The Name of This Book Is Secret

Cass’s mother leaves on her trip a week later. Much to Cass’s frustration, Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne reassure her mother that they will “keep her on a tight leash” (92). Cass inquires about Gloria, worried that she called her grandfathers and told them about the incident at the magician’s house, but Larry and Wayne have not heard from Gloria recently. Cass’s concern morphs into fear that Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais killed Gloria. She finally manages to slip away from her grandfathers during a Saturday inventory, and she goes straight to Max-Ernest’s house.

Cass tells Max-Ernest that they must return to the magician’s house; however, Max-Ernest’s parents are taking him to a new doctor, and so he’s unable to go. Cass says she will go without him, and when Max-Ernest protests that she can’t because they are collaborators, Cass replies that she never agreed to being collaborators, which deeply hurts Max-Ernest. Feeling bad, Cass agrees to wait until Monday when they both can go. She returns to the firehouse but can’t find either of her grandfathers; fearing that someone broke in and restrained her grandfathers somewhere, she carefully investigates the firehouse. Just as she concludes that there is nothing suspicious, she hears a loud noise that “sounded like gunfire” (100).

To Cass’s relief, the noise was the sound of the front door opening and closing; her grandfathers have just returned from a garage sale nearby. Cass realizes that the Symphony of Smells is not where she placed it on the shelf; Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne notice, too, and think she must have taken it. Cass is hurt by what she feels is an unfair accusation, but she knows she cannot tell them the truth or that she suspects Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L stole it. Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne privately think that Cass must have broken some of the vials and is now feeling too guilty to give it back; they reassure her that nothing could ever match their love for her. Cass is grateful for their reassurance but still does not tell them anything about the Symphony of Smells or the magician’s notebook.

On the school bus the following Monday, Cass flips through the notebook and discovers that each of the pages has been folded over to form “double pages” that can be arranged to open completely. She deduces that this is what the clue “underneath” meant, and although she is impatient to dive in, she forces herself to wait until she and Max-Ernest can go over it together.

At school, Cass runs into Benjamin Blake, who is standing in front of a wall of his own paintings, which she finds odd. As Cass passes Benjamin, he mutters something that sounds like “I smell a hint—dip your ice cream” (113). Cass, irritated and confused, gives him a sharp retort. Cass runs into Mrs. Johnson giving a tour of the school to a young couple Cass recognizes as Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais. She manages to stay out of sight, and afterward, Cass sees them enter a limousine parked across the street. The limousine’s door is decorated with a rising sun emblem and the words “Midnight Sun: Sensorium & Spa” (116). A boy peers out the back window as the limousine pulls away; Cass feels that she knows this face but cannot place it.

Cass and Max-Ernest meet in the library, and she fills him in on the events of the morning, including her discovery about the notebook. They read the magician’s story together, which begins with a letter from the magician explaining that his life is in danger and warning whoever reads his story that they will also share in that danger due to the secrets that are contained therein. Max-Ernest and Cass decide to keep reading.

The magician’s name is Pietro Bergamo. He has a twin brother, Luciano; Pietro explains that they are fraternal, not identical, twins. There are several differences between them, the most notable being the crescent-shaped birthmark on the back of Luciano’s neck. The brothers were born in Italy and then sent away to America during Mussolini’s reign of terror. On the long journey over, they amused themselves by learning magic tricks from a book their father gave them; they dreamed of becoming magicians in America. The brothers mistakenly arrived in Topeka, Kansas; Pietro and Luciano wandered around Topeka, lost, before coming across a circus. They snuck into the Big Top and were mesmerized by all the circus acts inside, including an act that involved a tiger jumping through a fiery hoop. After the show, the hungry brothers attempted to steal candied apples from an unattended cart. However, they were apprehended by a circus worker (called a “carny”). The carny made as though he was going to feed the brothers to the tiger as punishment for their crime, but the Ringmaster intervened. The next day, the Ringmaster made note of Pietro and Luciano’s aptitude with card tricks and gave the brothers a place among the circus troupe.

At this point in the story, Cass and Max-Ernest must return to class. They agree to reconvene during lunch.

Cass is so preoccupied with Pietro’s story that she doesn’t notice there are fire trucks and police cars parked in front of the school. She and Max-Ernest pick up where they left off in the magician’s story.

Pietro and Luciano proved themselves valuable members of the circus troupe and were granted permission to construct their own act. Pietro and Luciano created an elaborate act featuring card tricks and “mind-reading,” which involved the brothers communicating with each other via coded sensory signals. At this point in the story, Pietro pauses to explain that he and Luciano both have synesthesia, a “confusion of the senses” (134). For people with synesthesia, all the senses are mixed together, meaning that input in one sense can provoke associations in another, such as hearing a sound and associating it with a certain color, or smelling a scent and associating it with a letter or number. This was the basis for their circus act: Pietro and Luciano appeared to be psychics because they used a coded communications system based on their shared synesthesia.

One day, the brothers received a package, which turned out to be the Symphony of Smells. The brothers added the Symphony of Smells to their circus act, to great success. One day after their show, a beautiful woman came to visit; Pietro describes her as “The Golden Lady” (138). The Golden Lady revealed that she sent the Symphony of Smells and tried to entice the brothers into joining her for dinner, as she had a “proposition” (139) for them. Luciano, entranced by her beauty, was eager to go, but Pietro was hesitant; although he didn’t know why, the Golden Lady put him ill at ease. Pietro tried to convince Luciano not to go with her, but Luciano was adamant and grew angry, which caused a fight between the brothers. In the end, Luciano went with the Golden Lady while Pietro stayed behind. The next morning, Luciano was missing, having never returned from dinner the night before.

Upon attempting to inform the Ringmaster of his brother’s disappearance, Pietro learned that the Ringmaster sold them both to the Golden Lady. This prompted Pietro to run away from the circus. However, he returned a few days later, only to find the circus completely burned down; Pietro surmises that the fire must have been meant to kill him. In the remains of the fairground, Pietro found a message apparently from Luciano, as it was written in the code they invented for the Symphony of Smells. The decoded message spelled out a single word: “HELP.”

The rest of Pietro’s account details his rise to success as a magician and his failure to ever locate his brother. However, Pietro made a valuable connection between synesthesia and the Golden Lady’s activities. After stumbling upon an article about a child violin prodigy who had synesthesia and who also went missing, Pietro was intrigued. He found another article that mentioned the girl was seen talking to a “dazzling” woman before her disappearance. Pietro’s story cuts off there; the remaining pages have been torn out.

Cass and Max-Ernest theorize that Pietro must have ripped them out himself or else they were stolen. Cass points out that the Golden Lady’s description matches Ms. Mauvais, so they must be the same. Max-Ernest disagrees because the ages don’t match up; if Ms. Mauvais was the Golden Lady, then she would be very old, but she has appeared young in all their encounters. Max-Ernest wants to stop the investigation due to the danger, but Cass convinces him that it’s their responsibility to continue, for Pietro’s sake.