by Ian Campbell
"I see.., just more of your devious little tricks."
"Darling, how could you? Is that what you think of me?" he asked ingenuously.
"You know damn well it's one of the few worthwhile qualities you have. At least it keeps me guessing."
The second cab took them back to Liverpool Street station.
"We'd better split the luggage now Sam, before we get to the hotel."
"Why?"
"Better odds.., not having all our eggs in one basket."
"Well at least that makes sense."
They checked two of the briefcases into the left-luggage office before going up to their room.
"Is there anything you've got planned for tonight, Tom?"
"I was thinking that in many ways it will might be our last night of complete freedom, darling, so I thought we'd have a shower, then something to eat in the room and then... "
"And then?"
Pascoe smiled, knowingly, "It may be the last time after all."
"I wish you wouldn't talk like that."
"About making love to you or about it being the last time."
"You know damn well."
"From tomorrow, the only thing we can count on is that everyone will be looking for us."
"Well we'd better make the most of tonight." Sam flashed him a wicked smile, full of promise.
"That's exactly what I had in mind." Pascoe muttered under his breath.
Pascoe was woken on the Tuesday morning, a few minutes after 6 a.m. by the alarm call he had requested from the hotel’s reception. He forced himself out of bed, quickly showered and shaved before attempting to rouse Sam.
"Come on.., time to wake up," he said, shaking her shoulder.
"Leave me alone." Sam complained, tucking herself into a fetal position further underneath the bed-clothes. Knowing that she wouldn't stir if left to her own devices, Pascoe flung open the bedroom window, stripped all the bed-clothes off and left her exposed to the draught from the window.
"You're a bastard.., I hate you!" She swung her legs on to the floor, stumbled towards the bathroom, her eyes nearly closed, her right hand entangled in her tousled hair, rubbing her head. The bathroom door slammed shut. Seconds later, Pascoe heard a muffled stream of abuse being directed at him from within the bathroom.
She emerged from the bathroom half an hour later, her mood unchanged. When she had dressed, they breakfasted in silence until well after seven, before she spoke.
"That was a rotten trick this morning, waking me up like that. I haven't forgiven you..."
"I know darling, but we've got to make an early start this morning.., it will be the toughest day so far and from now on, things will become a little more dangerous for both of us."
"All right, what do we have to do?"
"The first thing is to buy some more luggage, to take the rest of the money from the office."
"And where are we going to put all this luggage with the money?"
"That, my darling is what I shall be doing this morning, while you're running the office."
"So, when things start getting dangerous you're going to leave me on my own!"
"Can't be helped.., but don't worry, I'll have you out of there by this afternoon."
"I thought you said mid-day at the latest?" queried Sam.
"I did and if everything runs to plan and you hurry up and finish your breakfast, it still will be mid-day."
"Trust me to get the blame for it..."
"Nobody's blaming you.., it's just the sooner we get under way, the lesser the risk later."
Even so, it was nearly eight o'clock when they left the hotel. They bought the necessary luggage at a shop on the station concourse, each acquiring a pair of nylon bags. On the concourse they sat down on a bench and unwrapped their purchases. The bags served a dual purpose - they could be carried by a very strong handle as a small travelling wardrobe, or by unzipping a compartment on the back of the bag, you could extract a full set of shoulder straps and waist belt and convert the bag to a rucksack. They were made of strong quality nylon and weighed next to nothing. Carefully, Pascoe folded each of three rucksacks in turn and placed them inside the fourth; lessening the bulk they had to carry.
Back at the office, while Sam made coffee, Pascoe emptied the rest of the money out of the safe and into the first of the rucksacks. He left a thousand pounds in the safe for contingency purposes. Each bag's capacity was vastly superior to that of the briefcases and he managed to pack the whole half-million pounds into one bag. He finished by placing a folded empty bag into each of the briefcases.
"All done, darling," he called out, "I'll just finish my coffee and then I'll be on my way."
"You're not running out on me I hope?"
"You still don't trust me? I can't say I blame you, but if it'll make you feel happier, why don't you hold onto the receipts."
"What for?"
"They're for the left luggage office at Liverpool Street Station.., the other two briefcases.., if anything should happen to me, there's £250,000 in them. Take them - just in case."
Contrary to his expectations, Sam took him at his word. He couldn't really blame her for doing so.., in her place, he would probably have done the same." You'd better have the car keys as well.., you remember where I left it?"
"In the station car-park at Bromley South?"
"Good girl."
"One other thing.., try and give me a signal if anything happens while I’m out."
"Like what?"
"Keep the Venetian blinds open unless there's trouble just so that I'll know."
"O.K."
"Right, I'm off then.., I should be back for noon. If I can't make it by then I'll phone and if you hear nothing from me by two o'clock, it will mean you're on your own. By the way, if there's any trouble when I call, use another name for me. Clear?"
She nodded. Pascoe embraced her and held her tight for a few seconds and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
"I've got to go." He picked up a cab in Cornhill and made his way straight to the hotel room where he re-packed the briefcase with cash. He took the opportunity of making a series of telephone calls while he was there. The first call was to the Mark Street employment agency.
"Yes, Sir. Can I help you?"
"I hope so.., I need a couple of temporary secretary/cashiers rather urgently..."
"What do you need them to do, Sir?"
"I run a small banking operation in the city and I will need them to greet and receive clients and take payments from them and issue receipts for the money involved. One cashier and one secretary would suffice."
"I don't see any problem, Sir, could you give me some details?"
“Certainly."
"When would you want them to start, Sir?"
"Right away, I'm afraid. That's the problem.., two of my staff have called in sick, so I need two people to help staff the office until they get back."
"Very good Sir. I'll make the arrangements and get straight back to you." She returned his call a few minutes later.
"Hello, Mr. Guyton... Mark Street Bureau... we will be able to help you, but it will be necessary to call at our offices beforehand. Can you tell me how long you will want our personnel for?"
"One week should suffice."
"We do have a two week minimum Mr. Guyton."
"Very well, two weeks it is."
"Because of the short notice of this engagement and the quality and reliability of the staff you seem to need, our fees will be £300 per person per week and you may add our commission fee of 10% to that figure."
"Certainly. I shall see you shortly."
Pascoe was at the Mark Street office within half an hour. "May I have the names of the ladies concerned, please, so I may notify my office security?"
"Miss Hardcastle and Miss Napier."
"Thank you Ms. Marks. I believe I owe you £1320 if I remember correctly." Pascoe paid cash, using £50's and £20's.
"Thank you Mr. Guyton. I shall make sure the ladies are there f
or one o'clock."
Pascoe left the bureau and stopped at a nearby telephone box. From there he rang Sam.
"Good morning, Dallasbank."
"Good morning, Miss Fairbrother, everything all right?"
"Yes, everything's fine here. We've had another three customers, that's all."
"Good. I take it you're on your own."
"Yes."
"I've engaged a couple of temps from the Mark Street Bureau; their names are Napier and Hardcastle,"
"Sounds like a firm of solicitors to me."
"Yes, they do rather. Never mind. When they arrive, show them the ropes about taking the money and using the files, but don't tell them anything about the banking. Leave that to me when I see them... and don't forget to introduce them to the security men."
"Alright."
I told the agency that we have two staff sick. So if they ask, just stick to that. Before they arrive, pack any money in the safe into the last briefcase... leave about £1000 for contingency purposes. O.K?"
"Fine, where are you going to now?"
"I have an appointment at the bank... something to do with our credit ratings... See you later." Sam heard him chuckle to himself as she hung up the phone.
It was past ten and his next appointment was at ten-thirty in the City. Hurriedly, he took another cab.
"Provincial Bank, Gresham Street, please", he directed the driver.
The bank turned out to be one of the older, more traditional London banks and carried an air of solidity around its portals. It was ideal for Pascoe's purposes, being less than a mile from the Change Alley office. The doorman ushered him inside and he went forward to the enquiry-section of the counter, where he rang the buzzer for attention. A clerk in his late twenties appeared behind the counter screen and asked if he could help.
"I have an appointment with your Mr. Bristow at ten-thirty I believe... my name is Guyton."
"Yes Mr. Guyton, I'll tell him you're here." The clerk disappeared from view and returned after a minute or so.
"Mr. Bristow will see you now, Sir," the clerk informed him, opening the door to the manager's office. "Please make yourself comfortable, Mr. Bristow will be right with you."
Pascoe settle into one of the leather upholstered seats and surveyed the room... it was late nineteenth century in style. The only visible concessions to the twentieth century, were the telephone and computer console atop the leather covered desk. Bristow entered and Pascoe stood to greet him.
"Thank you for seeing me Mr. Bristow, I take it you're familiar with my requirements from the letter I sent you."
"Quite so, Mr. Guyton. I understand that you want only a deposit account with us and that it will be only for the short term."
"Yes, that's quite correct. My staff will be paying cash in on a fairly regular basis over the next two weeks and I would like this to be placed on deposit until transfer."
"Transfer, Mr. Guyton?"
"Yes. Does that present a problem?"
"Not really. Just how do you want this transfer to take place?"
"Twice weekly will be fine for my purposes. It will probably be to another bank, somewhere in Europe, but I don't know where my business is taking me yet."
"And what business would that be, Mr. Guyton?"
"My business, Mr. Bristow."
"Quite so..."
"I do not see why this cannot be done very simply, with your help and co-operation, Mr. Bristow. I have brought the necessary funds with me to open the account... I think £1000 should be sufficient to show my good faith." Pascoe handed him the money. “I expect you have some mandates for me to sign."
"Certainly." Bristow withdrew a file with Guyton's name on it from the drawer in his desk and opened it.
"If you would just like to sign the mandate and the specimen signature card," said Bristow, pushing the various papers across the desk to Pascoe.
"Thank you."
"There's one more thing Mr. Bristow, I shall be writing to you within the week to let you know where I want the funds transferred and I think we had better use a code-phrase to make sure things don't go awry."
"Did you have anything in mind Mr. Guyton?"
"Yes, 'the pen is mightier than the sword'. I will incorporate that phrase on any letter instructing you to the movement of the money.
"I will make a note of it in the file."
"One more thing Mr. Bristow, here is a letter authorizing you to maintain £500 in the account at all times, to cover any extraneous expenses. I take it, that it will also encourage your discretion. Do you have my deposit book ready?"
"Yes, you will find everything in here, that you need," said Bristow, handing him a manila envelope. He left the bank at 10.55... So far he was on schedule.
Pascoe returned to the hotel and retrieved the money from the hotel's Security room. From Liverpool Street, he made his way across the city to the West End where he visited the Curzon Street offices of Bentley's... London's newest and largest safety deposit company.
With the fall in standards in the Swiss banking world... with their safety deposit boxes now open to inspection by various government authorities, the London option of modern vaults was extremely popular, if expensive. The security measures to gain entrance to the building were impressive and when Pascoe had entered the outer doors, he remained trapped for several minutes, while he was scanned electronically for concealed weapons and other metallic objects. Only when the guard at the security console was completely happy, was Pascoe released from his temporary prison into the foyer of the building.
"I have an appointment to see Mr. Smythe." Pascoe announced himself to the imposing doorman.
"What name, Sir."
"Tell him Brown is here for his appointment and please give him this envelope."
The guard complied with Pascoe’s request. Shortly afterwards, a man in his late forties with the bearing of an ex-guards officer about him, appeared in the vestibule.
“Mr. Brown? Please come this way."
Pascoe followed him into an elevator and descended two or three floors into the bowels of the building. Smythe's office was equipped with all the modern accoutrements, including CCTV.
"Please sit down Mr. Brown." Smythe gestured towards a seat. "Now let me come straight to the point... you wish to avail yourself of our services, in spite of the fact that there is a considerable waiting list of two years. You do not look to me like the sort of man who wishes to wait for that length of time and therefore you wish to jump the queue. Am I correct so far?"
"Perfectly."
"For the reasons I have just given, you knew that making an appointment the usual way would avail you nothing, so you sent this note to me with a £50 note inside it to buy a few minutes of my time. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened and you will find that I am a realist in these matters. Accordingly, I have formulated my own way of doing business under these circumstances. Shall I continue?"
"Please do," answered Pascoe.
"There is a usual set of fees for these deposit boxes which you will find... expensive. My price is the same as those... you will have to pay me exactly double to jump the queue. Are you still interested?"
"Certainly. Only I shall need two of them, for a minimum period of five years. Can that be arranged?"
"Certainly Mr. Brown, if you would please give me a couple of minutes, I will see to it now."
Smythe was as good as his word and after a five minute wait, a secretary entered the office bearing a small package and placed it on the desk. Smythe handed Pascoe two keys and two plastic laminated cards.
"You will need the identity card to gain access to the vaults and the key, of course is for the box. You also need the second key, which is supplied by the duty security officer, to open the boxes, but I am sure that you are familiar with such systems."
"Of course."
"There's only one thing to do before I take you down then... the money. You do understand, I will only give you a receipt for half the amou
nt... "
"I understand perfectly, Mr. Smythe, one has to look out for oneself, doesn't one? How much do I owe you?"
"Twenty thousand pounds."
"It was even a little less than Pascoe had expected, but nevertheless a great deal of money.
Pascoe counted out the money. "Fifteen thousand pounds, Mr. Smythe..."
“But I said twenty..."
"You said double the usual rates and they are £750 per box per year, take it or leave it."
Smythe took the money and grudgingly passed the cards and keys to Pascoe.
"Haven't we forgotten something Mr. Smythe?"
"What's that?"
"The receipt."
The vault was like any other, with silver grey deposit boxes lining the walls from floor to ceiling. There were several sizes of box and Pascoe had secured the largest of them .Pascoe and Smythe inserted their keys simultaneously and turned them together. The first of the huge boxes slid out of its recess, then they repeated the operation for the second box. They each took one to the private cubicle set aside for the use of the client and Smythe left him alone with the bags and the briefcase.
"Ring when you're ready, Mr. Brown." As soon as he was alone Pascoe transferred the £400,000 into the security boxes, dividing it as evenly as he could. When he had finished, the bell brought the swift return of the duty officer, who helped him carry the boxes into the main vault.
The trip back to Change Alley was an anti-climax after the morning's events and he arrived a little before 12.30 pm. He glanced up at the office window.., the blinds were open.., all clear!
Chapter 13
Setting up the temps
Pascoe entered the building and took the stairs, two at a time. Half-way up, on the landing, he came across the caretaker cleaning the staircase with mop and bucket.
"Afternoon, Mr. Guyton... "
"Good afternoon Spriggs.., everything all right?" "Everything will be as right as rain after I've finished these steps.., plays hell with my back."
"I'd be obliged if you could come along to my office in about 30 minutes, Mr. Spriggs.., there are one or two things that need taking care of."