The pinnacle of magic

As soon as he stepped into the rehearsal field, Shi Rui felt an unusual aura.

"What's going on?" he asked a colleague who was smoking by the window.

"Clifford is losing his temper." The female assistant pointed in the direction of the office, "I heard that someone delivered a prank package this morning. Clifford has been in there for several hours. Kate has knocked on the door three times, every time Once back in the office, there was a loud sound of smashing things. Alas... I don’t know if I will rehearse tonight. Shirley, can you go and ask for help? But I think you should also be careful, the boss is angry ! Don't push yourself too hard."

Shi Rui pursed his lips, thanked his colleagues, and walked straight to the office.Quick footsteps, the magician seemed to be pacing back and forth in the room.Occasionally, one or two low-pitched curses came through the door.

"Clifford? It's me."

The footsteps inside stopped.

"May I come in?"

"..."

Shi Rui frowned.Just as he was hesitating whether to open the door and go in, the door suddenly opened.

The magician had a scowl on his face. "Come in and we'll talk." He raised his chin to Shi Rui.

The ground near the door was littered with shards of glass.Shi Rui recognized the remains of a music box, a glass paperweight and a trophy inside.There is still a large pool of smudges on the wall beside it. Judging from the broken glass on the ground, it is caused by a bottle of red wine that was thrown on the wall.

The magician rubbed his hands vigorously and walked around the desk a few times like an angry lion. "How can this be? How can this be? How dare he do this?!"

Shi Rui took a few steps closer, and saw an exquisitely crafted box on the table through the magician walking back and forth.It was probably just taken out of the package, and there was a piece of blue and silver-edged wrapping paper under the box.The contents of the box should have been taken out, and from Shi Rui's perspective, a dark color at the bottom of the box can be seen.

He walked quickly to the table, dipped a little of the liquid in the box with his index finger and sniffed it under his nose. "Not blood."

"It's just some artificial plasma." The magician stopped.

"Did the plasma leak out when it was delivered?" Shi Rui suddenly understood why the female secretary would call the magician to rush over for a package.Because it was a "blood-stained" package!

The magician nodded: "The person who sent the package probably just wanted to use this to get my attention."

"What's in it?" If it was just a package filled with artificial plasma, the magician would never be so angry as he is now.

The magician pursed his lips and handed an envelope to Shi Rui. "See for yourself!"

Shi Rui glanced at the opening of the envelope.White stack.He thought it was probably a photo or something.Flipping the envelope over, he poured the contents into his palm.

Even Shi Rui couldn't help being taken aback by the picture in the first photo.

It was a bloody palm with a neat cut!

Probably due to excessive blood loss, the palm nails were pale in color.This is a right hand with slender and beautiful fingers, probably from a woman.

Shi Rui noticed a mole on the first knuckle of his little finger, and his heart sank!

He turned to the second photo.

Obviously, the one just now is actually the last one in this series.Starting from the second photo, the whole process of cutting off the arm from a living person was shown in the screen! ! !

The middle part of the forearm is fastened with a bungee cord, and the arm is placed on an inflatable mat.Then in the next photo, a circle was drawn with a black pen on the wrist.In the next photo, the skin on the wrist has been cut open, exposing the muscles and tendons inside.In the next photo, a sharp scalpel is cutting through the last of the connected blood vessels.In the final picture, the ulna has been sawed in two, and a saw is falling on the radius...

Shi Rui let out a deep breath. "Could it be a fake photo made by someone?"

The magician shook his head: "Not quite."

Shi Rui didn't know that the hand in the photo was exactly the same as in memory no matter from which angle it was viewed.This palm undoubtedly came from a female assistant of the magician. "Where's Jessica?" He asked in a deep voice.

The magician sighed: "She resigned, just the day before yesterday. By the way, there was an invitation sent along with the photo." He handed a folded card to Shi Rui.

Shi Rui opened the card——

"Judas is not qualified to continue to use the limbs given by God. Traitors should be judged. Enclosed is a small gift, I hope you will like it. I am very interested in your performance, and I am eager to discuss the possibility of cooperation with you .Please go to the Gospel Hotel at 7:[-]pm tomorrow night to discuss the details with me. Famous people are not known.”

"Judas?" Shi Rui frowned at the metaphor in the letter, "What does he think Jessica did?"

The magician smiled wryly: "I think, probably Jessica is the one who betrayed the news to the 'Revealer'. Although I haven't had the time to clean up the ghosts recently, I once talked with everyone in the team I told them, it’s okay not to come forward and admit it, as long as I get out of the team, I can let the past go. If I find out afterwards, they will have to pay for it. Jessica only left a letter of resignation , and didn’t even resign to me face to face. When I saw the letter, I wondered if she might be the ghost, because she couldn’t bear the pressure, so she left on her own initiative.”

Shi Rui suddenly remembered that when Jessica met him for the first time, she wanted him to ask the magician for a salary advance.Later, although she won a large sum of money in the casino, the girl relaxed for a while.But not long ago, that gloomy expression seemed to begin to appear on the girl's face again.

"Even if Jessica did it, how did the person who sent the package know?"

"I don't know." The magician shook his head, "Maybe he knew it by chance? But how could he be so cruel? Even if Jessica really betrayed the news to the 'Secret Revealer', the most he could bring to court would be a fine! He actually sawed off one of her hands!" The magician angrily punched the desk.

"Who do you think did it?" Shi Rui unceremoniously let go of the magician's clenched fist, "Do you need to call the police?"

"I don't know..." The magician took a few deep breaths. "I want to check it first." He looked up at Shi Rui, "If it's really Jessica's hand... I will definitely make the person who sent the package look good!"

"Okay! I'll go with you. Do you have Jessica's address?"

"I've called her, but no answer. The home address is there, but I'm not sure if it's still valid. I remember hearing from Kate a few months ago that she wanted to borrow a car to move, but I didn't lend it to her."

"Ask Kate first if she knows her new address!"

The female secretary hesitated for a few seconds after hearing this question, then turned around and brought in a folder.Although Jessica's new address was not updated in the employee file, Kate had borrowed a moving car from the rental company in the name of the company, so she left the new address on a receipt.

The female secretary copied the address to the magician, and by the way, brought the news of the cancellation of tonight's rehearsal to other members of the team who were waiting outside.On the other hand, the magician drove Shi Rui to District B, which is the most chaotic area in the city.

"This place is really bad." The magician stopped the car and said, looking at a dilapidated small building.

The address only ended with the house number, and they didn't find Jessica's last name on the doorbell. "Try all of them!" The magician pressed the doorbell panel indiscriminately.

Most of the neighbors are not very nice.The magician spent 20 yuan to find out Jessica's room number from a bald young man, and at the same time he also knew the reason why the female assistant was so short of money.

Jessica has a brother who is a drug addict!

Both parents of the siblings are said to have died in a car accident.With the inheritance and huge insurance premiums, the siblings should have lived comfortably.But because of his brother's drug addiction, they spent all their money and eventually had to sell the house and move to this place.

"Jessica should be at home now." The bald young man who just walked down the stairs smiled strangely, "Since last night, she has been moaning silently. Where did he go? I haven't seen him for a whole day. Normally at this time he would be waiting for customers on the street outside. Tsk tsk, this kid has a great figure! Let him have a shot." The bald young man put the money given by the magician into his pocket, whistled and walked out of the gate.

Shi Rui and the magician looked at each other, and both felt that Jessica's cry was probably caused by the pain after the anesthesia passed.

They went up to the top floor.There is a door plate hanging crookedly on the door of the female assistant's room.Jessica's last name was written on the door plate.The copper door plate looks old, and Shi Rui guessed that Jessica moved here from her old residence.

There is not even a bell on the shabby wooden door.

The magician knocked three times.After waiting for a while, I knocked hard three more times.

"Today is only No. 30, and it's not yet the first! I will pay the rent tomorrow." The door creaked open, revealing the pale face of the female assistant. "White, Mr. White?" She immediately wanted to close the door, but the magician had already walked in first.

The female assistant's right hand was wrapped in a bandage, and the place where the palm should have been was empty.

"Tell me who did it!" The magician's eyes almost burst into flames.

The girl's expression was a little panicked.She stared blankly at the two people in front of her, and bit her lips hard: "I was not careful. My hand was caused by an accident, and it has nothing to do with anyone."

"What do you mean?!" If it weren't for the fact that Jessica looked extremely weak, the magician would have grabbed her by the shoulders and asked her to identify the criminal.

"That's what it means. Mr. White, I don't know how you knew I had an accident. But I have resigned, and this accident will not be counted as a work-related injury." Jessica turned her head, her expression suddenly changed Be a little cold.

"You know I don't mean that! Whichever bastard broke your hand, I will make him pay! No matter what you have done before, you will always be part of my team!"

The magician's words made the girl's face change.She closed her eyes, opened them again after a few seconds, and her indifferent expression returned to her face. "It was indeed I who leaked the content of the mind-reading performance. Mr. White, I am sorry."

"Jessica, did that person give you a sum of money in exchange for your hand?" Shi Rui asked suddenly.

Jessica froze suddenly.

Although the magician didn't think at first that someone would willingly have a hand amputated for money, the behavior of the female assistant at this moment made him feel that it was very likely to happen. "Damn it! You should send your brother to a drug rehabilitation center! You sold one hand this time, what about next time? Are you going to sell yourself in pieces?"

"No...you don't understand, you don't know how scary it is in rehab. It doesn't work for Tim at all..." Tears welled up in Jessica's eyes.

"But you can't just pamper him." Shi Rui said softly, "Jessica, drug addicts generally have a short lifespan. Do you want him to leave you very early?"

The girl shook her head.

Shi Rui continued: "If you love him, you should pull him out of the quagmire. I know it's hard, whether it's for him or for you who are watching him struggle. But as long as you have the determination , will still succeed. You can’t let someone take advantage of your love for him and cruelly hurt you. This is a crime, a very bad crime.”

"No, you still don't understand." Jessica shook her head blindly, and a very strange smile suddenly appeared on her face, "Although I paid a price, I have succeeded. Tim...has gained a new life!"