His car was parked by the pub’s entrance. Billy hit the unlock button on his key chain, then stopped. “Before you shot him, did you ask Travis what his beef was?”
“Yeah. Travis didn’t like you critiquing his sleight of hand,” Cory said.
“Pissed him off, huh?”
“In a major way.”
Cheats who did sleight of hand were called mechanics. In Billy’s experience, mechanics had inflated egos and high opinions of themselves. Every cheating move had a bad angle that could be detected by a powerful camera lens. Yet somehow Travis had forgotten this and let Billy’s criticisms get under his skin. Talk about ruining a beautiful thing.
“Call me after you dump the body,” he said.
Twenty-Nine
Mags never knew what to expect when she came onto the set. It was always high drama, courtesy of Rand. He was obsessive about the show and always making changes. One morning, he’d handed Mags a brand-new scene, and she’d retreated to her trailer and spent an hour learning her lines. Another time, Rand ordered the director to reshoot the previous day’s scenes because the lighting was off.
Every day it was something new.
This morning’s surprise was a roulette wheel and table with a green felt layout. The pilot did not have any scenes with roulette, and Mags could only guess what Rand had up his sleeve. Hud stood off to the side with a cameraman. Their director was not happy with the change of scheduling, not that it mattered. Rand was the moneyman, and his word was law.
“Why, good morning, Mags,” Rand said. “You look as stunning as usual.”
Her reflection in the mirror this morning had looked anything but stunning. The show was eating her alive, and she put on her brave face. “Hello, Rand. I want you to meet my daughter, Amber. Amber, this is Rand Waters, our producer.”
Rand’s eyes fell upon Amber. “You look just like your mother, which is to say you’re amazingly beautiful. Do you act? I’d love to fit you into the show.”
“You’ve already corrupted one of us,” Mags scolded him. “Leave my baby alone.”
“Of course,” Rand said. “We have a change in plans. The honchos at CBS are having a programming meeting tomorrow to discuss this fall’s lineup, and I wanted them to see a clip of you doing the chip move you described to me. What’s it called again?”
“The Savannah?”
“The Savannah. That has such a nice ring. Yes, that one.”
“What about the scene that we’re supposed to shoot?”
“It can wait. Now go get your makeup, and we’ll get started.”
“Wait a minute — where are my lines?”
“We’re going to ad-lib it. Think of this like a visual postcard. You can say whatever you want, just be yourself and it will go great.”
“What the hell is a visual postcard?”
“You know what I mean. Make it fun. The guys at CBS love this kind of stuff.”
Rand went to talk to Hud. A hand dropped on Mags’s wrist. It was the makeup lady. She was anxious to get started and make Mags look presentable to the camera.
“Are things always this chaotic?” Amber asked.
“This is nothing,” Mags said.
Twenty minutes later, they shot Rand’s visual postcard.
“Hello, my friends at CBS,” Rand said to the camera. “It’s with great pleasure that I introduce you to television’s next sensation, the beautiful and talented Maggie Flynn.”
The camera panned to show Mags behind the felt layout, flashing a smile.
“In Night and Day, Mags plays a Nevada gaming agent who catches cheats by day, then at night robs casinos being run by ruthless owners and donates the loot to charity,” Rand said. “Think of it as Robin Hood takes on Sin City. To prepare for her role, Mags has taught herself scams being used to cheat the casinos. She’d like to share one with you now.”
“Thank you, Rand, and hello everyone,” Mags said, turning on the charm. “The scam I’m about to show you is called the Savannah and has cost Las Vegas’s roulette tables millions of dollars. It may be the cleverest swindle ever invented.”
She pointed at the cloth-covered betting area. “This is called the layout, and it’s here that the swindle takes place. The roulette wheel has thirty-six numbers, a zero, and a double zero. There are two types of bets a player can make: inside bets and outside bets. Inside bets are wagers a player can make on a number coming up, and they have huge payouts. Outside bets offer smaller payouts but have better odds. A player can bet red or black, odd or even, high or low. These bets pay even money. The Savannah is done with an outside bet. Here’s how it works. Rand is going to be our croupier. Ready when you are, my friend.”
Rand edged up to the wheel. “Place your bets.”
Mags removed three red chips from her purse. Red chips were worth five dollars apiece. She placed the three chips in an uneven stack on the red box on the layout.
“Let it rip,” Mags said.
Rand spun the wheel and sent the tiny white ball spinning in the opposite direction. The ball came to rest on number sixteen, which was red. Mags clapped her hands.
“Look at that! I just won five thousand dollars!”
Rand acted puzzled. “But you only bet fifteen dollars.”
“No, I didn’t. See for yourself.”
Rand spread the three chips on the red box. To his surprise, the bottom chip of the stack was a brown five-thousand-dollar chip. “How did that get there?”
“I put it there. You just didn’t see it.” Mags picked up the three chips and put them in a stack. “By pushing the top chip forward, the bottom chip is hidden from view.”
“So it was always there, just out of sight.”
“That’s right. Now, I know what you’re wondering. What happens if the little ball lands on a black number, and I lose the bet? That’s where the Savannah happens. Roll the wheel again and I’ll show you.”
Rand resumed his croupier role. “Place your bets, please.”
Mags again placed the three chips in an uneven stack on the red box. Rand spun the wheel and sent the little white ball in motion. This time, the ball landed on number thirty-three, which was black, a loser. Mags leaned forward and craned her neck to see. As she did, her hands briefly brushed her bet. So slight was her movement that it was nearly imperceptible.
“Damn!” she exclaimed. “I just lost fifteen dollars.”
“No, you didn’t,” Rand said, completely in the dark. “You lost five grand.”
“Afraid not. Have a look.”
Rand spread the three chips in the red box. His face registered surprise. The bottom chip had magically turned red. “Where did the five-thousand-dollar chip go?”
“It’s right here in my hot little hand.”
Mags brought her left hand up to the camera and opened her fingers. Two red chips and one brown chip were palmed at the base of her fingers. Rand’s mouth dropped open. So did the director’s. And so did Amber’s. She’d fooled them all.
“Every good scam has a clever angle that makes it work,” she explained. “The Savannah is such a scam. Casino employees are trained to watch winning bets in roulette. As a result, they don’t see the losing bet getting switched. It’s the perfect swindle.”
Rand let out a laugh, hamming it up. “And there you have it. The perfect con, delivered by the incredibly talented Maggie Flynn, star of Night and Day. We look forward to delivering a finished pilot to you in the next few weeks. Thanks for your time.”
“That’s a cut,” Hud said. “Man, did that look sweet.”
“Show me,” Rand said.
Rand went around the table and stood with their director. Together they stared at the tiny screen on the back of the camera and watched Mags switch the stack of chips.