" I'll get the tip." " Thank you." " Thanks, lad." " Keep well." " Cheerio." " Bye." "Put the cleaver down, mate." "Everybody calm down, all right?" "If you all want to chance it, I'll tell you now, I've got a full house." "All in, right?" " You dropped this." " Thank you very much." "Can I buy you a drink?" " All right, sure." "Why not?" " What'll you have?" " Scotch, thanks very much." " Scotch." "All right!" "Busy?" "Ash." "There are easier ways to earn a living." "Mickey." "How good!" "Have I missed you or what?" " How's life in the fast lane?" " It's good." "It's the only game in town." "If they're not eating a hamburger... or fiddling with the CD player, they're on the phone." "No one watches the road anymore." "Cheers, Eddie." "So what about you?" "How was it?" "A new experience." "One I don't care to repeat." "So what now then?" "I feel like one last score." " Long or short?" " Long." "No one is playing the long con anymore." "They don't because they can't." "Come on, one last time." "Then I'll stop." "I'll retire on my terms." "Not because I've been beat." "You know I can't do it without you." " When do we start?" " Already have." "Albert's got a mark." "But first things first." "Can you swing a hotel?" "Can Pavarotti sing?" "We've already got Stone under surveillance." " I understand that, sir." " Then why the heavy mob?" "We've had intelligence Stone's next target is well connected... plays golf with the Chancellor." "So he's got friends in high places." "Why don't you just warn him off?" "Whilst we are keen to protect him... we're even more keen to see Stone put away again." " Have I got a choice?" " No." "All right, listen up." "This is Detective Inspector Martin DePalma from Central." "He's here to oversee the Mickey Stone surveillance." "Give him what he wants." " Any overtime comes through me first." " Sir." "Sgt. Terri Hodges." "I've been heading up the surveillance." "Good." "Then let's see what you've got." "All right, cheers." "Ashley Morgan." "Colloquially known as Ash or "Three Socks. "" " Three Socks?" " He got the name in prison." "After his first visit to the shower block." "He's a fixer." "Whatever you want, Ash Morgan will find it." "He got a skull fracture in a barroom brawl 10 years ago." "He uses it to work the flop." "Bounces over a car, goes to hospital... x- ray shows the fracture, insurance company pays out." "Albert Stroller." "Habitual gambler." "Gee-gees, casinos, card games." "Albert plays them all." "He's the roper." "He finds the marks, sucks them in, and introduces them to the mob." "Usually plays the part of ex-serviceman or retired banker." "In reality he was a shoe salesman in the American Midwest." "Legend has it, when his store closed down and the staff made redundant... he conned the company out of $60,000 and shared it amongst his coworkers." "He fled to England in the '70s... but by then he'd got the taste and hasn't looked back since." "Once Stroller's got his mark... it's time to move up to the next level." "The insideman." "Michael Stone." "Also known as "Mickey Bricks. "" "He's in a class all on his own." "A long con player." "Never been convicted." "It is a matter of personal pride... to every fraud investigator in the country, to be the one who nails him." "Just finished his first spell in prison for an unrelated crime." "He served two years." "Rumors are, this is his last score." "We miss him this time, it's game over." "We think this is their next mark." "Peter Reginald Williams... started a pharmaceutical business in the early '80s." "His first wife Sara was from old money." "He used her family's connections in the government to get research contracts." " Where's the in?" " He is greedy." " I'll get the tip." " Thank you." "Regularly makes the Top 500 rich list." "But would cross the street to pick up £1 coin." "He recently bagged himself a new young wife." "But she's high maintenance and spends his cash faster than he'd like." "He's generally a sucker for a pretty face." "Spends money to impress." "The shorter the skirt, the looser he gets." "Sounds like you really warmed to this guy, Albert." "Yes." "He's an objectionable little man, with the morals of an alley cat." "That's marks for you." "This crew isn't about conning little old ladies out of their pension." "They're strictly major league." "And remember, Mickey Bricks thinks he's cleverer than us." "That there's no way we can catch him." "Let's prove him wrong." "Time to get an edge." " Did I miss something?" " One phone call in two years." "Yeah, you know how I hate queuing." "I've got the crew together." "Everyone?" "Albert?" "We're on." "Yeah, bring him in." "Don't tip him, Tony." "That service was shite." " You've dropped your wallet." " It's not mine." "That's a lot of money." "Let's see. "Mark Hamilton." "Clacy Hughes Associates. "" "What do you say?" "Finders keepers?" "You are a card." "Let's see if he's staying here." " We found this on the floor." " I'll see Mr. Hamilton gets it, sir." "No, I don't think so." "Just tell us which room he's in." " Who's she?" " Stacie Monroe." "She was married to short con artist Jake Henry." "They worked the badger mostly." "Did well, too." "Then Jake took all their savings and ran for the hills five years ago." "So much for honor amongst thieves." "Not to mention your wedding vows." "Word is, she and Stone had a thing once." "Before he met his wife." "Not just a pretty face." "She's sharp." "Maybe even in Stone's league." "Who is it?" " Mr. Hamilton?" " Who wants to know?" "We think we found something of yours." "Your wallet." "£3.50." "I'll give you two gos to find the lady." " Yeah, right. £3.50." " Take that." "Shouldn't you be somewhere, Danny?" "Tell you what, I'll make it easy for you." "I'll take the Queen, turn the corner up." "Like that." "Here we go." "Choose." "No money." "If you get it wrong, just buy me a drink." " Same again, please." " You're a very sick person." "Just naturally gifted." "You heard Mickey Bricks is out?" " Plays the long con, right?" " Top of the food chain." "So what?" "You reckon he could teach me something?" "What do I know?" "All you guys freak me out." "But they say he's the best." "He's booked in the London Park Hotel." " Yes, mate?" " Whiskey, please." "Thank you." "Here's to you, gentlemen." "I didn't think there were any honest men left in the world." " One or two." " Here's to honest men." " You must let me thank you properly." " No." "We wouldn't hear of it." "Even if it's only the cab fare home." "Excuse me." "Where were we?" "I was trying to persuade you to take something in return for your kindness." "It's a strange state of affairs if one chap can't do a favor for another... without money rearing its ugly head." "One day you may be in a position to do something similar for us." "You know, I just might." "I have a suggestion." "A business associate has asked me to make an investment for him tomorrow." "If you'll allow me, I'll put in, say, £500 for you?" "I'll take the £500 back, you just get to keep the profit." "It'll have cost me nothing... but at least I'll feel happier knowing I've done something." "That sounds very generous." "Good." "Thank you." "This investment, can I ask what it is?" "Just stocks and shares." "Nothing too exciting." "Fingers crossed." "I'm sure that won't be necessary." " What do you think?" " Looks like a no-lose situation to me." "My favorite kind." "They left about an hour ago." "Stroller dropped Williams off, then went back to the hotel." "Hi, Mickey." "Nice to..." "I was just..." "Okay, all right, take care." "Hi, Mickey." "How're you doing?" "Danny." "I was just..." "This guy moves in high circles." "It'll take something special to impress him." "That's exactly what he'll get." "As soon as Ash starts working his magic." "Have you ever thought of a younger woman, Albie?" "My dear, at my age, I think of little else." "Mr. Stone?" "Hi." "Danny Blue." "Pleased to meet you." "You've probably heard of me." "No?" "All right." "I'm not gonna mess you about." "I'll come straight to the point." "I know you're playing a score." "I want in." " In what?" " In." "You know, in the game." "I want to learn." "I really want to learn." "I'll just come inside for a little chat." "This is nice, isn't it?" "I'm good." "I can help you." "Think of it like that." "I'll do that for you." "I know all the old plays." "What're you doing?" "The Wire?" "No?" "The Rag?" "The Pay-Off?" "You tell me once, that's it." "Bosh, it's in." "I bet you watched The Sting, too, didn't you?" "Never heard of it." " You're not gonna shut the door, are you?" " Yeah, I thought I might." "So when do we pick them up?" "We wait." "I want everything." "All the players, the money." "Nothing left to chance." "As far as we can make out..." "Mickey Bricks doesn't have the money to bankroll a con like this." "They'll go out and try and raise what they can with short cons." "They'll need a car, top of the range." "Not too flash, but something that oozes class." "Parking, sir?" " Here." " Thank you." "God help anyone who runs into them today." "I'm sorry." "£240." "£125." "Enough?" " What about this place?" " Sorted." "Then it's enough." "As promised, gentlemen, I invested the £500 on your behalf... and this is the return." "I hope you're not disappointed." "There must be £1,000 here." "£1,950, to be precise." " That's quite a return." " I've had worse." "Made quite a killing yourself, I'll wager." "So shoot me." "Forgive me for prying, but I get the feeling... there was little or no risk in this particular investment." "No risk whatsoever." "So, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I do have a meeting." "Wait." "I mean, why don't we go again?" "Again?" "Tony, Mr. Hamilton has been more than generous." "Thank you." " Can I help you?" " Love, is he in?" " Excuse me." " Good to see you again." "Excuse me, gentlemen." "How are you?" "Mr. Hamilton." "I want to shake you by the hand." "You are a very great man, and I'm sorry I ever doubted you." "When I gave you that money, I did, for one second, consider the possibility... that you could have been, you know..." "I can't even say it." "Go ahead." "Please." "Get it off your chest." "I thought you could have been one of those conmen." "I might never see my money or him ever again." "Unbelievable." "I need a drink." "Scotch, please, darling." "I'm sorry, gentlemen." "This is Mr. Redford, a client of mine." "Mr. Redford, this is Tony Monroe and Peter Williams." "Peter, how do you do?" "I'm ready to go again, but this time I wanna go bigger." "Fine." "But this is neither the time nor the place to..." "I'm ready." "Perhaps you'd like to show Tony and Peter out?" "No, wait." "If there's another deal up for grabs, I'd like to hear about it." " Tony?" " Absolutely, yes." "Thank you." "My car will pick you up tomorrow morning." "Thank you." "I'm no expert, but I'd say that went like a dream." " So am I in?" " You're in." "Thank you." "Go." "Just waiting for some new clients... here to see Mr. Hamilton in 105." " I'll check the list." " They might not be on it." "If they're not on the list, I'll need to check." "Isn't 105 Mr. Moss's office?" " Do you believe in love at first sight?" " What?" "Don't panic." "Do you know what it's like, watching you sitting here every day?" "I just want an insy-winsy little kiss." "Can I, please?" "Mr. Hamilton's expecting you." " Right this way." " Thank you." "Got it." "They've got a positive ID." "He's a short con artist called Danny Blue." "Any history?" "He played a con three months ago, south of the river." "But the mark withdrew his complaint... and CPS wouldn't prosecute without evidence." "Why did he pull out?" "The mark bet his life savings in a horseracing scam... but his wife didn't know anything about it." "I suppose he wanted to keep it that way." "Hard to explain over breakfast, I guess." "It must be true what they say:" ""There's one born every minute. "" "Gentlemen, come in." "Take a seat." "Thank you." "Sorry I'm late, guys." "Ran into an old friend." "Gentlemen, welcome to the land of plenty." "Thank you." "What I'm about to show you may be foolproof... but it's also illegal." "There's no victim, but it's against the law." "Would you like me to continue?" "You see, the first rule of the con is you can't cheat an honest man." " It's never been done." " Can't happen." " Impossible." "It only works if you want something for nothing." " What do we do?" " We give you nothing for something." "You're £1,000 up so far." "It's a very good time to walk away." " But he can't." " Because he's so greedy." " So what do we do?" " Feed the greed." "But he's got one last chance." "We've told him it's illegal." "You could lose everything." " Career, wife, home." " Prison." "Get out while you can." "Do the smart thing." "As I was saying, what I'm about to show you... may be foolproof, but it's against the law." "Now, would you like me to continue?" "Laws were made to be broken." "Can you tell Peterson I want those breakdowns by lunchtime?" "Thank you." "Share transactions from Tokyo and New York... are relayed to the city of London by computer." "Or more precisely, our computer." "When the multi-nationals publish their annual reports, there's a flurry of activity." "If a company does well, their shares attract buyers and the price jumps." "We've managed to delay those transactions in the system long enough... to assess them and put our own order in to buy before them." "So you buy, knowing the share prices are gonna go up?" " Exactly." " They must notice the delay." "Not when it's less than nine-tenths of a second." "You can do this in less than a second?" "Our mainframe can make three million calculations in that time." "What's in it for you?" "I take 25% Of your profit." " 25%?" " Non-negotiable." "Hang on." "The profit is guaranteed, right?" "Set in stone." "If there's no profit, I don't get paid." "In three days, the oil company Vestron are releasing their annual report." "Once it's out, every major broker will be crawling all over those shares." "The plan is to buy £500,000 worth of shares." "I have two investors already in place at £100,000 each." "There are three places left." "£100, 000?" "Great, yeah, I'm in." "I don't know if I can raise that kind of money..." "The boat leaves in three days." "Either you're on it, or you're not." "Tony?" "It's a lot of money, but I'll find it." "You don't mind if I call my broker?" "What I've just said can't leave this room." "I'm not in the habit of investing in companies I've never heard of." "George?" "Peter Williams." "What do you know about Vestron?" "No problem." "Just heard a whisper, that's all." "No." "I'll call you if anything comes of it." "Count me in." "Good." "One more thing..." "I don't want to leave any paper trails." "The money has to be in cash." " Cash?" " Problem?" " I suppose not." " Good." "I just want to thank you for this opportunity." " Likewise." " Thank you." "Work the spell." "How're you doing?" "Save us both a little time." "I don't screw people I work with." "No?" "Does that go for everyone?" "Or just the troops?" "Do you want a little tip, Danny?" "Some friendly advice?" "Yeah, that would be great." "Watch and learn." "Stay out of things that don't concern you." " Your guys seem pretty tight." " After a while, you get to be family." "I say something funny?" "No." "The whole family thing works for me." "You play short cons, Danny." "Emptying people's wage packets on a Friday night." "You wouldn't understand." " Can I make a criticism?" " Okay." "£100,000?" "We can take this guy for a lot more than that." "That's the bit you don't get." "It's not just about the money." " Since when?" " Since always." "You don't get that, you don't get anything." "My old man was as straight as they come." "Never wanted much and life didn't disappoint him." "He worked, ate, slept." "Paid his taxes on time, toed the line." "The only dream he had was retiring at 60." "Dropped dead in the Post Office three days before his 60th birthday." "He was paying his phone bill." " I'm sorry." " Yeah." "Me, too." "You want to be regular people?" "Do you?" "Go do that." "They're crying out for foot soldiers down there." "Go and have your life run by bosses, bank managers, and politicians." "But if you want to be a grifter... don't have anything in your life you can't walk away from in a second." "Lovers, friends, even your own mother." "What about your wife?" "I heard what happened." "She wanted me to be something I wasn't." "And I was desperate not to disappoint her." "Recipe for disaster." "If you were still together... you're telling me you could just walk away from her?" "First rule, Danny:" "Always look after number one." "If you don't, no one else will." "I'll try and remember that." "Go home, Danny." "Get some sleep." "Danny Blue." "The kid did well today." "Reminds me of you." "Worryingly." "Okay, come on." "How did you find him?" " Am I that transparent?" " You taught me well." "I heard about him." "He's good." "Wants to be the best." "That sound familiar?" "I told Eddie to point him in your direction." "I'm all but done anyway." " You going to miss it?" " We're all trying to get out." "You would, too, if you could think of something else to do." "All right, boys." "You know what I love about roulette?" "That glorious 30 seconds while the wheel is still spinning." "Christopher Rawlings." "The horseracing scam." "His wife found out he'd lost their life savings." "He's ready to press charges." "You ever been to prison, Danny?" " Shouldn't you be taping this?" " That's Plan B." " Want to hear Plan A?" " Surprise me." "We've already got enough to send everyone down." "No way around that." "But bearing in mind who the mark is, the powers that be... would rather not have a lengthy trial." "They think the details might be embarrassing." "What they need is a watertight case so overwhelming, everyone pleads guilty." "We'll rush the sentencing through and the whole thing blows over." "Sounds like you've got it all worked out." "We have." "We know you came into the game late." "So you get a lifeline." " Which is?" " Just do what you've been doing." "After the arrests, we take you to a safe house, you make a statement." "Once the team knows we've got your evidence... they'll know they can't do anything but plead guilty." "In return, you walk away into the sunset." "What if I don't?" "Like I said, you go down with the rest of them... and we'll add the Rawlings job for good measure." "All you have to do is go back, pretend we never had this conversation." "Mickey and the others are going to prison whatever you do." "The only choice you have to make is whether you go with them or not." "Be smart, Danny." "Look after number one." " Where's the kid?" " He'll be here." "Opening night nerves." "Williams is on his way up." "Gentlemen." "You're late." " I'm sorry..." " Doesn't matter." "There's no time." "Let's get this done." " Where's Redford?" " He'll be here." "I thought we were all going to do this together." "If there's a problem, we can call the whole thing off." "Here he is." "Look, Mickey..." "Armed police!" "Everybody stay exactly where you are!" "Put the case down!" "Everyone, hands on heads." "What the hell is going on?" "You've been caught up in a confidence trick, sir." "These men are planning to swindle you out of your money." "There must be some mistake." "All right, Danny." "You can go." "Judas." "Listen, this is not how it looks." "Get the cases." "Don't do it, Michael." "Final lesson, Danny." "I mean it." " Oh, God!" " Get him out of here." "Bastard!" " We need a statement." " I have my position to think of." " We understand that, sir." " Just give me my money and I'll go." " We can't do that, it's evidence." " Sod the money." "Let me out of here." "I can't be implicated in something like this." "It'll ruin me." "If we have enough evidence, we can get guilty pleas." " It won't go to court." " Am I under arrest?" " We need your statement." " Am I under arrest?" "No, sir." "Get out of my way." "Let him go." "Let's hope the boss can do his stuff." "Sorry about the head." " You killed him." " I saved your life, Danny." "Everyone's in custody." "We'll get you checked out on the way to the station." "First, time to keep your end of the bargain." "Be sure not to miss anything out." "I'm not a grass." "Be smart, Danny." "All you can do now is lose." "Then I lose." "I'd sooner that than hook up with a murdering scumbag like you." " Stone fired a gun at you." " He thought I'd betrayed him." "You do this, or I'll see you get five years." "Last chance." "Go screw yourself." "Okay, he's all yours." "I knew you'd be okay, kid." " I don't get it." " You're all right." "Congratulations." "Sarge, the prisoners you asked for are gone." "What do you mean, they've gone?" "Who signed them out?" "It says here D.I. DePalma." "Don't do it, Michael." "Final lesson, Danny." "I mean it." "I got something for you." "If you don't know, find me someone who does." "I wanna know who sent DePalma over here." "Who gave him his orders, who his superior officer is." "No, you will not phone me back." "I wanna speak to someone there now." "Danny Blue." "Neil Cooper." "This man defines the term "con artist. "" "I'm just passing through." "Glad I could help." "Hang on a minute." "You shot at me." "Yeah, but I missed, remember?" "You're telling me we're home free?" "Absolutely." "Unless the police would like to go to court... and explain how the investigation was led by one of the accused." "It's all in the detail, kid." "A toast." "To Mickey Bricks' last score." "The end of an era." "The sweetest con of all is to con another grifter." "One who should know better." "You mean you're not retiring?" "I had to say something to get you all together." "You little devil." "That's brilliant." "It's not all about the money, is it, Mickey?" "Here endeth the first lesson."