This ten-percenter was clutching a cigar that had gone out, and watching intently Jedson and another party, who was slumped in a chair.
This other party was a girl, not over twenty-five, maybe not that old. She was blonde, and thin to the point that you felt that light would shine through her. She had big, sensitive hands with long fingers, and a big, tragic mouth. Her hair was silver-white, but she was not an albino. She lay back in the chair, awake but apparently done in. The nurse was chafing her wrists.
What's up?' I asked. The kid faint?'
Oh no,' Jedson assured me, turning around. She's a white witch - works in a trance. She's a little tired now, that's all.'
What's her speciality?' I inquired.
Whole garments.'
Huh?' I had a right to be surprised. It's one thing to create yard goods; another thing entirely to turn out a dress, or a suit, all finished and ready to wear. Jedson produccd and merchandised a full line of garments in which magic was used throughout. They were mostly sportswear, novelty goods, ladies' fashions, and the like, in which style, rather than wearing qualities, was the determining factor. Usually they were marked One Season Only', but they were perfectly satisfactory for that one season, being backed up by the consumers' groups.
But they were not turned out in one process. The yard goods involved were made first, usually by Welker. Dyes and designs were added separately. Jedson had some very good connexions among the Little People, and could obtain shades and patterns from the Half World that were exclusive with him. He used both the old methods and magic in assembling garments, and employed some of the most talented artists in the business. Several of his dress designers free-lanced their magic in Hollywood under an arrangement with him. All he asked for was screen credit. But to get back to the blonde girl- That's what I said,' Jedson answered, whole garments, with good wearing qualities too. There's no doubt that she is the real McCoy; she was under contract to a textile factory in Jersey City. But I'd give a thousand dollars to see her do that whole-garment stunt of hers just once. We haven't had any luck, though I've tried everything but red-hot pincers.'
The kid looked alarmed at this, and the nurse looked indignant. Feldstein started to expostulate, but Jedson cut him short. That was just a figure of speech; you know I don't hold with black magic. Look, darling,' he went on, turning back to the girl, do you feel like trying again?' She nodded, and he added, All right - sleepy time now!'
And she tried again, going into her act with a minimum of groaning and spitting. The ectoplasm came out freely and, sure enough, it formed into a complete dress instead of yard goods. It was a neat- little dinner frock, about a size sixteen, sky blue in a watered silk. It had class in a refined way, and I knew that any jobber who saw it would be good for a sizeable order.
Jedson grabbed it, cut off a swatch of cloth and applied his usual tests, finishing by taking the swatch out of the microscope and touching a match to it.
He swore. Damn it,' he said, there's no doubt about it. It's not a new integration at all; she's just reanimated an old rag!'
Come again,' I said. What of it?'
huh? Archie, you really ought to study up a bit. What she just did isn't really creative magic at all. This dress' - he picked it up and shook it - had a real existence someplace at some time. She's gotten hold of a piece of it, a scrap or maybe just a button, and applied the laws of homeopathy and contiguity to produce a simulacrum of it.'
I understood him, for I had used it in my own business. I had once had a section of bleachers, suitable for parades and athletic events, built on my own grounds by old methods, using skilled master mechanics and the best materials - no iron, of course. Then I cut it to pieces. Under the law of contiguity, each piece remained part of the structure it had once been in. Under the law of homeopathy, each piece was potentially the entire structure. I would contract to handle a Fourth of July crowd, or the spectators for a circus parade, and send out a couple of magicians armed with as many fragments of the original stands as we needed sections of bleachers. They .vould bind a spell to last twenty-four hours around each piece. That way the stands cleared themselves away automatically.
I had had only one mishap with it; an apprentice magician, who had the chore of being on hand as each section vanished and salvaging the animated fragment for further use, happened one day to pick up the wrong piece of wood from where one section had stood. The next time we used it, for the Shrine convention, we found we had thrown up a brand-new four- room bungalow at the corner of Fourteenth and Vine instead of a section of bleachers. It could have been embarrassing, but I stuck a sign on it
MODEL HOME NOW ON DISPLAY
and ran up another section on the end.
An out-of-town concern tried to chisel me out of the business one season, but one of their units fell, either through faulty workmanship on the pattern or because of unskilled magic, and injured several people. Since then I've had the field pretty much to myself.
I could not understand Joe Jedson's objection to reanimation. What difference does it make?' I persisted. It's a dress, isn't it?'
Sure, it's a dress, hut it's not a new one. That style is registered somewhere and doesn't belong to me. And even if it were one of my numbers she had used, reanimation isn't what I'm after. I can make better merchandise cheaper without it; otherwise I'd be using it now.'
The blonde girl came to, saw the dress, and said, Oh, Mr Jedson, did I do it?'
He explained what had happened. Her face fell, and the dress melted away at once. Don't you feel bad about it, kid,' he added, patting her on the shoulder, you were tired. We'll try again tomorrow. I know you can do it when you're not nervous and overwrought.'
She thanked him and left with the nurse. Feldstein was full of explanations, but Jedson told him to forget it, and to have them all back there at the same time tomorrow. When we were alone I told him what had happened to me.
He listened in silence, his face serious, except when I told him how I had kidded my visitor into thinking I had second sight. That seemed to amuse him.
You may wish that you really had it - second sight, I mean,' he said at last, becoming solemn again. This is an unpleasant prospect. Have you notified the Better Business Bureau?'
I told him I hadn't.
Very well then. I'll give them a ring and the Chamber of Commerce too. They probably can't help much, but they are entitled to notification, so they can be on the lookout for it.'
I asked him if he thought I ought to notify the police. He shook his head. Not just yet. Nothing illegal has been done, and, anyhow, all the chief could think of to cope with the situation would be to haul in all the licensed magicians in town and sweat them. That wouldn't do any good, and would just cause hard feeling to be directed against you by the legitimate members of the profession. There isn't a chance in ten that the sorcerers connected with this outfit are licensed to perform magic; they are almost sure to be clandestine. If the police know about them, it's because they are protected. If they don't know about them, then they probably can't help you.'
What do you think I ought to do?'
Nothing just yet. Go home and sleep on it. This Charlie may be playing a lone hand, making small-time shakedowns purely on bluff. I don't really think so; his type sounds like a mobster. But we need more data; we can't do anything until they expose their hand a little more.'