William didn’t know a great deal about gaming, but he did know that roulette was one of the easiest ways to lose money. Nags and fillies came a close second, his father had warned him at an early age. If that weren’t the case, he explained, it would be the casinos and the bookies, not the punters, who ended up broke.
A few minutes later Lamont joined him, taking the seat opposite, without acknowledging him. He handed over another five hundred, and also received a pile of chips. William sipped his coffee as he tried to work out what they were up to.
‘Faites vos jeux,’ said the croupier as he spun the wheel.
Lamont put five chips on black, while Summers placed the same amount on red, ensuring that one of them was certain to win, while the other was just as sure to lose.
‘Rien ne va plus,’ declared the croupier. The ball continued to spin around the outer rim before dropping towards the numbers where it bounced around for some time, finally settling in red 27.
The croupier raked in all the losing bets, including Lamont’s, before pushing another five chips in Summers’s direction.
‘Faites vos jeux,’ he announced again.
Some punters stuck with their favourite numbers without rhyme or reason, while others pursued supposedly infallible systems, ignoring the fact that a thousand books had been written on the subject, most of them out of print.
Lamont placed five more of his chips on black, while Summers stuck with red. Red 11. Summers won again, while Lamont lost. After two spins, between them they’d lost nothing and gained nothing, just broken even. It didn’t take William long to work out exactly what they were up to.
They were simply and methodically disposing of the Hawk’s numbered notes in exchange for chips which they would eventually cash in for a casino cheque. Their winnings could then be deposited at any bank, the result of a run of luck at the tables, should anyone ask. On two occasions zero came up, and they both lost their five-pound stake. A small blip in their overall plan, as they didn’t have to pay for their free champagne and smoked salmon sandwiches.
After an hour had passed, Summers and Lamont gathered up their chips and headed for a different table, where once again they each handed over a cellophane packet containing five hundred pounds before continuing with their joint enterprise. William knew there was nothing he could do about it. He could imagine the Hawk’s response if he called the local Crime Squad and asked them to raid the joint.
Another hour passed before they moved on to the next table, their pockets now bulging with chips. This strategy continued until the last packet of cash had been disposed of, when they finally left the table to join a small queue at the cashier’s window. A teller made out two cheques for three thousand nine hundred pounds each in exchange for their chips.
Summers and Lamont left the club with two hundred pounds less than they’d come in with, but with one essential difference. They’d disposed of the original banknotes.
William had to acknowledge that they’d found a way of laundering money right under the noses of the casino bosses and the police. He could only wonder how long it would be before a law would be passed to prevent others playing the same game.
Despite the late hour, William knew the commander would be sitting by his phone at home, waiting for a call. He came on the line before the second ring could disturb his wife.
‘Enlighten me,’ said the Hawk, aware that only one person would be calling him at that time of night.
William took him through his evening at the Playboy Club, and when he came to the last spin of the wheel, all the Hawk had to say was, ‘Clever.’
‘But they made one mistake, sir,’ said William, ‘which might still catch them out.’
‘Enlighten me,’ he repeated.
‘As far as I could tell they didn’t launder all of the money. It looks to me as if they got rid of around eight thousand pounds in cash, so there’s still two thousand out there somewhere.’
‘Don’t forget that DI Castle will have been paid his share.’
‘I hadn’t, sir. In fact, I was going to suggest we obtain search warrants for all three premises, and if we come across any of our numbered notes, we’ll have them bang to rights.’
‘Castle and Lamont will be far too shrewd to make that kind of mistake,’ said the Hawk. ‘However, we might get lucky with an over-confident detective sergeant.’
‘At the same time,’ said William, ‘I think we should raid Jimmy Turner’s place. I suspect the Turners have got lazy, and think that as a local copper is on their payroll they have nothing to fear. We may find a lot more than just the drugs Summers took from the Paynes and delivered to the Turners.’
‘Good thinking, William. Have everyone except PC Bailey in my office by seven o’clock tomorrow morning. If we’re going to mount a full operation, we’ll need to move quickly.’
‘Summers is off to Malaga for the weekend, sir, so while he’s out of the country it might be the ideal time to strike.’
‘Agreed, but not until he’s boarded the plane and is on his way back.’
26
Every member of the team except PC Bailey was seated around the table in the commander’s office long before seven the following morning.
William had told Beth over breakfast that he still couldn’t make up his mind if Nicky was in bed with Summers, as well as sleeping with him.
‘You can’t have one without the other,’ suggested Beth, for whom things tended to be either black or white.
William didn’t pass on his wife’s opinion when the Hawk asked him to bring the team up to date. His description of how he ended up at the Playboy Club the previous night had them all on the edge of their seats.
‘Well done, William,’ said the Hawk. ‘On balance, I think you were wise not to call in the local Crime Squad. However, we now have a genuine chance of mounting a successful operation without their help. Let me build you a skeleton before we all put some flesh on it.’
As he began to share his initial ideas with the team, it became clear to William that the Hawk couldn’t have gone back to bed after his phone call. When he had finished, all he said was, ‘Observations?’
Rebecca was the first to speak.
‘Lamont may well be paying off his debts once again,’ she said, ‘but it’s a rare day when he doesn’t visit the bookies, or his wife can’t be found loitering with intent in Harrods.’
‘And Summers?’ said the Hawk, turning his attention to Jackie.
‘He’s traded in his old Jag for the latest model, paying on the never-never, so no one can query where the money’s coming from. On Saturday he flies to Malaga with a Miss Karen Turner, also the latest model, although I have a feeling she won’t be on the never-never.’
The Hawk frowned. ‘What about DI Castle?’
‘Lying low at the moment. No obvious extravagances that can’t be explained.’
‘We could always visit the Playboy Club and check all the banknotes?’ suggested Paul.
‘No point. We’d never be able to prove who’d handed them over, and it would simply alert Summers and Lamont that we were on to them. We have to accept we’ve lost that one. Let’s hope that while Summers is away we find some of the banknotes in one of their homes. What about PC Bailey?’ said the Hawk, switching his attention back to Rebecca. ‘I thought she was meant to be going to Malaga with Summers?’
‘Apparently not, sir. She came home last night in a foul temper, and perhaps more importantly, she was no longer wearing her engagement ring.’
‘Whose side do you think she’s on now?’ asked Jackie.
‘Certainly not Summers’s,’ said William, ‘otherwise she wouldn’t have delivered that note to my home.’