Big Bob applauded more than any of them. After all, the evening's entertainment with the magician had been his own idea, and even he had to admit the magic seemed real. But it couldn't be. Could it? First the Amazing Presto made a little bonfire of George's hairpiece on the flambeaux tray, adding the personal papers from everyone's wallet as tinder. Minutes later a Fed-Ex package arrived with the toupet freshly cleaned and looking realistic, plus all the burnt scraps wrapped safely in a bundle. The trick with the cards made everyone laugh. No matter which card they picked, the face always turned blank when they showed it to Presto. Presto's mock annoyance at having to go through the entire deck to figure out the missing card was sublimely funny. The coup de grâce came when Presto made Big Bob's wife disappear. She stood up in front of the small audience. Presto, in one quick move yanked the tablecloth out from under their meal, tossed it over the wife, and that was that. The tablecloth fluttered to the floor and when they looked under it, they found a farewell letter in her handwriting saying she was running off to Rio with Presto. Big Bob had written that, and it was good enough to fool their friends. Yes, the Amazing Presto had done beautifully, just as Big Bob had payed him to. Although it had cost a small fortune, it was still less than a divorce. So now Bob was free to do as he pleased. Interestingly enough, the letter, though not written by Bob's wife, had been true. Presto made her reappear that night in his hotel room, with all the money out of her joint bank account with Bob, just as she and Presto had planned. The money from Bob alone was enough for a nice honeymoon.

Story #147