A Fool and his money

Part 3
By Ray

He pondered a while and then said, "If you give me an address where you can be reached I could forward you the reward. Time is pressing now and I really must make tracks.

"This guy was now really getting on my nerves. It was obvious that once he met up with his family in Scotland they would persuade him to keep all the cash. I was beginning to regret the meeting and I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was four thirty and his train was at five. If I could stall him a little while longer he would miss the train and then I could load him into a taxi. Mr. Burrows then stood to leave. He produced twenty pounds from his pocket and handed it to me."

If there was some other way." He said. "Take this twenty instead with my thanks."

I held up my hands in refusal. I was after the five hundred and wasn't going to let this gent leave until he paid up. The money was mine. There was nothing that I could do to prevent Mr. Burrows from walking away with my money except kidnapping him. My hand drifted to the roll of money that I had won yesterday and I had an idea.

"Mr. Burrows. I happen to have five hundred cash in my pocket. Your share of the winnings is five hundred. Take this cash and give me the betting slip. This way you can leave and catch your train and I can go to Frank and cash in the slip. You would, of course, have to ring Frank and tell him I will be coming instead of you."

He liked the idea and pulled out his phone. Frank remembered Mr. Burrows and said it would be fine if I came to collect the winnings. I handed over my money and he gave me the slip and that was the last I saw of Mr. Burrows.

I raced over to Frank, introduced myself and gave him the slip. Frank stared at the slip with a puzzled look on his face.

"I don't remember sanctioning a four-horse accumulator." He said.

There was a small pause that lasted days as Frank scanned the slip. He looked up and said, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Did you not receive a phone call from a Mr. Burrows about an hour ago?" I enunciated the words slowly as I was beginning to lose control.

"No," said Frank.

"Is this not your signature?" I asked with a slight tremble in my throat.

He agreed that it was his signature and looked in his book containing the records of the bets placed on that day.

"Here. I have a record from a Mr. Burrows. He placed ONE pound on a filly called 'Good and Proper.' It was the favourite and came in by a length."

Frank looked at the betting slip. "It's obvious that your friend has tampered with the slip. Now please stop wasting my time."

I had been conned because of my own greed. Mr. Burrows had obviously added the remaining horses to the slip after the races had been run.

Before I left I asked Frank one more question. "Mr. Bradley. Was that the first time you had met with Mr. Burrows? Only he said he was your Old Latin teacher."

Frank Bradley stood and smiled. He was six foot two and his arms were covered with tattoos. Several of his front teeth were missing.

"Do I look like I can speak Latin?" He said.