Chapter 13
SALEM P.D.
ROMAN: Hope, as I said, there is no reason to keep this man here. Now, please, show him out of the building.
Reluctantly, Hope led Spades to the entrance.
SPADES: Boy, I sure hope you find the person who killed all those people. Terrible business, murder.
HOPE: I know what you did.
Spades was about to walk out, but stopped.
HOPE: I don't know if you paid off the right people, but I can tell you did it. Don't ask me how I know, I just have an instinct about this. Just tell me one thing: why? Why are you doing all of this?
Spades turned to look at Hope, a smirk on his face.
SPADES: Did you know that in a standard deck of cards, the King of Spades is looking the opposite direction of the other three Kings? Isn't that weird?
Hope arched up her eyebrow.
HOPE: What?
SPADES: I said, “did you know that in a standard deck of cards, the King of Spades is looking the opposite direction of the other three Kings?”. My question to you is why?
Hope blinked. There was a momentary silence.
SPADES: When you figure out the answer to that, then you'll know.
Hope spent the next few days trying to think of some way to prove that Spades was the one who was guilty. Again, she didn't know how she knew, but her gut was telling her that he had committed, or at the very least had something to do with, those murders. It is now a few days later.
SALEM PLACE
Nicole sat at a small table in the middle of Salem Place. In her hand, she held the King of Spades card that Spades had given her when they first met. After waiting around for a while, the person she was waiting for had finally showed up.
NICOLE: Oh, good. You're here.
Celeste sat down across the table from her.
CELESTE: You realize, of course, that the only reason I came back was to see Theodore and Abraham? If they did not live here, I wouldn't have given your phone call a second thought.
NICOLE: No, I know. But, you're here. And I'm glad of it.
CELESTE: What do you want, Nicole? What is so important?
NICOLE: I'm in a little bit of trouble. And I need your help figuring out how much trouble.
CELESTE: Why my help, specifically?
NICOLE: You do that whole cool card reading jun...I, I mean thing.
Celeste looked puzzled.
NICOLE: There's a guy I met about a month ago. He never uses his real name, he calls himself the King of Spades. He's creepy. I mean, really creepy. If a normal person, like me for instance, jokes about killing somebody and he hears it, he actually goes out and does it.
CELESTE: And?
NICOLE: Well, part of the reason I asked you to come was because I wanted to know what his name means. In cards, what does the King of Spades even mean?
CELESTE: It's the highest King card there is. The King of Spades can either be a master of all trades, or he can elect to live is life as a Jester, and be master of none.
NICOLE: Can he do both?
CELESTE: No, but as a Jester, he can be sneaky and make people believe that he is both.
NICOLE: When I first met him, he gave me his “card”.
Nicole hands Celeste the card. Celeste drops it on the table after holding it for a few seconds, and gasps.
NICOLE: What? What is it?
CELESTE: I sense great evil in this card, darling!