“Anything your father said. People he might have mentioned.”“Amos,” I blurted out, just to see his reaction. “He met a man named Amos.”Inspector Williams sighed. “Sadie, he couldn’t have done. Surely you know that. We spoke with Amos not one hour ago, on the phone from his home in New York.”“He isn’t in New York!” I insisted. “He’s right—”I glanced out the window and Amos was gone. Bloody typical.”

“Set’s storm is gathering,” Amos said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Shall we drive into is?”

“Out my left, I saw baboon bum, out my right, my long-lost uncle Amos. Naturally, I decided to focus on the right.”

“Right,” I said. “So the baboon, the crocodile…any other pets I should know about?”Amos thought for a moment. “Visible ones? No, I think that’s it.”

“Sadie got up and kissed Amos on the forehead. “Leave it to us, Uncle. I’ve got a plan.”“That,” I said, “sounds like very bad news.”

“Amos sipped his coffee. "Sorry if that distubed you. Khufu's very picky. He only eats foods that end in -o. Doritos, burritos, flamingos."I blinked. "Did you say-""Carter," Sadie warned. She looked a little queasy, like she'd already had this conversation. "Don't ask.”

“I looked across the river to Manhattan. It was a great view. When Sadie and I had first arrived at Brooklyn House, Amos had told us that magicians tried to stay out of Manhattan. He said Manhattan had other problems--whatever that meant. And sometimes when I looked across the water, I could swear I was seeing things. Sadie laughed about it, but once I thought I saw a flying horse. Probably just the mansion's magic barriers causing optical illusions, but still, it was weird.”