Mr Sebastien

Mr Sebastien was a strange man. He was noted for holding conversations with himself, even going as far as answering. He professed to be a stage magician, a conjurer and a master of prestidigitation, but he wasn’t terribly good. Even small children went unimpressed.

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However, his latest trick proved to be his finest, if last. He was found dead in a dingy hotel room. The trick of it, however, was that the door was securely locked from the inside. Sebastien had the only key, and the windows, previously painted shut, were sealed tight. All that the room contained, other than its cheap furniture, were the corpse and a pack of ordinary playing cards scattered around the room in a haphazard manner.

Possibilities

1 Mr Sebastien believed himself capable of great things, so tried his hand at a little demonic conjuration. Taking a room in a hotel, he carefully locked the door. Then making sure the windows were sealed and using his only aid, a pack of ordinary playing cards, set about conjuring a demon.

Of course, Mr Sebastien was not very good at magic and forgot to take basic protective measures. The conjuration was a success, he managed to manifest a rather nasty demon. However, having no protection, its first victim was Mr Sebastien. It now lurks within the deck of cards.

2 Mr Sebastien, tired of all the jibes over his lack of talent, conceived a brilliant trick. A small hotel room was hired, he locked himself in, he took a rare slow-acting poison and while dying, cast his cards around the room. His final trick then was to leave a mystery.

3 An autopsy is conducted only to discover that the corpse is nothing more than an empty husk. Mr Sebastien, whoever or whatever he was, entered that hotel room that evening and did not emerge alive. At least not ‘alive’ in any sense that we might know it.

©Andrew Parfitt