‘Come along, Bob,’ he said on rejoining that personage; ‘I am put on to a decent sort of thing this time. Off with one thing, on with another—that’s the way to do it, my boy.’
He lit a cigar, and linking his arm in that of his companion, he led the way to a small tavern situated in a by-street in convenient proximity to the mews. Although the bar was crowded with coachmen and ostlers, the tap-room was at this time of day little frequented, and at present was unoccupied.
‘Ah, this is cosy,’ said Dier, seating himself with his back to the window. ‘Now we can have a rest and a chat. Won’t you smoke?’
He gave Tuppit a cigar, ordered sherry for himself, and beer ‘in the pewter’ for his companion. The little conjurer drank as if he had been parched with thirst. Then he smoked and presently began to feel comfortable. Dier, meanwhile, entertained him with various amusing professional experiences; ordered more beer, and Bob felt more comfortable. When the sergeant saw him at ease, he approached the subject in which he was interested.
‘I was forgetting that trick I wanted you to explain to me, Tuppit. When I saw it done, it fairly puzzled me, and you know I am up to a few tricks of your trade.’
‘You’d have been a first-rate hand if you had only taken to it. But what was it puzzled you?’
‘Well, the fellow who was doing it was handed a card, as it might be. He looked at it—gave it back to us, and it wasn’t the same.’
‘One of the easiest tricks in the whole art,’ said Bob with professional contempt for the amateur. ‘I thought you would have known how that is done.’
‘Explain, Bob, explain. We haven’t got cards, but here is a bit of note-paper, and we’ll cut it in two, so that the parts will be exactly alike. So. Now this is the one I am to hand to you; this is the one you are to give me back in its place’ (unperceived by Tuppit, Dier deftly pricked the second piece with a pin which he held concealed between his forefinger and thumb). ‘There, go ahead; I’ll shut my eyes until you are ready.’
The conjurer took the marked paper and almost immediately gave the word ‘ready.’ Dier gave him the second paper, and Tuppit, laughing, talked about the absurd simplicity of the trick, his astonishment that his friend should not know it, refused to believe in his ignorance, and gave him back the paper. The detective held it up between him and the light: the pin-pricks were there—the papers had been changed. He whistled softly, smiled, and emitted two clouds of smoke.