Chapter 2: Five Suspects

The dinner guests assembled in the drawing room the following morning at Nora's request, each wearing the particular expression of inconvenienced innocence that she had learned to distrust early in her career. First was Victor Holt, the victim's estranged son, who stood to inherit the estate despite a relationship so acrimonious that father and son had not spoken directly in four years. He communicated through lawyers and attended the dinner only because the invitation had included the phrase regarding your inheritance. Second was Priya Shankar, Holt's business partner of fifteen years, whose company was facing a lawsuit that Holt had privately threatened to make public. Third was Edmund Lacroix, a retired judge and Holt's oldest friend, who owed gambling debts that his pension could not cover. Fourth was Camille Voss, Holt's personal physician, who had recently discovered something in his medical records that she refused to discuss with the police, citing patient confidentiality with the stiff formality of someone hiding behind protocol. Fifth was Desmond Alcott, a professional poker player whom Holt had invited as entertainment for the evening but who had arrived three hours early and spent that time in private conversation with the victim behind closed doors. 'Each of you had dinner with Reginald Holt last night,' Nora began. 'Each of you left this house before midnight. And sometime between your departure and seven minutes past the hour, Holt died in a room locked from the inside while holding a hand of cards that suggests he knew exactly what was coming.' 'The dead man's hand is a coincidence,' Victor said dismissively. 'Your father did not believe in coincidences,' Nora replied. 'And neither do I. The jack of diamonds does not belong in that hand. It was a message. The question is who it was meant for.' She looked at each face in turn, searching for the fracture that would eventually reveal the truth.