Page 29 of Equalizer
“Yeah, just came up this morning after you left. Change clothes if you want, and you can tell me all about the Wild West Show over dinner.” Calvin leaned in to give Owen a peck on the cheek.
Dinner felt rushed, but Calvin appreciated Winston’s efforts to feed them before the show. Owen didn’t seem quite his usual self, and Calvin wasn’t sure how to interpret that.
Calvin had decided at the beginning of their relationship, that he would avoid using his psychometry to take information from Owen that he wasn’t yet ready to share. Owen had spontaneously promised not to use ghosts to tattle on Calvin unless the situation was dire.
“How did things go today?” Calvin asked after filling Owen in on his meeting with Molly and Arabella.
“Our hunch was right—the body was stolen.” Owen didn’t look up from his food. “We tracked it to a barn hand who was a local hire. He’s missing—and my bet is that he turns up dead. I let their security chief know that it wasn’t a random theft, so if they have any more fatalities, they’ll be better prepared.”
Owen seemed pensive, and Calvin wondered why. “Did everything go okay?”
Owen shrugged. “Yeah—except for how the whole situation is crazy. I was lucky the security chief didn’t throw me out on my ear. The manager tried.”
Before Calvin could ask more questions, Winston stuck his head into the compartment. “You’d best be going to make it to the show on time,” he reminded them.
On the ride, Owen seemed quieter than usual. Calvin took his hand in the darkness, and he could feel Owen relax.
Must have been more involved than he let on. I’m sure he’ll tell me when he’s ready.
Their hired carriage pulled up in front of the Coliseum, and Calvin spotted Louisa waiting for them. They had all opted for business attire rather than the luxury of fancy clothes for the theater or opera, a dress in muted colors for Louisa instead of an evening gown, and suits for Calvin and Owen instead of tuxedos.
“Thanks for the tickets,” Calvin said when they alighted and joined her.
“The opportunity arose and I seized it,” Louisa replied. “Decide for yourself whether you think Augustus Gordon could be the mastermind. He’s the one doing the show.”
The crowd swept them along into the grand showplace. Tiers of seats stretched all around the sides of the huge building, beneath the high arched ceiling. The open center could be used for many things, but tonight, a large stage took up most of the space, illuminated with spotlights.
On the stage were several tables with big silver domes covering whatever they held. A large cylindrical contraption stood at the edge of the stage with wires snaking to each table. Calvin recognized it as a Tesla coil for generating large amounts of electricity.
“You’d think this was the season opening for the symphony,” Louisa said. “The seats are full, and there’s a definite buzz of excitement.”
“How much do you think most of them know about what they’re going to see?” Calvin asked.
“A few of them—most likely doctors—have probably heard a lot,” Louisa replied. “They want to see proof of concept. As for the rest, some folks just want to be at the center of the new big thing. They’re likely to get more than they bargained for.”
The next half hour passed as they traded comments about interesting articles in the newspaper and which plays and musicals were coming to the city’s theaters. With the seats full all around them, they didn’t dare speculate about Gordon or the case.
A blast of music from the small band behind the stage startled Calvin. Augustus Gordon swaggered into the center area to the fanfare, and the crowd began to cheer.
Louisa took a pair of opera glasses from her bag and peered at the showman, then passed them to Calvin and Owen, who took turns getting a close-up view.
Gordon looked to be in his late forties with reddish hair and a full beard. He had a broad face and stocky body and moved more like a pugilist than a surgeon. He turned from one side to the other to acknowledge his fans. He hopped up the few steps to the platform and donned a butcher’s apron before he picked up a megaphone to address the crowd.
“Prepare to be astonished, amazed, and disquieted,” he boomed. “What you are about to witness is at the very forefront of science. Today, this new technique is groundbreaking and presented for your edification and entertainment. But very soon, galvanism will no longer be the stuff of traveling shows. It will play a vital role in hospitals in every land, restoring and replacing what has been lost.”
“This coil generates electricity which will follow these wires into my test subjects, and you will see for yourself the possibilities!”
Gordon removed the dome over one area of the table. On it sat a slab of beef.
“Ordinary meat, like anyone could buy at the butcher shop. Nothing special about it, clearly no longer roaming the pasture,” he added, which got a laugh from the audience.
Gordon attached three electrodes to the meat with long wires trailing back to the coil and moved to flip the massive switch.
“And yet, with the application of electricity, behold!”
The coil sparked a brilliant blue, the air crackled with power that raised the hair on the back of Calvin’s neck, and the piece of beef began to twitch and lurch like a living thing.
“Oh my God,” Louisa murmured under her breath. Owen paled, and Calvin felt a tightness in the pit of his stomach. From the gasps and other noises around them, some of the crowd had similar reactions.
