The Night Monster_ A Novel of Suspense - James Swain [25]
“What’s that?” I asked.
“There’s a sting going on inside the casino. Our security team is trying to nab a group of cheaters. You’re going to have to wait until they’re done.”
“Any idea how long?”
“Could be awhile. These people have stolen a lot of money from us. We need to catch them before they do it again.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. I’d already wasted most of the day, and every lost hour increased the chance that I’d never find Sara Long. Before I could reply, the steel door swung in and a short man wearing a black turtleneck greeted us.
“Hey, Chief,” the man in the turtleneck said.
“Hey, Harry,” Black Cloud replied. “Any luck catching those cheaters?”
“Not yet.”
Harry ushered us into the room and shut the door. Dark and chilly, the surveillance control room was crammed with sophisticated surveillance equipment that watched the action in the casino. A gang of technicians sat in front of a row of computers, staring intently at the flickering screens.
“Harry, I want you to meet Jack Carpenter and his dog,” Black Cloud said. “Jack is an ex-Broward detective and a friend of the casino. He’s also part Seminole, so watch what you say around him.”
The man in the turtleneck pumped my hand. Beads of sweat dotted his brow, and I could tell that something was bothering him.
“Nice to meet you,” Harry said.
“Same here,” I replied.
“I need to run,” Black Cloud said. “Good luck in your search.”
“What can I do for you?” Harry asked when Black Cloud had left.
“I’m looking for a missing college girl that was in your casino two nights ago,” I replied. “There was a man stalking her. I’m hoping one of your surveillance cameras took a photo of him.”
“We’re dealing with a situation inside the casino right now,” Harry said. “Once we’re done, I’ll do what I can to help you.”
I followed Harry to the back of the room. Five men were huddled around a high-resolution monitor showing a blackjack game. The game consisted of seven players, a dealer wearing a tuxedo, and some bystanders watching the action.
“This is Jack Carpenter and his dog,” Harry said to the group.
None of the men took their eyes from the monitor.
“You’ll go blind doing that,” I said.
One man turned his head, a thin smile on his face. He was in his early sixties and Italian, with salt and pepper hair and a nose that had been broken a few times but hadn’t lost its character. His face was best described as intense.
“You a cop?” the man asked.
“Ex-detective,” I replied. “I used to run the Missing Persons Unit of the Broward sheriff’s department.”
“My name’s Tony Valentine,” the man said. “I’m a consultant. I help casinos catch cheaters. Do you know what grift sense is?”
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s the ability to spot a con or someone who’s a crook. Think you can spot a crook in a crowd of people?”
“Sure,” I replied.
Valentine turned to the others. “Want to give him a shot, guys?”
“Why not?” one of the men replied.
Valentine turned back to me. “Here’s the deal, Jack. The guys on the monitor are a gang of professional cheaters. They’ve been swindling the Hard Rock for a month, and have stolen over three hundred thousand bucks.”
I whistled through my teeth. The seven guys at the table wore baseball caps and colorful T-shirts and were swigging bottles of beer. They looked like a bunch of regular Joes, and did not fit the image that I had of professional cheaters.
“What are they doing?” I asked.
“They’re using paper.”
“What’s that?”
“They marked the casino’s cards, and put them back into play.”
“Can I see them?”
Valentine removed a worn deck of playing cards from his pocket and gave it to me. The deck had a red diamond design along with the Hard Rock’s distinctive logo.
“The casino subjects its dealers to polygraph tests every month,” Valentine said. “One of the dealers got tripped up in a lie, and confessed to taking several dozen decks out of the casino, giving them to the gang to be marked, and slipping them back in.”
“Is this one of the decks?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I examined the cards but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“How are