Lovell was close and dangerous. Well soon know, wont we? Unexplained wealth, your debt to Bone suddenly squared, Ill soon know. Now, what the fuck happened? He jerked back. You stink. You look like shit. What happened?
There was this woman.
Nurse waited for the explosion. It didnt come. Instead, there was an iciness in Lovell, a glittering patience.
We came back here, Nurse continued. She made me a drink. Im talking about last night. She made me a drink he yawned and the next thing I know its half past two in the afternoon and Ive been ripped off. Wallet, watch, cufflinks
Tell it to the insurance company. She got the stuff, is that what youre trying to tell me?
Nurse nodded.
Show me.
They went to the wardrobe. Nurse had upended the briefcase among the mothballs and his carpet slippers. Lovell picked it up and did what hed done, shook it, put his hand inside it.
Im sorry, Nurse said.
Lovell ignored him. We need to find her. Tell me about last night. Fucking leave anything out and Ill wipe the floor with you.
His voice was hoarse with warning. Hard knots showed at the corners of his jaw. Nurse swallowed and told him: early floor show, a couple of drinks, dinner alone, a few dollars here and there on blackjack and two-up, then this woman, Sonia.
Describe her.
Nurse described her.
And thats all?
What do you mean?
Come on, Nurse. Was she alone? Did she slip anyone the wink? Did anyone see you who can verify your story? Think, for Christs sake.
Well, there was this one incident at the roulette table. Management tried to chuck her out.
Why?
Nurse shrugged. I suppose they thought she was sus.
But not you, eh? Anybody else could tell she looked wrong, but you did your thinking through your prick.
Nurse kept his eyes on the floor. Lovell stood very close to him and the mans long torso seemed redolent of hard, rangy competence. It was like being back in the schoolyard bumping chests with some bullyboy.
What are you going to do?
Me? Find her, what do you think? A, she ripped me off. B, what if she talks?
All the concentration was on the girl. Nurse began to relax.
That was a mistake. Lovell read it in Nurses mind and body and stabbed a forefinger under his jaw like a gun barrel. Not that youre off the hook. Profit and loss, you know what Im talking about? Youre well and truly in the red.
Twenty-one
Jesus Christ, Lovell, youre stretching the relationship.
Come off it, Rice. You get your cut.
Yeah, for turning a blind eye, not for sticking my neck out.
With irritation, Lovell took three fifties from his wallet and shoved them into Rices suitcoat pocket. The detective jerked away as though hed been fouled, fished out the notes and folded them into his wallet.
What if they refuse?
Sweet-talk them. If that doesnt work, suggest youll wander around frisking the patrons.
Theyve got clout. Theyll laugh in my face. Id be busted back to uniform duty in fucking Ipswich if I hassled the patrons.
Lovell was exasperated. Youre the cop. You know how to get cooperation out of people. Look, just tell them some flash types from the States have been working a scam in the casinos out here and you need to see if theyve hit the Monte Carlo yet.
Rice tapped his fingers on the steering wheel of his unmarked Sigma and thought about it. Lovell was in the front seat with him. The car was parked in a side street adjacent to the casino. Three young women flashed by the car on roller blades. They were leggy and deeply tanned, licking ice-creams. Their bikinis were brightly coloured scraps of cloth that might as well not have existed, and both men groaned, collapsing flesh and ice-cream into one serviceable image. Nurse saw them too. He was waiting outside the car, sitting palely fat and selfconscious on a wood and cast-iron municipal bench under a young palm tree.
Lovell nudged Rice. Look at him. What a prick.
Rice looked but it meant nothing to him. Who is he anyway?
He can ID the woman.
I dont know about this, Lovell. How do I explain the pair of you to their security people?
You flash your badge, they wont want to see if weve got badges too. Just say were part of the task force, whatever it is you bastards play at.
Rice looked hard at Lovell. The detective was overweight, neckless, fair-skinned, and he wore a prickly, carroty moustache and metal-frame sunglasses ten years out of date. He shook his head. You two are the least likely cops Ive ever seen.
Lovell looked out at the soft, fat banker and then down at his own long frame, his jeans and boots. Lets just try it, okay? So long as they think its for their own protection and we arent there to hassle the patrons, they wont think about us.
They got out of the car. Lovell motioned to Nurse, who wriggled his backside to the front edge of the bench, placed his hands on his knees, levered himself to his feet. He looked pink and damp and exhausted. Where are we going?
Youll see.
Saturday, five oclock in the afternoon. The Monte Carlo operated twenty-four hours a day but Saturday afternoons and evenings were the most popular times. The three men pushed through to the main room, Rice flashing his badge a couple of times to force a path. The air was heavily scented with perfume, tanning oil and aftershave lotion. The Monte Carlo was small and downmarket. Lovell saw men and women in shorts and running shoes; one woman wore a halter top, one man a pair of thongs. There were plenty of potted plants and marble surfaces in the main gaming room. The carpet was spongy, in shades of stain-concealing red and brown. And no clocks, no windows to the outside, in this twenty-four-hours-a-day world.
Rice led them to a set of steps against a wall at the side of the room. A sign said Private. Up here, he said.
They came to a mirror-glass observation platform that ran around all four sides of the big room. A couple of still, silent men in tuxedos stood looking down at the gambling tables. Other men watched banks of video monitors. A glass door was set in the wall next to the monitors. The sign on it said Security Manager.
Rice knocked and went in, showing his badge. Lovell and Nurse crowded in behind him. Detective Constables White and Brown, Rice said, waving his hand at them. I wonder if you could help us.
Garry Disher
Wyatt — 03 — Death Deal
The security manager had the word Security monogrammed to his shirt. His tie had tiny dice all over it like insects. Pinned to the tie was a nameplate, Wayland. He stood, frowning at them. Depends.
Weve had word that a ring of scam artists is in town. They milked a couple of million off some places in Reno and Las Vegas before they got barred. Now theyre trying it here. We need to look at your tapes. See if we can spot them.
The security manager looked appalled. Which ones? We run eight tapes, continuous twenty-four hour loops.
