by Dan Kelly
“It only has to be blinded for about ten seconds. That will give me enough time to open the lock on the display case, snatch the ruby and activate Norm’s equipment by remote control. The lock will probably be the kind that is usually found on jewelry display cases. Jacob gave me a master key for that type of lock a long time ago because I was always misplacing my keys to the cases in the store.”
“How are you going to blind the camera?”
“A small high intensity beam from a pocket flashlight concealable in the palm of the hand will take care of the camera.”
“What about the placement of this equipment Norm is sending you? Where are you going to put it and how are you going to do that without being seen?”
“It is quite compact and has adhesive on its backside that will stick to just about any surface. It can be situated on a wall out of sight of the camera and to the casual observer appear to be a circuit breaker box or something similarly mundane. It can be concealed in the folds of an overcoat or some other piece of clothing, in a shopping bag, whatever.”
“What if the lock isn’t what you think it is?”
Amos, we can always abort if something unanticipated comes up and we can’t handle it and no one will be the wiser.”
“Felix, even if the camera is dealt with what about the other people viewing the ruby? They’re going to see what you’re doing.”
“Amos, they’re charging a viewing fee of one hundred bucks a head. If people are willing to pay that, they’re not going to want to share the experience with strangers shoving them around to get a better view. Loners, couples and small groups who know each other will be the way the viewings will be conducted. You and I will be allowed to view the stone simultaneously because we’re together. We know each other.”
“Felix, I told you I was through with these schemes of yours. I’ve been politely listening to you, ignoring your use of the word we, so you can use me as a sounding board, but I have no intention of being your accomplice in what you’d like to do.”
“Amos, all you’d have to do is stand between me and the camera when I stick the projector on the wall and aim it at where the ruby has been positioned and shine the flashlight at the camera when I give you the nod. I’d do everything else. If you see anything out of whack and want to call it off, I’ll give you no static. Plus, I’m just being cautious about the placing of the projector on the wall because I don’t know if the security camera has a wide angle lens. If it does, it might be able to capture me putting the unit on the wall. Once it’s in place, no one will notice something’s been added as whoever is monitoring the video screen will be focused on the ruby.”
Amos has run out of questions and has become very quiet. Felix senses Amos’s avarice is beginning to slowly whittle away his fear of something going wrong resulting in his spending the rest of his days behind bars and he’s trying to convince himself that Felix’s plan covers all contingencies. Felix knows when to keep his mouth shut and wait for things to take their course without any intervention from him. This is one of those times.
It takes a couple of hours for Amos’s avarice to get the job done, but it eventually wins the battle and Amos says, “Okay, I’m in. How are you going to get your hands on this projector in time for us to use it?”
“It’ll be here tomorrow morning by eight o’clock. Norm’s shipping it by FEDEX.”
“Pretty damn sure you’d be able to convince me weren’t you?”
“Not really. I thought I had a decent chance if you’d listen to what I had to say, but if you refused to participate I was planning to go it alone.”
“I must be out of my mind, but four million bucks would be an ideal medication for this deterioration in my mental health. Where are we going to get the disguises we’ll need at the trade show? We won’t need any special ID. We can continue to use the ones we’re using now to cross back into Canada.”
“During one of my rides around the city while you were doing your internet research, I came across a theater costume shop that will probably have something we can use. I don’t agree with you on staying with our current ID. I don’t think we should leave anything to chance. I think we should use a third disguise to reenter Canada and return to the States and pictures of us wearing these disguises should be on new forged passports with new aliases.”
“We don’t have time to get new phony passports. The only person we know that can create high quality documents is in the Bronx and he usually needs at least a week to do it.”
“I’ve already talked with Ramon and he’s given me the name and phone number of someone here in Plattsburg that can accommodate us and has called the guy to set things up. We can call him now and see if he can take care of us today.”
“Okay, if we can get the new passports and costumes today, we can leave for Montreal tomorrow right after the FEDEX delivery.”
“There’s no need for us to leave for Montreal until the last day of the trade show when the ruby will be on display. It’s only an hour drive from here. This will give us the rest of today and all day tomorrow to get everything we’ll need and to familiarize ourselves with the projector.”
“Okay, let’s get the ball rolling. Call this guy Ramon told you about and find out if he can see us late this afternoon or sometime this evening. This will give us time to check out the costume shop for the disguises we’ll need.”
“Amos, this won’t be the biggest score we’ve made, but it’ll be right up there with the big ones when it comes to the attention the media will give it when they find out about it. Folks love intrigue. People will be talking about our exploits and wondering about who we really are for decades to come.”
“Felix, I’m not the least bit interested in being famous or infamous. I just want to fade into the sunset and be completely forgotten about. I’ll be a lot safer that way.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Anonymity is a lot safer than notoriety, but I still think being the center of a mystery is kind of unique and as the kids say cool.”
“Being the center of anything generates too much unwanted attention to my way of thinking. I prefer to be way out on the periphery of things. I’m much less likely to be noticed.”
“Okay, okay, I’m getting the message. Lighten up and smile once in a while will you?”
“I’ll smile when I’m enjoying the good life in Chile. You know, Felix, we’re going into this trade show naked. We have nothing to defend ourselves with should things get royally screwed up. The last time we saw our weapons and knockout gas they were in the truck of our rental car in Zurich. Knowing things like this gets in the way of my wanting to smile. I’d feel a lot more comfortable with this plan of yours if we were going in with some weapons for self-preservation.”
“Amos, we have the most powerful weapons there are, our minds. We’ve outsmarted the cops at every turn and there’s no reason to think that we can’t continue to do that. Just concentrate on the task at hand and we’ll soon be millions of dollars richer.”
“You may be right, Felix, but the stock brokers have a saying that I’ve paid close attention to for years. ‘Past performance is no guarantee of future results.’ Cockiness has led to the ruin of a lot of men much smarter than we are.”
“Amos, there’s another saying that I’ve learned to pay close attention to over the years, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ When opportunity presents itself, you’ve got to go for it or wind up like the rest of the losers who play by the establishment’s rules and satisfy themselves with the crumbs from the table of the takers. That’s not for me. Stop your worrying. This will go down without a hitch and once more the cops will be completely baffled.”
Amos isn’t interested in debating with Felix, so he lets the subject drop, but his mind is digesting what he has just heard and he’s drawing some startling conclusions. “Man, Felix has certainly gotten full of himself. He’s becoming more and more like Jacob with every passing day. This has to be my last job, no matter what kind of opportunity presents itself down the road. Too
much cockiness leads to carelessness and Felix is well down that road already. I like money the same as anyone else, but I want to be alive and free to enjoy it. The next time, and the way Felix is thinking these days there will be a next time, my no has to be unequivocal. Damn! I hope I’m not making a big mistake going along with Felix this time.”
Chapter 48
Mickey, Chuck and Vicki a catch a six-thirty flight out of JFK on the evening before what they’re hoping will be their quarry’s day of reckoning, arriving at Trudeau Airport in Montreal an hour and a half later. It is raining pretty hard, but they get lucky and catch a cab right away. Mickey asks the cabbie where the nearest Holiday Inn is, but Vicki insists on the Hilton Hotel in the downtown section of Laval which is only about ten miles from the airport and says she will pick up the tab. Chuck immediately objects saying, “No way, Vicki, this investigation has cost you a small fortune already. Let the NYPD have their way on this.”
“Chuck’s right, Vicki. We might not be able to go first class, but we’ve got so much experience with going second class, we do it with real class. Vicki laughs and then turns to the cab driver, blinks her eye lids in a flirtatious way and says, “If you take us to the Hilton, I’ll give you twenty-five percent of the fare as a tip. This guy’s boss won’t approve that kind of tip. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.”
With a big smile on his face as he pulls away from the curb the cabbie says, “I haven’t a clue where you might find a Holiday Inn in Montreal, but I definitely know where the Hilton is.”
Mickey turns to Chuck and says, “She fights dirty. We never had a chance. A pretty face and money is an unbeatable combination. You’d think I’d have learned that by now and kept my mouth shut. I’ve got to be the slowest learner on the planet.”
They all laugh, even the cabbie, and it eases some of the tension that has been building up in anticipation of what is facing them tomorrow.
It’s now eight-thirty and they’re all starving, so they register for rooms for the night and then head for the hotel restaurant for some nourishment and libation. After their drinks are ordered and served, there are a few minutes of silence as each of them sips and slips into deep thought about what might be in store for them tomorrow. Vicki breaks the silence with, “Well, guys, I’ve got to tell you, this isn’t the most fun dinner date I’ve ever had. I’m usually thinking of what’s going to happen afterwards and wondering what my reaction will be. Tonight I know what going to happen and I think I’m going to be a little nervous and maybe a little scared.”
Mickey says, “Vicki, if you weren’t feeling those things you wouldn’t be normal. Every time I’m in a situation like this, I feel the same way. It’s what keeps me on my toes and alive. Fear can be a good thing if you know how to handle it. Don’t worry, from what I’ve learned about you you’ll handle yourself quite well.”
Chuck asks, “Is everything set with the Montreal police and Mr. Girard?”
Both Mickey and Vicki answer yes at the same time and this gets a little laugh and then Vicki continues with, “The display area is all set up, Mr. Girard has received the security camera and it has been installed in the makeshift plasterboard ceiling which is about twelve feet high so the area won’t appear too closed in, too claustrophobic, but low enough for the camera to do its thing. The ceiling of the building itself is twenty-five or thirty feet high, too high he feared for what we want the camera to pick up clearly. The display area has been cordoned off with plasterboard walls that stop six inches short of the ceiling for ventilation purposes and the walls are painted a light gray on the outside and a darker gray on the inside, the same shade as the ceiling, which provides a nice contrast to the black velvet the ruby will be resting on and the brilliant red of the ruby itself. The lighting is what one would expect to show off such a fine gem. The poster board with a picture of the real ruby on it along with the copy I suggested has arrived and will be placed on an easel situated at the entrance to the viewing area tomorrow morning.
“A small counter has been set up near the entrance for people to pay their viewing fee with cash or plastic and they will receive a ticket to show a trade show employee standing in the doorway to the display, not a security guard, to gain entrance to the viewing area. Mr. Girard emailed me pictures and I am quite impressed with what he’s done and I think you guys will be too. There’s nothing about it that looks suspicious.”
Mickey supplies the details of his yes with, “I spoke with a Lt. Osborne. He’s heading up the Montreal unit assigned to stake out the trade show before we took off from JFK and he told me he will have two men covering every exit to the building as well as the shipping and receiving area, a man in a maintenance room with a direct line of sight to the doorway that is the exit from the viewing area and the trade show employee taking tickets will actually be a Montreal police officer in civilian clothes. In fact, all of his men will be in street clothes so as not to scare our prey off. All of his men will have pictures of our weasels and have communications gear that allows them to talk with each other. He assured me that if anyone lifts that ruby they won’t get very far with it.”
Chuck asks, “Where are the three of us going to be while waiting for the trap to be sprung?”
“Until I spoke with the Lieutenant Osborne earlier I was wondering the same thing. The Lieutenant had an answer for me though. When he was checking the layout of the building he discovered an old unused loft near where the display area is located. He had Mr. Girard clean it up a little and hang some old sheets over the front to prevent anyone from seeing in. He also had him put a table and some chairs in it for us to use while we’re waiting for the show to start. We will be equipped with the same communication gear as his men to use if we see anything or have something to say that will be of help to him or his men.”
Vicki jumps back in with, “It looks like we’ve done everything that can be done to suck these guys in and slap them in jail. My friend has done a marvelous job with the publicity angle. If they’re still in the area they have to be salivating over the opportunity to get their hands on one of the finest gems on the planet. It sure would be nice to get my stolen gems back, but seeing them rot in jail for the rest of their lives will greatly ease the pain of losing them.”
Chuck asks, “How are you doing with the insurance company? You told me the shipments were insured.”
“The courier’s insurance company is claiming that the courier company violated some of the policy’s requirements regarding safety measures pertaining to high value cargo. The courier company is claiming otherwise and is suing their insurance company for the amount of my loss.
“My insurance company, through whom I have contingency coverage in case there’s a problem with the courier’s insurance coverage as to the amount of coverage available or the performance of the courier’s service, is putting my claim with them on hold until the law suit is settled one way or another. In short, I’m not doing very well with the insurance companies involved in my situation. If the law suit goes on too long, I’ll probably have to sue my insurance company for my loss and then they can go after the courier’s insurance company. It’s a big mess. In the future, I think I’m going to limit how much I ship with a particular courier and start splitting shipments amongst different couriers. This will reduce my risk of running into this kind of problem again where there’s such a large loss.
“What about the Paris shipment that was waylaid? Are you getting static on that one too?”
“That claim is still in the works and I’ve not heard a word from anybody. I’m not worried about getting what’s due me. What bugs me is that the insurance companies always put you through the wringer before they honor their part of the insurance contract. I have very good and very tough attorneys. If I have to bring them into the picture, my insurance company is definitely going to regret it. They go for the jugular.”
Mickey responds with, “Well, maybe if we catch these guys we’ll be able to coerce them into giving us information that will le
ad to the recovery of at least some of the stolen gems, including your stones. I promise you this, Vicki. I’ll do my damndest to scare the shit out of these vermin so they’ll give us the information we need to do that.”
“I appreciate that, Mickey, but these people don’t seem to be the type that scares easily. They’re not only thieves, they’re killers.”
“Vicki, when someone is faced with spending the rest of their lives in a top security prison or years on death row filing appeal after appeal, it’s amazing what some people will tell you when they’re threatened with things even worse than that or if they think they can wheel and deal.”