Well Claude wasn’t too happy to see me at the bar again, but he relaxed a bit when I told him that I’d had the bartender open the one bottle of beer in front of me.
“How many?” he asked skeptically.
“Just the one. And I won this,” I said and showed Claude the $500,000.00 worth of chips. I expected a smart remark, I’m kinda getting used to them, but I got a quiet smile instead. Then Claude was serious again.
“I still can’t reach Ivan,” he said. He didn’t look happy at all.
I finished the beer, oddly enough Claude didn’t want any but he still insisted on escorting me as I cashed out and went back to our rooms. I understand the concern about Ivan being incommunicado (and the debt Claude no doubt wants to collect on) but really, all that fuss over just one beer, gee whiz, you’d have thought I was drunk or something…
Anyway, after that, Claude went out again and told me to stay put. The big win entitled us to complimentary on demand, so I decided to use it and I watched the other Claude Rains in The Invisible Man (1933). Good film, even if my favorite invisible man wasn’t actually in it.
