The Whisky Affair (Raymond Armstrong Series) (15 page)

“John, it’s Raymond Armstrong. I have a problem. It has to do with the death of Gordon Reid.”

John had worked with Raymond many times over the years. He worked for CSIS, the equivalent to MI6 in Canada. The only difference between them and his lot was that the Canadians kept well off the radar. For some reason, they had never been an inspiration for movies and TV shows, or had the bloody media scrutinizing their activities on a daily basis.

John retired from CSIS the same year as Raymond retired from MI6 and was roughly the same age. Raymond knew he’d spent over twenty years in the service. Both had worked for queen and country. While Raymond had been somewhat active in the field, John had been the IT expert stuck in an office most days. He would search through private databases and hack into secure systems, always listening to chatter. After his retirement, John set up a consulting business as a systems analyst.

Raymond outlined the recent events that led up to his call.

“So, this is personal?” John asked. “I met Gordon with you, remember? It was years ago at a whisky dinner in London. I must owe you at least one favour, buddy. Count me in.”

“I need you to hack into a casino’s database. Doable?”

“Best firewalls money can buy, but unless they have updated them in the last six months I can get in.”

“What if they did update?”

“I know a specialist, an old friend and ex-partner who will help me. Which casino?”

The Baronial Hotel and Casino, as a start. If you manage to get in their system, look for any link connected to the Bute Distillery and James Reid.”

“Are you at your flat in downtown?” asked Raymond.

“Yes, why?”

“I would like to hook up with you now and I have Gordon’s daughter with me. There was an attempt on her life this morning.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Our plane leaves tonight,” Raymond added.

“No problem… You have the address? I’m here all day, so come when it suits you.”

“Yes. See you within the hour.”

Raymond knocked on the door to Louisa’s room. “It’s me,” he said quietly.

Anne opened the door and gestured toward the sofa, where Louisa sat with tears streaming down her face. Raymond’s heart almost broke when he saw Gordon’s daughter in such distress.

Anne walked back to the sofa and put her arms around Louisa’s shoulders.

“Louisa what are you keeping from me? I suspect you know a lot more than you have been letting on.”

“Uncle Raymond, I would never do that. I had a vague idea that Dad was having problems with these Americans who were harassing him, and that it had something to do with James – nothing more. Are you suggesting these people were responsible for Dad’s death? It was a heart attack, wasn’t it?”

“My opinion is that your father’s heart attack was induced, forced in some way but made to look natural – as if he’d been overdrinking. I know it was all staged. In fact, he was murdered and I will prove it. Now tell me everything and don’t leave out a single thing.”

Her face had gone pale as he shared his suspicions. Then she began to talk.

Raymond and Anne listened in stunned silence.

“That’s it, Uncle Raymond. You are now up to speed, I promise.”

“Why the hell didn’t your dad confide in me? Don’t reply. A very proud man, your dad. Okay, let me see if I have this all sorted out: James accrues a debt of ten million dollars at a casino, playing a stupid form of poker. A total set up, they know he can never pay it back. They approach Gordon and give him an ultimatum. Sell the distillery and this problem will all go away and we won’t have to hurt James. Gordon obviously refused several times.”

“Dad would never speak about it. But yes, this is what James said last time we argued and he broke down and confessed to his debts. I have been in shock ever since and thought Dad’s heart attack was all about James letting him down and bringing pressure on the distillery,” said Louisa solemnly. “I received the package since Dad died and I sent it back. But I’m afraid, Uncle Raymond”

“I’ll take care of you. No worries there, Louisa. But I think James will hand over his fifty percent now that your dad is gone. I suspect that won’t be enough. They want it all and you say you have also refused. You’re so much like your dad... Have they hurt you?”

“Not yet, just scare tactics. This guy who came to see me had evil eyes. He scared me half to death and said it was my final warning. I told him that on this trip to Canada, I would read over the package they offered and make my mind up when I got back. I was trying to delay the inevitable.”

He could now see where the clues were adding up and his murder theory made sense. Admittedly, Gordon had been drinking, but someone had joined him and poured a peaty whisky – not knowing Gordon detested that.

“I am sure your dad, knowing that this was it, drank that whisky under duress, but also to leave a clue. The letter from the solicitor, the one he found the charred remains of, was likely the last chance for Gordon to sign over the distillery.”

Louisa nodded again.

Yes. It would be so much easier for them if Gordon and Louisa were both tragically involved in an accident or experienced a sudden heart attack. Then there’d only be James to deal with and it would all be done without any fuss.

What they hadn’t bargained on is me being Gordon’s best friend. Seriously, they made a grave error in judgement.

“Our flight is not until this evening, so we are making a slight detour.”

“What about me, asked Anne?”

“Too dangerous for you. Stay here in Toronto and I’ll be back.”

“No, this is like the old days. What if something happens to you? I could lose you again – only this time, permanently.”

“Not a chance. The second this is all over I will come here or you will come to me and stay in Stamford. You have my word. In the meantime, I am taking Louisa to my friend John’s place for safekeeping until tonight. I will be back here at the hotel around 3:00 to pick up our luggage. I hope you will still be here.”

She nodded, a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

“Raymond – be careful.”

Raymond hailed a taxi outside the hotel. They headed toward the distillery district where John had a comfortable flat in a converted warehouse.

Raymond pressed John’s flat number and was buzzed in immediately. No need for any announcement from either party. They were on camera through John’s security system and he was expecting them when they knocked.

They were greeted at the front door by John, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Raymond gave him a handshake and a squeeze on the shoulder and introduced him to Louisa.

John’s flat was crammed with all the latest technology. Four massive monitors were running simultaneously and dominated one entire wall.

“So, how are we doing?” asked Raymond.

“I already found out they updated their security system last month. My ex-partner, Trish, is helping right now. Our plan is the old-fashioned misdirection play. We are sending in thousands of RATS.”

“RATS?” questioned Louisa.

“Remote Access Trojans. It will keep their network busy while we creep in through the back door using an algorithm system I designed with Trish specifically for these types of projects.” He smiled. “Could take a while, so keep yourself amused.”

Raymond sat in one of the swivel chairs. “Louisa, time for you and me to get to work.” He tapped a screen and started working his fingers over a variety of icons until he found the sketch program he was looking for. “John, this the very latest face recognition program. When did you get it?”

“Only a few months ago. Who are you looking for?”

“Louisa had a visit from a guy with ties to the Baronial Casino. I would like to know this guy intimately. See who I am up against.”

“If there is a picture of him on the Internet, that new software program will find him.”

“Excellent!”

“Okay Louisa, describe your guy with evil eyes that paid you that visit.”

She gave him the basic details and a rough form took shape.

“Eyes are greener, nose sharper, cheek bones more pronounced. Okay. That is fairly close.”

“We are in,” John announced. “My hacker program is downloading files from a private poker room as we speak.”

“Excellent. Can I mirror this computer to check this face?”

“Sure.” John leaned over, hit a few keys and it was done.

Raymond stood, stretching out his entire body.
He was tense
…

The face recognition software was running a check at incredible speed and he had his fingers crossed there would be a match. The Baronial Hotel and Casino had thousands of pictures in various files.

Start at the source and then move to a criminal check on this bastard, he thought.

“What can I do now?” asked Louisa.

“We just wait,” John replied.

“Want some coffee, guys?” asked Louisa trying to break up the tension that now filled the room.

They both said yes.

Raymond took a glance up from the computer as Louisa ground coffee beans, filled the kettle with water and then grabbed her iPad.

“Uncle Raymond, you have to see this,” she said suddenly, pointing to her iPad. “This is fantastic news. We have to delay the casino company. I won’t sign and we will convince James to hold out.”

Raymond hopped up and came to stand by her, and leaned over her shoulder to view the screen while she talked and talked.

“It says over eighty percent of our distilleries in Scotland are owned by non-Scottish companies and to be honest, it could continue on the current trend. Add to that, most of the multinationals in this industry don’t even bother to employ anybody locally, except on the production side. We are the only category in the drinks industry to be attaining double digit percent growth around the globe – and on the label is what? Scotch.”

Louisa had a point but Raymond was a tad confused with this news and gestured with his hand for her to pass him the iPad so he could read the article:

The Scottish government announced today that the prime minister will sign a new bill to protect the whisky trade in Scotland from any further foreign investment in Scottish distilleries. The new act will be passed this Friday and an incentive program will be in place. The government will help Scottish companies buy back the distilleries under the current scheme: Brand Scotland.

Raymond continued to read the announcement.

“Louisa, this is what it’s all about. I wonder if the casino or whoever is behind your father’s death, has an inside man in the government – a whistle-blower who no doubt receives a pile of money for advance information. We knew they wanted the distillery to pay off James’s debt. What I did not understand until now, is that there won’t be another opportunity like this. The casino must have known that. The Bute Distillery is the last one of its kind. With the new government initiative that protects all Scottish distilleries from foreign buyers, Bute would be their last opportunity.”

Raymond now believed they’d targeted James, did a background check, and lured him into their scam. If Gordon had not been so stubborn, he was sure they would already own the Bute Distillery.

But, in Raymond’s mind, the distillery was not quite on par with the money James owed. Certainly it wasn’t worth going to all this trouble to kill his best friend. Even so, now he had their motive for wanting to own the distillery and for the orchestration of James’ death.

“I hope to God we can back this up with some facts,” he said, looking over at John and the bank of computers busy at work.

“Bingo!” said John and at that moment a
beep
came from the face-recognition program on the other computer.

Raymond and Louisa rose and moved to stand behind John, peering at his monitor.

“Okay John, you first. What do we have?”

“James has a huge debt…and so do ninety or so other people. The casino has them play in a private membership with a maximum of a hundred players at any given time.”

“Can you save the list?”

“Already done.”

John continued. “This Casino in question is keeping under the radar from the other big three casinos with this private and exclusive game. They let privileged clients become aware of upcoming games through a private chat room account. Baccarat Banque is the game of choice. That’s a different version of Chemin-de-Fer, which was played in some Bond movies.”

Raymond smiled to himself.
Bond indeed. MI6 agents play blackjack and are schooled to remember numbers and watch for patterns. The ladies in the team play Texas Hold ’em quite a bit.

“For the discreet private gambler, poker had become far too mainstream, and now blackjack was making a comeback. This Baccarat version is still chic amongst some of the richest people in the world.”

“James was in for well over ten million. What do you think the casinos would do if they felt the Nevada Gaming Commission and the US legal system were not supportive? If the person in question might never have to pay it back, did not have the means?” asked Raymond.

“Take matters into their own hands,” John deduced.

Okay,” Raymond said, sliding the chair over to the second computer. “So now we have a name for evil eyes – Mitch Farrell. Nobody kills my friend and gets away with it.”

“That’s definitely the awful guy. Look at his eyes,” Louisa said from behind him.

The program had found a Facebook picture of Mitch in their event picture gallery. He had not appeared in any of the casino’s pages of thousands of employees.

“That was lucky,” said Raymond. He took out a USB drive from his briefcase and uploaded the entire bio on this Mitch Farrell character. Some nice reading for on the plane.

Louisa excused herself and headed toward the bathroom.

“John, one last item. I’ll need your help when we get back to the Island. What can you do? What I mean is I will be on the Isle of Bute and connections aren’t the best there.”