Phule’s Paradise by Robert Asprin

CHAPTER TWELVE

Journal #236

One would think that the key turning point of this particular assignment was the event chronicled in the last chapter, the grand opening of the Fat Chance Casino, when my employer’s forces successfully prevented the implementation of Maxine Pruet’s multifaceted assault on Gunther Rafael’s financial resources.

While there is no denying the importance of that skirmish, viewing the conflict from ground zero, as is my privilege, I would have to say that the events immediately following the opening were in many ways far more crucial to the eventual outcome of the confrontation.

Nicknames tended to abound among gamblers. What was more, certain nicknames were recurring almost to the point of being traditional. Thus it was that anyone in the gambling circles named Edward would invariably be hailed as “Fast Eddie.”

Lucas, however, had managed to avoid the obvious title of “Lucky Luke” and was known to his associates simply as “Lucas.” This was, in part, because he strove for, and achieved, a certain degree of anonymity in the casinos, dressing and acting the part of an accountant or an actuary on vacation. Mostly, however, the nickname was avoided because Lucas didn’t think of himself as a gambler. He thought of himself as a crook, and luck had nothing to do with his success.

He was a meticulous planner, which was fortunate because the type of theft he favored required careful attention to detail and timing. In fact, he had been scouting the Fat Chance for nearly a week before he decided that a score was possible, and passed the word to the other members of his team who were scattered through the other Lorelei casinos.