“Yeah, okay, so what about this other unknown quantity? This guy that’s gonna give us the IRA code word and intercept the call. We are dependent on him, but we’ve not even met him. How can you be so sure that he’ll be okay on the day?”
“Marsh is an expert, not only in computers but also in telephone engineering. He’s done fantastic work so far, and if it weren’t for him, I’d never have worked out a way to stop the Royal party without the safe house knowing. He’s handling the whole technical side of the operation, and it was at his request that he has no involvement in the physical side of the heist. I respect that because it’s not necessary for him to take part.”
This satisfied Wilcox and Driscoll to some extent but not completely.
“Look, Eddy,” Wilcox said, “we’ve come this far, and it’s just odd for us not to know the full details. I dunno how Tony feels, but we’re putting a lot of responsibility on Marsh and also on Dulay. I think we should have had them here for a face-to-face. I mean, how much are we paying these guys?”
“I hear what you’re saying, but look at it from my point of view,” de Jersey said. “I’ve been laying out the cash for this. I haven’t asked you two for anything.” De Jersey picked up his black marker pen and began to write on the board. “Right now I’m paying Westbrook, Pamela, and Marsh full-time, plus one-offs to Gregory Jones and the security guy.” He listed the payments, even down to the money he intended paying Malcolm Gridley. Next he listed the fees for the helicopters and the money put aside for them to secure the speedboats. “You calculating all this, Tony? Both of you start figuring it out, cos I’m the one who’s thousands out of pocket. Then there are the costumes, the rent for this place and for the warehouse. Too damned right I’ve kept quiet about a lot of things, especially what it’s costing me to set up this fucking robbery! So far you two have contributed a few grand between you. You hear me complaining? No! You don’t hear me asking for the major slice when, as you can see, I’ve been working morning, noon, and night on this. But don’t fucking thank me. Sit there and moan your arses off. The pair of you make me sick.”
Driscoll and Wilcox were stunned by de Jersey’s anger, and by the sum he had invested in the heist. Equal contributions would make deep holes in the funds they’d salvaged from their ruined fortunes.
“You got something to say, Tony?” de Jersey asked as he started putting away the drawing board. He ripped up the big sheets of paper with the lists of payments and folded up the safe house plans. He put the plans into his briefcase and tossed the other papers in a dustbin.
“You could say that.” Driscoll was agitated.
“Well, say it,” de Jersey snapped, struck a match, and lit the paper.
“I’m getting serious cold feet about the whole fucking thing.”
De Jersey sat down, flicked the ash from his cigar, and stared at Driscoll. “Spit it all out now.”
“Look, Eddy, we go back a long way, but we’ve never had such a big core team. This Westbrook character, he was stuffing himself with pills all bleeding afternoon. Come four o’clock he was spaced out of his head, and this was only the first meeting. What’s he gonna be like on the day? Neither of us has met Marsh, so how do we know we can trust him? How do we know he’s going to pull it off?”
De Jersey turned to Wilcox. “What about you?”
Wilcox shuffled his feet with embarrassment. “Well, what Tony’s saying is true. That Pamela woman’s a flake too. Thinks she’s auditioning for the National Theatre the way she’s carrying on. If we come in on the expenses you’re paying out, we’ll be paying her a grand a week like the others, more than she’s ever earned in her life I reckon.”
“She’s worth it. She’s going to be right in the thick of it,” de Jersey snapped.
“You say so, but how do we know she won’t cave in?”
“She’s as tough as they come, plus she knows the consequences if we fail. She’s worth her price.”
“But, again, we only have your word and you only have the trust you’ve placed in them. Then you say we’ve got two speedboats and you’ve ordered four helicopters as decoys. Have you got all these extras lined up, or are you just making out lists of things you’re thinking about doing but haven’t got round to yet? Where are we gonna get these two boats from? Then there’s got to be river moorings organized. It’s still all up in the air.”
De Jersey bit off the end of his cigar and spat it out.
Wilcox continued. “We’ve got to be tooled up, and I wouldn’t trust that Westbrook character to carry a water pistol let alone a shooter. We’ve never used so many amateurs for a gig before.” He took a deep breath. “It could all fall apart, and then I’ll be in an even worse situation than when we started. You say you’ve laid out for everything, and you have, I can see that. But I’ve paid for the cars, and Tony sorted out the weapons. I can’t pay out any more.”
Driscoll started again. “I’m broke from this wedding. I mean, we’ve been lucky in the past, we all know that, but this is stretching it to the limit. We’ve not even got into how we’re getting the gems to France.”
De Jersey blew a smoke ring above his head as Wilcox took over where Driscoll left off.
“And this Dulay character. You say we can trust him, but you’ve had to squeeze his balls to get him to agree to be part of this, and that’s always dodgy. Carrying that gear out of the country is impossible. The scream will be up so loud that every airport and dock will be surrounded. I know you’ve worked out decoys, and I’m sorry to sound so negative, but I just don’t buy it.”
“Dulay has a big yacht. I was planning to use it unless you want to use yours,” de Jersey said to Wilcox.
He was taken aback when Wilcox shouted, “I bloody can’t use mine! I had to sell it months ago. You see what I’m talking about? We’re up shit creek on this one, and you are gonna have to admit it.”
De Jersey was finding it hard to maintain his calm. “Things will go wrong if you don’t keep your cool. Dulay is picking up the jewels from the south coast. It’s all taken care of.”
Wilcox bowed his head. “All taken care of! I hope bloody Sylvia Hewitt’s also taken care of. That’s more cash you’ll likely have to pay out to keep her quiet. So if you’ve got it all planned, why the fuck don’t you tell us about it and take care of our worries?”
Driscoll put up his hand, like a schoolkid. “There’s another thing, Eddy. I see what you’ve paid out and I know I’ve not come in with much, but you’ve never discussed what you expect to get from the sale of the jewels. Can you give us an idea?”
Wilcox interrupted. “Hang on a minute. We’re depending on Dulay for this Japanese buyer. Dulay says he’s got him, but that’s just his word. If he doesn’t pull off the sale, we’re gonna be left with the hottest gear around. Nobody’ll touch it, no matter what it’s worth. We’ll all be left with fuck-all. And another thing-”
Driscoll put up his hand again. “Have you met the buyer?”
“No,” de Jersey said, and he flushed with anger because he knew they were right. He was not being as professional as he had been in the past, and he was depending heavily on Dulay and Marsh.
“Shit, this is a mess. Admit it, Eddy, it’s just not working.” Wilcox heaved himself out of the worn, old armchair.
“It is, and it will work. I trust Dulay. If he says this Japanese guy is good for it, he is, and you checked him out in Paris.”
“I don’t call that checking out,” snapped Wilcox. He was pacing up and down now in fury. “All I did was tail Dulay to the Ritz and see him meet up with the guy. What they said and how far we can trust them is another matter.”
“He’s agreed to pay an excellent price for the Koh-i-noor Diamond alone,” de Jersey said, opening his briefcase.