“Never,” he said.

38

At ten minutes of nine, Valentine and Gloria left the restaurant, and met up with Zack in front of the poker room. Over breakfast, Gloria had explained how she and Zack had worked together for fifteen years, and developed a level of communication that bordered on telepathic.

“We’ve already got a good crowd in there, so we won’t have to make people bunch up like yesterday,” Zack said. “I talked a maintenance man into dimming the lights, so there won’t be a glare problem. And I convinced two security guards to keep the crowd noise down, so we won’t have to redub the sound before we send it to the network.”

“You’re a genius,” Gloria said.

“In my own mind,” Zack replied. His camera was lying on the floor, and he picked it up and hoisted it onto his shoulder. Pointing the lens at Valentine, he said, “So Tony, you have a reputation for being able to see through any con or swindle. How is Rufus Steele going to pull this X-ray vision stunt off, anyway?”

There was no one standing within earshot, and Valentine stared into the lens and said, “I honestly don’t know.”

“I’m not filming,” Zack said. “You can be honest.”

“I am being honest. I don’t know.”

Zack lowered his camera, and a disbelieving look spread across his face.

“Do you think he’s off his rocker?” the cameraman asked.

Gloria edged up beside Valentine, and locked her arm into his.

“Tony’s backing him, so he’d better not be,” she said.

The elevator doors on the other side of the lobby parted, and Rufus Steele emerged, wearing black pants, a gleaming white shirt, and a black bow tie with two long tails, western style. Seeing them, he hustled over, and Valentine read the words inscribed on each tail of his tie: Thin Man.

Rufus doffed his Stetson and bowed to Gloria Curtis, then gave Valentine a friendly whack on the arm. “Hey pardner, you ready to win some money?”

His eyes were twinkling, and Valentine sensed Rufus was prepared to dig down deep into his bag of tricks, and do something really wonderful. He’d never helped anyone win a bet before, and supposed there was a first time for everything.

“Ready when you are,” Valentine said.

Over two hundred men were gathered inside the poker room. They were the gray-faced, unshaven variety of male who populated casinos during the early morning hours; their hotel rooms used for shaving, showering, fornicating, and little else. They applauded politely as Rufus crossed the room with his entourage.

Taking off his Stetson, Rufus gave the crowd a big Roy Rogers wave, then approached the round table in the center of the room where the six players who’d cheated him the night before were assembled. Valentine edged up beside Zack.

“Do me a favor while you’re filming, and get a clear shot of those six guys, okay?”

“Sure,” Zack said.

“I’m also going to need to get a copy of the tape.”

“No problem. You saving their pictures for something?”

Valentine nodded. Back home on his computer was the largest database of cheaters in the world, and he planned to add these six jokers’ pictures to the mix.

“Before we start, I want to establish some rules,” Rufus began. “You gentlemen obviously will take great pains to make sure that I don’t swindle or cheat you, and I understand why you feel the need to take such precautions. I, too, feel the need to take precautions. Since I’m going to be blindfolded, I have asked the house physician, Dr. Robinson, to act as a neutral third party.”

A red-haired, red-bearded man wearing a tailored suit stepped out of the crowd. He wore an annoyed look on his face, and Valentine wondered if Rufus had conned Dr. Robinson into helping as well.

“Here’s the deal,” Rufus went on. “I don’t want someone holding something up to my blindfolded face, and asking me what it is—such as a coin—and then switching it. So, whatever object you’d like me to read with my X-ray vision, you will have to hand to Dr. Robinson to hold. Fair enough?”

The six cheaters went into a huddle and conferred among themselves. After a few moments, one stepped forward. He was a brutish-looking guy with swirls of dark hair sprouting from both ears. Above the pocket of his bowling shirt was his name: The Greek.

“Okay,” the Greek said. “You can use Dr. Robinson, provided you let our doctor—Dr. Carlson—examine you for any hidden transmitters or receiving devices.”

“Sure,” Rufus said obligingly. “Should I strip?”

Dr. Carlson stepped out of the huddle. He was one of the six cheaters, and had the superior air of a man who made too much money. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Shucks,” Rufus said.

Dr. Carlson went over Rufus with a fine-tooth comb, and ended the examination looking down Rufus’s ears with a pen light. Intercanal earpieces were commonly used by cheaters wanting to transmit information inside a casino, and Carlson did everything but stick an ice pick down Rufus’s ears to make sure he wasn’t wearing one. Satisfied, the doctor stepped back.

“He’s clean as a whistle,” Carlson said.

“Okay,” the Greek said, “now, examine Dr. Robinson.”

A hush fell over the crowd. There were common courtesies among gamblers. The Greek had just broken one, but didn’t seem to care. He took Carlson by the arm.

“Do it.”

Carlson looked at Dr. Robinson. “Do you mind?”

Dr. Robinson looked at the ceiling, as if asking God what the hell he was doing there, then nodded his compliance. Dr. Carlson went over him with the same painstaking precision he’d used on Rufus. Again he stepped back.

“He’s clean,” Carlson said.

“Good,” the Greek said.

Taking a paper bag off a chair, the Greek removed a pair of wraparound glasses made of stainless steel. The glasses were the same design worn by Arnold Schwarzenneger in the Terminator movies, and completely covered the wearer’s eyes. As the Greek showed them to the crowd, Valentine got closer, and had a look. The glasses were half-inch thick, and the idea that someone might be able to see through them seemed impossible.

When the Greek was finished showing the glasses around, Gloria Curtis stepped forward and stuck her mike in Rufus’s face.

“This is Gloria Curtis reporting from the poker room at the World Poker Showdown. Standing beside me is Rufus Steele, who has bet a number of gamblers that he has X-ray vision. Rufus, when did you discover you had X-ray vision?”

“About two years ago,” Rufus replied.

“Do you know what brought this on?”

“Happened after I wrecked my car. I’d been drinking.”

Gloria tried not to laugh, although several gamblers in the crowd did.

“How much money have you wagered?” Gloria asked.

“A hundred thousand dollars,” Rufus said. His eyes swept the sea of faces. “If there’s anyone else who’d like a piece of action, please step right up, and talk to this handsome fellow standing to my right. He’ll take care of you.”

Two dozen gamblers formed a line in front of Valentine. He had come prepared, and wrote down each man’s name on a pad of paper he’d gotten in the restaurant, and the amount of his wager. He kept a running tally in his head, not wanting to go over the three hundred thousand bucks he was responsible for, and when the last man was done, did another re-adding. One hundred and ninety-seven thousand dollars in additional bets had been placed. Rufus had called it perfectly.

He went over to Rufus, and showed him the amount.

“That’s a nice number,” Rufus said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”