Casino Capers

By Dan Kelly

Casino Capers is a novel of fascinating intrigue with suspense, mystery, danger, humor, surprise, revenge and a touch of romance interestingly interwoven throughout. In the opulent surroundings of two of the most impressive casinos in the United States, one land based and one on a riverboat, Jacob “Red” Borman and Carl “The Chameleon” Carducci draw on all of their resources and ingenuity to bring the other to ruin. Red Borman runs casinos and the Chameleon runs from them after he has cheated them out of or robbed them of embarrassing amounts of money.

Adding to Red’s problems is the persistent vindictive harassment by the gaming commissioner, Curtis Crowley, whose irascible son Red had arrested for picking a fight with one of the black jack dealers at the Palladian Palace and who was subsequently barred by Red from the casino. The commissioner would like nothing better than to see Red fall into the deepest chasm of disrepute as a casino manager and is always looking for opportunities to bring this about.

Red understands where Crowley is coming from, but he doesn’t have a clue as to why the
“Chameleon” is only picking on a casino he manages. At first, he assesses his situation as one where the worst that could happen is that he loses his job and has to look for another type of work, but as things develop threats of prison and even the possibility of his demise suddenly become a reality he can ill afford to ignore.

Red is not lacking for allies to help him turn the tide and avoid disaster, however, even with all of this help Red just can’t seem to get a break. At times the antics are hilarious, but there are other times when there is nothing to laugh about. All of the intrigue culminates in an ending so surprising, so incredulous, that the reader, although enlightened, still finds it hard to believe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dan Kelly
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310717178

Dan Kelly

A Little Bit About Dan Kelly the Author"May you always find a good book to read and the time to enjoy it!"After spending forty years in the real world of domestic and international banking, my writing activities being largely restricted to business plans, internal memos, advertising copy, news releases and speeches, I decided I had had enough of the real world and made up my mind to pursue something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while, immerse myself in the world of make believe just for the sheer joy of letting my imagination and creative juices run wild.Except for the occasional humorous ode for the enjoyment of family, friends and colleagues, I never had the time to indulge the more fanciful side of my nature, but since July 2007 I’ve made great progress in atoning for that neglect. My Irish sense of humor coupled with my experience in dealing with a broad spectrum of people from all walks of life and social status are proving to be a wonderful reservoir of inspiration for me in character and story development.Celestial Capers, Casino Capers, Computer Capers, Caribbean Capers, Carat Capers, Calling Card Capers, Cabernet Capers, Calumny Capers, Canyon Capers, Capital Capers, Counterfeiting Capers, Cryptography Capers and Chopper Capers are the products of my first thirteen mental voyages into the realm of make believe and I hope you will be as delighted as I was to make these trips. I am currently embarked on my fourteenth safari into the relatively unexplored dimensions of my imagination, Campaign Capers, and I am finding the expedition as thoroughly enjoyable as my first thirteen tours. I’m hoping you will too.If you'd like to contact me, feel free to send me an e-mail at [e-mail].

Book preview

Chapter 1

The sun has just dropped below the horizon in Bettendorf, Iowa and Jacob Red Borman has just stepped out onto one of the balconies of the Palladian Palace casino for a breath of fresh air and some serious cogitation.

It is a typical late May evening for the small town of some 32,500 people. The temperature is in the low 50s and the sky is as clear as mountain spring water. The stars are doing their best to out twinkle the moving multi-colored lights embedded in the figures of people engaged in the gambling activity found inside that are mounted all over the outside walls. The stars are holding their own for now, but as the evening progresses they will lose out to the enticements offered by the colorful displays.

Red is the manager of the Palladian Palace and has been for the past five years. He is 38 years old and his six foot two inch athletic frame, dark green eyes, deep auburn wavy hair with a full beard to match cause him to stand out in any crowd. He has a Mensa IQ, a keen sense of humor, is slow to anger, but when someone repeatedly hits his hot button, look out!

Red pictures himself as a 24/7 host of an extravaganza with parties going on all over the place. He loves his job and seldom leaves the casino when he’s on duty unless he has to do some serious thinking and doesn’t want to be distracted by anything or anybody. This is one of those times.

Red knows what it takes for a casino to be a hit. He knows that the key ingredient, the cornerstone of every successful casino operation, is its overwhelmingly appealing uniqueness. Its aesthetics, its ambience, its entertainment, its employees’ ability to make a customer feel really special, when all of these things are temptingly different, when they are the catalyst for the creation of happy memories, when they foster dreams of becoming a big winner, that’s when a casino’s coffers are well on their way to overflowing. This is the current state of the Palladian Palace. It is really riding high, but trouble has reared its ugly head, the kind of trouble that could bring the casino to its knees.

About an hour ago, the casino’s Chief of Security, Bill Kieffer, informed him that there could be a cheater or cheaters working the gaming tables. Bill’s people have noticed that over the last three days the winnings from the Black Jack, Crap and Roulettes tables have been significantly less than what the odds should be producing.

Bill has alerted all of the dealers, pit bosses and box men on the floor and the best of his back office people are at the computers scanning the videos taken by the overhead casino cameras, looking for answers to the questions who, how and when.

Although the technological advances in surveillance and security have dramatically reduced the instances of cheating and robbery, they are still a worrisome bane of the casinos because the cheaters and robbers who have not been dissuaded by these advances have also become more creative, more adept at what they do.

The clear, pleasantly cool evening is quickly driven from Red’s mind as he begins to grope with the potential problems that might lie ahead if Bill’s suspicions are correct.

"Damn! If Bill is right and word gets out that we have a cheater or cheaters in our midst, irreparable damage could be done to the casino’s reputation and the impact on our ‘bottom line’ could be disastrous. Even though our guests know that the odds are with the house, they’re not going to want to try their luck when cheaters are making those odds even worse. The best way to avoid calamity would be to catch who’s doing it before word gets out, but if this isn’t possible, we’ve got to nail the spoilsports before any serious harm is done."

As Red is mulling over possible courses of action, Bill comes rushing out onto the balcony. Red, I’ve got some bad news. We’ve just discovered some counterfeit chips in the casino cage and some in the chip trays at the Black Jack tables.

How can that be? The security features of our chips are supposed to make them impossible to duplicate. The micro radio frequency ID gizmos imbedded in our chips coupled with the custom color combinations of the edge spots, the ultra violet markings on the logo, the manufacturer’s marks, and the high resolution artwork, all of these things are supposed to protect us from counterfeiters. Ah, nuts! What denominations and what tipped you off?

They are phenomenal reproductions of our $100 chips, but the black coloring is just slightly lighter. The difference isn’t noticeable under the bright table lights, but the gal in the casino cage noticed it when she was restacking her chips. These counterfeits are state-of-the-art, Red. We’re dealing with someone that has extensive knowledge of casino operations and the guts to try a stunt like this.

Okay, Bill. Until we catch who is behind this, make sure that everyone on the floor and behind the scenes stays on the alert for anything that seems out of place, not quite right. If anyone is suspicious about anyone or anything, make sure everyone knows that it’s alright to buzz you or me and that we won’t be annoyed with them if their suspicions turn out to be groundless. Oh, and make sure that gal in the cage gets something extra in her paycheck.

Bill nods and hurries back into the casino, leaving Red to wrestle with his conscience over whether or not he should notify the other casino managers about the counterfeit chips.

"If I do, I increase the risk of word getting out on the street. If I don’t and the other casinos are hit by the counterfeiter, I’ve only magnified the problem. If that kind of word gets out on the street, the whole town will suffer. Instead of the casino goers being leery of trying their luck at one casino, they’ll avoid them all like the plague and go elsewhere with their money.

"Ah, nuts! Like it or not, I’ve got to let them know what’s going on. If things don’t work out, I can always go back to Chicago and drive a cab. You get to travel, see the sights and there are lots of tips, cash, stock and otherwise. Hell, it got me through college. Yeah, that and humongous school loans."

Chapter 2

Over the next few days, more counterfeit chips are found as well as three phony roulette balls. Someone has been switching the casino balls which are made of solid ivory with balls made with a small core of iron covered with an ivory outer layer. The substitutes weigh almost the same as the casino balls and they look identical. It would be easy for someone to conceal a small electronic device on his or her person that is capable of producing a magnetic field strong enough to control what space the ball winds up in.

Bill also suspects that altered dice have been used at the crap tables, but hasn’t found anything yet to support his suspicions. In fact, Bill and his people haven’t been able to come up with anything that will put them on the trail of who’s behind these shenanigans.

After a very busy Memorial Day weekend, Red is in his office going over the gaming table cash flow for the holiday. It’s a beautiful, sunny Tuesday morning and everything looks copasetic regarding the cash flow reports. Red’s thinking, "Maybe these people have decided to move on, thinking that they’ve stayed in one place long enough and are pushing the odds on getting caught. Yeah! Dream on! I should be so lucky!

"I’m surprised though that these crooks didn’t take advantage of the cover the large holiday crowds would provide and really do a number on us. What’s really bothering me is I can’t figure out why none of our people have been able to zero in on these cretins when they are doing their thing on the floor."

Red’s pondering is interrupted by the ringing of his office phone. Good morning. You’ve reached the Palladian Palace. This is Jacob Borman. How may I help you?

Hi, Red. Joe here. Joe is Joe Amato the casino manager at the Go For It and a good friend of Red’s. I’m calling not only for myself, but also on behalf of all the other casino managers in town. We want to thank you for giving us the heads up on the cheaters working your floor. You could have kept quiet, hoping to nab those responsible before word got out, but you didn’t. You put the town ahead of your casino’s reputation and took a chance on us to keep our mouths shut. We appreciate that very much and want you to know that if you need anything, extra security measures, anything, you can count on us to help you out. So far, none of us are aware of any cheating going on in our casinos, but we know that could change in the blink of an eye."

Thanks, Joe. I can’t tell you how much this call means to me. I have to be honest with you though. I had a hell of a fight with my conscience before I decided to put out the alert.

I understand perfectly the dilemma you were in, Red. It would have been a tough decision for me too. It might be a good idea for all of us to get together to see if we can come up with a plan to catch these creeps in the act.

"I think that’s a great idea. The sooner, the better as far as I’m concerned. Do you think you could get everybody to meet over here in our boardroom tomorrow, say at two in the afternoon?

I’ll get right on it and send you an e-mail to confirm or offer an alternate date and time.

Okay, Joe, and thanks again for the call and offer to help.

Glad to do it. Later.

Red hangs up the phone and lets out sigh. "I don’t know if we’ll be able to come up with anything that’ll work, but I feel a little better knowing that some help is on the way."

As Red pulls up the Palladian Palace’s entertainment schedule for the next six months to make sure everything is alright on that front, the quiet in his office is shattered by what sounds like gunshots. BAM! BAM! BAM! Three shots in quick succession. "Ah, nuts, first cheaters and now some screwball with a gun! Somebody, somewhere definitely doesn’t like me."

Red races to his office door, but before he can open it a screaming Bill Kieffer flings it open, almost knocking Red on his rump. The cashier cage has been hit. The robber has gotten away and that’s all I know right now.

Okay. Let’s get down there.

When they arrive, the police are already on the scene, herding the employees who were working the cashier cage along with the customers who were in the vicinity of the cashier cage when the robbery took place into the large accounting office behind the enclosure.

After they have everyone in, a big burly guy with sergeant’s stripes on his sleeves claps his hands a couple of times to get everyone’s attention and then says, "Folks, listen up. We’ve brought you in here so we can speak with each of you to find out what you saw and heard when the robber showed up. Please don’t talk with each other about what happened because your perceptions could get twisted by the influence of others. We will get to you as quickly as possible. The sooner we do the less chance there is of you forgetting something that could be crucial to our investigation. In fact, to reduce the risk of this happening, one of the officers is handing out some paper and pens for you to write down your description of the robber, what you saw him do and what you heard him say.

For example, estimate the height and weight of the robber, was the robber male or female, what kind of clothes was the robber wearing, did you see any distinguishing marks on the robber’s body such as scars or tattoos, did he have an accent or a speech impediment. This kind of information will greatly increase our chances of capturing this individual. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

When the sergeant is finished speaking, he walks over to where Red and Bill are standing in the doorway and says, Hi, Bill. We got here as soon as we could, but it was all over in less than three minutes and the robber had fled the scene. More like vanished.

Hi, Chuck. This is Jacob Borman the casino manager. Red, this is Chuck Corrigan. Smiling, Bill adds, A better cop you’ll find everywhere, but I put up with him because he’s the mayor’s brother and my brother in-law.

Funny man, but don’t give up your day job. You’re going to need the money to pay all those misdemeanor fines I’m going to arrange for you for being such a smart aleck.

Red and Chuck shake hands with Red saying, Hi, Chuck. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who puts up with this guy’s nonsense. What have you managed to find out so far? To pull something like this, in broad daylight no less, takes someone with a very strong backbone.

"Well, Red, I agree with you. You have armed security personnel all over the place, but that didn’t phase this individual one bit. But make no mistake; this was a well planned hit. This person knew what he was doing.

"The robber appeared to come out of nowhere, fired three shots, ordered everyone in the cage and all the customers near the cage to lie down on the floor on their stomachs and not look up. The perp had some kind of a special tool that quickly and silently sawed through the bars of one of the windows, allowing a large canvass bag to be thrown through the window and onto one of the cashiers on the floor. That cashier was then ordered to get up and empty all of the cash drawers into the sack. The cashier was then told to resume her position on the floor, everyone was told to keep looking at the floor for the next five minutes and then the robber split. After about ten seconds, one of your patrons snuck a peek and spotted the robber running up the stairs to the second floor high stakes poker rooms. He alerted a uniformed security guard who was lying on the floor behind him and the guard took off after the robber, but when he got to the top of the stairs the robber was gone.

The person who did this is totally familiar with the casino’s layout and operations. He has to know who your non-uniformed security people are, the area each one covers and the time it takes to canvas each assigned area. The same is true of the areas and timing of the routes traveled by your uniformed security people. He knew when security would be the lightest and the amount of money the greatest and he had the timing down to the second. For now, that’s all I can tell you. Hopefully, I’ll have more after we’ve talked with all of these people.

"Thanks, Chuck. If there’s anything we can do to help, just let us know. We’ll be pouring over the videos taken by the casino cameras and Bill will get copies over to you ASAP. If anything useful comes out of your interviews with the witnesses, we sure would appreciate you passing it on. We’ve got some of the finest security people you can find anywhere. Their ranks include former police detectives, FBI agents and even some former Homeland Security personnel They know what to look for, how to analyze data and have an impressive track record when it comes to drawing sound conclusions from their analyses.

Oh, one more thing. About a week ago, we picked up on a very clever cheater or possibly cheaters working our gaming floor. So far, we haven’t been able to zero in on anything that could lead us to the culprit or culprits. The robbery and the cheating might be connected. I’d appreciate it if you could keep this information to yourself and only those with an absolute need to know. If word of what’s going on here gets out, the negative publicity could really hurt us.

Thanks for your input, Red. I’ll do my best to keep a lid on what you told me.

As Chuck turns to leave, he remembers something and turns back and says, Bill, your sister will kill me if I don’t tell you to call her. She thinks you’re mad at her because the blind date she fixed you up with didn’t work out the way she wanted it to. Be careful. Once she knows you’re not mad at her, she’s going to hit you up for some loot to help her buy a 24 footer for the river she saw advertised by a woman who won it in a divorce settlement. That kind of history makes that boat bad news for me and I told her so, but as usual, she ignored me. I told her I’d tell you to call her the next time I saw you. Please call her. She’s driving me crazy with her questions. ‘Did you see him? Did you tell him to call me?’ She’s so sure she can convince you to buy-in that she’s got a sharing schedule all worked out and everything.

I’ll call her and thanks for the warning, but I don’t think it will do much good. You know how persistent she can be. She’ll stay in my face until I say yes or croak!

As Chuck hurries back to the group of witnesses and starts to interview an elderly couple who appear to be getting a big kick out of all the excitement, Red turns to Bill and says, At first, I thought you were kidding about Chuck being the mayor’s brother and your brother in-law, but now that I know you weren’t do you think he could get a parking ticket squashed? I got one yesterday in front of Hero’s Sandwich Shoppe when the time ran out on the meter.

No way, Red. Chuck’s so clean he squeaks.

Well, I guess I’m glad to hear that. It’s the only good thing I’ve heard about so far today. Let’s go find out what the damage is.

As they head for the cage, Sonya Aguirre the cashier cage shift supervisor is just finishing her interview with one of the police officers and calls out to them. I haven’t had a chance yet to assess how much money was taken. Give me thirty minutes and I’ll have what you’ll need for the insurance people. They both nod their heads and head for Red’s office.

Chapter 3

Back in Red’s office, Red checks his e-mail and there’s a message from Joe Amato confirming the meeting. Bill, I’m meeting with all of the other casino managers in town tomorrow afternoon at two o’clock in our conference room. We’re going to have a brain storming session to see if we can come up with a scheme to catch whoever is doing all of this cheating in our casino. I want you there.

I’ll be there. I’m really stumped as to what other measures we might put in place to thwart whoever is behind all of this. I’m having some very unsettling thoughts though. What’s bewildering me is why I or any of my people haven’t been able to detect anything that might help us nab this crook. As much as I hate to think it, the robbery and all of this cheating could be the work of someone who works for us.

I’ve been having the same kinds of thoughts, Bill. Whoever is behind all of this sure knows our operation inside and out. There’s a lull in their conversation as they both fall into deep thought, canvassing with their mind’s eye all of the employees of the casino, looking for anything that might make someone stand out from the crowd as a likely prospect. The silence is broken by the buzzing of Red’s intercom. It’s Sonya. Red puts her on the speaker.

Red, I’ve got the final number and it isn’t a pretty figure, $196,373.

Bill asks, Sonya, did the robber take any chips or tokens?

No, Bill, just cash.

Red asks her, Sonya, how are the cashiers holding up? Do any of them need any counseling?

I don’t think so. I’ve worked with these people for over four years and I think I know them fairly well. They were a little shaken up at first, but now they’re just mad because they couldn’t think of anything to do to foil the holdup.

Well, you tell them for me that they did just fine. I don’t want any dead heroes over money, ever!

The connection is broken and Red and Bill resume their thinking only to be interrupted again a few minutes later by Red’s outside line ringing. This time it’s the Mississippi Valley Gaming Commissioner, Curtis Crowley, and he’s hopping mad.

It seems the Commissioner just found out that Red had his trouble making son arrested a couple of nights ago for picking a fight with one of the Black Jack dealers and then subsequently banned him from the Palladian Palace. The son has been repeatedly creating scenes for some time now by starting arguments with other customers and employees. Taking a swing at the dealer after he busted five times in a row was the last straw. Because he was Crowley’s son, Red had been tolerating his misbehavior and even tried talking to him a couple of times with the hope that he would change his ways, but this joker is irascible to the core.

Borman, who the hell do you think you are having my son arrested? I know he can be rambunctious, but he was only kicking up his heels and having a little fun. You were young once, didn’t you ever do that? He’s entering law school this fall and an arrest record could prevent him from taking the bar exam. This brief tirade which was interspersed with a lot of four letter words ended with the Commissioner asking, Red, see what you can do about having the record show that the arrest came about due to a miscommunication between you and the police, okay?

Commissioner, your son has a serious anger management problem. If he doesn’t do something about it, one day he’s going to find himself in some very deep manure. I’ve tried talking to him, but to no avail. Maybe it’s going to take something like him getting arrested to motivate him to change his ways. So, it’s not okay. I won’t step in and try to whitewash the incident with a lie. Your son has to learn that he must deal with the consequences of his actions.

After a lot of name calling, the Commissioner slammed his phone down with the warning, You are going to regret this, Borman, believe me, you are going to regret this.

Wonderful! That’s just wonderful! I don’t have enough problems. Now I’ve got a revenge seeking Commissioner on my back. Driving a hack is getting to look better and better.

Bill responds with, What’s this about a hack?

It’s my own personal escape hatch if my life blows up before my eyes. If I ever develop anger management problems, I can blow off steam by driving through puddles and soaking unsuspecting pedestrians. I might even manage to drench some yo-yos like the Commissioner’s son. Yeah! That would make my day.

Bill begins edging towards the door mumbling, The pressure’s getting to him. He’s starting to flip out. I better update the resume and mass mail it before he completely goes crackers.

Red laughs and says, Careful now. You never want to tick off a cabbie. He might leave you off in the boonies someday with no help in sight.

Bill laughs and leaves. Red’s thinking to himself, "The Commissioner’s outburst is going to seem like a high school cheer compared to how he’s going to react when he finds out about the cheating and the robbery and my not clueing him in. I’ve been meaning to call him, but things have been moving so fast I just haven’t had the time. Man, what a lame excuse. He’s never going to buy it, especially after today’s episode."

Chapter 4

The next morning Bill stopped by Red’s office with the results of the interviews the police had with the witnesses. Remarkably, most of the witnesses gave the same information regarding the robber’s description. From the sound of the robber’s voice it was a man. He spoke with no distinguishing accent or sound to his voice. He’s approximately six feet tall, medium build, light complexioned and was wearing tan chinos, tan socks, brown Vans, a beige jacket zipped up to his chin and sunglasses. He wasn’t wearing a hat, his hair was dark brown and it was thick and wavy. The guy lying on the floor that snuck a peek and saw the robber running away said the guy must be in pretty good physical shape because he flew up the stairs. That’s it. It’s not much to go on, but it’s a start.

Thanks, Bill. You’re right. It’s not much, but at least we know he’s not a midget.

At 2 p.m., all of the casino managers are sitting around the Palladian Palace conference table and Red stands up to bring the meeting to order.

I believe everyone is here, so let’s get started. Before we begin, I want to thank all of you for your willingness to get together to see if we can come up with something that will lead to the capture and incarceration of the person or persons involved in the cheating that is going on at the Palladian Palace. If we can, our solution can be applied in all of your casinos and insulate you from the frustration and Excedrin headaches I’m going through. This last brings a few chuckles from the gathering and Red continues.

So, let me start out by introducing my head of security, Bill Kieffer, who will fill you in on what has been going on here and what we have done so far to discover who is behind all of the chicanery. Bill, the floor is yours.

Bill gives them a rundown and then says, "We’ve been working around the clock looking for clues that might help us catch who’s behind this, but so far have come up with zip. Whoever is doing this is very clever and very careful to blend in with the crowd and not leave anything behind that might implicate him in any way. He has exceptional knowledge of casino operations, especially ours, and possibly might be a former or current employee of a casino, including the Palladian Palace.

"We were surprised that we weren’t hit over the holiday. The large crowds would have provided an excellent opportunity to do some serious damage. The reason for this though could be something as simple as the flu.

Gentlemen, we don’t want to remain in a reactive state, hoping that whoever is behind this cheating will make a mistake serious enough to lead to their apprehension. This might never happen and the longer this cheating goes on the greater the chances are that the Palladian Palace could wind up in the has been pile. We believe that the only way these guys are going to be caught is by luring them into a trap of some kind. The bait must be irresistible, the trap inescapable. Does anyone have any idea how this might be accomplished?

The ensuing silence was discouraging, but then Ted Weinstein who manages Player’s Paradise came up with what was needed to get the creative juices flowing. "From what Bill has told us, I think there’s a strong possibility that only one person is doing the cheating. The reason I say this is because of the high quality of the equipment being used. If there were more than one person using it, the losses would be much higher. I’m also going to make a couple of assumptions, the first being that the cheater is deliberately keeping the losses down because he has an agenda that has nothing to do with the money in and of itself. If that were the case, the losses would be much higher and have occurred in more of a hit and run fashion and in other casinos as well.

I believe the person behind this is not interested in the money or in any other casino but the Palladian Palace. I believe the first step in coming up with a plan to catch this individual is to come up with some motive or motives for making the Palladian Palace the target for all of this cheating.

As Ted finishes up he has all of the other managers nodding in agreement and Joe Amato picks up the ball with, What you said makes a lot of sense. Let’s just brainstorm, making up a list of all the possible motives we can think of and then eliminating them one by one until we have something we’re comfortable with to build a plan around. I’ll start it off with a couple of the obvious. An unhappy loser or a disgruntled employee or former employee.

After about an hour they had come up with the following:

Revenge:

- Unhappy loser

- Disgruntled employee/former employee

- Job applicant that was denied employment

- Someone who perceives mistreatment of someone else close to the cheater

- Someone harboring a lot of hatred/resentment aimed at senior management

Money:

- A competitor who seeks ruination of the Palladian Palace

- Someone needs a limited amount of money for a specific purpose

Jealousy:

- Someone jilted by an employee of the Palladian Palace

- Someone who envies a position held by an employee of the Palladian

- Palace

Status:

- Someone who seeks to benefit by gaining a higher status or more

- recognition internally or externally through the negative impact that the

- cheating could have on the Palladian Palace

When the creative juice well appears to have run dry, Red says, Well, it looks like we’ve brought to light the most probable motives. Bill and I have been knocking our brains out scanning our employee roster, looking for someone or something that might make someone standout as a possible suspect and we’ve gotten zilch for our efforts. Now that we have identified a more complete list of things we should be looking for, we’ll have at it again and I’m hoping we’ll have better results. The more I think about the situation, the more I’m becoming convinced that I may be the target this cheater is aiming at. I sure am a likely target for anyone having any of the motives we’ve listed. One thing is for sure, we’ve got to come up with something quick or this guy may hit the target dead center.

Bill picks up on Red’s train of thought by saying, I think Red is onto something. If everything that has been going on is being restricted to the Palladian Palace, it’s quite plausible to think that Red is the real target of all this harassment and not the casino. I suggest we examine each of the motives we’ve listed and how they might relate to Red specifically. We might uncover a new path that will lead us to the identity of this malcontent.

Joe Amato steps in with, What you suggest might be a good place to start even though it doesn’t address how we’re going to catch this guy. It might, however, provide something solid on which we can build an escape proof trap. Before we get started though, nature’s calling me. I think we should all take a break to stretch our legs, visit the restroom, grab a cup of coffee or whatever.

Red responds with, That’s a good idea, Joe. Let’s resume at 4:15. As the meeting recesses, Red turns to Bill and asks, What could I have done that was so bad that someone would go to such lengths to bring me down for it?

Nothing immediately comes to mind, but I’m glad we’re doing something constructive that might give us the answer to your question. and with a smile he adds, At least we’re no longer floundering around like fish out of water. Floundering, fish, flounder, fish, get it? Am I clever or am I clever?

Red groans and says, I knew I should have hired that security gal from Brinks instead of you. She’s not only better looking; she would also be much more sensitive to my plight.

Bill laughs, turns to go get some coffee, but stops when his cell phone begins to sound off. He answers, listens for a few seconds then disconnects. That was my admin. Guess who’s waiting for me in my office?

The producer of American Idol. He wants you to audition for his show. Take my advice, don’t do it. You’ll bomb.

Very funny. Well, laugh this off. It’s Commissioner Crowley and he wants to talk to me regarding some breaches of security he’s hearing rumors about.

Uh oh. I know I shouldn’t be surprised that word has leaked out what with the number of people familiar with what’s been going on around here. I wonder how big the leak is and who’s flapping his gums. It could be someone in the Bettendorf Police Department, someone attending this meeting or one of our employees. I’m also wondering about who else might have heard these rumors. If these rumors become public knowledge, our survival will depend on how quickly we can get to the bottom of what’s happening here and put a stop to it. Aw, nuts, nuts, nuts! Call your admin back and have her tell Crowley that apparently you have left the building and she will have you contact him first thing tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we’ll have a better idea by then about what you should say to him.

Bill complied and as he hung up the other casino managers began taking their seats around the conference table.

For the next several hours these managers demonstrated their willingness and commitment to help by developing a wide variety of plausible scenarios that might reflect who was behind the cheating and why. Every possibility imaginable was examined closely with off the wall ideas flying around the room like a swarm of bees around their queen. One by one, each idea was evaluated for its merit and subsequently discarded. Everyone was beginning to feel as though they had set for themselves an impossible task. Each and every scenario they came up with was no more feasible than any other. Nothing stood out. They were about to pack it in when the manager of the Place Your Bet, Ron Stahlberg, who had been more restrained with his input compared to his colleagues, came up with an interesting alternative.

"Gentlemen, I believe I’m safe in saying that all we’ve accomplished here today is now we know that what we set out to do is impossible because there are too many variables. Has it been a waste of time? I don’t think so because now we know we must try a different tact. We’ve got to look at the problem from a different perspective. We all agree that the reason behind all of these incidents most likely has something to do with Red. If we work with this assumption, it’s logical