it?"
Sighing, Jonathan shook his head and continued down the steps.

"He can't just walk away from this."
But Maddy wasn't going to call him back just now.
"He's upset, Adam. When was the last time you saw him upset?"
Adam thought for a moment. "The frog suit. He was definitely upset...."
"No. Really upset. He was in tears again this morning. This has really got to him."
Adam took a deep breath. "I've done all I can to try to reassure him."
"I know." She squeezed his arm gently. "You've impressed me, actually. Didn't realise you were actually human." She was half way across they stage before he'd decided to take offence.

Jonathan was long gone, merged into the London crowds on the windy streets by the time the other two got to the door of the auditorium. He'd gone, and Gideon and co. had arrived.
"Mr Klaus, could I have a word?"

They sat in Adam's dressing room, Maddy knowing full well that Gideon had picked up every detail within the first few seconds of being inside.
"We spoke to Felicity this morning, Mr Klaus. One thing she told us was that she had, in the past, been more than just an assistant. To you, and to Jonathan. On one occasion.... at the same time."
Adam choked on his mouthful of coffee, spitting it back into the mug. Maddy's eyes widened, and she looked to Adam to immediately deny it. But he was glancing from Gideon to the sergeant, and then he met her gaze.
"It... it was almost ten years ago! We... were drunk. Very drunk."
Gideon smiled briefly. "She said that you and she had been lovers on and off for the last eleven years, ever since she began working for you. Is that also true?"
Adam nodded. "She's a very attractive woman. Nothing ever happened without her consent, Inspector. We're both adults."
"I'm only trying to confirm the what is fact, Mr Klaus. I'm not accusing you of anything, and I'm not about to." He looked at Maddy, secretly amused by the expression on her face and the odd way she was regarding Adam. "I had of expected Jonathan to be here."
The question was directed at Maddy, but even Adam understood enough to know that her thoughts were elsewhere at this precise moment. He didn't envy his consultant that explanation. "He was here," he told Gideon. "He looked over the equipment but didn't find anything. He left just before you arrived."
"Umm. I do need to talk to him, if you have his address."
"Yes...."
Maddy leaned forward, drawn from her musings by an innate concern for Jonathan that over-rode her anger and curiosity for now. "Would you let me find him and then call you? He can be slightly neurotic sometimes and he's in a bit of a state at the moment."
Gideon nodded, smiling brightly. "Of course, no real hurry." He meant it too. His suspect wasn't going anywhere, and the victim of this crime had suffered enough already.

*

Maddy gave it two hours before driving out to Briar Hollow. It started to rain just out of London, and by the time she reached Ripley Mill it was coming down in buckets. The windmill was dark, but she was sure he'd have come back home. This was his sanctuary. Nothing could threaten him here.

She opened the front door slowly. In the darkness of the kitchen, Jonathan looked up at her as she closed the door behind her. Sitting at the table, coffee mug in his hand, the sheepish expression on his face was just what she'd expected.
"Sorry." He glanced at her before dropping his gaze back into his mug. "Bit... childish that, wasn't it? Bit melodramatic."
"No." She sat down opposite him, throwing her coat to the floor under the stairs. For a while, she just watched him. "You just missed Gideon though." He looked up at her. "He'd had a very interesting conversation with Felicity this morning."
"Yeah," he sighed, "I bet she can tell some stories. She's been in the business long enough."
"I'm afraid their discussion centred around her relationship with Adam."
Jonathan was watching her now, something lighting his eyes. "With Adam? They don't have a relationship. You know Adam. They sleep together sometimes, have done for years." He bit his bottom lip. "That's not all she's said, it is?" Lips pursed together, he looked to her as guilty as hell.
"No. And I can tell you, that was a bit of a surprise."

She smiled, watching him go immediately on the defensive. At least for a moment his mind was distracted. "It was ten years ago. We were drunk. Very drunk."
She laughed. "Adam's exact words. But he didn't go quite the colour you've gone."
"Look...."
Touching his hand, she silenced him. "Jonathan, it was ten years ago. It's all right." Pulling back, she smiled her own teasing smile. "Besides, the image of you and him...."
His wide-eyed expression shut her up.

He sipped his coffee, despite the fact that it was cold. To her, his whole demeanour had changed.
"This has really knocked you for six, hasn't it?"
He remained silent for a while, but eventually he would always give into her. She didn't even have to ask anymore. "I found something, at the theatre."
"I know you did. When you asked Adam if there was anything odd when he pushed the sword in. What was it?"
He reached back, picking up something from the draining board next to the sink. "This." On to the table in front of her, he placed a small blade. She stared at it. And for the first time, she saw the reality of what had happened in her mind's eye. She looked from the blade, up at him, and back down again.
"Oh my God. But why?"
"Our friendly Detective Inspector could probably tell us that,"

*

For the second time that day, Maddy drove them back into London. Arranging to meet Gideon, Richie and Adam back at the theatre, Jonathan seemed to be, for the first time, reluctant to reveal to anyone else but Maddy what he'd found.
"He can't see it," Jonathan complained as they crossed over the M25. "He treats women as objects, things to be wined, dined and bedded until the next one comes along. It's like, once he's had sex with someone, that's the end of it, score one. And he's off on the next challenge. Problem was with Felicity, she was the one he went to between conquests. And she let him, that's what I don't understand about this. If she was that upset about it, why didn't she say no."
Maddy shrugged. "Maybe he's great in bed." She glanced at him, but he was already gazing off out of the window.

Gideon was waiting for them, with Adam standing oddly patient in the wings. Maybe he'd worked it out too. Maddy considered that possibility, and then dismissed it.
"I love this bit, don't you," Gideon asked them from the stage. Jonathan smiled weakly. Only when they all stood around the box in which Felicity had been injuried did he actually say anything. He directed his speech toward Adam.
"You didn't push the sword into her last night," he told his friend and employer. "Nothing went wrong, just as you said." He produced the blade from his coat pocket. "She did it to herself."
Adam regarded him with barely hidden scepticism. "Excuse me?"
"When you pushed in the sword, the blade retracted as it should have done. She released stage blood out of the slot for one of us to see and pushed this blade into herself."
Adam looked as if someone had slapped him. "But... why?"
"To hurt you, to make it look as if your show wasn't safe. My guess is, you used her once too often." There was no judgement or blame in his voice, just sadness that someone so close to them would do something like this. Staring at the blade in Jonathan's hand, Adam shook his head. "I found this pushed into the top corner of the box. This morning... I just didn't want to believe it."

Gideon stepped forward now, taking the blade and pocketing it. Remaining only a few inches from his amateur detective friend, he met the soulful brown eyes.
"There's just one detail you got wrong, Jonathan," he said quietly, carefully. "Unless you and she have actually been having an illicit affair which she ended only last week... and I gather by that expression that you haven't, then it's not Adam she was trying to hurt, it was you."
Jonathan could feel Maddy's surprise and Adam's shock in the gazes that fell on him. "You are kidding?"
"No. That's what she told us, about the affair. I knew she was lying," he glanced at Maddy, "and so it did seem that it was you she was trying to pin this on. Why would Adam Klaus sabotage his own show? You do all the work and get none of the glory. Knowing you eleven years, she had possibly also worked out how much all this would affect you."
Jonathan's blinked back the few remaining tears. "Why?"
"She obviously felt more for you than you felt for her. An obsession that grew and festered. Maybe she hoped that one day.... Difficult to say, really. She finally reached the conclusion that you weren't going to suddenly drop to one knee and propose, so she decided to hurt you as much as she felt hurt by you."
"But I didn't even...."
Gideon reached for his shoulder, physically rooting him in the truth of what had happened. "None of this, as we said before, is or was your fault. You're the victim here." Holding the moment before stepping back and turning away, he continued. "I don't know what we can charge her with. I hope this isn't a habit, the three of us chasing criminals who haven't committed any discernible offence." He was smiling at Maddy now. "But perhaps, once again, we'll think of something."

Sitting on the stage, legs dangling over the edge, Jonathan glanced up when Adam closed in on him. He expected a barrage of abuse, but it never came.
"Your Inspector friend told me the full story, with one or two exceptions, will be in the papers tonight, we can open again tomorrow. You can take some time off...."
"Only if you want me too." Spoken too quickly. Jonathan dropped his head into his hand.
"Of course I don't! What would this show be - what would I be? - without you?" Adam jumped gracefully up to sit beside his friend. "I know my appreciation of you isn't always... obvious. If you want more than your name in the programme....."
"I don't. I never have. It was only Barry who convinced me to allow them to put my name on Maddy's book. I don't want the limelight and the press and the girls, the limos, the house...." he met Adam's scrutiny and they both grinned, a refreshing sight for each. "Can't imagine why."
"If you ever change your mind...."
"Don't worry. Besides, I can always blackmail you with the one detail of this sordid affair that Gideon won't give to the press."

*

After a lavish meal paid for her Her Majesty's Police Force, Adam headed back to his house ready to face the reporters with enthusiasm and perfectly-combed hair and Maddy drove out yet again to Briar Hollow. As she pulled up in front of the windmill, Jonathan turned to her.
"The least I can do is offer you a bed for the night."
"Yes, it is." She smiled bountifully and killed the engine.

Inside, she hung her coat up and filled the kettle while Jonathan headed upstairs. She was busy trying to find the sugar when he appeared again, directly behind her, and put his arms around her. The action was so unusual for him, she froze.
"Jonathan...."
There was no reply for a while, just a contented sigh as he held her close, chin rested against her hair. Only when the kettle had boiled and she tried to reach for it, did he speak.
"Thank you for ... being here through this. For not going mad when you found out about... well, you know. For being easy on me, for once." He felt her smile rather than seeing it.
"It's all right, Jonathan," she reassured him. "No matter what else you think, you are my friend and I do care about you a great deal."
There was a pause, before he murmured, "Is that all?"

Pulling away slightly, she turned in his arms, realising how close he was.... how warm and good he felt.
"What... more do you want?"
It wasn't that they hadn't kissed before. It was just that they'd never kissed with such meaning before. It felt as if she was melting into him. His arms surrounded her, his tongue brushed over her own in invitation. She tangled her fingers into his hair, drawing him closer, suddenly needing him closer.
When they parted, he placed three fingers over her lips and whispered quietly, "Make love to me."
She could only nod, kissing his fingers before taking them one by one into her mouth, big eyes looking up at him, not attempting to say a word.

They got up to the second floor before he turned to her again. She thought for a moment that he was going to change his mind, tell her he'd made a mistake, that they could never.... he kissed her again, deep and consuming.
"I'm not going to back out," he told her quietly. "I've never backed out. You have."
She touched her lips to his, the taste of him becoming infectious. "Not this time."

*

Sometime in the early hours of that same morning, Maddy was woken from her sleep by a warm body turning over behind her, and one arm being draped over her. She smiled to herself, folding the hand against her breast into her own, entwining their fingers, happy to be there. And in the darkness, she felt him squeeze her hand lightly and whisper,
"Don't let go."
For her, for now, it was enough.

fin
elfin
03/01/00