Another silver-haired couple – the same ones? – walk the rocky beach. I turn toward them, one boy on each arm. They’re tugging me along now, I’m moving so slowly. And then I just can’t manage another step.

“It’s okay,” I tell the boys, trying to get my feet moving. “It’s going to be okay.” I stumble and fall.

Kevin takes off like a shot, and I see the three figures, the elegant couple bending slightly to catch my son’s words. Kevin points – they look our way.

Sean holds my hand in a ferocious grip.

Kevin and the couple are running now, and I see that the man has a cell phone to his ear.

My eyes close.

“Dad,” Kevin says.

“Sea Ranch,” the man is saying into the phone. Down on the beach. “Meg, I’m going to get the Jeep.”

“Oh, my God,” the woman says. She wraps something around my injured hand. “You boys, you press down on this,” she says. “Just like this, okay?”

“Yes.”

“Stan! Your coat.” She wraps my injured arm and compresses the wound. “Keep up the pressure, boys, that’s great.”

“Is he going to be all right?” Kevin asks, his voice trembling.

“Yes,” the woman says in a confident voice. “Everything’s going to be just fine.”

And somehow, although I suspect she’s said this just to calm the boys, I know she’s right.

Thanks very much to Detective Kevin Manning of the Las Vegas Police Department and to Leo Behnke, magician, for valuable help in guiding the author through unknown terrain. Thanks are due as well to Sam and Elisabeth Johnson for their unflagging support. A tip of the hat to Sara Murray for useful comments upon reading the manuscript. And cheers, as always, to Elaine Markson, to Joe Blades, and to everyone at Ballantine who helped bring the book into print.

When acknowledging assistance, it would not be right to omit mention of the following books, which provided valuable information about the book’s subject matter: Voodoo: Search for the Spirit by Laennec Hurbon, Panorama of Magic by Milbourne Christopher, The Art of Deception by Chuck Romano, Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic by David Blaine, and the fascinating Net of Magic by Lee Siegel.