Neva Maskelyne

 Meet Neava Maskelyne, professional illusionist (stage magician): She is 22, 5'8", long-legged and willowy, with the physique of a dancer or gymnast. She has strawberry-blond hair, a mischievous smile and greenish-blue eyes.

 When she was about 5, her mother started her in dance class, but Neava soon convinced her parents to switch her to gymnastics. She might have dedicated her life to pursuing Olympic glory but for the influence of Uncle Jasper. When Neava was 12 and her brother John was 10, Uncle Jasper stepped in to fill the void when his younger brother, the father of Neava and John, died in a strange accident.

 Uncle Jasper had decided that someone in the next generation should restore the family's place in the world of famous stage magicians. Uncle Jasper originally figured on John filling that role, and cast Neava as his assistant, until after several months of training Jasper realized that while both children were nimble and hard working, it was Neava who had inherited their great-grandfather's gifts for quick-thinking, coolness under pressure, and manipulating an audience.

 Neava accepted whole-heartedly her uncle's belief in the family destiny, and proudly accepted his decision that it was she who should take on the role. It was perhaps evidence of her abilities that her little brother calmly accepted his demotion to the role of assistant. After a few years of training -- and shows at nursing homes and day care centers -- that Jasper introduced the children to his old friend Emrys Davies, a famous magician nearing retirement.

 He worked with them for two years, while they moved up to performing at local talent shows, before he and John agreed that the boy should concentrate on soccer while Neava continued on as a solo act. She had been a full-time professional for two years when something went horribly wrong at the finale of the final performance of Emrys' storied career. He had chosen to close the show at the Kennedy Center with his most famous illusion -- "Teleportation: up close and personal". It was an effect he had not performed in several years. He had said it took a lot out of the magician.

 This time it ended his life. One of the ways Neava dealt with her grief was in deciding to learn more about the druids and Merlin. For her mentor had carried the actual British name so often translated in the legends as Merlin. It was a way to feel closer to “Uncle Emrys.” She found druids were a difficult topic on which to find much serious research, and Merlin was worse. Looking like you took Merlin seriously seemed to attract the interest of loons and crazies who were the spiritual kin of UFO believers, unicorn-lovers, and neo-pagans who fancied themselves following the religion of the Celts. Being seen with such people would not enhance her professional credibility.  So that's what brought her to Third Eye Detective Agency a few years ago. She's still has lots of questions about druids, Merlin, and the question of “real” magic, but now she's working where she can get help with those questions.