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CHAPTER thirteen

An Interesting Evening

The dealer now at the centre blackjack table was Tiffany Case.

‘So that’s her job at the Tiara,’ thought Bond. All the blackjack dealers at the tables were pretty women. They all wore the same smart Western clothes - short, grey skirt with a wide, black belt, a grey shirt and a black handkerchief round the neck, a grey cowboy hat and black boots.

‘So Tiffany is going to help me to win five thousand dollars,’ Bond thought. He sat down opposite her.

‘Hi,’ she said, smiling politely.

Bond put ten one hundred-dollar notes across the betting line on the table. One of the two tough-looking men walked across and stood next to Tiffany. He was called a ‘pit-boss’.

‘Maybe this man would like new cards,’ the man said, looking at Bond. He gave Tiffany a new pack of cards, then he moved away.

Tiffany shuffled the new cards quickly, then ‘cut’ them - divided them into two parts - and put them flat on the table. But Bond saw that the two halves were not quite the same. When she shuffled them again, she was going to put the cards back into the same place. She put them in front of Bond to cut. He watched her shuffle them again, cleverly moving the cards just where she needed them. And so, the ‘new’ pack of cards was ‘fixed’.

She dealt him two cards, then gave two to herself. Bond looked at his two cards. A jack and a ten. He looked up at the girl and shook his head. He didn’t want another card. She turned her cards over. They added up to sixteen. She took another card - a king. Now the three cards added up to more than twenty-one. She had ‘busted’. She had silver dollars and counters for twenty dollars next to her. But the pit-boss moved quickly to her side with a thin, thousand-dollar plaque. She pushed it across to Bond.

Bond bet again. She dealt him two more cards. Seventeen. Again, he shook his head. She had twelve, and took two more cards - a three and a nine. ‘Busted’ again. And the pit-boss was there with another thousand-dollar plaque. With his next bet, Bond got cards that added up to nineteen. She turned over a ten and a seven and had to ‘stand’. Another thousand-dollar plaque came to Bond.

More people were coming into the gambling room now. Soon they were going to be round the tables. This was his last bet. After this he was supposed to get up from the table and leave her. She dealt him two cards and he picked them up. Twenty. And she picked up two tens. Bond smiled. Both took another card and busted. She quickly dealt him two more cards, just as three more players, came to the table. He had nineteen and she had sixteen. And that was the end. Bond took his last thousand-dollar plaque.

He got up from the table and looked across at the girl. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘You deal beautifully.’

Tiffany Case looked hard at Bond. ‘You’re welcome,’ she said.

Bond turned and walked away to the bar. So now he had his five thousand dollars. He remembered what Shady Tree had told him, ‘Don’t bet any more.’ Bond smiled, then finished his drink and walked across the room to the nearest roulette table.

‘Five thousand dollars on Red,’ he told the croupier.

The croupier looked closely at him, then put the five thousand-dollar plaques onto the Red. Bond saw him push a button under the table with his knee. A moment later, the pit-boss walked across to the table. At the same time, the croupier turned the wheel.

Bond lit a cigarette. He had a wonderful feeling of freedom. Nobody was going to tell him what to do any more. And he knew that he was going to win.

The wheel turned more slowly and the little ball fell into its red place.

‘Thirty-six - Red,’ said the croupier.

He pulled in some losing counters and pushed some money across to the winning players. Then he took a large, thin, five thousand-dollar plaque and put it next to Bond.

‘Put it on Black,’ said Bond.

Now several more people came to watch. Bond felt their eyes on him, but he looked across the table to the pit-boss. The man looked a little nervous.

Bond smiled at him as the wheel turned.

‘Seventeen - Black,’ said the croupier.

There were noises of excitement from the watching crowd. They watched the croupier push the big plaque in front of Bond.

Now there was another man standing next to the pit-boss. He was a big square-shaped man, and he was looking at Bond with hard, bright eyes. It was Seraffimo Spang. He looked a little like his brother in London.

‘Now for the last throw,’ thought Bond. ‘And then I’m leaving here with twenty thousand dollars of Spang money.’ He looked across at his employer. Spang’s eyes were still watching him.

‘Red,’ said Bond. He gave the five thousand-dollar plaque to the croupier.

The wheel turned. The little ball fell into its place.

‘Five - Red,’ said the croupier. And there were more noises of excitement from the people around the table.

‘I’ll take my money,’ said Bond. ‘Thanks.’

Bond put the four plaques in his pocket and moved through the crowd. He walked across to the cashier’s desk. ‘Three notes of five thousand and five of ones,’ he said to the man. The cashier took Bond’s four plaques and gave him the money.

Bond went to the hotel desk and asked for an air mail envelope. Then he moved to a writing-desk next to the wall. He put the three large notes in the envelope and wrote on the front: The Managing Director

Universal Export

Regents Park

London, NW1

England.

Then he bought stamps at the desk and put the envelope into the US mailbox. He hoped it would be safe. He looked at his watch. Five minutes to midnight. He looked round the room for the last time. There was a new dealer at Tiffany Case’s table, and Mr Spang was not there anymore.

Bond walked back to his room and locked the door. It had been an interesting evening.