King of Swords

as well as followers of the same master. De Villeneuve designed a set of cards for Boukman to use.'

'And that's the origin of the famous five-grand deck?'

Max asked.

'Yes. But it's said that it wasn't really de Villeneuve who was the cards' creator, but Lucifer himself. All the cards are said to bear his signature in the lower left-hand corner: a falling star, symbolizing his fall from grace. And the cards are only really meant to be used by those who follow him, or who are at least familiar with his ways. I can't verify this because I've only seen the cards in photographs, and those weren't close-ups.'

They both studied the card in the morgue pictures, but all four corners were eroded.

'What happened to de Villeneuve?'

'He lived in Haiti until 1805, when once again he disappeared.

This time for good. No one knows what happened to him.

'As for Boukman, in 1791 he led the first slave uprising against the colonial masters — a very bloody and violent campaign. De Villeneuve and his property were of course untouched. Although Boukman was eventually captured and executed by the French, the rebellion continued and became a sophisticated military campaign led by Toussaint L'Ouverture. Haiti declared its independence in 1804.

'De Villeneuve is known to have fathered many many children by slave women, including several with Boukman's sister, by whom he had six — all twins. Many of his descendants are still in Haiti and Switzerland, of course, where they produce the cards every October, which was the month they were originally created.'

'So this King of Swords card. What do you think it was doing in someone's stomach?'

'What did the person do?' Phyllis asked.

Max told her about Lacour.

'It sounds like he was possessed and under a spell, to do something like that,' Phyllis said. 'Just like Kathleen was, God rest her soul.'

Max checked his watch. It was past 9 p.m.

He asked Phyllis for the names of shops where they sold tarot cards. She told him she had a list of suppliers and distributors in her files and went out to make him a copy.

She came back with three sheets of paper. He thanked her for her time and help. She walked him outside.

When they were shaking hands and saying goodbye, Max saw her expression change from pleasant to fearful.

'I know you don't yet believe, Detective, but I have to tell you to be very careful,' she said gravely. 'You're heading out on a dark road. It's going to be very dangerous - not just for you, but those close to you, people you care about the most'

'Where does it end, the road?' Max asked.

'It's not where, it's how,' she said, looking at him with concern one final time.

'Could you be any more specific?'

She shook her head and walked quickly away, back into the motel.

29

Early the next morning, Max drove to Miami-Dade PD headquarters and went to the library. He looked up microfiche articles on Kathleen Reveaux's suicide. It had made the front page of the Herald on Thursday u May 1978.

She'd jumped from the top of the Freedom Tower in the early hours of Wednesday morning. There were no witnesses.

The body had been discovered by construction workers.

The following day the story had been bumped down to a third-page column: Reveaux was identified, and her family and friends were quoted as saying she'd become increasingly disturbed since her return from a trip to New York the previous month.

By Friday 26 May, another column, again on the third page, said the police had ruled out foul play and were marking her death as a suicide. The report mentioned that 'numerous occult objects' had been found in her house on South Miami Avenue, before going on to describe her career as a celebrity fortune teller.

Max then went down to Records.

Kathleen Reveaux's file was thin: incident report, coroner's report, witness statements (two) and twenty photographs.

A Detective Billue had caught the case. His report stated that, based on the damage to the victim's body — head, legs ;ind arms all fractured in multiple places - the victim had fallen from a considerable height, estimated to be the upper floors of the Freedom Tower.

The victim was wearing blue Levi's, a white blouse, white socks and one Adidas tennis shoe on her left foot. Recovered

near the scene was the right tennis shoe. Screwed up in her hand was a tarot card: the King of Swords.

Max made a photocopy of the file and took the elevator down to evidence to see if they'd kept anything from the case. All personal effects in suicides were usually destroyed if the next of kin didn't claim them.

There was nothing, but Kathleen's sister had signed for her belongings — her bloodstained clothes and shoes, and the tarot card.

Her address was in Gainesville.

Max called her up and made an appointment to go by her house that evening.

I 3°