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Montague turned to Forbes. “You’ve done the right thing, Forbes, and I’m quietly impressed. I must come in and speak with you soon about what services Moreton’s can offer my clients.”

That declaration made Forbes brighten even more.

Barnaby heard Jordan, standing behind him, softly swear. When Stokes and Barnaby glanced up at him, Jordan rather grimly stated, “I know all three names.”

That was curious. Barnaby resisted the impulse to ask why, as did Stokes. Right time, wrong place.

Stokes took the list from Penelope, who was, predictably, frowning.

He folded the sheet, tucked it into his notebook, then came to his feet.

He nodded to Forbes. “Thank you for your assistance, Forbes. We’ll leave you to get on with your day.

” Stokes glanced at the others. “For our part, we clearly have avenues to pursue.”

With the rest of their company eager to comply, with good wishes all around, they parted from Forbes, who showed them out into the main foyer.

When the unmarked door to Moreton’s closed quietly behind them, Thomas waved them into the palm-delimited alcove they’d occupied earlier.

As they clustered around, Montague declared, “I’ve heard of all three gentlemen—Winter, Huxtable, and Haverstock.” He met Stokes’s gaze. “The rumors are that all three appear to have grown unexpectedly wealthy over the past few years.”

Thomas nodded. “I’ve heard the same. And in the men-of-business world, unexpectedly means unaccountably.” Thomas looked at Jordan. “The last I heard, all three were claiming they’d simply been lucky at the tables.”

His expression serious, Jordan shook his head.

“They have been playing the tables, but they haven’t been lucky.

” Shifting his gaze to Stokes, he explained, “All three have been frequenting the boss’s establishments over the past few years.

But the thing is—and this is why I know their names—none of the three are the usual gamblers.

They never come in expecting to win. Instead, they amble in, risk a little, inevitably lose it, then they hang about.

It seemed to us that they were making sure they were seen by others.

Then after a time, they amble out again.

Because their rather strange behavior has been repeated many times, our staff noticed and reported it.

Roscoe, Mudd, Rawlings, and I have been wondering what the three are about—whether there was something going on beneath our noses of which we were unaware. ”

Stokes huffed. “Unlikely, but I see your point.”

“How often do they visit?” Penelope asked.

“Every few months, they’ll be in for several evenings over a few weeks,” Jordan replied. “Then we won’t see them for several months, then they reappear, do the same thing, then vanish for another few months.”

Barnaby was frowning. “It seems as if they’re using Roscoe’s tables as a smoke screen. Enough people see them gambling so when others notice their newfound wealth, they can believably claim to have had a lucky run.”

Penelope nodded. “That no one ever sees them win doesn’t matter.

Everyone assumes that must have been on some other night when the particular observer wasn’t present.

” Penelope looked at Thomas and Montague.

“Speaking of their inexplicable newfound wealth—the sums Chesterton must have paid them—is there any way at all to trace that?”

Thomas and Montague grimaced, and both shook their heads.

“If they have any brains at all,” Thomas said, “and it seems they do, they’ll be keeping their ill-gotten gains as cold, hard cash, and there won’t be any trace of it in any account of any stripe.”

“It’s likely,” Jordan said, “that Winter, Huxtable, Haverstock, and Chesterton agreed on some simple formula for his payments to them. For instance, that once the smugglers pay Chesterton for the guns—which will always be in cash—he gives each backer three times whatever they’d put in for that shipment. ”

Thomas was nodding. “Such an arrangement would be easy for all four to calculate and keep track of, and that also leaves Chesterton with whatever was left over as his slice, which is a sound incentive for him to get the best price possible over and above covering the repayments.”

Montague added, “I wouldn’t expect to find any telltale trail to follow with respect to the money returning to the backers.

They would certainly see that as a potential threat to them.

However, when it came to making the initial payments to Chesterton, I suspect they simply found using Moreton’s all too convenient. Luckily for us, as it transpires.”

Jordan put in, “Whether by luck or design, they all had accounts at Moreton’s, and as I said earlier, moving money within a single bank leaves minimal records and, therefore, fewer chances of anyone stumbling over the connection between Chesterton and the three.”

“All of that,” Stokes said, “the visits to the gambling clubs, the single bank account, and only cash going back to them, speaks to them knowing they needed to conceal the sums they’ve been raking in from the sales of the guns.”

Barnaby nodded. “There’s no chance that they were unaware of the illegality of what Chesterton was doing on their behalf.”

Penelope huffed. “Not with all the steps they’ve taken to conceal their involvement.”

Thomas tipped his head toward Stokes’s pocket. “You have the list of names and account numbers, and you have Chesterton’s private account book listing those same accounts. That should be all you need.”

“Indeed.” Stokes looked around the group. “So I’m for the Yard. I need to see the Commissioner about getting arrest warrants for these three.”