Forging Ahead part 7

FORGING AHEAD by Jimmy Connerly (based on an idea by Rico)

scene 3 continued

will it get found Grandad: Do you reckon we'll find it Del?
Del: Where do we start?
Grandad: P'raps if I went and saw Reggie? He might confide in me, I am his father Del-boy.
Del: No, save your effort Grandad, he'd know Rodney and me sent you.
Rodney: I still don't get why he couldn't get the money last Christmas if he knew where it was.
Trigger: Too tricky, Brian said.
Rodney: Not tricky, no. Didn't get the opportunity he said. And they were dad's words, what did he mean by that?
Del: I wouldn't knock yourself out over it Rodney, dad lies so much it's hard to know what to believe and what not.
Rodney: Gotta feel sorry for Inky though.
Del: Sorry for Inky? What about us?
Rodney: We ain't got nothing to do with this Del, even dad was only a fence.
Del: Launderer!
Rodney: Fence, Launderer, no difference. It was Inky's skill that got the money in the first place. We're just vultures scavenging off a rotting carcass.
Del: Oh shut up Tinkerbell. You didn't even know him. Inky was loaded long before this caper came along.
Trigger: No need to feel sorry for Inky Dave, he used to own a great big house up the Kings Avenue. His house was next door to Boycie.
Del: There you go Rodney, whatever has happened to Inky, at least he's got better neighbours now.
Rodney: Blimey, all that money from forgery!
Del: Get off, forgery! That was just a hobby with Inky. He made all his money in the print.
Rodney: Get off!
Grandad: No, it's true Rodney, he was a sign-writer.
Del: Yeah, sign-writing, lettering. It was Inky that did the New York, Paris and Peckham on the side of the van.
Rodney: He made all that money doing signs?
Del: Yeah, straight. Landed a whopping contract with IBM when computers first started to get big. Designed and made all their logos for the city. Huge contract.
Trigger: Floors and Ceilings!
Rodney: Eh?
Del: What's up Trig? Are you stocktaking?
Trigger: No, I mean Inky, it weren't just the sign writing. He organised all the false floors and ceilings for IBM. And walls.
Del: False ceilings, floors and walls? This is IBM Trig, not MI5!
Trigger: It was to tidy up all the computer cables Del. Like a plastic wall to keep them all out of sight and not in the way. Inky got me and Monkey Harris to install a load for them about then.
Del: What, you did all the computer cabling for IBM?
Rodney: No wonder Amstrad and Apple are going so well these days!
Trigger: No, I didn't do the cabling Dave, our job was just to house the cables behind the false walls and floors and that. It was like a plastic paneling really.
Del: Bloody hell. Are we going to concentrate on where this money's got to or are we just going to discuss Trigger's C.V. all day?
Trigger: I think you're getting me mixed up with Denzil there Del-boy, he's got one in the cab of his lorry.
Rodney: No Trig, C.V.! Not C.B.! Your Curriculum Vitae!
Trigger: (None the wiser) Oh!
Del: Don't worry about it Rodney, I don't think he 'copies'!

Del shakes his head. Trigger looks confused. Rodney seems to hit on an idea.

Rodney: Hang on, false ceilings and floors!
Del: What about them now?
Rodney: Well the money, you know.
Grandad: What?
Rodney: Well say Inky put in a false floor somewhere right. On some job he was doing. Where better to hide a wad of cash?
Del: Good thinking Rodders!
Grandad: So how comes only Reggie knows where the money is then? And who'd hide money in someone else's business? What would they do when they wanted to get it out again? Say, "Excuse me, hope you don't mind but we want to dig your floor up again."?
Rodney: Oh yeah, I'd not though of that.
Del: You plonker Rodney!
Rodney: No, hang on it doesn't have to be a business does it. He could install a false ceiling or a wall in his own home. Or even at a relative's.
Grandad: That still doesn't explain why dad's the only one who knows where the money is.

Rodney thinks.

Rodney: Unless....
Del: Go on then, I'll buy it, unless what?
Rodney: Unless the money's somewhere else!
Del: Blimey, how do you do it Poirot? Bloody hell Rodney, it's obvious it's somewhere else!
Trigger: Like where?
Rodney: How about this flat?
Grandad: You reckon it might be here?
Del: Leave it out Rodney, if you poked so much as a nail in the ceiling or floor you'd be in with the neighbours.
Rodney: OK then, what about the walls?
Del: No, them walls are too thin!
Rodney: Not too thin to hold a few wads of notes Del.

Del thinks, considering the idea. He goes to the nearest wall to him and raps the it lightly with his knuckles.

Del: It's hollow!
Grandad: (Excited) That bit is. What about the rest of the walls?
Del: But say we're wrong? We can't go knocking the walls down just on the off chance all the cash is behind it.
Rodney: But say it is behind there. We can't just leave it not knowing.
Del: Hang on, hang on. Brian just said he was off to see Inky didn't he.
Rodney: And?
Del: So I say we pay dad a visit. Ask him if he had any interesting decoration schemes in the latter sixties! I don't know about you lot but I reckon that should make a good discussion!
Grandad: Yeah, it's worth a try Del-boy.
Del: It was your idea about the walls Trigger, I reckon we count you in.
Trigger: (Gives a thumbs up) I'm with you Del. I'm doing my flat up soon. I could do with some DIY tips.

All react.

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Series 1-7	Series 6	Strangers shore	Series 7