As the new year rolled in, Robert couldn’t get the Vancouver Birks store out of his mind. He was determined to go back there and hold it up. But before he did that, he knew he needed better information on the layout of the place. This would be his biggest robbery and he didn’t want any mistakes.
On January 3 he flew out to Vancouver to case the Birks store one more time. As he walked in, a Birks employee came up to him and asked, “Can I help you?”
“Yes, you can,” he said. “I need a new battery for my watch.”
“That would be downstairs, sir. The escalator is over there.”
Robert was surprised. When he was here before with Tommy he hadn’t realized the place had a lower level.
“Thank you,” he said and went directly down the escalator. Once he got downstairs he could see the solutions to his problems. The lower level led right into the Pacific Centre Mall. One of the exits was only thirty feet from a door that opened to the underground parking lot. Now Robert was sure he could do the job. He was still going to need an accomplice to cope with the store’s security but he felt much more confident about the layout of the premises. As he flew home he had the feeling that his membership in the million dollar club was now within his reach.
In Ottawa his relationship with Janice was worse than ever. The two of them fought constantly over the same old issues. Not only was she unhappy about him going out every night drinking, she was fed up with him hanging around the Playmate Club.
“That place is grotesque,” she complained.
“I happen to like it.”
“It’s a dingy shit house. What’s there to like?”
“That’s my business.”
“If we’re living together, it’s also my business.”
“Why is it any of your fucking business?”
“Because while you’re drinking yourself stupid every night, I’m busting my ass working shifts.”
“I work too. I take care of my end. What the fuck are you bitching about?”
“You’re never home! Is it so horrible around here, you can’t spend one goddamn night a week away from those assholes?”
On and on it would go. Janice’s temper and her tantrums became legendary among the crew at the Playmate.
Robert would say, “I got to get going, or else.”
“Or else what?” they would ask.
“Or else I feel the wrrrrrath of Janice.” Robert pronounced the word like a growling mastiff.
They would all nod their heads.
Her wrath didn’t stop Robert from going about his jewellery business. On January 16 he flew to Winnipeg. He had cased the Birks store on Portage Avenue on a previous trip west and knew exactly what he wanted to steal. The next day at 5:30 p.m., he walked into the store and was attended at the estate counter by Gladys Okabe. Robert asked to see a marquis ring that was on display. Gladys took it out of the counter and showed it to him.
“It was originally priced at $45,000,” she said, “but it’s been marked down to $39,000.”
“Why has it been marked down?” Robert asked.
Gladys explained that the owner wanted a quick sale and was prepared to take a loss to get the ring sold.
Robert then said, “Look down here.”
Gladys didn’t understand what he meant and Robert repeated it more forcefully, “I said look down here.”
Gladys looked down and saw he was pushing up the butt of a gun from his overcoat pocket so she could get a good look at it. Robert handed her a small plastic bag and the ring.
“Put the ring in the bag,” he said.
Gladys was having trouble opening the bag and he said, “The other end.” He was calm and gentle.
After she put the ring in the bag, Robert pointed to specific pieces of jewellery in the showcase and told her to put those in the bag as well.
As Gladys was doing this, a young couple approached the estate counter where Robert was standing.
“Stop,” Robert said to the saleswoman. “Put the bag behind the counter door.”
As the couple got closer, he said, “Give me the bag.”
Gladys gave it to him and Robert left the counter and began walking out of the store. As he was leaving, Gladys turned to one of her fellow employees, Tim Dutchyszen, and whispered, “I’ve just been robbed.” She pointed to Robert leaving the store.
Dutchyszen followed Robert, and as he was opening the Smith Street door, Tim yelled, “Hey you, stop!”
Robert wheeled around and pulled the gun from his overcoat pocket. He pointed it at Tim and shouted, “Freeze.”
Tim dove to the floor and covered his head. Robert said, “Now stay there.” Seeing the clerk comply, Robert went out the door and crossed the street where he disappeared into the parking garage of the Delta Hotel. Within minutes his disguise was gone and he was safely in his room in the Westin Hotel only blocks away. The Winnipeg police responded immediately to the Birks alarm and took statements from all the pertinent witnesses. They sent out a Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) communication of the holdup particulars to other police departments across the country. In their communique they mentioned the similarities between the thief’s method of operation in the Winnipeg Birks jewellery robbery and the technique that had been used in the Sudbury Birks store in September 1985. Part of their report read as follows:
“IT IS KNOWN THAT AT 12:40, 85 O9 25 AT THE BIRK’S JEWELLERS IN SUDBURY, ONTARIO, A MALE OF SIMILAR DESCRIPTION, USED EXACTLY THE SAME METHOD TO OBTAIN EXACTLY THE SAME NUMBER OF PIECES (40). IN THAT ONE HE ALSO SELECTED THE PIECES HE WANTED, HAVING THE CLERK PLACE THEM IN A BAG.”
When Robert got home he was elated to discover that the retail value of the stolen items was $200,000. Within a day he sold the merchandise to his fence for $30,000. The fence dismantled the jewellery and had the stones sold within forty-eight hours.
This was a very high time for Robert. Besides receiving this welcome influx of ready cash, Janice told him she was pregnant again. Robert was absolutely delighted at her news and responded by offering his weary wife another one week holiday in the Bahamas. Janice gratefully accepted.
On February 2 they flew to Freeport. This time they managed to have a pleasant and peaceful vacation. Janice was happy winning some money at the slot machines and Robert managed to hold his own in the high stakes card games. Janice’s only real concern about her husband was his alcohol intake. Because she was with him night and day for a week she couldn’t help noticing how much he was drinking and how little effect it had on him. His capacity was unbelievable.
After their return from the beautiful Bahamas, Robert had one of the strangest experiences of his criminal life. He had been looking for an accomplice to help him do the Big Vancouver. The one he chose was a huge, tough bruiser of a man who was a bouncer in some of the local strip clubs. Angelo Garlatti (not his real name) had worked mostly in downtown Ottawa but lately had taken to hanging around the Playmate.
Garlatti was an ex-Ottawa Rough Rider who was down on his luck. At 6’ 1” and 270 pounds, Angelo had played professional football for a number of years. A Canadian from the Ottawa area, he enjoyed great initial success with the Riders. During his first season with the team he was a starter until he injured his knee late in the year. The Riders ended that season with a dismal win-loss record and the head coach was replaced.
The next season, Garlatti, a brash and outspoken young man, and the new coach, a demanding, old-school type, didn’t see eye to eye. The coach fined Ang for a rule violation in training camp and then relegated him to the bench once the season began. When the Riders continued their losing ways, the failing new coach became more and more punitive with the players. The day after a particularly embarrassing defeat he came out on the practice field and drew the team around him. He tore into them for their lackadaisical play, and, at the end of his blistering remarks announced, “So for today gentlemen, fuck practice, we’re going to do nothing but run.”
That did it for Garlatti. He walked off the field and out of professional football. It was an expensive stroll. Angelo was to be paid $42,000 for the season. Now he suddenly had to find himself another job. Since he was well known in the Ottawa bars, he had no trouble getting work in a number of the local strip clubs. Angelo was thick limbed with heavy shoulders, huge biceps and forearms, and, like Tommy Craig and Pete Bond, was good with his fists. He also had a mean streak in him and seemed to carry a chip on his shoulder. He would wade into any problem that arose and would fight at the drop of a hat.
But Garlatti soon tired of making the petty income of a club bouncer. Working in the bars, Ang made the acquaintance of Linda Craig. She introduced him to her husband, Tommy and Ang began hanging around the Playmate. Tommy wasn’t really impressed with Angelo. He didn’t like the way Garlatti swaggered around, bragging about his exploits as a big-time football player and crowing about all the women that adored him. Still, when Angelo came to Tommy looking for a way to make some extra money, Tommy let him do some buying and selling with the B & E guys in the Playmate Club. Tommy needed the help. He already had enough action on his plate and Pete Bond didn’t have time either. He was busy making big-time money with contraband alcohol and cigarettes.
As a buyer, Ang soon found out he had to carry a wad of $750 on him at all times. The B & E artists who came in to sell him merchandise wanted their money right away. Almost all of them were on cocaine, and when they needed their nose candy, they became shaky, irritable, and paranoid.
Angelo was a bright guy, a university graduate who wasn’t really enamoured with the type of people that hung around the Playmate Club. He was, however, impressed with Robert. Ang found him friendly, well dressed, and clean cut. He also saw that Robert carried a huge wad of money. As they got to know each other better, Angelo was convinced that Robert’s roll of cash meant he was into something illegal. Ang wanted to get in on it; he was tired of making small change with B & E thieves.
“I want to make some serious money,” he said to Robert. “I’m sick of this nickle and dime stuff.”
Robert fixed his eyes on him and said, “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“You know you’ll be breaking the law,” Robert told him.
“That’s fine, as long as I don’t have to kill anybody.”
They studied each other intently for a moment.
“Oh, you won’t have to kill anybody,” Robert said. Then he added, “Leave it with me. I’ve got to talk to some people. I’ll get back to you.”
Robert went to see Tommy about Angelo.
“I’m looking for some help with the Big Vancouver job, you think he’ll be all right?” Robert asked.
“I don’t know. He’s hungry enough,” Tommy said. “His fucking size alone will scare the shit out of people.”
“Yeah, but he’s got to handle a gun,” Robert said.
“He can do that. He’s got a mean fucking attitude, Robert, but he’s smart. He’s not going to be shooting the fucking thing off for no reason.”
“You think he’ll be OK?”
Tommy shrugged his shoulders.
“You won’t know until you try him.”
The next time Robert met with Angelo he told him to pack his bags for a five-day trip. They were flying to Vancouver on Monday, February 17. Robert would make all the arrangements and cover all the expenses. Robert gave him a 9mm Luger pistol.
“Wrap this in a face cloth and put it in your shaving kit.”
Angelo questioned him with his eyes.
“Don’t worry about it,” Robert said. “They don’t X-ray suitcases on domestic flights. I’m packing my gun the same way.”
“Whatever you say,” Angelo replied.
All through the flight to Vancouver both of them drank as much as they could. Although Ang had no specific idea about what they were going to do, he was still frightened. To ease his anxiety he mixed his rye with valium. By the time they reached Vancouver, both of them were incoherent and barely able to walk off the plane.
Robert hired a limousine to take them downtown from the airport. He insisted on a Mercedes. On the way to their hotel, Angelo, through his alcoholic haze, tried to think about what he was doing. He was sure they were going to rob someone but he didn’t know whom. He thought it might be a drug dealer, but Robert wouldn’t say and made it clear he didn’t want to be asked. When they got to the hotel, it was late. They turned in in separate rooms, and that night, both of them slept like new-born babies.
The next day Robert took Angelo for a very close haircut. “You’re going to be wearing a wig,” he explained.
After their visit to the barber they took a cab to a theatre store and bought Ang a wig for $300. From there they went to a men’s store and Robert bought each of them an expensive suit, a long coat, and a shirt and tie. Angelo still had no idea what they were robbing, until their cab pulled up in front of Birks.
Robert walked him through the store and explained the plan as they went. He pointed out the significant features of the store: where they would come in, where they would go out, the location of the estate counter.
Angelo was to do all the talking to the clerk. Robert would cover him and take care of the store security. He coached Angelo on what to say: “This is a holdup. Pull all the jewellery out of the case and give it to me.”
Robert told him, “If she doesn’t cooperate, hurdle the counter. Put everything in your pockets.”
They stopped at the estate counter. Robert pointed out a $60,000 necklace in the case and told Angelo to ask to see that first.
“Get it in your hands. No matter what happens after that, that’s the first piece you put in your pocket. That piece alone makes the trip worthwhile. You got it?”
“Yeah,” Ang replied. He was astonished at Robert’s thoroughness.
“Ninety seconds max in the store. You understand?”
Ang said he understood. He tried to appear calm, but inside he was beginning to feel cramps in his stomach. He needed to go to the bathroom, but he didn’t say anything.
Robert walked him through the escape route: out of the store, into the mall.
“We go into a crowd, not away from a crowd.” From there, they would sprint up the stairwell to the parking level, shedding their disguises and their outer clothes and wiping off their makeup as they went. Everything would be thrown in a dumpster that Robert showed him in the parking garage.
The plan called for Robert to go to a nearby movie theatre. Ang would go back to the hotel and wait in the room for a couple of hours for Robert to return.
The two of them rehearsed the scheme a couple of times. By the end of the second day, Ang was still taking valium for his nerves but had stopped drinking to get his head straight. He had also become very quiet and pensive and Robert suspected something was wrong.
“Hey,” Robert said, “If you’re worried about this, you can back out at any moment, but you owe me the money I’ve laid out for expenses.”
“No, no,” Angelo said. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be all right. I just need a good night’s sleep.”
However, the night before the robbery, Angelo couldn’t get any sleep. He was beginning to realize what he was doing. He was about to cross a line that could never be uncrossed. Once he did this, he knew he’d keep on doing it until he ended up in jail.
As he lay there in the dark tossing and turning he kept asking himself, “What the fuck am I doing here?” He figured he had a lot going for him. He was a university graduate, a professional athlete, a hard worker with lots of determination. He had a beautiful wife and a beautiful family who were all going to be crushed if he did this.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked himself.
Finally, about three in the morning, he got out of bed and grabbed a wash cloth from the bathroom. He came back in the room and stood by the end of his bed trying to build up his courage. Then, after taking a couple of deep breaths, he ran as hard as he could toward his night table and threw his face into the sharp edge of the molded wooden top. The impact ripped a three inch gash deep into his forehead. Covering the gushing wound with the cloth, he staggered across the rug to knock on Robert’s adjoining room door.
When Robert got him to the hospital it took over three hours to stitch up the wound. While Ang was being tended to, Robert called Tommy and told him what happened. He also told him he thought that Angelo had done this to himself on purpose in order to get out of the robbery. He checked Angelo’s room and found no blood anywhere except on the edge of the table and the washcloth. Obviously Angelo had had the wash cloth in his hand when he hit the table.
When Ang came back to the hotel Robert told him that they could still pull the robbery off; the wig would cover his head. But Angelo argued that this was a sign that the robbery wasn’t to be.
“I got a bad feeling about this,” he said. “Things like this don’t just happen out of the blue.”
“That’s fine,” Robert said. “But you’re going to have to pay me $1,500 for expenses.”
“I’ll have to take out a loan,” Angelo replied.
“That’s OK, I can wait. You fly home tomorrow and go to the bank and make arrangements. I’m going to stay here for a couple of days. I’ll get a cheque from you when I get back.”
That’s all Robert said. There was no rancour, no bad words. He treated it like a straight business project that had momentarily been set aside. Robert knew he’d be back again. Right now he needed some cash to cover his expenses.
The same day Ang flew back to Ottawa, Robert went into the Mercantile Bank on West Hastings Street in Vancouver and robbed it of $2,280. After that he flew to Toronto, got a room and spent the next two days casing the Birks store in the Eaton Centre. Seeing that it was much like Vancouver, he knew he would need some help holding it up.
Robert flew home to Janice on February 23 and no sooner had he unpacked his bags than he went looking to hire another accomplice at the Playmate Club. The man he chose was a friend of his, a small-time criminal with a record for theft, robbery and assault. He was known to be violent and considered dangerous. Most people steered clear of him because he was so unpredictable, but Robert liked the idea of working with him because he had just enough of a violent edge about him to be a good back-up man on a robbery. And Robert knew this man, who can’t be named, wouldn’t pull any disappearing tricks like Garlatti had in Vancouver.
While Robert was making his arrangements with his new partner, Angelo Garlatti came into the club and paid Robert for his expenses to Vancouver. This was a bad time for Garlatti. He was finished with football, and was so broke, he had to take out a bank loan to pay his $1,500 debt to Whiteman. By now, most of the rounders at the Playmate knew he had lost his nerve in Vancouver and held him in derision. Angelo sensed their contempt. After he paid his debt, he walked out of the club, and from then on, made himself scarce in the Ottawa bar scene.
Much against Janice’s wishes, Robert left home again on Monday the 24th. He and his accomplice flew to Toronto, and, for the next two days, visited the Eaton Centre and mapped out a blueprint of the job. On Monday and Tuesday Robert went into the store and examined the jewellery he intended to steal from the estate case. On Wednesday, February 26, he and his partner walked into Birks at 4:30 p.m. They went directly to the estate jewellery case and Robert asked Aino Pirskanen, a young female clerk, to show him a 7.79 carat diamond ring listed for sale at $100,000. Miss Pirskanen opened the display case, removed the ring and handed it to him. He then tossed an Eaton’s plastic shopping bag at her and said, “Put everything from the case into the bag. I’m serious.”
Seeing that the woman was trying to stall for time, Robert said, “I’ve got a gun.” He pulled his automatic from his belt and, keeping it out of sight from the others in the store, pointed it at her.
“I’m serious,” he repeated, “give them to me now.” While he was doing this, a security guard became suspicious and approached Robert from the side. Robert turned towards him with his gun and said, “Get over here right now and don’t say a thing.”
His partner walked behind the guard, and pulling a sawed-off shotgun from under his long coat, trained it on him.
“Get over there right now,” he said to the man. Then he said to Aino Pirskanen, “Give him the tray or he gets it.”
Nervously trying to comply, the clerk slowly put one of the rings in the bag. Before she could do any more, Robert reached into the display case, took out one of the trays of jewellery and emptied it into the plastic bag. When Robert was finished, he said, “Let’s go.” His partner pointed his shotgun at the guard and said, “Stay where you are.” Then he and Robert ran out of the store and disappeared into the crowded mall.
When the Metro holdup squad arrived and began taking statements, another clerk, Audrey Ritchie, told the investigators that a man similar in stature to the bigger thief had been in the store for the last two days and had asked to see the tray of rings that had been stolen. She said that each day the man stayed for about ten minutes examining the tray. She was able to give the police a very accurate description of the man.
When all the statements were compiled, Metro Staff Sergeant Jim Corrigan saw there were a number of similarities between this robbery and the ones that had occurred at Birks stores in Sudbury and Winnipeg: the thief knew his jewellery, knew exactly what he was going to steal, wore a disguise, operated quickly and efficiently, disappeared into a crowded mall. The principal thief, presented the same height and size descriptions at all three stores. The fact that he used an accomplice here was not significant in Corrigan’s mind.
This was Robert’s biggest robbery yet. The stolen contents of the tray included three rings worth $155,000, two pendants valued at $35,000, and a diamond bracelet priced at $27,000 for a total value of $217,000. Another stolen ring worth $30,000 was found in the stairwell. It had fallen out of Robert’s briefcase, which he failed to latch in his haste to get away.
In the same stairwell the police also recovered some of the robbers’ disguise paraphernalia and a loaded single-shot 12-gauge Winchester sawed-off shotgun. The gun had been wiped clean of prints. Robert was very upset when he found out that his assistant had left the gun behind. He knew there would be no finger prints on it because his friend had worn surgical gloves, but he was afraid the gun could be traced back to Ottawa where it had been stolen in a break-in.
Staff Sgt. Corrigan was delighted with finding the holdup gun and set about trying to locate its origin.
After this third Birks robbery, the national press began to refer to the primary holdup man as the Birks Bandit.
When Robert got back to Ottawa, he kept one ring for himself and sold the rest of the jewellery for $20,000, which he split with his parner 60-40 in Robert’s favour. It was a profitable pay day, one that should have made him feel satisfied and happy. But Robert was having serious problems at home; his personal life was a shambles.
Janice was depressed. She was troubled by his constant absences and his distant behaviour when he was home. The onset of her pregnancy made things worse, as did the dreariness of the long Canadian winter. Robert was concerned she might leave him. His solution to the problem was to offer her another trip to the Bahamas. For Janice the offer was a Godsend. A luxurious vacation in the sun was the perfect solution for both of them. Robert, too, needed a break from his nerve-wracking life.
“What do you think?” he said to Janice.
“Oh, it sounds wonderful,” she said. “Can Steve and Laurie come too?” she asked.
“I don’t see why not,” Robert agreed.
Before they left for the Caribbean, Robert took care of a task that he had wanted to do for a long time. One night, when he was home alone and very drunk, he made a call to Michigan.
The voice on the other end said, “Hello, St. Joseph County Jail.”
Robert said, “Hi. I’m Gilbert Galvan. How the fuck are you? Do you miss me?” Then he hung up. It was typical of him: act on impulse, live on the edge, push somebody’s button.
As usual, the week in the Bahamas was expensive. Robert’s money flowed like water. Janice, Steve and Laurie all shared in his generosity. It was a special vacation. Robert was completely attentive to his wife and she revelled in it. It was one of the best weeks they had enjoyed together throughout their entire relationship.
While they were down there vacationing, a significant event took place back home. Early Saturday morning on March 22 the OPP got a call about a suspicious car lurking around a Beckers Store in Munster Hamlet, a little village southwest of Ottawa. Two young OPP officers, Gary Dougherty and Paul Burroughs, responded to the call and found a blue Camaro parked outside. Dougherty recognized the car because he had stopped it four nights before at three in the morning in that same general area. The driver was a young tough with a record named Pete Bond. His presence at that time of night in that area was suspicious. There had been a rash of roof-entry corner store break-ins that had been occurring in that part of the county.
Since Bond was clean that night, Dougherty had let him go but he recognized the car as soon as he spotted it in front of the Beckers store. When he and Burroughs got out to look around, they saw Bond come walking towards them with a number of articles in his hands. Dougherty yelled at him to stop. Bond dropped the evidence and ran away like a frightened deer. Fast as he was, he was no match for Dougherty. The agile young policeman chased him through a churchyard, down a ditch and along the main road until he caught him trying to hide underneath a car.
Meanwhile, Constable Burroughs went into the store and caught Bond’s accomplice in the Post Office section, stuffing his pockets full of stamps and coins. Both thieves were arrested, handcuffed and taken to the cells at the Kanata OPP detachment.
For Bond, the thought of spending time in jail was worse than disturbing. He was hyperactive, and that, combined with his severe cocaine habit, made him claustrophobic. During his processing that morning, Bond made it very clear to Dougherty that he didn’t want to be held in custody. He tried to make a deal with Dougherty for his release by telling him he could give them somebody who was “really big, a guy who is doing jewellery stores from coast to coast.” Bond said he couldn’t come up with a name right now but thought he could get one, if given some time.
Dougherty thought it sounded interesting and turned him over to the OPP detectives. George Snider was called in and interviewed Bond at length. He could see the value in establishing an on-going professional relationship with Bond. He knew he was bright and tricky but he also knew he had a great aversion to spending time in jail. George arranged to have him charged with break and enter but had him released unconditionally the next day on the promise that Bond would get back to him with some serious information in the very near future. It was a gamble that would eventually pay big dividends.
After the Whitemans returned from their blissful week in the Caribbean, Robert remained professionally inactive for the rest of the month of March. It was a good month for him and Janice. He stayed home more, drank less and took her out to an expensive restaurant to celebrate her birthday. What pleased Janice most was that he spent more time on Melgund Avenue with Steve Veinot than he did at the Playmate Club with Tommy and his pals.
Although his behaviour at home had improved, the way he went through money hadn’t changed. By the end of the month he had to go back to work. He’d had enough of working with an accomplice for a while and decided to go back to doing banks on his own. On April 1 he flew directly from Ottawa to Hamilton and took a room at the Sheraton in Jackson Square. The next day he walked to the other end of the square and held up the Bank of Montreal for $1,449. One of the tellers described him as having “a round face, fat looking.” Another said he resembled “Martin Mull, the comedian.”
That same day, Robert flew to Sudbury. The next afternoon he held up the Montreal Trust on Durham Street for $2,623. It was the same branch he had robbed the previous September. Two days later he flew on the Aeroplan to Winnipeg and went into the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at 375 Main Street. He passed a crumpled note to Louise Lucas, the teller. It said: “GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY OR I’LL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF, FAST!” Louise had to flatten out the note to understand what it said. While she tried to decipher it, Robert got impatient and said, “Hurry up! You’ve read enough.” When she finally got his meaning, she handed him the money from her drawer. It amounted to $2,188.
Robert flew back to Ottawa immediately after the robbery. Two days later he did the Royal Bank in the Billings Bridge Plaza on Riverside Drive in Ottawa for $5,000. Two weeks later, he flew to Halifax and held up the Royal Trust on Barrington Street for $4,628. This was the same branch he had robbed the previous year when he had come home by train through Maine and was almost caught by the U.S. immigration authorities. This time he flew home.
With all his travel expenses, Robert was leaving a paper trail of credit card receipts for his air flights and accommodations behind him. It was not a wise thing for a clever thief to do. Although he should have known that, he didn’t seem to care. He felt invincible. His primary concern was that April was a successful month: five banks, almost $16,000.
It was also a very taxing month. Once again he thought about getting out of the armed robbery business. Maybe he could open a bar somewhere. Maybe in the Bahamas. That sounded like a great idea, especially with the baby coming.
But to do that he needed more money. He knew he could take a lot more money from the banks by jumping the counter and opening the tellers’ drawers himself. He wasn’t afraid of doing that but he needed a partner to do it. As a rule, he didn’t like to use a partner for anything but jewellery stores. Where banks were concerned, he preferred to work alone. That way Robert didn’t have to share the profit. And there was no danger of a partner talking too much.
He had heard from various sources that the Civil Service Co-op on Riverside Drive in Ottawa handled a lot of cash on the first of each month. From looking the place over, Robert knew he’d need a partner to do this job. Once again he called his friend from the Playmate Club who had worked with him in Toronto.
On May 1 they entered the co-op. His partner stayed at the entrance door with his sawed-off shotgun visible for all to see. Robert hurdled the counter and cleaned out four of the tellers’ drawers. Jumping the counter and looking inside the money drawers at all that cash was a thrill that made his heart pound. After scooping out everything in the drawers, he ran around the end of the counter and disappeared out the door with his partner. Their take was $15,041 which, once again, they split 60-40 in Robert’s favour. That was always his arrangement with a partner. As he would tell them, “It’s only fair. These are my jobs and I cover the expenses.”
Both he and his partner liked their success in Ottawa so much they drove to London a week later and pulled an identical holdup in the CIBC at 275 Dundas Street, the same bank that Robert had robbed the previous October. When they counted the take, it totalled $7,734. According to their arrangement, the accomplice got $3,000, and Robert kept the rest for himself. He had to admit that working with a partner was better than working alone. It was safer and more lucrative.
It was when Robert got back from this trip that Janice started talking seriously about them moving back to Pembroke. She had mentioned it several times before but had never pushed it very hard. But now, with the baby due in four months, she really wanted to get out of Ottawa and closer to her mother. Janice was tired of the big city and claimed that life would be better for all of them in Pembroke. She argued that she could get a job there and Robert could still keep his job with his father. He could fly out of the commuter airport in Pembroke. She felt she wouldn’t be so lonely when Robert went away because her mother would be there to keep her company.
What she didn’t say was that she hoped that in Pembroke, Robert would be far enough away from his alcoholic, low-life friends that he would spend more time at home with the new baby. That way, maybe they could have a normal family life.
At first, Robert wanted no part of moving to Pembroke. It represented everything he didn’t want. It was small and provincial and boring. He would be completely cut off from all the friends he’d made in Ottawa. His whole lifestyle would be turned upside-down. He wasn’t interested.
Janice wouldn’t give in. She saw the move as the only way to save their marriage. By now Robert was drinking a twenty-six-ounce bottle of rye a day and staying out all hours of the night with Tommy Craig and his crowd.
Janice wasn’t going to take it any more. She became more and more scathing in her attacks. When he came home late reeking of booze, she’d scream at him.
“Why the hell are you wasting your time with those losers? What the hell is your problem anyway?”
He’d scream back at her and the battle was on. Twice she threw him out of the house, but he’d only be gone a day when he’d come back asking to be let in. He was such a charmer that Janice couldn’t resist him. As soon as things were peaceful between them Janice would bring up the idea of moving back to Pembroke again. Robert continued to resist, but eventually, it began to dawn on him that this might not be such a bad idea after all.
He’d been on the loose for two years now and he knew that the longer he stayed with the crowd at the Playmate the greater were his chances of being sent back to jail. Besides, he was getting tired of his work and knew he couldn’t keep up the pace much longer. He found himself thinking more and more of having that little bar in the Bahamas. He had to start saving some money so he could buy one.
Pembroke would provide a nice change of venue where he would be out of the spotlight, away from the heat of the Playmate Club. From Pembroke he could continue his work for a little while longer, and then, when he had some money put aside, he could move his whole family down to the Caribbean and they could all live the life of Riley.
One night he suddenly said, “OK. If you want to move to Pembroke, let’s go.”
“You mean it?” she replied.
“Sure I mean it. It’ll be a better place for all of us. Let’s start looking for a place to live and as soon as we find something decent there we’ll give our notice here.”
Janice was ecstatic. She couldn’t believe that Robert had agreed to move. It was a big step for him and she loved him for it.
“You won’t regret it,” she said, “just you wait and see. You’re going to love it there.”