“Is a perfect counterfeit worth thirty thousand pounds to you?”
“This one is. I met him at the casino and we had a relationship for a time. He told me about his scheme, to produce near-perfect counterfeits and smuggle them into France, where they could be exchanged for euros with a minimum of risk. He calculated that an outlay of a hundred thousand pounds would produce a million pounds of counterfeits. I wanted to be in on that but our relationship started to go sour and he said no, he didn’t trust me anymore. We broke up and I decided to have nothing to do with him. I even changed my cellular phone number so he couldn’t call me. But then I had a better idea. I decided to steal his five-pound banknote, the test note, and threaten to report him to the police if he didn’t give me a chance to buy in. After what happened at the casino the other night I thought he was trying to kill me.”
“So now what?”
“After I pay you, I’ll still have about fifty thousand pounds to invest in his scheme, and he’ll have to take me on as a partner.”
Nick’s eyes widened. “I never knew being a casino croupier paid so well.”
“I had other income on the side.” She took another envelope from her purse. “Here’s the balance of your thirty thousand.”
“Thanks.” He opened the envelope enough to flip quickly through the banknotes.
“If I had a hundred thousand I’d go for the whole thing. It’s easy money with a minimum of risk. The counterfeits won’t even be passed in this country.”
She thought for a moment and added, “You wouldn’t be interested in something like that, would you? You’re sitting there with thirty thousand pounds of my money. Want to invest it?”
“I don’t think so. It’s out of my line.”
“Could you at least come with me when I meet with Vince Bundy? I’d feel safer having a man along.”
Nick hadn’t worked very hard to earn his fee, and it seemed he could give her another day of his time. “All right. How soon can you set it up?”
“I’ll call him now.” She produced a cell phone from her pocket and punched in a familiar number. When he answered, she said, “Hello, Vince. This is your old chum Mona. I want to talk some more about a possible business deal... No, no! I’ve got money and I’m sure you’ll cut me in. Did you notice anything missing from your wallet?” She paused, giving him time to check, and Nick could hear his outrage over the phone. “All right. Quiet down, Vince. Are you cutting me in or do you want this five-pound note delivered to the police?” She listened for a bit and then said, “Of course I’ve got the money. I’ll come see you this afternoon at four, after your last run. I’m bringing someone with me, so don’t try any tricks.”
After she snapped the cell phone shut, Nick decided he should tell her, “I’m not carrying a weapon. The British laws are too strict.”
“Vince isn’t a violent man,” she assured him.
“That’s not what you thought when you got sprayed with petrol.”
Shortly after four o’clock they were seated around a table with Vince Bundy. Of course he recognized Nick at once. “You’re the pants thief!” he said. “I should have guessed you were up to something. God, your buddy scared the hell out of me with that petrol. Now I know how you felt at the casino, Mona.”
“You didn’t get hurt and it worked, didn’t it? Now let’s get down to business. I’ve got fifty thousand for a share in your scheme. Either you take me in or I tell everything.”
Bundy scratched at his whiskers. “An even hundred thousand would be better.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Come on! The money gets moved to France and exchanged for euros, you can make ten times your investment.” He pulled a briefcase from under the table and opened it, revealing banded stacks of British pound notes. “Look at them! Every one’s perfect. I have another investor lined up for this run. If I cut him out in favor of you I still have to come up with a hundred thousand somehow.”
“What about you, Vince?” Nick wondered. “What do you get out of this?”
“We’ve made three deliveries so far and it’s been very profitable. But I’ve been putting the money back into the business. That’s why I can’t make up the shortfall. Costs are going up; our customers in France are getting greedy.”
Mona turned to Nick. “What about it? Want to get in for my thirty thousand? It’s not really costing you anything.”
“Add twenty to it and you’ll have as much as her,” Bundy said. “That’ll be a nice profit with no risk.”
“What happens if they seize your shipment on the way?”
Bundy shrugged. “Then we do another. They can’t trace it back to us.”
“What do you think, Nick?” Mona asked. “You could give him the thirty thousand now and then maybe get an additional twenty.”
Nick laughed. “My assets are in America, remember? It would take me at least till Saturday to have that much money wire-transferred to me here.”
“I could give you that long,” Bundy told him.
“It would be in American dollars.”
“Fine with me.”
Nick took the envelopes from his pocket. “All right, here’s the thirty thousand pounds Mona paid me. How much more do you need in dollars?”
“You’d better make it forty thousand. The pound is edging close to two dollars American these days.”
They shook hands on it, and Mona left the meeting with Nick. “Bet you never thought your trip to England would end up like this.”
“It’s a surprise, all right. Are you sure we can trust him?”
“If he tries anything funny we just call the police. They find all the counterfeit money and he goes to prison for a good long time.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“Will you go back to London now?”
Nick nodded. “I have to make arrangements for the wire transfer. Suppose I meet you back here at the dock on Saturday morning.”
“At ten-thirty? Vince will be taking the first run then.”
“Fine. I’ll have the rest of my share with me.”
After decades in his chosen profession, Nick had contacts in most large cities. Finding the people he needed in London was no problem. By the following evening he had a neat package of American money, four hundred one-hundred-dollar bills totaling forty thousand dollars. He took the train to Portsmouth and then crossed over to the Isle of Wight once more. Mona Walsh was waiting for him on the dock.
“Did you bring the money?” she asked.
“Right here. How about you?”
She nodded. “We’re going to make a small fortune before this is over, Nick.”
“I hope so.”
They traveled on the steam railway to Wootton, where Vince Bundy was awaiting them. “You two drive a hard bargain. How about giving me back that five-pound note now?”
But Mona Walsh shook her head. “You don’t get it till we receive our share of the money from France. This way, if you don’t pay us I go straight to the police with that counterfeit note.”
“Fair enough.” He took the packet of American currency from Nick and fanned through it, making sure they were all hundreds. Then he did the same with Mona’s British pounds. “This will pay for our expenses with the special paper and printing. All those security gizmos are expensive to duplicate. I’ll be making the trip to France tonight and I should have your money by Monday. Suppose we meet right here at noon. If there’s any delay I’ll contact Mona on her cell phone.”
“Fair enough,” she told him. “We’ll see you Monday. And don’t forget I still have that counterfeit note.”
Nick had to see how it would play out. When he phoned Gloria he said only that he’d tell her all about it when he got home. On Sunday night he paid a visit to the Berkeley Square casino but Mona was nowhere to be found. When he asked about her he was told she’d quit the job after a deranged man sprayed her with petrol. Nick wasn’t surprised.