Miles éclaira les messieurs son écho effondré et ils le traitèrent, et il devint vite clair que ces hommes n'étaient pas des «joueurs practisés». Ils s'intéressaient beaucoup plus à tirer des coups les uns sur les autres entre les mains, creusent et jibes au rythme de cinq-sept-cinq, et ne savent pas du tout où l'argent a changé de mains. Miles a rapidement profité de son discours libre-roue pour jouer la galle des cacahuètes à cette performance les oeuf sur et les poussant à plus de distraction. Ce genre de stratagème n'aurait pas marché, franchement ça n'aurait pas dû marcher aussi bien qu'il l'était. Mais avant que les trois gros chats ne remarquent son gimmick... l'un des trois a décidé d'imbiber quelque chose d'un peu plus fort que ce qui était dans leurs tasses.
C'est ce qui ne pourrait être que le miel, et il était en train d'obtenir un spectacle de siège avant sur ses effets. Le trio s'est effondré, agité d'ivresse, même dans leurs positions assises, vitrées sur les yeux et les visages rugueux... Le premier avait parié le reste de ses fonds décroissants sur une main vide voyant double et pensant qu'il avait eu deux paires quand il n'avait pas. La seconde descendit peu de temps après, essayant mal de bluffer sa main dans quelque chose de mieux qu'elle ne l'était et s'accrochant tellement à ses syllabes, il plié dans la honte. Le troisième s'est simplement effondré, lançant la tête sur la table et laissant sortir un ronflement puissant- et Miles s'est soudainement trouvé en tenant toutes les cartes comme le dernier homme debout.
L'inspecteur s'est envolé dans ses gains avec un air incrédule. La chance ne l'avait jamais montré comme ça auparavant et il était innéement méfiant de sa nouvelle. La majorité des fonds ont été dissimulés dans différentes poches au sujet de sa personne- il ne ferait pas de mettre ses «œufs tous dans un seul panier» et avoir un voleur entreprenant alléger sa charge pour lui. Il a cependant fait un point pour récupérer son écho original - en pressant doucement ses pliages bien usés et en le pliant serré, il l'a ridiculisé dans la bande de son chapeau. Bonne chance-charmes comme cela était rare à venir et il pourrait utiliser tous les jetons qu'elle a envoyé son chemin... on ne sait jamais quand il va s'épuiser.
Le temps se remet soudain au courant, et pendant un moment il commence par combien de temps est passé sans qu'il s'en rende compte avant que le Taverner ne le remette à l'aise. Avec un murmure de remerciements reconnaissant, Miles retrouve ses pieds - étourdissant un peu à quel point il était assis depuis longtemps - et c'est avec ce sentiment sincère de gratitude qu'il a atteint dans sa poche et a récupéré une paire d'échos pour placer dans le bocal des gratifications de l'homme. Là, la dette remboursée avec des intérêts- comment cela pour l'amélioration.
La chambre privée était assez facile à trouver, étant la seule avec toute sorte de lumière accueillante à elle et Miles est entré avec peu de cérémonie. Et on lui a immédiatement rappelé toute la crainte suspecte qu'il avait brièvement oubliée.
La chambre était rouge, méritant des lettres majuscules et mettant à l'esprit des pensées de feu de l'enfer et des maisons closes. Et puis il y avait la Femme. Le Pianiste Debonair, commandant la pièce en bleu frais, toutes somptueuses longues jambes et charmante grâce avec des lunettes, il était presque positif qu'elle n'ait pas besoin... Qu'est-ce qu'elle voulait de lui?
« Je suppose que vous pourriez dire cela, » a dit Miles en réponse à sa question, sa main s'approchant pour brosser l'Echo dans son chapeau, l'enfilant plus fermement dans sa place. Il a pris la place proffered et a essayé de ne pas avoir l'air aussi mal à l'aise qu'il se sentait, "Postly Luck je suis sûr... et vous savez comment fickle Lady Luck peut être."
Name: Spencer Cole
Age: 55
Physical Description: Exquisitely dressed in grey pin striped 3 piece suit, a perfectly tailored Egyptian cotton shirt and a Jaxon English bowler perched on his head, he is the epitome of style. Turning to fat in older age is a dominant gene in Spencer's family and combat this, he keeps a strict regime of running to giving him a taut sleek form which he moves with smooth purpose. Boots made of soft, velvet like leather clad his feet, a long chain leading to an elegant pocket watch mark and the mole skin briefcase mark him as a man of distinction.
Its often said that people dress to hide their flaws or accentuate their more desirable attributes and Spencer was no exception to this rule. He was by no means a hansom man, dour in expression, weak chin and a nose that was almost, but not entirely the wrong size for his face. Still, he was not without some positive physical attributes, he had been involved with several high profile women in his life, one of whom was a well know actress, none of them had ever lasted more then a year or more. They could never offer him what he really wanted.
Personality: Petty, ruthless and uncompromising, are some of the nicer adjectives used to describe Spencer. Most who have worked with him describe him as narcissistic, manipulative and abhorrent. Spencer's better personality traits were never encouraged to come out. A ruthless attitude were cultivated as a child and a cool intellect was nurtured. This upbringing has left Spencer some what distant and disinterested in others, that is unless he considers you of value. Accustomed to being deferred to he makes a difficult travelling companion and a formidably enemy.
Given his affluent family circumstances Spencer has never been require to do manual labour and Tabour, his equerry has always dealt with the more physical side of Spencer's business, not that there is a vast amount of that kind of work with the lifestyle he leads.
Ethics/Beliefs: Morality was never much of an issue for Spencer, in as much as he had never really had it instilled in him. Ruthlessness was an attribute that was nurtured, developed and grown , this ruthlessness which, today, Spencer wields like a weapon. At a very early age all of the Spencer children were encouraged to cheat, to be manipulative, to win at all costs. Winning, of course to most people, is a subjective matter, to Spencer it was his life force. Anything could be 'Won', people, property, favours, money, import rights, conversations. Wining is what drives him and the only unfair game that you ever play in life, is the game you lose....
Occupation/Talents: 30 years with the British Diplomatic Service has left Spencer jaded, frustrated and angry. He had been, what many would call lucky in his postings. Lucky in the first instance that his father purchased his commission with the Diplomatic Service and in the second instance that all his postings had given him unrestricted access to business leaders, politicians and affluent people who could ensure the ships from British Tobacco Ltd were not subjected to any formal inspections. Of course the fact that the Spencer family were the majority share holders in British Tobacco Ltd and subsidiaries were purely coincidental. Spencer always wanted to be more hands on with his family’s businesses but destroyed all chance of that after the accident.
His real talents lay with people, he could manipulate them and bend them to his will, subtly of course, none of this crass violence that people seem to revile in these days. Far from disliking people who resisted him, he respected them for it, he even liked some of them. Not that it would stop him trying to use them to his advantage in one way or another.
Heart's Desire: A child. A male heir to carry on his work and his genes to the next generation. There really isn't much more to it, he does not need anything material, he has no need of a wife or friends, nothing more than a son.
History: Spencer is the eldest of 3 brothers, and there fore, as is right, the next in line to take up a position on the board of directors for the family’s business, except that to be a board member you first must have provided a male heir to the family, which for Spencer was an impossibility.
Growing up on the family estate as the eldest brother should have been relatively easy for Spencer, he had a full 16 months on his twin brothers and he exploited this age gap for many years. The twins grew fast and being twins, did everything together. It was a cause for concern with the family heads when Spencer's mother produced twins, the family had experienced problems in the past with twins, they had found it difficult to sever that unseen bond twins have. The Family heads decided on a different course of action with Twain and Evans, their tutors encouraged this bond and strengthened it over the years.
On the Twins 12th birthday the day was to be celebrated with a shoot. The preparations had taken weeks and the twins had each been presented with a brace of identical smooth bore shot guns. Shooting was a part of life at the family’s estate and by this age each of the children were proficient in handling guns.
Nobody knew how Twain managed to get separated from the group, and neither Spencer or Twain could remember exact details of the incident. Even today, when he thinks back on the weeks that followed a dull pain builds between his legs. When the doctor had made it clear that nothing could be done to rebuild the parts that were destroyed, Spencer was moved from the family estate into the town house. He was kept separate from the rest of the children and purchased a Commission in the Diplomatic Service.