The bar was tucked away down a side alley and known to be a haunt for the criminal fraternity.
The man in the suede jacket was what you might call a petty criminal. He was pretty low in the pecking order of things, but knew that some of the top crime bosses used the bar. It could do no harm to mix with them. He was certainly nervous as he entered. He ordered a drink and found a table tucked away in a corner. The place was full of men drinking and smoking. He looked around surreptitiously. Several of them he recognised as being kingpins in the underworld. He saw one man dressed in a particularly expensive looking suit that he recognised as being someone he had met, but only once. He wondered if the man would remember him. He was sitting on his own at a table tapping into a mobile phone. It could be his opportunity to get a foot in the door.
After several minutes of hesitation he plucked up the courage and walked over, smiling and saying “You may not remember me, we met briefly at the racecourse, last year.” The man in the suit looked up with a questioning expression, then seemed to relax. He pointed, saying “I can’t say I do but take a seat. ‘Suede’ pulled out a chair and sat. He felt that this could well be an opening for him. They sat chatting casually for a time, then quite out of the blue, and in a loud voice, the man says “No! There’s no way I’m going to help you rob the jewellery store!”
‘Suede’, being totally shocked by the unprovoked and completely nonsensical outburst, got up and made his way back to his table. He tried not to let the patrons staring at him see how much he was trembling as he sat back down. He just couldn’t believe what the ’suit’ had said. He was thinking about which jewellery shop the other had been referring to when he looked across and found the ‘suit’ was grinning and waving him back. After a few moments of indecision he got up and slowly walked back. The man, still smiling as though nothing had happened, waved him to the chair.
“You have to forgive me.” He said “It’s a bit of a weakness with me. I just can’t resist pulling stunts like that. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid. I’m often told I have a sick sense of humour. No hard feelings I hope? Let me get you a drink. I think you need one.” He chuckled to himself as he made his way to the counter.
He returned, and as before they sat making polite conversation for a while before ‘suede’ suddenly jumped up, knocking over his chair. “You swine!” He shouted. This brought the attention of everyone in the room. “I wasn’t here to offer you a job.” He went on with real fury. “I was sent here to test you and now we know. It was you that tipped the police off about last month’s bank job.” With that, he kicked his fallen chair to one side and stormed out of the bar.
Outside, he started to walk slowly back up the alley smiling to himself.
Just as he reached the street he heard the shot.