Free A Day at the Races by Keith Armstrong Page B

a bit of an antique but with some modification it will do the job great. There is also an old letterpress numbering machine at the back of the paper stores, so we can give out notes individual numbers and letters, and this is important if we are to pull this off.”
    “How many notes do you intend to print?” Asked Derek.
    “About three million pounds worth, there or there about, in for a penny in for a pound, obviously we will have to do this on the nightshift or at weekends when no one is around. When you finish each stage, put the pallets back in the old storeroom under the stairs. Nobody ever goes there, plus I am the only one with a key.”
    “Do you have enough stock to print that many?”
    “Yes Derek, probably more than double that amount if needed. At this stage I think that’s all we will be able to distribute, but we are going to have a dummy run at a race meeting shortly, just to see how many bets its possible to place with the bookies and the tote without being sussed.
    Based on the rehearsal, we will adjust either up or down as need be. The last thing we need is a vast surplus left over, because we are going to have to destroy everything, plates, films, stock, ink anything that might link us in any way.
    This has to be a once off operation, bang that’s it! The whole place will have to be disinfected, any trimmings put through the shredder before we burn them. We will use the correct inks for either process or spot colours, although I am not sure how many colours we will finish up with, until its all scanned and separated, but we should have more than enough paper and inks to do the job.
    A thorough wash up will be essential, so there is not a trace of anything that could link us to this. We may have a couple of days before it becomes evident that there has been a major sting, and they start checking repro and print companies, or they may never know that anything untoward has taken place. A lot will depend on how good a note we produce, I am sure they will have to examine them under a microscope to detect anything suspicious, by that time a lot of them will be in the banking system, and will probably never be detected.”
    “When are you going to start the plates?” Asked Tony.
    “Already started, had a fifty up on the new Crosfield Scanner, and separated out the colours for the Queens head on the front and Sir John Houblon on the reverse of the note. There is a bit of clutter coming though from the other colours, but with the new software I can retouch it out easy enough. Its much easier to retouch the separations enlarged up so I currently have them at 400% of their original size and they will sharpen up when the are scaled back down to the correct size. I think I can finish both sides inside three weeks, that’s separated, retouched, step and repeated into a large panel thirty two up ready for plate making.”
    “Gee, so your ahead of schedule?” Asked Derek.
    “Not really, because the finishing of the notes will be very involved. To heat laminate the foil patches with the reflective rose and the medallion and the individual numbering will take time. Also we will have to print the ‘Bank of England’ by letterpress and we will have to use a foam base in the ink and when the note goes through the hot foil press, the heat from the press should make that lettering rise like a cake, so it has a raised feel when you rub your finger nail over it.
    I also have a friend over at Lasergraphics in Dublin who owes me a couple of favours, he says he will laser cut the foils for me so, that’s one job I don’t have to worry about. We will also have to run them through a tumble drier to give them an aged look, so all this will add to the overall time, but we should have them finished by end of November early December.
    Now this conversation has to go no further than these four walls, and none of the other members of the group will know about you, because they don’t have as much to lose as you, so if I am