PARTE DE FISCALIZACIÓN Y CONTROL DEL EJECUTIVO MUNICIPAL

S. LEO HOROWITZ

The deck is shuffled and fanned for the spectator to select any four cards from any position in the fan. The spectator thinks of one of these four cards, whereupon they are all well mixed with their faces down so that no one can possibly know the location of the mentally chosen card. The four cards are now returned to the fanned deck and the latter is squared up.

The performer now puts the deck behind his back, saying that he'll attempt to find the thought-of-card through the use of another card which he calls a "diviner". His right hand brings forward a card which the audience remembers as a "three" spot. Replacing the "three" behind his back, the performer turns it over and inserts it in the pack in a reversed position so that it is face up while the remainder of the deck is face down. The deck is now brought forward and spread face down across the table top. A three spot is seen to be reversed near the center of the spread. Saying that the spectator's thought-of-card has been found, the performer has it named aloud and proceeds to prove his assertion!

This location is very subtly arranged to leave little or nothing for the spectators to catch. The preparation consists of turning any five cards face up on top of the deck. These are now covered with a face down three spot, and the six cards are crimped at the inner end so that they may be lifted together when necessary.

Begin by giving the deck a dovetail shuffle, keeping the top stock of six cards in place without revealing that some of them are reversed. Now fan the deck below these top six cards, and have a spectator make a free selection of any four cards. Still holding the fanned deck face down in your left hand, you take back the four selected cards with your right hand, fan them and show them, and ask your assistant to make a mental selection of any one of them. While he does so, you make a mental note of the order of the four cards from the back to the face of the fan. It is only necessary to remember their values, such as 9-5-7-2. You close up the fan of four cards, and place them, as a group, face up on top of the deck.

The right hand now squares up the deck and apparently turns the four top cards face down on the deck. Actually, however, ALL the crimped cards are turned over with them at one and the same time. Thus the five reversed cards originally occupying the second to sixth position from the top of the deck are now face down on top of the deck, and are separated from the four selected cards by the "three" spot card which formerly was the top card of the deck.

Without further ado, you say that perhaps the four selected cards should be mixed up a bit, so you nonchalantly deal the four top cards off the deck onto the table. Ask the spectator to place his hands on the cards and mix them around, face down, until even he has no idea which is his mentally chosen card. You now fan the deck once more, with the exception of the six top cards, and have the spectator pick up the tabled cards one at a time and push them, still face down, into different parts of the fan. Thus, to all appearances, you have had four freely selected cards returned to different parts of the deck, and one of these four is being thought-of by the spectator.

You now place the deck behind your back, and shift the top card to the bottom of the pack. The card now on top is the face up three spot. Pick this off, turn it face down, and bring it in front of you with your right hand. Show it saying you will use it as your "diviner" card, and that you intend to push it face up somewhere into the deck behind your back. Pretend to do so, but actually just place it face up on top of the deck, give the deck one complete cut and square up the cards. Now bring the deck forward and ribbon spread it, from left to right, across the top of the table. The face up three spot will show up at about the center of the deck, and at this point you ask the spectator to name his mentally selected card.

As soon as he names his card you, having memorized the order of the four selected cards, know immediately the position it occupies to the left of the face up three spot. (The four selected cards having retained their original position below the reversed three spot during the cut.) We will call them A, B, C and D.

If A is named, you simply show that the three spot has found it, as it is the first card to the left of the "diviner" card.

If B is named, you say that the three spot has located it. So saying you count to it, starting your count on the face up three spot and calling this "one," the next card "two," and the next (chosen) card as "three." Turn it up and show it.

If C is named, say that the face up three spot has located it. Push the three forward out of the spread, and begin your count with the next card and count down to the third card—the chosen one.

If D is named, do the same thing, counting off three cards below the reversed one, and turn up the next one — the chosen card.