King of Swords

'This is the Minor Arcana, which closely resemble traditional poker cards. There are four suits — Swords, Cups, Pentacles or Coins and Wands or Batons. Playing cards are also used in fortune telling, and when they are, Spades are taken to mean Swords, Hearts are Cups, Clubs are Pentacles and Diamonds are Wands.

'Like playing cards, the number suits run from an Ace to a Ten. Swords represent aggression and drive, as well as pain and suffering; Cups are the emotions; Pentacles symbolize money and all that goes with or without it; Wands mean ideas and creativity, as well as communication.

'Now, the main difference is in the court cards, of which there are four in tarot — King, Queen, Knight and Page — as opposed to just three. The court cards represent people,

seniority usually reflecting their age. Except for the Queen.

She can be any age.'

One of the cards Phyllis had put out was the King of Swords — a scowling man in robes, sitting on an ornate stone throne, holding a huge sword in his left hand. His right hand was clenched into a fist. Around him, in the background, much smaller than him, were three trees and low-lying clouds. Max understood the card represented someone who dominated with aggression, but — peering closer at the King's wary sideways glance — also someone who was always looking over his shoulder to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him from behind.

'So Swords are bad cards to get?' Max asked.

'Yes and no. It depends where they turn up in a reading.

The Ace of Swords, for example, turning up in the middle of good positive cards can mean a heroic triumph over adversity. But the Three of Swords means heartbreak, and the Eight, Nine, and Ten are all bad news.'

Max considered the King of Swords a lot more closely.

What was it doing in two people's stomach? Was it a sign, a message, a calling card or part of a potion?

'Now, do you want to know how these work?'

'Please,' Max said.

Would you like me to read for you?'

'No thanks, mam.'

'You don't believe in it?'

'Not really, no. No disrespect meant or anything.'

'None taken.' She shuffled the cards overhand, but considered him curiously, like she'd noticed something new about him. Max sensed a gentle pleasant warmth behind his neck, close to the nape, as if he was being massaged.

'Tarot readings can be like confessionals. Do you go to church?'

'Sometimes,' Max admitted, 'but not for the religion.'

She frowned.

25 ?

'I go there to think things through occasionally, when I need peace and quiet.'

'To reflect but not to pray?'

'Yeah.' Max nodded. 'Something like that.'

'To help solve your cases?'

'The difficult ones, sometimes, yeah.'

'And do you solve them?'

'As a matter of fact, when I'm there I find I'll remember things I missed.'

'But do you think it's God shining his light in those dark corners of your mind, wiping away the dust?'

'I really couldn't tell you.'

'You didn't say “no”, Detective, which is interesting.

It's a short step between the church and what I do, you know.' Phyllis smiled. 'It's all part of the same path . . .

But anyway, I respect your wishes. We'll do a hypothetical reading.'

She put on her glasses and picked out ten cards. She arranged two in the middle of the table, one crossing the other, then she quickly placed one above and one below the cross, then one card on either side of it. The last four tarots she laid down to her right, vertically, one over the other.

She circled her hand above the group of tarots on the left. 'This first set of cards represents the present, and these'

— she moved her finger up and down over the upright line on the right — 'going up, represent the future. Now, let's break it down.

'The two crossed cards in the middle represent the petitioner - that's the person you're reading for.'

The Knight of Swords, riding a white horse, charging into battle, sword aloft, face frozen in aggression, was crossed by the Two of Cups, a young man and woman, each holding a golden chalice, reaching out to touch one another's fingers.

'Typical boy meets girl scenario, from a male's perspec I

tive,' Phyllis said. 'The card behind them, the Six of Wands, represents the recent past, what's brought them to this point: news, communication, a letter, a phone call. The one above them, the Queen of Cups, represents what the petitioner hopes for the most. In this case, the Queen of Cups is the woman of his dreams. The card below, the Three of Swords, is what the petitioner's worried about - a broken heart. And the last card in this section, the one in front, is the Three of Cups and shows the present moving into the future. It may be a celebration. A happy time.

When you read them, you read them in the order you placed them. Tell me what you see, Detective.'

Max studied the cards, which she'd laid out so that they faced him.