No Stone Unturned
Simon had never felt to play the hero before. His youth was one selfish prank after another. Less John Wayne than Ashton Kutcher on Punk’d. All that belonged to a different life though. Tonight he’d seen impossible things and could not deny that this stone, whatever it was, had amazing powers. Powers it had used on Ginni.
There was no other explanation for what happened to her dorm room. Burdick was right, wood and brick didn’t just crumble like that. The stone was in there and for whatever reason it tried to kill her. Surely if it could put her into a coma then it could bring her back out. At least, that was the single thought he kept foremost in his mind.
“Okay, science conquers all. Think about this logically. Nachton said to go see a priest in D.C. He must know what these things are and can help me save Ginni. Yeah, damn straight I’ll go. But first, I’ve gotta find about a bit more about who all these people are.”
Some say Knowledge is Power. If that’s true then Google will take over the world sometime in the next decade. It has become more than just a search engine. It’s the modern Delphi. Kingdoms rise and fall based upon what that website has to say about them. If someone wanted to learn about an obscure priest, a missing magician and his second rate apprentice then they would simply have to Google them and sift through all 47,000,000 results.
Simon typed in ‘DePraeco” and hit search. First on his list was an old German dictionary that listed deprecor meaning ‘to pray for or on behalf of’. Simon felt if anyone needed divine intervention right now it was he.
Next was a weird jumble of references to a molecular biologist named Giuseppe DePraeco who claimed that Animism was right after all. Most of the links were to New Age websites that promoted crystal healing and drum circles under a full moon.
The fourth page of results gave Simon what he was looking for: Magician.org listed Antonio Leonardo DePraeco as:
…a celebrated Italian magician of the late 20th century. He specialized in levitation, mind tricks and the famed Fountain of Youth in which he seemed to grow younger at the expense of an assistant.
DePraeco rose to fame in Europe during the early 1960’s after a command performance for Princess Sofia of Greece (later Queen of Spain). Her love of sailing inspired DePraeco to perform an illusion of her sailboat flying three feet above a perfectly calm sea. She was so delighted that the next year DePraeco was awarded The Royal Order of St. George and St. Constantine, 5th class (Chevalier).
After that triumph Leonardo travelled the world wowing audiences at any venue he could find. It was not unusual for him to perform acts in orphanages or hospitals for free.
His long and tempestuous relationship with The Academy of Magical Arts, Inc. is common knowledge. As a child in Italy he worked at a leather tanner’s shop to earn the money for a subscription to Genii, the Conjurer’s Magazine published by the late great William W. Larsen Sr. That bought him membership in the AMA’s forerunner: The Academy of Magic Arts and Sciences.
DePraeco kept up a lively letter writing campaign trying to wheedle secrets out of Bill Larsen and his family for many years. Just before the onset of WWII, DePraeco and his family fled Italy and arrived penniless in the United States where he performed on the streets for handouts.
Though never considered close friends, Leonardo and Bill Larsen did communicate for many years until they had a very public row in 1955. Few ever knew the subject of this contention other than DePraeco had speculated about some questionable methods and techniques that Larsen felt were unacceptable. Neither man ever revealed the roots of their disagreement. DePraeco returned to Italy immediately thereafter.
When the AMA was started in 1961 under Bill Larsen, Jr. DePraeco had already found stardom in the Old World and was looking for a means to enter the American magic scene. He contacted Bill directly and apologized for the earlier incident. Sources claim that Larsen was cautious about allowing Leonardo into the fledgling organization but decided that a second chance was in order. Certainly DePraeco had proven his abilities and that was the AMA’s main concern.
By all accounts Leonardo never did anything odd or questionable in his professional life. He appeared at the opening of The Magic Castle on January 2, 1963 and thrilled the members and guests with a short but spectacular performance of telekinesis.
In 1974 he was acclaimed a ‘Master Magician’ and thereafter began to take on full-time apprentices following the European fashion, a practice which has all but died out in most countries.
DePraeco’s final World tour in 2007 was a smashing success throughout Europe, Mainland Asia and Africa. The last two legs, which were to last 6-months in America and then visit several Pacific Ocean nations, never took place as Antonio Leonardo DePraeco was struck down with an unknown skin disease. His Last Will and Testament stated that he wanted to ‘retire in peace to live out the remainder of my days.’
At this time no one knows if Leonardo is still alive or where he currently lives. His last apprentice, Willard ‘Nachton’ Hoffmann will only say that he is with family and enjoying the well-earned fruits of a very long and productive life.
“So,” thought Simon, “part of his story is true.” There was a magician named DePraeco. Out of idle curiosity he clicked on the accompanying thumbnail. It was a color photo from the early sixties judging by the subject’s clothes. There was DePraeco in the middle with his perfectly trimmed chest length beard and outrageous wizard’s hat. On his left was a smiling man who looked very friendly. The caption identified him as Bill Larsen Jr. Next to Bill was an unidentified man who so resembled him that they must have been brothers. On DePraeco’s right stood a very tall man wearing the black clothes and white collar of a Catholic Priest. In the background was a young man who lay rigid in mid-air, balancing on the point of a sword.
Simon stared at the Priest for a moment before reading the caption again, “Famed magician Leonardo DePraeco meets with Bill Larsen at the opening of The Magic Castle. Los Angeles California. January 1963. They are joined by their brothers.”
“Their brothers” he whispered. “Their BROTHERS!” Quickly he opened another tab, jumped to Google, and typed the letters very carefully, “D-E-P-R-A-E-C-O” and hit enter with baited breath.
Once again the search engine spit out thousands of results. Now however Simon was very interested in science not magic. There near the top of the first page was a link to the Whole Truth Society and the words: “Molecular Biologist Giuseppe DePraeco has written extensively on the phenomena of Intelligent Matter. His theories encapsulate…”
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