There were two new tricks and during the break they saw the recording of one and were satisfied that this recording would look great when edited. After the break they recorded the second new trick she performed. She was pleased it had gone well as per her expectations. They were now nearing the end of the show and the crowd wanted more…
She yielded and said that the show was over but still she would consider the request of the audience and perform one last trick. She picked up a paper ball and turned her back to the audience. She threw the ball backward into the audience. It landed with a guy and she requested him to come up on the stage. The guy reluctantly walked to the stage. He was nervous because of the crowd and climbed up to the stage.
“Give him a big applause…” she asked the crowd who yielded to her command and then she turned to the guy, “What’s your name Sir?”
“Umar Qassim.” he obviously was nervous and his voice showed his nervousness.
“You don’t have to be nervous – I am not going to play any tricks – it is a simple display of a mentalist. Now I would like to put your hand in the pocket or the purse and pull up a currency note…” he did that still nervous of what was happening and if he was at the right place…”Oh! Sorry – I lost a bit of concentration here – I would like you to approach the stage again – happens – though a magician, I still am a human…” she said amid crowd laughter and showed Samiya the code sign that she wanted to record this trick, much to Samiya’s surprize… She knew what trick was up and knew that they had recorded many of those – why again? She started to record the trick. The guy approached the stage again and still held the currency note he had already pulled out before…
“No – I don’t want you to show me the note I already know about – pull out another note and be sure you don’t show it to anyone… That’s it – you can see the note you have pulled out of your wallet… stand at the corner of the stage where I can’t see the note…” the guy walked toward the corner of the stage and stood there firmly clasping the note. She looked at him and walked behind a white board with a marker and scribbled something on it.
“You sure I haven’t seen the note?” she asked the guy who nodded to her question, “Is there a way I could have seen the note to see the serial number on it?” the guy shook his head to say that there was no way she could know that… “Now, please come here and hold this microphone and when I say – read out the serial number of the note to the audience.”
He walked to where she had asked him to and picked up the microphone. She turned the white board which was behind him – on the board she had written a serial number – TH 231062… he looked at the note in his hand and read out the serial number – lo! It was the same number she had on the board. The guy first looked amazed but was nervous again but didn’t say a word. She thanked him for participation and said bye to the crowd before the curtain to the stage dropped…
She had 3 different cameras on which the recording was done simultaneously and she saw the recordings on all the three by the time her team wrapped up things on the stage. She asked Samiya to keep the recordings safe and not edit them till she saw them again. They had their dinner in a nearby restaurant and left for their respective homes. Once home, she couldn’t sleep. She was disturbed as well a bit nervous. She knew people won’t believe her if she approached anyone in authority. They would feel it’s her vivid imagination. She sat on her writing desk scribbling in her diary. Once done with her notes she came back to her bed and lay awake for a long time – undecided if she could confide her fears to Samiya or anyone. Oh! She wished Major Chaitanya was with her – she would not only have felt safe but also knew she could say whatever was in her mind and he would understand. Finally, she dozed off to sleep…
Since morning it was cloudy and dull. She had 2 days to kill before her next show which was scheduled on Friday. She had nothing much to do but brood over what she thought she had read in one of the participant’s mind. The thoughts were making her uneasy. If she had read the thought and the mind correctly – then lot was at stake and she wished her reading wasn’t correct. Samiya called her asking what she planned for the day. Samiya could feel uneasiness in her tone and suggested that they go to a pub, to have fun and drown any worries. That would take uneasiness off her mind for some time as well as they could enjoy the evening out… Samiya thus thought and Mohini agreed.