A Day at the Races by Keith Armstrong Page A

to sort the cash, so that we can get rid of the duds as quickly as possible. Each one of you will have a key for the van and the box, so if you feel the need to unload do so.
    Each one of you will be given £150 to cover your entrance fee and refreshments, and yes it’s the real thing from our dry run, that should cover you especially, if you have to stay over. To make it clear we have seven teams of three, one of the team travels in a Skippers van, the other two by car ok?
    I put everyone’s name into a hat, and drew lots as to who went where, I thought that was the fairest thing to do under the circumstances. So here’s what we have arrived at.
    Kenny, Malcolm and Howard, hit Kempton Park in Surrey, so you will need to leave Skippers about 5.30 in the morning. Fisher, Maurice and Ian do Sedgefield, you will leave after everyone else, so you can ensure that they have everything they need and you will only need to leave about 11.45 a.m.
    Frank you Clive and Granville are at Market Rasen in Lincolnshire so a 6.30 a.m. start. Derek, Tony and Harold you are Hereford set off time about 10.00 a.m. Moxie you Peter and Stuart are at Wetherby in Yorkshire, so you can leave about 11.30 a.m.
    Walter and Harry you are with me at Ayr in Scotland so we have an early start as well about 6.30 a.m. Linton you Brian and Colin are at Wincanton in Somerset, so you have a long drive, so you will need to leave about 5.30 a.m. Any questions or does anyone think they would prefer a different venue?”
    They all shook their heads.
    “Right we all assemble at Skippers on Boxing day to pickup our coats and cash. There will be two route maps for each of you to each racecourse so that you don’t get lost, but most of them are well signposted so you shouldn’t have a problem.
    Linton has also typed out three sheets for each of you with your direct routes on and expected travel time to each of your venue’s. He has also listed Hotels and B&B’s in your area should you need to stay over, also there will be three copies of the racing paper the Sporting Chronicle.
    I think that’s all, any questions?”
    Fisher spoke.
    “Well I just want reiterate, that you can continue to store the money at Skippers in the top security vault after Boxing Day and as you know we have a large incinerator that we can dispose of the everything afterwards.”
    “That’s great Fisher, I appreciate all your help in doing this, it wouldn’t be possible to pull this off without everything you are doing for us. That goes for all of you, I owe you all a huge debt of gratitude and I cant thank you enough.
    I think assuming we get away with this, that we keep the money in the vault until the end of January, and think of a way to introduce it into the fund, probably by anonymous donations.
    As I said at the outset I just want enough to cover Rachel’s treatment, and that you should share the rest out amongst yourselves but wait a period of time, because they might be on the lookout for any big cash spenders.
    I expect to get a visit from the Flying Squad as they usually pay us a visit when there is a flood of forgeries, but it may be some time after, so we need to bide our time and not rush into flashing the cash. I didn’t get any visits after our trial run, but that doesn’t mean they have not been alerted.
    I have nothing further to add, I need to get home to my family, so you all have a great Xmas and I will see you all at Skippers on Boxing Day, and remember keep a tight lip we don’t want to cock things up at this late stage.”
    They all wished one another a great Xmas and left the Old Duke.

Chapter 13
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    It was a bitterly cold morning on Boxing Day, as the first of them arrived at Skippers Dairies.
    Fisher was already there in the canteen, he made sure that each van had a full tank of diesel, that all the coats had been filled with cash and that the spare £250,000 was hidden in a separate compartment in the van.
    He had laid on fresh hot toast, bacon sandwiches