The Magic Misfits

Fortunately, Bosso doesn’t recognize Carter. Instead, he pushes past the boy to join Walrus and Spider-Lady near the pool. A group of clowns surrounds them. Carter joins Leila in the pool, and they observe Sherriff Shaw approach Bosso and take a money-filled envelope as payment for something. They still don’t see the Pock-Pickets, so they convene with Ridley and Theo to regroup. The twins notice their secret meeting and ask to join the team. Ridley doesn’t want to add more people to their group, but they let the twins create a diversion while Leila and Carter sneak up to the rooms and search for the stolen items. The twins climb to the top of the high dives and announce that they will perform for the great Bosso, who is in attendance.

Leila gathers more intelligence from the front desk, and they take the elevators to the upstairs rooms. Leila uses her spare lockpick to open Bosso’s room, where they find the bathtub full of stolen items. However, none of their belongings are in the pile. Leila proposes that they use a secret service elevator exit to find the Pock-Pickets’ room. Carter marvels at her knowledge, and she explains that her time in the orphanage taught her about making quick getaways. Carter suggests that she might share more about her orphanage experience with him one day, and she responds with a weak yes. The last room’s door is marked with a sign saying, “STAY OUT!! NO HOUSEKEEPING!!” (185). Inside, they find the Star of Africa diamond. Because Uncle Sly has taught him well, Carter instantly knows that the diamond is a fake. He and Leila realize that Bosso plans to steal the real diamond and replace it with the copy. They decide to get help in returning the stolen items and stopping Bosso from stealing the real diamond. The narrator concludes the chapter with a trick tutorial about using a hidden string technique to make objects appear to float.

The misfits race back to the magic shop to tell Mr. Vernon about Bosso’s plan. Once they arrive, they realize that the twins have followed them. After they tell Mr. Vernon the details, he says, “Well, that’s disappointing of Bobby” (193). The children don’t know who Bobby is. Mr. Vernon cannot endorse the children’s maverick investigation, so he encourages them to call the police, but Ridley tells him that Sherriff Shaw has been compromised. Mr. Vernon tells the group that they remind him of his own friends in his younger days. He promises to attend the show and observe Bosso’s tricks, but he reminds them that any show or plan requires meticulous and deliberate planning. He claims that he will “be helping in [his] own way” and leaves to have dinner with the Other Mr. Vernon and visit with an “old friend” (195). The group is disappointed, and Carter resolves that they don’t have enough resources to oppose Bosso’s crew alone. His lack of confidence angers Leila, and she rallies the group to collectively use their strengths to defeat the thieves. They begin outlining a new plan, which involves using leftover food from the resort’s kitchen, copious amounts of maple syrup, and theater props to trap Bosso and his cronies.

The narrator praises the reader for spotting the trick; there isn’t a Chapter 16 Billion.

The resort is crawling with spectators who are attending the grand finale, so Olly and Izzy herd the children through the back service entrance so that they can avoid being spotted. They enter the Grand Resort’s theater and divide into smaller teams, with Carter and Leila using the catwalk to observe the scene from above. Theo and Ridley search under the stage while the twins busy themselves with surprise items they brought in their backpacks. Leila and Carter overhear a conversation and see Mr. Vernon arguing with Bosso, whom he calls Bobby. Mr. Vernon implores him to rethink his plan to steal the diamond because doing so would result in Bosso’s return to jail. He asks that Bosso trust him and reminds him of their pledge as young friends: “The magic of true friends is that even apart, they can’t long be cut off from what lives in the heart” (205). Bobby defiantly refuses to listen to Mr. Vernon, claiming that stealing the diamond will change his life. He admits that he only returned to Mineral Wells because he knew the con would be easier to pull off in such a sleepy town. Mr. Vernon pleads one last time before the Walrus and the Spider-Lady appear. They hit Mr. Vernon over the head, cover him with a large bag, and drag him away as Leila watches in horror. Bosso states that he plans to frame Mr. Vernon for the theft of the diamond.

Carter and Leila find the others and tell them about what they saw. Ridley wants to scrap their original plan and prioritize rescuing Mr. Vernon. Carter reminds them of the psychic’s advice to stick together. He suggests that their original plan will help them foil Bosso and save Mr. Vernon. The show begins as the children watch from backstage, and the Pock-Pickets perform before Bosso appears with security guards, who bring the diamond and place it on a platform. Carter observes this process carefully, realizing that Bosso is using misdirection to divert the audience’s attention. Bosso tells the story of the legendary diamond and claims that he will make it disappear. He covers the diamond with a purple cloth and pulls it away to reveal that it is gone. Glittery confetti rains from the ceiling, and Bosso labels it diamond dust. Then, the diamond suddenly reappears with a flash and smoke, but Carter knows the fake diamond is now sitting where the real one used to be. Just as Bosso “returns” the fake diamond to the guards, the lights go out, and he shouts that someone is trying to steal the diamond. The lights come back on just as Bosso pulls Mr. Vernon from under the stage, claiming that he is the thief. The guards take Mr. Vernon away as the Spider-Lady praises Bosso for catching the thief. Carter signals to his team that it’s time for action.

Olly and Izzy appear on stage and encourage the crowd to clap for a confused Bosso. They begin using their comedy skills to entertain the crowd. Olly says that Bosso looks hungry, and Izzy opens an umbrella, saying, “It looks cloudy with a chance of breakfast” (216), just as heaps of breakfast food rain down onto Bosso. Ridley, Theo, and Leila take the stage and dance around the humiliated Bosso. Olly and Izzy dance with Leila and spin her into the stage curtain. When the curtain unfurls, it’s Carter inside. Dressed in his complete magician’s outfit, Carter greets Bosso, who isn’t happy to see him. Carter tells the crowd that he specializes in vanishing acts. He removes his hat to reveal two white doves. Using Bosso’s podium, Ridley covers Carter in the purple cloth, and he vanishes into a secret trap door below, the same way that Bosso engineered the diamond’s disappearance.

Carter discovers that the Tattooed Baby is working the lights and that the Pock-Pickets have the real diamond. Carter chases them and uses marbles to make them skid and fall to the ground, where he handcuffs them. The Tattooed Baby enters the fight, but Carter makes him run into a wall. Carter grabs the diamond and catapults himself back onto the stage, showing the crowd the real diamond. Bosso chases him off the stage, and Carter uses the curtain twirl maneuver to disappear. When Bosso’s cronies pursue Carter backstage, he uses the theater cable system to escape into the rafters. Walrus and Spider-Lady chase him across the catwalk, but Carter uses a deck of cards to make her slip and fall. Bosso enters the chase and steals Carter’s top hat, but the diamond isn’t there. The chase continues backstage while the rest of the gang entertains the audience. Carter evades the crooks but becomes trapped when he enters a dead end in the prop closet.

Cornered by Bosso, Walrus, and Spider-Lady, Carter is out of options. An old phonograph sits in the corner, the needle scratching the record. He picks up a baseball bat to defend himself and criticizes Bosso for conning the good people of the town out of their money with rigged games, stealing their belongings, and framing Mr. Vernon. Bosso unapologetically admits to everything and claims that his schemes will be worth it because he plans to escape and enjoy his wealth on an island somewhere. Bosso says, “It’s not my fault that the world’s too stupid to realize when it's being suckered. I only show up where I know I can take advantage” (226). Suddenly, Carter kicks the wall, and all four walls fall, revealing that they are really standing on the stage. The prop room was a fake, and Carter led Bosso on a circular chase to trap him. He pushes play on the phonograph, replaying Bosso’s confession for the entire audience. Then, the rest of the group rolls out carts full of the stolen items as the crowd gasps, recognizing their belongings on display. The police arrest the sheriff along with Bosso and his crew, and Mr. Vernon releases himself from his handcuffs using a secret technique.

It turns out that Bosso and his cronies have been traveling from town to town, stealing from everyone they meet. Carter watches the police break into Bosso’s rail car and find piles of stolen goods. He knows that he and his friends have helped to stop the thieves, even though the clowns escaped justice. Looking at the train, Carter wonders what to do next and considers hopping onto the train and heading to the next town. Mr. Vernon appears next to him and says that if he plans to leave, he must first come to a celebratory breakfast to say goodbye to the gang. The Other Mr. Vernon serves the group pancakes at the magic shop as the children celebrate their success. Mr. Vernon presents them with their lost items, including Carter’s wooden box. Carter realizes that Mr. Vernon was helping them all along and was also the one who brought him the blanket and the coins.

The group implores Carter to stay in Mineral Wells. Mr. Vernon takes them into the secret room and shows them a photo of his group of magician friends as children. They called themselves the “Emerald Ring” (237), and Bosso (also known as Bobby Boscowitz) was originally a part of the group. Mr. Vernon points to a boy named Lyle Wylder Locke; his name matches the initials on Carter’s box. Mr. Vernon explains that Carter’s father was his cousin. Mr. Vernon knew that Carter’s parents had died, and he has been trying to find the boy ever since. He asks Carter to stay in Mineral Wells and join his family. Carter realizes that magic does exist because it has finally brought him the family he has longed for. The group decides to let Olly and Izzy join, although Ridley disagrees, citing their lack of magic skills. Carter explains that part of magic involves bringing people joy, and the twins’ act makes people smile. They call themselves the “Magic Misfits” and resolve to continue learning about magic (241). The chapter ends with one final magic trick tutorial that instructs the reader on how to read someone’s mind by asking them to think of a number and then guessing it correctly.

The narrator explains that the pictures of playing cards that appear at the beginning of each chapter are a cipher for a coded message. The cipher reveals the message, which reads, “When learning any magic trick, remember practice makes perfect, patience is your friend, and perseverance (because nothing good comes easy)” (254).