Carat Capers

by Dan Kelly

  Chuck butts in with, “Hey, let’s talk about something else, like food for example. I’m wasting away to nothing here. Let’s order.”

  They call the waitress over and Chuck proves he is starving by ordering enough food to feed two NFL linemen with some left over for the ground crew. The rest of the evening is spent over small talk and the food which is quite delicious. By ten o’clock, they are ready for some sleep as they want to be fully awake and alert for the day that lays ahead, hopefully a gratifying one.

  When Chuck gets to his room, he turns on the TV to catch the news and the commercial for the trade show is running. “Boy, Vicki’s friend sure knows what she’s doing. If I was a thief, I’d have a go at that ruby.”

  As he’s getting out of his clothes and ready to hit the sack, his cell phone rings. “Who would be calling me at this time of night? It’s got to be a wrong number, some drunk who’s misdialed.”

  At first he isn’t going to answer it, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he finds himself saying hello. It’s his Paris office calling with some interesting news. Pierre Lavelle just got a call from someone telling him that there was a good chance that he might have an extraordinary opportunity to act as a broker on the sale of an unusually rare ruby. The person calling wanted to know if he would be interested and the answer was he would be if the commission was attractive. The caller said he would be in touch and hung up. The entire call lasted less than fifteen seconds and no names were used. After thanking his man for the heads up, Chuck calls Mickey and gives him the news. “It looks like the rats are going to take the bait.”

  “It sure does. I’m not going to get a wink of sleep now. I’ll be up all night thinking about how much I’m going to enjoy seeing them hauled away in cuffs and worrying about something unforeseen going terribly wrong.”

  “Hey, it’s better than being up all night with indigestion.”

  “Thanks for the prompt heads up, Chuck. I can’t think of a better way to end my day.”

  “You’re welcome, Mickey. I’ll give Vicki a ring and share the good news with her too.”

  When he calls Vicki and gives her the news, one would think she won the lottery she gets so excited. “Insomnia here I come. I’ll never get to sleep now thinking about the possibility of getting some of my stones back from these creeps.”

  “Mickey’s facing the same problem, but he’ll be spending the night not only relishing the moment when the cuffs are slapped on these guys, but worrying about something going wrong. Good night, Vicki.”

  Chuck ends the call, collapses into bed and is out like a light in seconds. Nothing can keep Ferguson awake if he wants to sleep and he has a cadre of grammar school and high school teachers who will attest to that. Chuck was a very bright kid growing up and got good grades, but he wasn’t the most attentive student to come down the pike and when he was tired or got bored he often nodded off in class, much to the chagrin of his parents who had to deal with the complaints of his teachers.

  Chapter 49

  At seven-thirty the next morning the three of them are sitting in one of the hotel’s cafes eating breakfast and brimming with confidence that the people they’ve been after for months are finally going to pay for their crimes.

  Chuck asks Mickey, “Did you clue in the Lieutenant about the phone call Pierre Lavelle received yesterday?”

  “Not yet. I’ll touch base with him when we get to the trade show. Besides, there’s too much exuberance at this table already. I don’t like to ruin anyone’s day, but as Yogi Berra would probably say, ‘The show ain’t over until it’s over.’ or ‘Let’s not count our chickens before we can see ‘em.’”

  Vicki frowns and says, “Come on, Mickey, lighten up. Admit it. There’s a good chance these guys are going to be nailed today. Why shouldn’t we feel good about that?”

  “Because these guys are as slippery as eels and luckier than all of the lottery winners put together. They’ve left us in the dust before and I won’t feel completely comfortable with celebrating until they’re behind bars.”

  Chuck says, “Mickey, we’ve covered every contingency. If these guys take the bait, and that appears likely, the only dust around them will be the dust in their cells. They’ll be history.”

  You’re probably right, Chuck, but until that’s a fait accompli I’ll continue to fret over one of Murphy’s laws, ‘If anything can go wrong, it probably will.’”

  With a damper having been put over their jubilant mood, they all resume eating their breakfasts, but somehow it didn’t taste as good as it did when they first dug in.

  They are just finishing up with their coffee when they have a visitor which causes Mickey to choke on his. Standing over them is none other than Captain Clancy. When he can speak Mickey asks, “Sir, how badly did you have to main the Chief to persuade him to let you come here today?”

  “He doesn’t know I’m here yet, but I assume he’ll know in a few minutes when I don’t show up for our precinct meeting and my secretary notifies him of my whereabouts. He’ll probably be royally pissed, but there’s no way in hell I was going to sit in my office in New York when there’s a good chance that the thorn that has been in my backside for moths is about to be removed in Montreal. I just had to be here for that auspicious occasion and laugh in their damned faces.”

  “Well, have a seat, Captain, and I’ll clue you in on the latest development in our little real life drama.”

  After hearing what Mickey has to say he smiles and says, “Well, folks, it looks like we’re finally being dealt a winning hand. All we can do now is hope nothing comes along to screw things up.”

  Vicki comments, “What is it with you cops? Is pessimism a requirement for the job?”

  Chuck explains her comment and then they all head out to grab a cab to take them to the trade show.

  Per Mr. Girard’s instructions, when they arrive they enter through a seldom used door to some offices in the back of the building that Mr. Girard has left unlocked for them. His office is one of those located here, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Mickey says, “The doors open to the show at ten o’clock and it’s quarter to now. He’s probably out on the exhibition floor doing some last minute checking on things.”

  Vicki walks them out to the display area so they can get a good look at it and then leads them to the loft so they can get settled in. When they get there, Lt. Osborne is waiting for them. “Good morning everyone.” Pointing to a satchel at one end of the table he says, “That holds the communication gear I told you about Lieutenant.” Pointing to a small monitor and a keyboard at the other end of the table he says, “And that receives input from the camera in the display area. You’ll be able to see everyone that goes in to view the ruby and observe everything they do while in there. Using the keyboard, you’ll be able to zoom in or out to get a better view of what you’re looking at. All of my men are now in position and I will be a floater roaming around the exhibition area. If any of you, see or hear anything that you think will be helpful to me or my men, don’t hesitate to use this communication gear.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant. I’d like to introduce you to my boss, Captain Clancy. He’ll be observing along with us.”

  “Well, Captain, let’s hope you like what you see.”

  “And this is Vicki Valance who has been working with us on a consulting basis because of her knowledge of the precious gem market and she is also one of the victims of these parasites.”

  “It’s nice to meet you Ms. Valance. It appears we have more than a decent chance of squashing these bugs for good today.”

  “And this is Chuck Ferguson who’s a PI and has played a major role in our investigation of all these gem robberies.”

  “It’s nice to meet you as well Mr. Ferguson.”

  “Lieutenant Osborne, something occurred last night that has us thinking that these guys are definitely planning to have a go at the ruby.” Mickey tells him about the brief phone call made to Pierre Lavelle and finishes up with, “These guys are t
ricky bastards and even though this is a well- planned snare, we can’t assume this is a slam dunk. We’ve got to be looking for the slightest thing out of sink or we could very well wind up looking like a bunch of amateurs.”

  “Message received loud and clear, Lieutenant. My men have been briefed on who they’re dealing with, they have pictures of them and are primed for action. If these guys come to play, they’re going to lose the game big time.”

  Lieutenant Osborne heads for the exhibition floor and a few minutes later Mr. Girard shows up. “I’m sorry I wasn’t in my office like I said I would be when you arrived. There was some last minute squabbling between two of the exhibitors about their assigned floor locations and they were threatening to pull out of the show early. It always amazes me when grownups act like little kids. Luckily, I was able to resolve their grievances, but it took me a good twenty minutes to defuse their tempers and find a solution acceptable to both parties. Is everything satisfactory?”

  Vicki answers with, “Everything is perfect, Mr. Girard. You’ve done a marvelous job in making the display area an enticing one.”

  Mickey says, “Mr. Girard, from here on in don’t worry about what might go down in the display area. Just do your usual thing, including what you might do in the display area if it was legit. If you’re acting normal, there will be no reason for them to get suspicious of your behavior.”

  “It’s hard to act normal when you’re shaking in your boots.”

  Mickey smiles and tries to alleviate Mr. Girard’s concerns by saying, “You’ll fool them, sir. You’ve already done a top notch job.”

  Girard leaves and Mickey whispers, “I never realized I was such a good liar. If the doodoo hits the fan, that guy is going to have a coronary.”

  Chuck chimes in with, “As granny used to say, ‘Hope for the best and toss the rest.’”

  Smiling, Vicki shakes her head and says, I’ll bet your granny never said that. You just made that up. You probably never had a granny.”

  “That’s how much you know smarty pants. I had a granny apple once and I even had a granny knot when I was in the service and my house growing up had granny squares in every room but the bathroom.”

  Despite the seriousness of the situation they’re in, Mickey can’t help joining in the camaraderie by saying, “You two need help. The pressure is getting to you.”

  Laughing, Chuck and Vicki take seats at the table and start checking out the communication gear. Captain Clancy mumbles, “Did I somehow take a wrong turn and wind up in a nuthouse?”

  This gets them all laughing and then they settle down to business as the doors to the trade show are opened.

  Chapter 50

  At ten thirty in the morning of the last day of the trade show, Felix and Amos stroll into the trade show with a small crowd of other attendees. They were able to find acceptable disguises at the theater costume store and Ramon’s contact came through with flying colors on creating their new passports in time for them to cross the border this morning without incident. They were thrilled with his work even though it cost them double what Ramon would have charged them because he had to work long hours to meet their deadline.

  All in all, they’re feeling pretty good about things as they’ve managed to arrange through a friend of theirs to take the assets they want to unload off their hands at bargain prices and he’ll take the risk of turning a profit on his investment. This friend is also going to arrange for the transfer of the things they want to keep into storage under an assumed name until they decide what they want to do with them. Their applications for visas have been filed and hopefully it won’t be long before they’re approved. All of their preparations should be completed by the end of the year.

  As they roam through the exhibits, separately not together, getting familiar with the layout of the exhibitions and looking for the location of the ruby, it quickly becomes apparent to them that not all of the entrances/exits are being used. Upon closer examination, these doors are locked and are rigged to set off an alarm if opened. The security cameras probably don’t cover these areas very well and there are no security guards posted at them.

  Unfortunately, they are the closest exits to the parking lot, but since they don’t have Jacob’s equipment or his knowledge about locks they have to be ruled out as escape routes if something should go wrong. It doesn’t take them long to find where the ruby is on display as there are signs all over the exhibition floor directing people to it.

  They don’t stop at the display, but continue walking by it, taking in everything about and around it without being obvious. Thirty minutes after entering the building they are back outside sitting in their car discussing what they have observed. Amos says, “This damn wig is hot, this wool sweater is itching me like a case of poison ivy and these glasses are pinching my nose like a vise. The outfit I was wearing to cross into Canada was a lot more comfortable. Let’s drive to another section of the parking lot to change out of these disguises just in case there are security cameras focused on us here.”

  “I think we should wear these disguises and save the others for our escape. I’m having second thoughts about walking out of the trade show dressed as us. I don’t want to give anybody a chance to ID the real us.”

  “Okay, I guess I can live with the discomfort a little longer.”

  Felix moves the car behind a Caddy Escalade parked further from the entrance to the front of the building where they continue their discussion of what they saw inside.

  Felix says, “I saw nothing that discourages me from going ahead with our plan. I say let’s do it.”

  Amos says, “I noticed something that surprised me, but I don’t know if it means anything. There are security guards everywhere you look but none near the ruby viewing area. You’d think that gem would be heavily guarded. Maybe the promoter thinks he has sufficient security scattered around to address any situation that might develop or maybe he’s just stupid. There might be a security guard inside the viewing area, but it would be kind of crowded if a family or some other group of people went in to view it all at once. Maybe it’s nothing and then again maybe it’s something we should be concerned about. I don’t know what to think.”

  “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. The hype on the trade show says the promoter has been doing these kinds of shows for more than twenty years. He must know what he’s doing and probably wants to create an atmosphere where the viewers can enjoy the experience without any alarming influences that would be present with an armed guard hovering around the area.”

  “You’re probably right. When do you want to do it?”

  “No time like the present. The crowd has grown considerably since we went in. This will provide a lot of distraction for the security guards and that is a big plus for us.”

  When they go back inside the building and approach the viewing area, they are shocked to see a long line of people waiting to get a close up look at the famous ruby. Amos says, “I wonder how long we’ll have to wait.”

  Felix goes over to the girl at the counter and asks her how long the viewers have to look at the ruby and is told two minutes per person. If a family of five goes in, they will have ten minutes to view the ruby.

  Counting the number of people ahead of them, they figure their wait is going to be about 45 minutes. Amos whispers, “I don’t like standing out in the open for that amount of time where everyone can check us out, even if we are wearing disguises. I think we should try again later. Maybe the line will be shorter then.”

  Felix agrees and they drift off to a snack concession from which they have a clear view of the people waiting in line and buy some coffee and doughnuts to give them something to do while waiting for the line to dwindle.

  Chapter 51

  Mickey and company have been keeping an eye on things from the loft for over two hours now and have seen nothing to arouse their suspicions. Chuck says to Vicki, “Look at the length of that line waiting to get a gander at that ruby. Your friend at that ad agen
cy sure did a whale of a job getting the word out.”