Even though I’m clueless about tarot cards, I’d know this image anywhere. Anybody who works in law would recognise the symbol of Justice, sitting with a sword in her right hand and scales in her left.

Wow.

I’d been looking at the building closely earlier when I realised what it houses, and I definitely hadn’t seen this image on the window. My eyes would have been drawn to the colour; the red is too vibrant for it to have escaped my attention.

Finally, one of the teenagers spots it and starts shouting at everyone to look. Sarah puts her hand over her mouth in shock, not saying a word, while her friends all yell and squeal with excitement. Jay sits perched on the edge of the wall, smiling indulgently down at his fans, his chin resting on his palm. His eyes sparkle with glee as he soaks up their reactions, savouring the effect his trick has on them, the thrill it gives them. In his gaze I see him reliving a childhood that was taken away too soon, like he said to me that time in my garden.

“Was I right?” he asks Sarah. “Was Justice your card?”

All she can do is nod, words still failing her. As the crowd starts applauding him, several people shouting to know how he did it, the window on the fourth floor opens, and a woman sticks her head out.

She looks all around, probably trying to figure out where the image came from and how it managed to get on her window in the first place. Then she looks down and pauses for several moments, her eyes zoning in on Jay. Just as her expression turns angry, I recognise her. It’s Una Harris.

Fucking hell.

What does Jay think he’s doing? I mean, who puts Justice on the office window of the woman they’re planning to sue? I’ve always thought it dumb when characters in movies let their enemies know they’re gunning for them. It’s like, why give them the head start?

Harris retreats back inside her office, and I let out a long breath. Perhaps that will be the end of it, and she won’t react to Jay’s blatant taunt. Several minutes later, though, as Jay’s signing autographs for the crowd, she comes marching through the front door of the building, her arms crossed over her chest and a skinny man wearing a shirt and tie at her side.

“I want that mess cleaned from my window immediately,” she demands shrilly.

Jay casually cocks his head toward her, a momentary look of satisfaction on his face before he wipes his expression clean. He lifts his hand into the air, gesturing to the window. “Already done, Miss Harris.”

Harris turns on her heel and stares up to see that there’s a window cleaner sitting on a crane, scrubbing the image from the glass. Jessie and I both laugh. He really does think of everything.

“You think you’re so clever,” says Harris. “But if you don’t vacate the area right now, I’m calling the authorities.”

“This is a public meeting space, Una. Can I call you Una? Since you’ve gotten all up in my dirty laundry, I feel like we should be on first-name terms.”

“No, you may not call me anything,” Harris spits. “And I said you need to leave.”

“It’s not illegal for us to be here.”

“You’re causing a disruption, and you’ve put graffiti on my window.”

“And it’s being removed. Look, your window is all shiny and clean now. If anything, I’ve done you a favour.”

“This is harassment!”

Jay gives her an amused look. “Are you angry, Una? I can’t seem to tell. Your face doesn’t move all that much these days.”

The put-down about her penchant for Botox gets a laugh out of the crowd.

I think she’s finally realised she’s not going to win here, especially with all of Jay’s fans around. The man who came out with her tugs on her arm, quietly urging her to leave it alone.

“You won’t get away with this,” she fumes, and then links her arm through her companion’s before sashaying back inside.

Jay says something under his breath then, a dark expression on his face, but I can’t hear him. Once she’s gone, he continues signing for his fans. A couple of minutes into it, he pauses and scratches his head, seeking out Sarah again.

“Hey, Sarah. You know what — you never showed everyone your card to prove I got it right. I know I told you to tear it up, but can you show them the pieces?”

She rummages in the pocket of her bag where she shoved the ripped-up pieces, coming up empty.

“I…I can’t seem to find them,” she says, checking every pocket thoroughly.

Jay pulls something from his own pocket. “Wait a second, what’s this?” It’s a folded piece of paper. Jay unfolds it and smooths it out, then holds it up for everyone to see. It’s the tarot card for justice. He turns it over, and there on the back is Sarah’s signature.

“No way,” she breathes.

“Yes way.” Jay grins, handing her the card. “Is that your handwriting?”

“Yes,” she goes on, taking the card from him with a shaky hand. “How…ugh, I know you’re not going to tell me, but this is just incredible. I tore this card up. I know I did.”

Lots of kids clamour forward with questions and more things to be signed. About half an hour passes before two Garda officers show up.

“You’re going to have to move along,” one of them calls to Jay over the heads of the fans surrounding him. “We received a complaint about the noise.”

“We’re just finishing up now,” Jay replies with a charming smile before turning to the crowd. “Okay, everybody, it’s time for me to go.” He takes the backpack he’d been wearing off his shoulder and pulls out a long black sheet. “But before I do, I need you all to back up so I can show you one last trick.” They all move out of the way so there’s a space of several feet around him. He’s standing on the wall again, and the Garda officers have stopped to watch. They look more interested in seeing what Jay’s going to do than in getting him to leave.

The long sheet is actually a cape, and with an over-the-top flourish, he swings it around his body. At one point it completely covers him, and then he’s gone. The cape drops to the ground. He just disappeared into thin air.

Seventeen

Jessie pans her camera over the crowd as they all applaud Jay’s big finish. Then she shuts it off.

“Okay, how the fuck?” I say, shaking my head in confusion. I seem to be doing that a lot these days.

Jessie laughs. “Out of everything he did today, that one was probably the simplest, and yet look at them all. I think some of them actually believe he really is magic.”

“Simple?! He just made himself disappear. There’s nothing simple about that.”

“Look at where he was standing, Matilda,” says Jessie, deadpan.

“He was standing on the wall.”

She gives me a glance like I’m slow. “Yeah, so he just did a bit of fancy messing around with the cape, obscuring himself enough so that he could drop to the other side. You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out.”

I slam my palm to my forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

“He’s a flashy bastard. Most people are so dazed by the flash that they don’t see the trick. Come on, he’s probably waiting for us.”

She starts walking, and I follow her lead. “Hey, I thought you were under a contract not to reveal any of his secrets?”

“He won’t mind me telling you that one. It’s kid’s stuff. The more complicated ones, now, if I told you about those he’d probably have my balls in a blender.”

I don’t point out the fact that girls don’t have balls. Although, if there was a girl to change that, it would definitely be Jessie. We walk down a side street to find Jay leaning casually against the wall of a building, smoking a cigarette with a big smile on his face. As soon as I reach him, he throws his arm around my shoulders.

“Well, what did you think?”

“You were amazing,” I tell him shyly.

Jessie snorts. “Now I know why you like having her around so much. She strokes your ego no end.”