On Tommy’s 11th birthday, Sam took him to the public library, where they were holding a reproduction of Sherlock Holmes’s apartment. This is what Tommy wanted in lieu of a normal birthday party. Tommy is somewhat of a loner. His best friend was a boy named Eugene Begelman, but Eugene moved away.

Tommy knows that Sam is not his biological father, though neither Sam nor Rosa told him anything—he has simply picked it up from fragments of overheard conversations between his parents and from his grandmother. Tommy sympathizes with stories about orphans, especially when those orphans go on to do grand things. Tommy has no doubt that a similar destiny awaits him.

The crux of the birthday outing is for Tommy to go to Louis Tannen’s Magic Shop and buy the Ultimate Demon Wonder Box. Tommy has been interested in magic ever since Eugene bought a magic kit years ago and showed it to Tommy. Eugene could never really master any of the tricks, but Tommy mastered all of them over the course of one weekend. Eugene gave up and gave Tommy his magic set. Since then, Tommy has been enthralled with magic. Rosa and Tommy encourage this interest.