As you can tell, my clientele aren’t exactly the most beautiful people.” Omar nodded toward the gentlemen playing blackjack. He passed Cael a whiskey and Coke in a tumbler.

“Well, do you recognize this?” asked Cael. He pulled out the Jack of Hearts playing card that had been found alongside Stephanie’s body. He slid it along the bar to Omar.

“And I thought it was just my dishonest clients who sneaked their own playing cards in here,” said Omar.

Cael and Tyler didn’t respond.

“Of course I recognize it. It’s a Jack. What am I supposed to say?”

“Yeah, it’s a Jack but not just any Jack, right?”

“It looks completely normal to me.”

Cael flipped over the card so it was face down on the bar. “How about now?” he asked.

Omar leaned in closer to the card. He studied the detail on the back.

“Oh, I see. No, this isn’t a normal playing card at all.”

“And why not?” asked Cael.

“These patterns. They’re not symmetrical. This is a marked card.”

“Exactly.”

“And you think I allow marked cards in here? Don’t be ridiculous. Our games are as fair as they come. We use only standard Bicycle cards in here. No limited-edition cards, no dog-eared cards, no marked cards. I can tell a gaffed deck a mile off. If someone brought this shit in here, I’d know about it.”

Strangely, this wasn’t the response Cael or Tyler wanted. If Omar wasn’t aware that the card was gimmicked, it would mean the perpetrator may have used the marked cards to give them an unfair advantage when gambling. No legal casino would allow someone to bring their own decks, though it was quite common in underground gambling dens.

“What’s this got to do with a murder, anyway?” Omar asked.

“That girl in the picture,” Tyler said. “She was found cut in half in Epping Forest. This card was found on her body.”

“And this concerns me – how?”

“Come on, Omar. People who owe you money have been known to conveniently find themselves at a bottom of a river. Maybe this girl tried to ruse you with a marked card and you busted her.”

“First, my friend, if someone did try to cheat in here, they’d be busted long before they took money from me. Second, this is a red Jack. If a person tried to sneak a marked card in here, it would be a black Jack, an Ace or a King. A red Jack is useless.”

Cael and Tyler already knew this but they wanted to see if Omar Sabir did, too.

“This card is from a gimmicked Bicycle deck in which every pattern is different on the back. You can see what the card is just from looking at the pattern. Sure, you could use these in gambling but the casino would have to be pretty blind to not see it.”

It was slowly starting to make sense. Cael drank his whiskey and Coke in one gulp. “Thanks for the help,” he said. “We’ll let you know if we need you again.”

The detectives stood up and walked toward the exit.