After a moment of silence, it was Miles who announced in a clear and firm voice, "The cards you have put down there all happen to be black—your 'red' is the nine of diamonds, the curse of Scotland, and it's right here," reaching to lift the sharper's hat, and to remove from atop his head, and exhibit, the card at issue.
* * * * * * * * * *
Miles ability to bust this scam and find the red card will probably be explained in a few sentences after this one. For now, let's get to the bottom of this "curse of Scotland" business!
"the nine of diamonds, the curse of Scotland"
Turns out there are various reasons why the nine of diamonds might be called the curse of Scotland and none of them seem definitive. If you want to see the various suppositions, just check out the curse of Scotland Wikipedia page. Because now I have other things to talk about!
Like the nine of diamonds nickname which people know but can't definitively explain, some of the other nicknames for cards and/or card pairings can't be explained. One of the nicknames for a hand consisting of a 2 and a 3 in the hole in Texas Hold 'em is called a "Little Pete." The Wikipedia page claims there is no explanation. I'm sure there was, at one time, an explanation. But now people are just using that nickname because, I guess, everybody else keeps using it? Or maybe it doesn't get used anymore because nobody knows why it should make sense (which I hope is the case because come on people! If you don't know why something is a thing, maybe stop making it a thing?). Also no explanation: two queens being called "Calamity Jane," although like the curse of Scotland, theories exist. Also also no explanation: a king and a jack being called a "Tucson Monster." I have a theory about that one! It's probably somebody shitting all over Tucson, as in "This hand might not be great to play in New York but you'd win every time in Tucson!"
No explanation is given for a pair of queen being nicknamed "bitches" because, well, we all understand how terrible men are.
Most of the nicknames have some explanation even if they're unsatisfying or simply dumb. It's as if every sports commentator, at some point, had to come up with a cutesy nickname for a set of cards to try to make their career. I bet some of these poker commentators have sat up all night brainstorming different ways they could refer to Texas Hold 'em hole cards. And even though dozens of these nicknames are referenced in the Wikipedia for playing-card nicknames, I doubt even ten percent of them see regular use, at least based on the ones I generally hear. I'm sure a lot of them are regional. Like who actually ever called a set of nines "Hitler" aside from a bunch of ancient vets sitting around the VFW back in the 90s or 00s?
I will give it up for some of the more imaginative ones that are appropriately vulgar for a low brow game of poker like "The Bachelor's Hand" which is an off-suit jack and king (jack-king-off. Ha ha! Clever!).
A cousin to the nine of diamonds being the curse of Scotland is the two of spades which is the curse of Mexico. While the curse of Scotland has many different possibilities for the nickname, the curse of Mexico remains unknown. At least to me and my miniscule amount of research into the subject!
I'm going to spend more time on reading card nicknames than I've already spent on reading Against the Day if I don't just force myself to stop!
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