“Yet you knew nothing of its true value moments ago,” Maggie snaps, his cool exterior cracking a moment. He takes a breath to gather himself. “You’ll always have your memories, my dear. But that deck belongs in a museum for all to enjoy.”

“If all of this is true, then why is there no mention of Perilli or his decks anywhere on the internet?” I ask, hoping to keep Maggie engaged. Something tells me that the further our interests diverge, the less forthcoming he’ll be.

“You young ones and your internet,” Maggie sighs. “We Perillians pride ourselves on earning our knowledge. Hunting down any easy public mentions is as time-honored a tradition as finding the missing cards.”

“Then when you say ‘in a museum,’ you really mean in the private hands of some cultish following?” Logan says, taking the words right out of my mouth.

“Museums exist in many forms,” Maggie answers. “Perilli himself had a favorite saying: Rules are for peasants, but context is for royals. I’ve told you nothing but the truth. I could have tried to swindle you out of the deck, but I didn’t because I can tell those cards mean something to you, in a different way than they do to me. That’s the beauty of the tarot, isn’t it? The way its meanings adapt to the individual. For the honor of preserving that beauty properly, I would pay. I would overpay.”

“But without any mentions online, how could we even know what overpaying us means?” Cleo asks, putting on her sweetest voice.

Maggie sighs again, sensing checkmate.

“We’d never sell it, period,” Amelia repeats, tears welling in her eyes.

Never is a strong word, I think. After all, as Cleo said, we don’t know what kind of money Maggie is talking about here. Besides, if the deck is already valuable in partial form, then it has to be worth much more if completed. And I bet Maggie knows more about finding these missing cards than he is letting on.

“I think it’s clear we’re not giving up the deck, certainly not before we’ve had the chance to verify all you’ve said,” I begin, thinking over my next words carefully. “You’re our first tarot shop stop of many. So, what guidance can you offer that others can’t?”

Click here

“We understand how special this deck is,” I say. “What if we keep in touch and try to work together for the sake of the deck? We could use the help of an expert.”

Click here