Free The Name of the Game Was Murder by Joan Lowery Nixon Page B

Maggio said.
    “What?”
    “The chemical composition of a diamond.”
    I doubted that Augustus had thought in that direction, but I wrote down what the senator had to say, as well.
    “Anyone else with a diamond?” I asked.
    “I have the king of diamonds,” Alex answered.
    “King,” I said, “monarch, pharaoh, ruler …”
    “Aha!” said the senator. “Ruler … a tool with which we measure. I think we may be on to something here.”
    Buck shook his head. “I’ve got the jack of clubs. So what do you make of that? A club is a weapon.”
    “It may also be something social,” the senator answered.
    “Oh, yeah,” Buck said. “Like a softball club, or the Lions Club, or the Rotary Club.” A pleased kind of grin warmed his face. “I just got an award from the Rotary Club in Wickasee, Ohio, for being an outstanding role model to kids.”
    “That’s lovely, Buck,” Thea said.
    But Julia snapped, “Come on, come on. It’s no big deal. We all get awards. What we’ve got to work on now are these clues.”
    Laura poked me in the ribs and whispered, “Well? Well?”
    “Give me time,” I mumbled, and said to the group, “I think we have to keep in mind the words that begin all the clues: ONE WILL BE ABOVE ALL . From what we’ve learned so far, what do you think this means?”
    “If we’re talking about the cards themselves,” Alex said, “spades are the top suit.”
    “Suit, maybe,” Senator Maggio said, looking firmly at me, “but in card value we’re back to the ace.”
    “Or it could be the king,” I insisted.
    Alex spoke up. “Has anyone noticed there’s a run of ace, king, queen, jack, ten, and nine? Could that mean anything?”
    No one answered. In case it did, I quickly wrote down the clues in order along with the initials of the people who held the card clues, hoping this might spell out something. The first part was zilch, and the last three initials spelt out BLT , which made me realize I was awfully hungry and would give anything right now for a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on white toast. It seemed kind of disrespectful to think of lunch when we were trying to find a missing manuscript and I was trying to discover the identity of a murderer, but I couldn’t help it.
    Once again I looked at what I had copied under the heading
Game Clues
#2:
    ONE WILL BE ABOVE ALL :
THE ACE OF SPADES ’
M .
″
THE KING OF DIAMONDS ’
A .
″
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS ’
J .
″
THE JACK OF CLUBS ’
B .
″
THE TEN OF SPADES ’
L .
″
THE NINE OF DIAMONDS ’
T .
    Finally, Julia said, “Let’s think in a different direction. If Augustus meant
things
, not
cards
, then in value you can’t beat diamonds.”
    “Good point,” I said. I made some more notes.
    Mrs. Engstrom appeared at the door. “Are you finished, Mrs. Trevor?” she asked, and her next words warmed my heart. “Lucy would like to set the table for lunch.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Engstrom. We haven’t finished, but we can take our work to the sun-room,” Thea answered.
    The senator pushed back his chair. “I don’t think we’re going to finish, unless we have more to go on than this.”
    “We could share the first clues,” I suggested.
    I was surprised when Thea said, “No! I don’t think we need to do that. At least not yet.”
    Buck got up. “What about your clue, Sam? That special clue Augustus gave you. Didn’t he say something about it making more sense than the rest of them?”
    “He was kidding, because it didn’t,” I mumbled.
    “Didn’t it?”
    They all stared at me again, but I didn’t feel like telling them the rude message Augustus had given me, so I quickly asked them all, “May I keep these clues for a little while? I’d like to study them and see if there isn’t something—maybe even in the typing of them—that we’re missing.”
    When no one objected, Buck shrugged and Julia nodded. They left the room with the senator and Alex, allowing me to gather the sheets of paper. Aunt Thea