Дик Фрэнсис: High Stakes

‘I get the impression,’ he said genially, ‘that you are waiting for something.’

‘You’ve never asked me to dine before.’

‘I like your company.’

‘And that’s all?’

He tapped ash off the cigar. ‘Of course not,’ he said.

‘I thought not,’ I smiled. ‘But I’ve probably eaten your dinner under false pretences.’

‘Knowingly?’

‘Maybe. I don’t know exactly what’s in your mind.’

‘Your vagueness,’ he said. ‘When someone like you goes into a sort of trance...’

‘I thought so,’ I sighed. ‘Well, that was no useful productive otherwhereness of mind, that was the aftermath of a practically mortal row I’d just had with Jody Leeds.’

He sat back in his chair. ‘What a pity.’

‘Pity about the row, or a pity about the absence of inspiration?’

‘Both, I dare say. What was the row about?’

‘I gave him the sack.’

He stared. ‘What on earth for?’

‘He said if I told anyone that, he’d sue me for slander.’

‘Oh, did he indeed!’ Charlie looked interested all over again, like a horse taking fresh hold of its bit. ‘And could he?’

‘I expect so.’

Charlie sucked a mouthful of smoke and trickled it out from one corner of his mouth.

‘Care to risk it?’ he said.

‘Your discretion’s better than most...’

‘Absolute,’ he said. ‘I promise.’

I believed him. I said, ‘He found a way of stealing huge sums from me so that I didn’t know I was being robbed.’

‘But you must have known that someone ...’

I shook my head. ‘I dare say I’m not the first the trick’s been played on. It’s so deadly simple.’

‘Proceed,’ Charlie said. ‘You fascinate me.’

‘Right. Now suppose you are basically a good racehorse trainer but you’ve got a large and crooked thirst for unearned income.’

‘I’m supposing,’ Charlie said.

‘First of all, then,’ I said, ‘you need a silly mug with a lot of money and enthusiasm and not much knowledge of racing.’

‘You?’ Charlie said.

‘Me.’ I nodded ruefully. ‘Someone recommends you to me as a good trainer and I’m impressed by your general air of competence and dedication, so I toddle up and ask you if you could find me a good horse, as I’d like to become an owner.’

‘And do I buy a good horse cheaply and charge you a fortune for it?’

‘No. You buy the very best horse you can. I am delighted, and you set about the training and very soon the horse is ready to run. At this point you tell me you know a very reliable bookmaker and you introduce me to him.’

‘Oh hum.’

‘As you say. The bookmaker however is eminently respectable and respected and as I am not used to betting in large amounts I am glad to be in the hands of so worthy a fellow. You, my trainer, tell me the horse shows great promise and I might think of a small each way bet on his first race. A hundred pounds each way, perhaps.’

‘A small bet!’ Charlie exclaimed.

‘You point out that that is scarcely more than three weeks’ training fees,’ I said.

‘I do?’

‘You do. So I gulp a little as I’ve always bet in tenners before and I stake a hundred each way. But sure enough the horse does run well and finishes third, and the bookmaker pays out a little instead of me paying him.’

I drank the rest of my glass of port. Charlie finished his and ordered more coffee.

‘Next time the horse runs,’ I went on, ‘you say it is really well and sure to win and if I ever want to have a big bet, now’s the time, before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. The bookmaker offers me a good price and I feel euphoric and take the plunge.’

‘A thousand?’

I nodded. ‘A thousand.’

‘And?’

‘The word goes round and the horse starts favourite. It is not his day, though. He runs worse than the first time and finishes fifth. You are very upset. You can’t understand it. I find myself comforting you and telling you he is bound to run better next time.’

‘But he doesn’t run better next time?’

‘But he does. Next time he wins beautifully.’

‘But you haven’t backed it?’

‘Yes, I have. The price this time isn’t five to two as it was before, but six to one. I stake five hundred pounds and win three thousand. I am absolutely delighted. I have regained all the money I had lost and more besides, and I have also gained the prize money for the race. I pay the training bills out of the winnings and I have recouped part of the purchase price of the horse, and I am very happy with the whole business of being an owner. I ask you to buy me another horse. Buy two or three, if you can find them.’

‘And this time you get expensive duds?’

‘By no means. My second horse is a marvellous two-year-old. He wins his very first race. I have only a hundred on him, mind you, but as it is at ten to one, I am still very pleased. So next time out, as my horse is a hot favourite and tipped in all the papers, you encourage me to have a really big bet. Opportunities like this seldom arise, you tell me, as the opposition is hopeless. I am convinced, so I lay out three thousand pounds.’

‘My God,’ Charlie said.

‘Quite so. My horse sprints out of the stalls and takes the lead like the champion he is and everything is going splendidly. But then half way along the five furlongs a buckle breaks on the saddle and the girths come loose and the jockey has to pull up as best he can because by now he is falling off.’

‘Three thousand!’ Charlie said.

‘All gone,’ I nodded. ‘You are inconsolable. The strap was new, the buckle faulty. Never mind, I say kindly, gulping hard. Always another day.’

‘And there is?’

‘You’re learning. Next time out the horse is favourite again and I have five hundred on. He wins all right, and although I have not this time won back all I lost, well, it’s the second time the horse has brought home a decent prize, and taking all in all I am not out of pocket and I have had a great deal of pleasure and excitement. And I am well content.’

‘And so it goes on?’

‘And so, indeed, it goes on. I find I get more and more delight from watching horses. I get particular delight if the horses are my own, and although in time of course my hobby costs me a good deal of money, because owners on the whole don’t make a profit, I am totally happy and consider it well spent.’

‘And then what happens?’

‘Nothing really,’ I said. ‘I just begin to get these niggling suspicions and I thrust them out of my head and think how horribly disloyal I am being to you, after all the winners you have trained for me. But the suspicions won’t lie down. I’ve noticed, you see, that when I have my biggest bets, my horses don’t win.’

‘A lot of owners could say the same,’ Charlie said.

‘Oh sure. But I tot up all the big bets which didn’t come up, and they come to nearly forty thousand pounds.’

‘Good God.’

‘I am really ashamed of myself, but I begin to wonder . I say to myself, suppose... just suppose... that every time I stake anything over a thousand, my trainer and my bookmaker conspire together and simply keep the money and make sure my horse doesn’t win. Just suppose... that if I stake three thousand, they split it fifty fifty, and the horse runs badly, or is left, or the buckle on the girth breaks. Just suppose that next time out my horse is trained to the utmost and the race is carefully chosen and he duly wins, and I am delighted... just suppose that this time my bookmaker and my trainer are betting on the horse themselves... with the money they stole from me last time.’

Charlie looked riveted.

‘If my horse wins, they win. If my horse loses, they haven’t lost their own money, but only mine.’