As a man aboard the Fortuna looks out to see from his
vantage point behind the yacht's flashing neon sign. A scuba diver swims
up to the side of the yacht and a man on the inside lowers a net on a
rope down to him. The diver puts a package in the net and sends it up,
and the man on the inside takes it out of the cabin. He quickly ducks
out of sight as Lucky climbs down the ladder and looks suspiciously
around the lower decks.
Up at the casino, Andamo watches
Professor Olander, who is studying his math books and placing bets on
the roulette wheel. An attractive woman, Prudence, is watching Olander
and placing bets to match his. When Lucky comes in, Andamo tells him
that Olander is back. Unconcerned, Lucky assures his friend that the
professor is a nice man. Olander loses another bet but tells an admiring
Prudence that the numeric progressions will ultimately prove his
calculations correct. Lucky comes over and commiserates with the
professor, who assures the owner that he'll work out the correct
progression eventually. Unconcerned, Lucky tells the Olander to keep
trying.
As they walk away, Lucky reminds Andamo that they've
having a guest. They go to the launch and Lucky greats the mate, Alex.
Lt. Rovacs with the city police comes aboard and interrupts Lucky as
Prudence flirts with him. Rovacs flashes his badge but assures the
couple that he's not there on a raid. He asks to talk to Lucky privately
and the owner agrees. They go to Lucky's cabin and Rovacs explains that
someone is smuggling counterfeit $50 bills through from South America.
The police have the city sewn up tight but someone got a million in
counterfeit cash in within the last month and the police have heard that
another million will be arriving shortly. Rovacs figures that the
counterfeits are coming in through international waters, and Lucky is
glad to lend a hand and keep an eye out for them.
Once the
casino closes for the night, Lucky greets Prudence in his cabin. As they
kiss, Lucky hears a launch nearby and wonders who it belongs to.
Offended that he isn't paying attention to her, Prudence suggests that
they go back to her apartment in the city. Once there, they dance and
discuss gambling. Prudence is confidence that she'll win at roulette
eventually, and Lucky tells her that people like her and Olander are
good for business because he house still wins. When Lucky mentions that
Olander identified himself as a mathematics professor at Wilbur College,
Prudence says that she attended Wilbur College and Olander didn't teach
there. Lucky wonders if the professor is legitimate but Prudence
interrupts his train of thought with a kiss.
The next morning,
Lucky is walking back to the launch and talks to a local boy, Eddie.
Eddie is fishing off the dock and shows Lucky a book that he snagged out
of the water: Basic Theory of Games. Lucky takes it with him
and goes out to the yacht, and finds Rovacs waiting for him. He goes in
with Andamo and Rovacs explains that another shipment of counterfeit
money got in. Lucky agrees to keep looking and asks the lieutenant to
see if Olander works at Wilbur College.
That night, Olander
comes across on the launch and warns Lucky that he's figured everything
out and plans to take the owner for everything he has. He goes to the
roulette table and starts winning, while Prudence watches and bets along
with him. Andamo is worried that Olander will clean them out, but Lucky
is paying more attention to the sound of a launch on the water. When
Andamo says he doesn't see a cause for concern, Lucky points out that
there are no fishing boats out at that time of night.
The scuba driver repeats the process of sending the package up to the inside man on the Fortuna.
Meanwhile, Lucky figures that the counterfeiters are using the yacht to
smuggle in the counterfeit money, and he and Andamo go below to check.
They run into Alex, who is carrying a book and says that he hasn't seen
anything. They move past and find a package of waxed paper in a
compartment. Lucky realizes that it's just the of the book that Alex was
carrying.
Olander finishes gambling and goes back to the
launch. As he boards it, he "accidentally" bumps into Alex and takes a
book from beneath the mate's jacket. Lucky and Andamo go to the casino
and confirm that Olander has already left. They run up to the launch and
Lucky tells the captain to stop. Olander draws a gun and orders the
captain to leave, but Lucky dives onto the launch, tackles Olander, and
knocks him into the water. Andamo tackles Alex, who fights back with a
pike but is no match for the canny Cuban. Meanwhile, Lucky drowns
Olander into submission and hauls him back on deck.
Lucky calls
Rovacs out to the yacht. When the lieutenant arrives, Lucky hands
Rovacs Olander's mathematics book and invites him to look inside. The
book has a hidden compartment holding $500,000 in counterfeit money.
Lucky explains that the counterfeiters would take a launch near the Fortuna,
send the scuba driver across, and have Alex make the pickup. Then Alex
would slip the book to Olander and he'd take it into town. Rovacs
belatedly confirms that Olander doesn't work at Wilbur College and hauls
the crooks away.
Once the casino closes for the night, Lucky
and Prudence dance and offers to split her money with Lucky so he can
retire. Lucky isn't interested in a long-term commitment, and offers her
a wide-open contest instead. As they kiss, Andamo comes out, sees them
together, and figures that's it and that's all.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 3, 2018