That Will Do Nicely (13 page)

"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 amount... "

"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!

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."

"Right you are
Sir. I'll be there.., half an hour...”

"Yes, half an hour
.., I'll make it worth your while..."

Pascoe entered the office passing two ladies on the way. Sam was waiting for him.

"Any problems Miss Fairbrother?" he asked.

"None at all
Sir," she replied, remaining overly formal while the door was open." The ladies from the bureau arrived twenty minutes ago and I gave them coffee and said you'd speak to them when you arrived."

"Did we have any clients this morning?"

"Seven in all and we took about £10,000 from each of them."

"Right, let's put the rest of the money into the briefcase and the file-cards of those seven clients from this morning."

Sam opened the safe and passed out the money.

"We'd better leave £ 1,000 there just in case." Added Pascoe, handing some of the money back." Is the other briefcase empty?"

"I'll look."

Satisfied that the second case contained no incriminating evidence, Pascoe set it down at the right-hand side of the desk." Fine. We'll leave that behind for the girls to use for the banking. I'll just grab myself a coffee and then you had better wheel them in. Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes, I've checked everything."

"Good. Leave the talking to me. If we have any callers in the meantime, you had better deal with them in the outer office. O.K?"

"Of course." Sam invited the 'temps' into the inner office and introduced them to Pascoe.

"Miss Napier and Mrs. Hardcastle 
Sir."

"Please come in ladies and sit down."

"I am afraid our acquaintanceship will be short, as both Miss Fairbrother and I are booked on the Inter-City to Edinburgh at two o'clock, so I must be brief. Let me run through things for you. First... we need you here because our cashier has been taken ill and we have an important business appointment in Scotland. Our business in this country is on behalf of the 'Second National City Bank of Dallas'. We have been running a confidential pre-launch of our bank's travelers’ cheques in London, to prepare the ground for the full launch of our services later this year. We are currently at the end of our introductory period and will need to maintain this office only until the middle of next week, when our main office will take over. During that time we expect some 20 clients to call and to enable them to do so, we wish you to keep the office open from nine 'til six, including the weekend."

"Excuse me,
Sir," said the elder of the two women, "But the weekend wasn't mentioned to us at the agency."

"Possibly not, but if you can cover that time as well, we shall make it worth your while
... say a bonus of £100 each!" Both women smiled.

"The work involves accepting cash from our clients, paying them a commission fee and banking the balance. I understand Miss Fairbrother has already been through that with you?"

"Yes, but how do we know what amounts we should receive and what amounts we should pay out?" asked Miss Napier.

"Everything, Miss Napier, is marked on the client's file card." Pascoe picked one out at random and indicated the figures on the back of the card." Here is the initial amount of dollar
travelers’ cheques issued," he continued. "Now, at the end of the day, we expect either to receive the total amount of those dollars converted into sterling at $1.40 to the pound, or all the cheques back, or more likely, some cheques and some sterling. We are paying to each client, 15% of the total value of dollar cheques exchanged - no more and no less. Which of you ladies is the cashier?" Mrs. Hardcastle raised her hand.

"I'm sure Mrs. Hardcastle, that the figures involved pose no problems?" Pascoe took her silent nod as tacit agreement. "If they pay in lesser amounts, you will of course pay their commission on a pro-rata basis. So, to sum up, the amount a client should pay in will be the amount of dollars exchanged at $1.40 to the pound, less
15% commission, plus any of the cheques not cashed. Each day at three o'clock, one of you will be driven by a guard to the Provincial Bank in Gresham Street, to pay in any monies you may have taken. The paying-in book and everything else is here for you." Pascoe opened his own brief-case and gave them the documents. "Now are there any questions?" There were none. "Then I shall continue with the rest of your duties. We require one of you to be registered as a key holder of these premises, so that should we have any problems with the alarm system, someone will be able to let the police into the office. Any volunteers?"

"Yes, I don't mind doing that," said Mrs. Hardcastle.

"Good. If you would like to write your name and address on this note-pad, I'll notify the security room." Pascoe provided the woman with pen and pad.

"Miss Napier, if you would like to come with me, I'll show you the entry route to the office and how to set the alarm."

The younger woman followed Pascoe into the outer office. He had just finished explaining the system to her when the buzzer sounded in the inner office and Mrs. Hardcastle, familiar with the intercom equipment, fielded the call.

"There is a Mr. Spriggs to see you Mr. Guyton."

"Please send him in. I am expecting him."

"Mr. Spriggs is our janitor." Pascoe explained to the newcomers." If you have any problems you'll find his office on the ground floor. Thank you for coming Mr. Spriggs, I just wanted you to meet the ladies who'll be holding the fort while we are away. "Pascoe opened the door and let Spriggs out.

"Now ladies, there remains only one thing more before we leave you and that concerns the loss of a client's travelers cheques. You will find the appropriate notes in the booklet in the drawer of the desk, but all we require of you is to take note of the numbers of the cheques lost and to remind the client to report the event to the police. The commission to be paid in the case of lost cheques is only calculated on the money paid in to us, not on the whole amount issued. Now, if you are sure you can manage, we must leave for the station. Thank you ladies. Goodbye. There's a briefcase by the desk you can use for banking and you'll find petty-cash in the safe which we run on the imprest system. That reminds me, I haven't given you the combination for the safe." Pascoe hurriedly wrote the number down on the desk-pad, picked up the briefcase with the money in it and left the office.

"We'll ring you in a day or so, just in case
... ",he called out as he passed through the door.

"Head for Cornhill Sam. I'll catch you up," said Pascoe, darting down the corridor in search of Spriggs." Just a quick word Mr. Spriggs
. Look after the girls and make sure they're all right." He didn't give Spriggs time to reply, but pressed a £20 note into his hand. It was sufficient explanation. He caught up with Sam at the junction with Leadenhall Street, where they grabbed the first free cab.

"Li
verpool Street Station please." Pascoe instructed the driver. He took Sam's hand and held it tight. Neither of them dared to speak. Within minutes of their arrival they had collected their baggage from the hotel and were back on the concourse.

"What now?" d
emanded Sam.

"As if you needed to ask. T
he left luggage office. I hope you've got your receipts."

He left Sam to collect the luggage and wandered across to the bookstall. A little later, he noticed that Sam was having trouble with the left-luggage clerk and rejoined her at the baggage counter.

"Problems darling?"

"You could say that. This gentleman says I should have picked the bags up yesterday and that I have to pay for an extra day's storage."

"And just how much is that?"

"That's an extra £1.60 on each case ma'am."

"So what's the problem?" asked Pascoe.

"I haven't got any cash on me
..."Pascoe, thinking of the amount of money contained in each of the bags, couldn't help himself from laughing at the irony of the situation.

"What's so funny?"

"You are darling.., not having any money on you. Here you are, keep the change," said Pascoe handing a fiver to the clerk. He took the two heavier cases from the clerk and gave the third to Sam. He hadn't considered having to manage the luggage from the hotel as well as the money they’d brought from the office and had forgotten how heavy the money weighed. In the end, he had to summon a porter with a trolley to help them out as far as the taxi rank.

"Where do you fancy darling, the Savoy, Ritz or the Dorchester?"

"If you'd really like me to choose, how about the Grosvenor?"

"I think that might prove a bit rich for my blood. Driver, what sort of a day have you had?"

"Fair to middlin' squire."

"Would a trip to Victoria brighten it up?"

"Wouldn't hurt."

"Off we go then."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Sam.

"Wait and see darling
.., wait and see."

"But I've been patient all day."

Pascoe moved close to her and whispered in her ear, "Can I interest you in a dirty couple of days in Paris."

"Do I get to buy some clothes?"

"Of course you can, but for what I have in mind, you won't need them much." His reward was a sharp elbow in the ribs.

About the time they were arriving at Victoria, a Thomas Cook clerk at the Dover
Hover Port office received a telephone call from his head office, referring to an enquiry made the previous day about the 'Dallasbank' cheques.

"Hello, I spoke to someone earlier this morning about the Dallasbank che
ques," said the voice from head office.

"Y
es, that's right. What's new?" replied the clerk.

"No news really. It just took a little while to find out anything about them, but we filed a circular on them two or three weeks ago."

"Then they were stolen."

"Good God, no! The circular informed us of the major launch of their
travelers’ cheques onto the European market later this year. Evidently, they were releasing a few of them beforehand to familiarize everyone with them. They've organized it so that their cheques are handled with American Express cheques.., they run on the same sort of codes. However, you were right to check; better safe than sorry."

The clerk informed his colleagues that the Dallasbank che
ques were all right and the news spread quickly through the office. For the next few minutes it was the sole topic of conversation.

"What did I tell you," commented the manager, back from holiday. His words were met with hoots of derision from the staff as everyone remembered his instructions at the time.

At Victoria station, Sam and Pascoe used the half-hour they had to wait before the first train to Bromley South to change their appearance. They split the luggage between them each taking one of the heavy briefcases containing the money as well as the luggage.

The facilities at Victoria Station were known locally as the "Superloos". They had been improved in the last few years and Pascoe remembered reading that the Gent's contained a barber's shop which he made a beeline for and had his beard removed. Next, in the privacy of one of the cubicles, he changed from his city suit into sweater and slacks. Before he left, he unfolded the rucksack and placed the briefcase and his other clothes in it. By using it as a rucksack proper, it left both hands free to carry the rest of his luggage.

He had little trouble locating Sam at the nearby bookstall, as she was easily the most attractive woman there. Her three piece pin-stripe suit had disappeared. She had retained just the skirt and blouse of the outfit and had unbuttoned her blouse just enough to be interesting. The splendid curve of her bosom was emphasized by a bright red silk scarf knotted about her throat which fell onto her breast. She had also unpinned her hair and it cascaded about her shoulders. For a finishing touch, she wore her glasses pushed up onto her forehead.

"I thought it was us women who took the time to change," she commented as Pascoe arrived.

"Well, I did have a little more to take off than you did darling. Shall we go?" Sam couldn't take her eyes off Pascoe's naked face, unsure whether she preferred him with or without his beard. "For God's sake say something darling.., I've been patient long enough."

Pascoe made sure that there was no-one within earshot before replying.

"We've done it darling. We've done it and we're clean away," excitement and elation were written all over his face.