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23. Room Four
Disclosure during the hand, not a calculation of every player's possible holdings.
- Before the flop
- The Valuer folds sevens face down.
- Flop
- The Steward folds nines face up; the Valuer studies them.
- Turn: nine of spades
- The Widow has a flush; the Steward cannot see the Boy's fourth nine.
- River: ten of diamonds
- The Widow’s five-spade flush beats the Boy’s king-high straight; he sits.
- Cards up
- The Foreman shows two fours. Both pots go to the Widow.
Four nines: the Steward’s two, the turn’s one, the Boy’s hidden one. His reason for showing the pair stays unknown.
Different units remain separate; the Boy disputes the Widow's account of his words.
| Item | Amount or unit | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Husband's continuation | Four months | The Widow leaves with it |
| Boy's booked debt | 420 words of proven retention | Signed by him and held by her |
| Widow's count of the Boy | 211 words, and a mother | He has just said he has the required words |
| House's share of the pots | Five percent, rounded down | Taken to the second decimal |
| Debt booking | Handling charge, amount unstated | Deducted from the booked debt transaction |
Her 211 is an assertion about him, not an independent audit supplied by the diagram.
Gestures at the card table lead to the following Tuesday at the ramp.
| At the table | After the hand | |
|---|---|---|
| Boy | Touches liked cards twice | Touches his own hands twice before signing |
| Steward | Shows the folded nines | Conceals the nines from his wife; later brings a chair to the ramp |
| Valuer | Escorts the Foreman and misses a hand | Witnesses the Boy's signature |
| Widow | Her money is counted twice | Reads the debt slip twice |
The Tuesday chair at the ramp recurs in “Order Was Restored” (26): the same one-motion act, without an explanation of the nines.