Daniel Blake - White Death

‘Tarot cards nowadays are used for two main purposes. One, games, as with conventional playing cards, though this is confined mainly to Europe, particularly France and Italy. Tarot games are almost unknown in English-speaking countries. Two – and this may be more relevant to your investigation – divination, predictions, mapping mental and spiritual pathways, those kind of things. A tarot reader will predict your future according to which cards she draws for you and in which order.’

‘And this does occur in the States? Tarot divination?’

‘Absolutely.’ Anna pulled a Rider-Waite pack out of her drawer. ‘There are seventy-eight tarot cards in all, divided in two main categories. The first is called the major arcana, which means greater secrets. The major arcana consists of twenty-two cards, all without suit.’ She took a handful of cards from the top of the deck and spread them on the desk in front of her. ‘The first twenty-one are numbered. In order – and you’ll recognize the ones you found yesterday – they’re the Magician, the High Priestess, the Empress, the Emperor, the Hierophant, the Lovers, the Chariot, Strength, the Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, the Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, the Devil, the Tower, the Star, the Moon, the Sun, Judgement, and the World. Unnumbered, or assigned zero, sometimes twenty-two, is the Fool.’

She arranged the remainder of the deck alongside. ‘Second category: minor arcana, the lesser secrets. These are much more like conventional playing cards. They’re divided into four suits: wands, pentacles, cups, swords. Wands correspond to clubs, pentacles to diamonds, cups to hearts, swords to spades. But each tarot suit has fourteen cards rather than thirteen: there’s a Knight which goes between the Queen and the Jack.’

‘But both the cards we’ve found belong to the major arcana?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Then let’s focus on that for now. What do the Empress and the Hierophant signify?’

‘OK.’ Anna handed the Empress card from her deck to Patrese. ‘The Empress is the third card in the major arcana. A mother figure, she’s fertile, sexual, sensual, natural. She’s the Great Goddess, she’s the Queen of Heaven. The scepter represents her power over life. The twelve stars of her crown represent her dominance over the year. See her throne in a field of grain? That’s her dominion over things that grow: food, plants.’

Anna tapped on the Empress’ gown. ‘Pomegranates. In Greek mythology, Hades, lord of the underworld, kidnapped and raped Persephone. Persephone’s mother Demeter, the harvest goddess, stopped every plant from growing for a year until she and Hades came to a deal about Persephone’s fate. But while she was in the underworld, Persephone ate some pomegranate seeds. Anyone who consumed food and drink in the underworld had to stay there – so, even after the deal her mom had struck with Hades, Persephone had to spend part of each year in the underworld.’

Patrese thought of how close Regina and Kwasi had been. ‘Tell me more about the Empress as a mother. What kind of symbolism is there on that?’

‘Oh, a whole heap. The Empress often represents mothers, good and bad. She’s the blood flowing through all living things, which starts in the womb. She’s also the object of desire, the love children feel for their moms.’ Anna flicked her fingers. ‘Tell me something. When you found the card, which way up was it?’

‘Which way up? Er … face up.’

‘No, no: which way was it pointing ? In line with the body, or inverted? Was the Empress’ head towards the victim’s head?’

Patrese thought for a moment, trying to recall exactly what he’d seen on the Green. There’d be crime-scene photos against which he could check if necessary, but he wanted to do this himself. Think. Think.

He’d seen the Hierophant first, by Showalter’s corpse, and then gone over to Regina’s body, looking to see whether she had a card too …

‘Inverted,’ he said suddenly. ‘The Empress’ head was facing towards Regina’s feet.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Absolutely. The Hierophant was the right way up, but the Empress was inverted.’

‘An inverted card can mean the opposite of whatever the usual symbolism is. With the Empress, it would be something like she was a bad mother, an unhealthy over-attachment somewhere, that kind of thing. Take the qualities and reverse them. In her usual, positive aspect, the Empress gives, nurtures, celebrates life. In her negative aspect, she takes it, either literally or figuratively.’

Patrese didn’t know what kind of mother Regina had been, but ‘over-attachment’ when it had come to her and Kwasi was pretty much spot on. As to whether that had been unhealthy, who knew? Only she and Kwasi for sure, perhaps. Or not even them. As Patrese knew full well, people in dysfunctional relationships find so many ways of justifying these dysfunctions that they end up not being able to see them at all.

‘OK,’ Patrese said. ‘What about the Hierophant?’

Anna handed him the Hierophant card. ‘This is the fifth card. The word “Hierophant” means “the one who teaches the holy things”. See here. His right hand is performing a blessing: two fingers pointing up, two pointing down. This forms a bridge between heaven and earth. The pillars either side of his throne represent law and liberty: the crossed keys at his feet are the keys to Heaven. The Hierophant represents assistance, friendship, good advice, alliances, marriages, and religious interests. When he’s inverted, that means bad advice, lies, and persecution. If he appears in a spread, it’s a warning to the querent to re-examine their understanding of the meaning of things, of the structure of the world, of the powers-that-be.’

‘A spread? A querent? What are those?’

‘When you do a reading. The querent is the subject, the one who wants to know their future. The spread is how the cards are arranged. There are several different ways, depending on the reader’s skill or preference. Would you like me to show you?’

‘What? Give me a reading? I’m the querent?’

‘Sure.’

‘Thank you, no. I haven’t got time, and in any case I don’t believe in all that stuff.’

‘It would purely be for interest.’

‘No.’ He stood. ‘Thank you. You’ve been helpful.’

‘Might give you an idea as to why the cards are being left there. Might even give you an insight into how best you’ll solve the case. In a reading, some people believe the cards chosen are guided by a spiritual force. Others, like Jung, think the cards help us tap into a collective unconscious.’

Patrese was torn. He really didn’t believe in this stuff, and he really didn’t have time to waste: but if someone was going round killing people and leaving tarot cards by their bodies, shouldn’t he be exploring all possible avenues to help catch that person?

He sat back down again. ‘All right. But only a quick one.’

Anna smiled. ‘Sure. I’ll keep it to the major arcana, twenty-two cards rather than seventy-eight, and give you a simple horseshoe spread rather than some of the more complex ones.’

She took the Empress and Hierophant back from Patrese, cleared away the minor arcana cards, and shuffled the major arcana with a speed and dexterity that wouldn’t have disgraced a Vegas croupier. Then she laid out seven cards, all face down, in a horseshoe.

‘This is just for interest,’ Patrese said.

‘Each card in this pattern means something different,’ Anna replied. He wondered if she’d heard him. ‘The first one’ – she tapped the one to her extreme left – ‘is the past: any events that have already happened which affect your current situation. The second is the immediate present. Self-explanatory. Then the immediate future; also self-explanatory.’ She rested her finger on the fourth card, the middle one. ‘This is what’s occupying your mind: what you’re thinking of, whether you know it or not. The next, the fifth, is the attitudes of others around you. Then there’s the obstacle you must overcome. And finally the outcome, the ending: how the situation will finish. Ready?’