footnote. This explained that they were basically slave soldiers who converted to Islam and served some of the Islamic leaders during the Middle Ages. They sometimes seized power for themselves, however, and this they had done in Egypt in the mid-thirteenth century, remaining in power for over 250 years.
Now that I had a better sense of who the Mamelukes were, I continued reading the main text. In the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, the use of playing cards spread widely across Europe. Apparently most of the cards of the time, at least surviving examples of them, were made from woodcuts printed on paper. From this point on, Europeans experimented with the design of the cards, and by the end of the fifteenth century, the four suits now almost universally used originated in France.
Then I reached the bit that had caught my eye earlier. In France around this time, there were two basic designs for the cards, one from Rouen and the other, Paris. In the Rouen system, the kings of spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs represented, respectively, David, Alexander, Caesar, and Charlemagne. The queens were said to be Pallas, the Greek warrior goddess; Rachel, the biblical mother of Joseph; Argine, the origin of which name was obscure, though possibly an anagram of regina, the Latin word for ‘‘queen’’; and, finally, Judith, the biblical heroine who slew the invader Holofernes.
In Parisian tradition, the same names were used, but assigned to different suits. The kings, in suit order, were David, Charlemagne (or Charles), Caesar, and Alexander, while the queens were Pallas, Judith, Rachel, and Argine. There were also different names assigned to the jacks, or knaves, but at the moment I didn’t think they were particularly significant. I was more interested in the queens and whom they represented.
When I found Avery Trowbridge dead, he was clutching the queen of diamonds in his hand.
Was that a mere coincidence? Or had he grasped the card from the table as a signal to the identity of his killer?
A man who made his living teaching and playing bridge would certainly understand the significance of a particular card.
I looked at the list of queens again. In the Rouen set, the queen of diamonds represented the mysterious Argine. That seemed too obscure to me to be of real use.
In the Parisian tradition, however, the queen of diamonds represented Rachel, the biblical mother of Joseph. Did that mean Lorraine Trowbridge, the mother of Avery’s son?
Then it hit me. Rachel was the second wife of Jacob. He had married Rachel’s sister Leah first.
Was Avery Trowbridge trying to tell everyone that his murderer was his second wife, Paula?
Chapter 22
I put the book aside and tried to think this through as clearly as possible.
First, did the card in Avery Trowbridge’s hand really mean anything?
To answer that, I forced myself to remember what I had seen, the position of the body and the cards on the table. Was it likely that Avery had been holding any cards in his hands when he confronted his killer? He would have seen the killer, even if someone had tried to sneak up on him. His chair was in the corner, its back too near the wall for someone to slip behind it without being seen.
The killer was probably someone Avery didn’t consider a serious threat. He might have been fiddling with the cards on the board and not been paying much attention to the killer. The killer caught him unawares, and Avery, clutching the queen of diamonds, died in the chair.
That was a possibility, particularly if Avery died instantly from the blow. Then I remembered the blood. There was too much of it for Avery to have died instantly. His heart continued to pump blood for at least a few seconds after the knife entered his chest. He therefore might have had just enough strength to reach to the table and pick up a card. Then he collapsed in the chair and died.
What about the killer, though? Wouldn’t the killer have stood by and waited until he or she was sure Avery was dead?
Possibly, I decided, in which case my theory about the card could be all wrong.
Unless, that is, the killer put that specific card in Avery’s hand. That bore some thought.
If the killer had immediately fled the scene, though, horrified by what she had just done, she might not have seen Avery’s last, desperate act.
That was possible, too.
Back to the idea that the killer had placed the card in Avery’s hand—who hated Paula