The Cards Fall

When the Illusionist was satisfied, he went to the rooms, hoping to find a space for himself since his ticket was not genuine. He first passed through the first-class wagon. There were four rooms, and he imagined the Noble was in one of them, perhaps with the mobsters occupying the other three due to the number of henchmen.

In the next carriage, there were also four smaller rooms, with a shared bathroom. There were no beds, only seats on both sides. Three of the rooms were occupied. He assumed they belonged to the Cartomancer, the Criminal, and the Cowboy, and he thanked his luck for finding an empty place.

He entered the room with only the seats, and it was comfortable enough for him. He placed his top hat on the front seat and lay down, soon falling asleep.

He woke up only the next morning, hearing shouts echoing through the train. He left his room, still waking up. The shouts seemed to be coming from further down the train, but they were too muffled to be from the first-class wagon.

Another door opened, and he saw the Criminal, just as confused as he was, coming out of his room. Both of them walked together without speaking to the first-class wagon, where they found no one. The shouts had stopped, but there was still commotion coming from the front, so they moved on to the restaurant.

There, they saw the source of the commotion. The Noble and the Old Mobster, along with two of his henchmen, were observing a body lying on the floor.

"She's dead," said Henchman 2 to his boss.

"Don't tell me! I can see that!" he replied irritably.

The Illusionist approached, expecting to see who it was. It was so strange; she was alive and well the night before, and he found it hard to believe that this could have changed so quickly. But there he saw the lifeless body of the Cartomancer, with her eyes open and lost. It wasn't hard to see the two spots of blood dripping from her neck, with two small puncture marks.

He barely knew her, but he still didn't think she deserved such an end. Either way, there was nothing he could do about it, except to find out what had happened.

"Who found her body?" the Illusionist asked automatically, crouching down to inspect the corpse.

"It was me," said the Waiter timidly from the back of the wagon. "I found her when I was about to start cleaning the room. When I screamed, the Noble and the Old Mobster with his security guards were the first to arrive."

It made sense; the first-class wagon was closer to the restaurant. Looking at the body, he found something strange: there was a Tarot card hidden in her sleeve. He discreetly pulled it out, revealing The Star.

"Stop right there!" a voice came from the direction of the rooms. The irritated tone already made it clear who it was, even with the Illusionist's back turned. "I'll lead this investigation, stay away from the body, you are also a suspect."

With a quick move, the Illusionist hid the card in his own sleeve and stood up, looking at the Cowboy.

"No offense, but anyone here is a suspect, including you. Why should you lead this investigation?"

The Cowboy seemed offended by the Illusionist's words. "Besides being the only lawman here, I've been hunting this vampire for a while now. I had good reason to believe he would be here, and now I'm sure. And where are the other passengers?" he asked the Noble and the Old Mobster.

"My companion is still getting ready. She takes a while to get ready in the morning," the Noble replied without protesting at the Cowboy's imperious manner.

"The Heiress is in her room with two henchmen. Do you think I would leave her exposed with a dead body and people shouting all over the train?"

"Alright, everyone go back to your rooms, and I'll talk to you individually later. Now, leave me with the body."

"I don't care if you were the Pope; you won't do this alone. I trust you as much as you trust me," the Illusionist said, determined not to bow down to the Cowboy.

"I can't force any of you, at least until I have an idea of who the culprit is. But if I see any of you tampering with the crime scene, I'll put you in handcuffs."

The Illusionist didn't care about the threat and thought he could stay one step ahead of the Cowboy, leaving him to investigate the body while the Noble and the Old Mobster decided what to do.

He returned to the wagon where he had slept, knowing that with the Criminal and the Cowboy in the restaurant, there would be no one there. He decided to search the Cartomancer's room for more clues.

It wasn't hard to get into her room. It didn't have many things, just a backpack and the Tarot cards, not very organized.

He didn't know what was going on, but he knew the Cartomancer's last prediction wasn't good, and he saw a card with a wheel. Besides, the card in his sleeve seemed like a clue left by her; she surely knew more than was happening, and there was only one way for the Illusionist to find out.

He took care to put everything back where it was after rummaging through it. He wanted to take her deck, but he thought that would be too much, so he settled for taking the backpack.

It contained clothes, a notebook, and a water flask; he imagined most of her belongings must be in the luggage car.

He didn't take long to find what he was looking for, a small book with explanations of her Tarot cards. As soon as he took it, he put everything back and hurried to leave the room. It was very timely; while he was in the corridor, the door opened, and the Cowboy came in.

The two exchanged intense looks, with no trust between them.

"I was waiting for you," the Illusionist said, trying to maintain a serious posture. "Shall we investigate her room?"