have to keep calling Hines Hines, and keep taking Allie on faith.
I had faith. Weirdly, I did. Confidence, too, steadying up again after its earlier wobble. After all, I held many interesting cards to play. I had half a million dirty dollars, with the prospect of a whole lot more on the way. I had friends—rare in this game. Most important, I had uncovered my adversaries’ hidden agendas, which is just huge in the grift. Knowing what the other guy wants is key to getting what you want, and that’s true whether you’re talking about negotiation, poker, or the rarefied art of the con.
Also key is keeping the other guy off balance, which is why I arranged a meeting with Hines—and invited Scovil, too. This was in the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel for no other reason than that I’d always wanted to check it out.
You should have seen the look on each of their faces when the other arrived.
I saw. I was watching from a service alcove by the kitchen, while the Salvadoran busboys looked at me like I was some kind of eccentric, though no shortage of those in Beverly Hills, right? Hines walked in first, went straight to the bar and ordered a big double something, straight up. He snarled when the bartender asked if he wanted a menu. Scovil entered a moment later, dressed as she thought a woman going to the Polo Lounge should dress—in a black cocktail thing that she absolutely couldn’t sell. When they caught sight of each other, they looked like televangelists look when the news crews are waiting outside the porno store. In this sense, I was pinging them: By their unvarnished surprise I knew that, at least, they weren’t updating each other’s Day Runner. In another sense, I was pinging myself, for in that instant, they both knew they’d been snuked in a minor way—two dates to the same dance, as it were. I imagine they were both quite pissed off at me, but neither could show it without raising the larger question of why each hadn’t bothered to fill the other in. So they both clamped down on their expressions with, to my practiced eye, only modest success, and started looking around for me. I ducked into the kitchen, went all the way around through the back-of-house, emerged in the lobby, and sailed into the lounge like the happiest little Radar on earth.
Let’s pause and review for the folks in the back row. Scovil had told me she was chasing Hines as a bent cop, though I now believed her real target was moi. Meanwhile, my story for Scovil was that Billy Yuan had made me as a grifter and wouldn’t let me into his confidence, though we all know that wasn’t true. Hines, on the other hand, knew that Billy and I were working the Penny Skim and therefore saw the firm of Yuan and Hoverlander as his Super Lotto Jackpot. Was he worried about Scovil? Probably not. He figured he could take the money and give her us to hang on her Sydney gibbet.
All other things being equal, I preferred to remain unhung.
In the five seconds before I made my presence known, I could see it occur to both of them that I might not show up at all—that I’d just called this meeting as a goof. While I’m certainly capable of such random acts of whimsy, that wasn’t what I was about here. I was working a variation of a con called the Dead Man’s Switch, which is basically just taking the other guy’s opportunity and turning it into his problem.
I sauntered over, all smiles, handshakes and pats on backs. “I suppose you’re both wondering why I asked you here,” I said. I knew I couldn’t sound more clichéd—exactly the tone I was going for. “I think it’s time we cleared the air.
“Milval … Claire …” I said. “Do you mind if I call you Claire?” Scovil glared at me like I’d asked to sniff her panties. “You two haven’t been entirely honest with each other.” Both of their faces contorted as they essayed the impossible task of conveying devil-may-care calm and shut-your-mouth menace at the same time.
I addressed Hines first. “Milval,” I said, “Claire told you she came here after Billy Yuan, right?” Hines nodded warily, wondering just how liturgically loose this canon was going to get. “She didn’t. She’s after …” Scovil took the extraordinary step of grabbing my arm. I don’t