“I suppose Abe Roster wouldn’t be too happy if he discovered we were trying to pull this off.”
“I don’t know if it’s Abe he’s worried about. My problem is that I don’t know if Charlie Weston is an honest cop or a crook. A long time ago when I knew him he was honest. Now I’m not so sure. When you talk about stealing twenty-nine minutes from the patrons of a casino the first thing that comes to mind is a robbery. That’s just about how long it would take for a gang to hold up the place and make off with all the cash.”
“But he told you he didn’t want them knocked out. If he was planning a robbery that’s exactly what he would want.”
“Let’s see what happens at tomorrow’s rehearsal.”
Gloria chuckled. “Nicky, the master magician!”
“It may be the start of a whole new career!” he told her with a grin.
In the morning he rented a tuxedo, a cape, and a top hat for the show, then made the rounds of certain other suppliers for some needed equipment. After lunch, with Gloria and the four costumed assistants on the stage, he went through an outline of the show. The auditorium itself ran between two decks of the Cajan Queen, with guests entering from the dining room on the upper level, walking down to take their seats for the show, and then exiting at the front directly into the gaming rooms. There was seating for four hundred and seventy-five, but Nick had been told the reservations for that evening totaled just four hundred seventy-two. In addition, the casino workers, chefs, waiters, security guards, and other employees added up to forty-five people. Most of the waiters and waitresses doubled in the casino after the dinner hour, using the show time to clean up and change their uniforms.
The four girls, Bonnie, Clair, Theresa, and Kimberly, were all attractive. Gloria’s choice of costumes was perfect, with sequins and legs notably on view. Nick showed them the claim checks they’d be using and explained what to do.
“You go up each of the aisles collecting every watch and clock in the audience. You rip the claim checks on the perforations, give this half to the audience member and stick the other half on the watch. They’re self-adhesive and peel right off after you return the watches at the end of the trick. You put the watches in these bags.”
Gloria had her doubts. “You’re not going to get every one. Some people simply won’t part with a valuable watch for a magic trick.”
“It doesn’t matter, so long as we get most of them. And I think we will. If my patter is convincing enough, ninety percent of those people will surrender their timepieces.”
“Then what?”
“Once we get the bags backstage you take out the watches and set them all ahead twenty-nine minutes.”
“Four hundred watches?”
“There’ll be four hundred seventy-two in tonight’s audience, or maybe a few less with no-shows. Figure about four hundred watches. The girls will help you when they’re not on stage. We get the watches at the beginning and then do our other tricks while you’re changing them. When the watches are all changed you signal me for the finale. Regular analog watches will go fast, five seconds each at most. Some people still wear digitals and they’ll take a bit longer, maybe ten seconds. Figure you’ll do about ten a minute, per person. There’ll be at least three of you working on it all the time — thirty watches a minute. With luck they’ll be finished in fifteen minutes, but we can risk twenty if necessary. Five minutes at the beginning to collect the watches, five minutes at the end to return them. We’re off the stage in thirty minutes. With the missing twenty-nine minutes they’ll think they got an hour’s show and they’ll be ready to gamble.”
Gloria wasn’t so sure. “I’d know the difference between a half-hour and an hour.”
“These people will have eaten a meal, had a few drinks. We’ll keep the stage show moving fast, so time seems to be passing. If they’re in doubt they’ll find a clock somewhere and confirm that an hour has passed. That won’t be easy, though. In keeping with the old casino tradition there are no wall clocks in the gaming rooms. And you’ll notice there are none here in the auditorium.”
“How will you change the others?”
“They’re controlled by a master clock on the ship’s bridge. I’ll do it just before the show starts.”
“Many of the employees will have watches.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Nick told her. “Now let’s get on with the rehearsal. Remember, girls, we have to move fast on everything. Lots of tricks. We’re doing an hour’s show in thirty minutes.”
Most of the tricks were simple things with cards and flowers and a pair of doves. One involved linking rings, an old favorite with magicians. Nick had known a few and had learned the others from a magic book. His performance wouldn’t win any prizes, but he didn’t need prizes. He only needed to keep things moving for thirty minutes.
They ran through the entire show twice, cuing the lighting and even giving Gloria and the girls some practice at quickly resetting the time on various types of watches. Shortly after five o’clock, Nick was finally satisfied that they were ready. The six of them left the ship and went off to eat at a nearby restaurant. The four assistants had slipped coats over their costumes so they wouldn’t have to change again. Nick soon discovered that Clair was the most outgoing and knowledgeable of the four girls. Just nineteen, she’d worked as a dancer in a show on the Cajan Queen over the Christmas holidays and even knew Abe Roster.
“Actually you could put on almost anything and the audience would be satisfied,” she told them. “They’re on board to eat, drink, and gamble. Mr. Roster puts on the show because it looks good in the ads, and it gives some of the dining-room staff time to change into their casino outfits.”
“Midnight seems awfully early to close,” Nick said.
“He’s trying to get the hours extended, but it’s tough. The whole operation violates the spirit of the gaming laws. He’s in trouble with the authorities and the other gambling ship — the legal one — that operates on the lake. Not to mention Billy Burdeck’s goons, who just want him out of business.”
Nick nodded. “The gambling boss. Someone else mentioned him too. Tell me, Clair, just what is the procedure on board the Cajan Queen when it closes?”
She shrugged, thinking about it. “First they shut down the tables and machines and clear everyone out. They figure about fifteen minutes to empty the ship of customers. Then the money is taken to the cashier’s office to be counted. The employees are all gone in another ten minutes and Abe Roster and his cashiers count up before locking the money in the safe overnight. An armored car picks it up in the morning.” She grinned at him. “Thinking of robbing the place?”
“No, I just do what I’m paid for.”
By six-thirty cars were beginning to arrive in the parking lot. Though they still had ninety minutes before show time, Gloria suggested they start back to the riverboat. Nick left them to ready things for the show while he made his way up to the ship’s bridge. Since the Cajan Queen never left its dock, there was no need to have crew members on the bridge. It was unoccupied now as Nick entered and checked on the clock. He saw at once that it would be a simple task to push it ahead by twenty-nine minutes, changing the other clocks as well.
By the time he heard the slight sound of the opening door behind him, it was too late to hide. He turned and looked into the cold gray eyes of Abe Roster, holding a 9-mm automatic pistol in his hand. “The silent alarm system works quite well on my ship, Mr. Nicholas. Please raise your hands.”
Nick Velvet smiled. “Put away the gun, Abe. I’m about to perform the greatest trick you’ve ever seen. I’m about to save your life.”