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Or Your Money Back · Astounding Sci-Fi Story Collection

0:01
Speaker 1: Or Your Money Back. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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Speaker 1: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
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Speaker 1: or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by
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Speaker 1: Tom Weiss or Your Money Back by Gordon or Randall Garrett.
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Speaker 1: There are times when I don't know my own strength,
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Speaker 1: or at least the strength of my advice, and the
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Speaker 1: case of Jason Holly was certainly an instance of one
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Speaker 1: of those times. When he came to my office with
0:38
Speaker 1: his gadget. I heard him out trying to appear both
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Speaker 1: interested and cooperative, which is good business. But I am
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Speaker 1: forced to admit that neither Holly nor his gadget were
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Speaker 1: very impressive. He was a lean, slope shouldered individual five
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Speaker 1: feet eight or nine, which was shorter than he looked,
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Speaker 1: with straight brown hair combed straight back, and blue eyes
1:01
Speaker 1: which were shielded with steel rimmed glasses. The thick double
1:06
Speaker 1: concave lenses indicated a degree of myopia that must have
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Speaker 1: bordered on total blindness without glasses, and acute tunnel vision
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Speaker 1: even with them. He had a crisp, incisive manner that
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Speaker 1: indicated he was either a man who knew what he
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Speaker 1: was doing or a man who was trying to impress
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Speaker 1: me with a ready made story. I listened to him
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Speaker 1: and looked at his gadget without giving any more indication
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Speaker 1: than necessary of what I really thought. When he was through,
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Speaker 1: I said, you understand, mister Holly, that I'm not a
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Speaker 1: patent lawyer. I specialize in criminal law. Now I can recommend.
1:46
Speaker 1: But he cut me off. I understand that, counselor, he said,
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Speaker 1: sharply believe me. I have no illusion whatever that this
1:53
Speaker 1: thing is patentable under the present patent system. Even if
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Speaker 1: it were, this gadget is desired to do something that
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Speaker 1: may or may not be illegal, which would make it
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Speaker 1: hazardous to attempt to patent it. I should think you
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Speaker 1: don't patent new devices for blowing safe or new drugs
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Speaker 1: for doping horses. Do you? Probably not, I said dryly, Although,
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Speaker 1: as I say, I'm not qualified to give an opinion
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Speaker 1: on patent law. You say that gadget is designed to
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Speaker 1: cause minute but significant changes in the velocities of small
2:27
Speaker 1: moving objects. Just how does that make it illegal? He
2:33
Speaker 1: frowned a little. Well, possibly it wouldn't except here in Nevada. Specifically,
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Speaker 1: it is designed to influence roulette and dice games. I
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Speaker 1: looked at the gadget with a little more interest this time.
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Speaker 1: There was nothing new in the idea of inventing a
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Speaker 1: gadget to cheat the red and black wheels. Of course,
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Speaker 1: the local cops turn up a dozen a day here
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Speaker 1: in the city. Most of them either don't do work
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Speaker 1: at all, or else they're too obvious, so the users
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Speaker 1: get nabbed before they have a chance to use them.
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Speaker 1: The only ones that really work have to be installed
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Speaker 1: in the tables themselves, which means they're used to milk
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Speaker 1: the suckers, not rob the management. And anyone in the
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Speaker 1: state of Nevada who buys his license to operate and
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Speaker 1: then uses crooked wheels as a stupid and be out
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Speaker 1: of business within a week. Holly was right. Only in
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Speaker 1: a place where gambling is legalized is it illegal and
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Speaker 1: unprofitable to rig a game. The gadget itself didn't look
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Speaker 1: too complicated from the outside. It was a black plastic
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Speaker 1: box about an inch and a half square and maybe
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Speaker 1: three and a half long. On one end was a
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Speaker 1: lensed opening half an inch in diameter, and on two
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Speaker 1: sides there were flat silver colored plates. On top of it,
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Speaker 1: there was a dial which was say an inch in diameter,
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Speaker 1: and it was marked off just exactly like a roulette wheel.
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Speaker 1: How does it work, I asked. He picked it up
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Speaker 1: in his hand, holding it as though it were a flashlight,
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Speaker 1: with the lens pointed away from him. You aim the
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Speaker 1: lens at the wheel, he explained, making sure that your
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Speaker 1: thumb is touching the silver plate on one side and your
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Speaker 1: fingers touching the plate on the other side. Then you
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Speaker 1: set this dial for whatever number you want to come
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Speaker 1: up and concentrate on it while the ball is spinning.
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Speaker 1: For dice, of course, you only need to use the
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Speaker 1: first six or twelve numbers on the dial, depending on
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Speaker 1: the game. I looked at him for a long moment,
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Speaker 1: trying to figure his angle. He looked back steadily, his
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Speaker 1: eyes looking like small beads peering through the bottoms of
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Speaker 1: a couple of shot glasses. You look skeptical, counselor, he said,
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Speaker 1: at last, I am a man who has and got
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Speaker 1: the ability to be healthily skeptical. Has no right to
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Speaker 1: practice law, especially criminal law. On the other hand, no
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Speaker 1: lawyer has any right to judge anything one way or
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Speaker 1: the other without evidence. But that's neither here nor there.
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Speaker 1: At the moment. What I'm interested in is what do
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Speaker 1: you want me to do? People rarely come to a
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Speaker 1: criminal lawyer unless they're in a jam. What sort of
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Speaker 1: jam are you in at the moment, none, said Holly,
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Speaker 1: But I will be very soon, I hope. Well, I've
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Speaker 1: heard odder statements than that from my clients. I let
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Speaker 1: it ride for the moment and look down at the
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Speaker 1: notes I'd taken while he told me his story. You're
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Speaker 1: a native of New York City, I asked. That's right,
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Speaker 1: That's what I said. And you came out here for
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Speaker 1: what to use that thing? On our Nevada tables? That's right, Counselor.
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Speaker 1: Can't you find any gains to cheat on back home? Oh? Certainly,
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Speaker 1: plenty of them, but they aren't legal. I wouldn't care
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Speaker 1: to get mixed up in anything illegal. Besides, it wouldn't
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Speaker 1: suit my purpose. That stopped me for a moment. You
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Speaker 1: don't consider cheating illegal. It certainly is in Nevada. In
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Speaker 1: New York, if you were caught at it, you'd have
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Speaker 1: the big gambling interests on your neck. Here. You'll have
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Speaker 1: both them and the police after you, and the District
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Speaker 1: Attorney's office. He smiled. Yes, I know that's what I'm expecting.
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Speaker 1: That's why I need a good lawyer to defend me.
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Speaker 1: I understand you're the top man in this city, mister Holly,
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Speaker 1: I said carefully. As a member of the Bar Association
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Speaker 1: and a practicing attorney in the state of Nevada, I
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Speaker 1: am an officer of the court. If you had been
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Speaker 1: caught cheating and had come to me, I'd be able
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Speaker 1: to help you. But I can't enter into a conspiracy
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Speaker 1: with you to defraud legitimate businessmen, which is exactly what
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Speaker 1: this would be. He blinked at me through those shot
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Speaker 1: glass spectacles. Counselor, would you refuse to defend a man
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Speaker 1: if you thought he was guilty? I shook my head. No. Legally,
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Speaker 1: a man is not guilty until proven so by a
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Speaker 1: court of law. He is a right to a trial
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Speaker 1: by jury. For me to refuse to give a man
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Speaker 1: the defense he's legally entitled to just because I happened
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Speaker 1: to think he was guilty would be trial by attorney.
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Speaker 1: I'll do the best I can for any client. I'll
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Speaker 1: work for his interests, no matter what my private opinion
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Speaker 1: may be. He looked impressed, so I guessed there must
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Speaker 1: have been a noted conviction in my voice. There should
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Speaker 1: have been, because it was exactly what I've always believed
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Speaker 1: and practiced. That's good, Counselor said, Holly. If I can
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Speaker 1: convince you that I have no criminal intent, that I
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Speaker 1: have no intention of defrauding anyone or conspiring with you
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Speaker 1: to do anything illegal, will you help me. I didn't
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Speaker 1: have to think that one over. I simply said yes.
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Speaker 1: After all, it was still up to me to decide
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Speaker 1: whether he convinced me or not. If he didn't, I
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Speaker 1: could still refuse the case on those grounds. That's fair enough, counselor,
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Speaker 1: he said. Then he started talking. Instead of telling you
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Speaker 1: what Jason Howley said he was going to do, I'll
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Speaker 1: tell you what he did do. They are substantially the
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Speaker 1: same anyway, and the old bromide about actions speaking louder
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Speaker 1: than words certainly applied in this case. Mind you, I
8:59
Speaker 1: didn't see or hear any of this, but there were
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Speaker 1: plenty of witnesses to testify as to what went on.
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Speaker 1: Their statements are a matter of court record, and Jason
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Speaker 1: Howley's story is substantiated in every respect. He left my
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Speaker 1: office smiling. He convinced me that the case was not
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Speaker 1: only going to be worthwhile, but fun I took it
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Speaker 1: plus fat retainer. Holly went up to his hotel room,
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Speaker 1: changed into his expensive evening clothes, and had it out
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Speaker 1: to do the town. I'd suggested several places, but he
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Speaker 1: wanted the biggest and best, the Golden Casino, a big, plush,
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Speaker 1: expensive place that was just inside the city limits. In
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Speaker 1: his pockets, he was carrying less than two hundred dollars
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Speaker 1: in cash. Now, nobody with that kind of chicken feed
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Speaker 1: can expect to last long at the Golden Casino unless
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Speaker 1: they stick to the two bit one armed bandits. But
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Speaker 1: putting money on a roulette table is in a higher
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Speaker 1: bracket by far than feeding a slot machine, even if
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Speaker 1: you get a steady run of lemons. Holly didn't waste
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Speaker 1: any time. He headed for the roulette table right away.
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Speaker 1: He watched the play for about three spins of the wheel.
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Speaker 1: Then he took out his gadget in plain sight of
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Speaker 1: anyone who cared to watch, and set the dial for thirteen.
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Speaker 1: Then he held it in his hand with thumb and
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Speaker 1: finger touching the plates, and put his hand in his
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Speaker 1: jacket pocket. With the lens aimed at the wheel, he
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Speaker 1: stepped up to the table, bought a hundred dollars worth
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Speaker 1: of chips and put fifty a number thirteen. No more bets,
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Speaker 1: said the croupier. He spun the wheel and dropped the
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Speaker 1: ball thirteen black, odd and low, he chanted. After a minute,
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Speaker 1: with a practiced hand, he raked in the losers and
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Speaker 1: pushed out Holly's winnings. There was sixteen hundred dollars sitting
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Speaker 1: on thirteen. Now Holly didn't touch it. The wheel went around,
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Speaker 1: and the little ball clattered around the rim and finally
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Speaker 1: fell into a slot. Thirteen black, odd and low, said
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Speaker 1: the coupier. This time he didn't look as nonchalant. He
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Speaker 1: peered curiously at Holly as he pushed out the chips
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Speaker 1: to make a grand total of fifty one thousand, two
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Speaker 1: hundred dollars. The same number doesn't come up twice in
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Speaker 1: succession very often, and it is very rare, indeed, that
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Speaker 1: the same person is covering it both times with a
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Speaker 1: writing bet. Two thousand limits, Sir, the coupier said. When
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Speaker 1: it looked as though Holly was going to let the
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Speaker 1: fifty one grand just sit there, Holley nodded apologetically and
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Speaker 1: pulled off everything but two thousand, dollars worth of chips.
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Speaker 1: The third time around, the croupier had his eyes directly
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Speaker 1: on Holly as he repeated the chanteen, black, odd and low.
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Speaker 1: Everybody else at the table was watching Howley two. The
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Speaker 1: odds against Holly or anyone else for that matter, hitting
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Speaker 1: the same number three times in a row are just
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Speaker 1: under forty thousand to one. Holly didn't want to overdo it.
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Speaker 1: He left two thousand and thirteen, raked in the rest,
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Speaker 1: and twisted the dial on his gadget over a notch.
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Speaker 1: Everyone at the table gasped as the little ball dropped.
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Speaker 1: That was a near miss, whispered a woman standing nearby.
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Speaker 1: The croupier said fourteen, red, even and low, and he
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Speaker 1: raked in Holly's two thousand dollars with a satisfied smile.
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Speaker 1: He had seen runs of luck before. Howey deliberately lost
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Speaker 1: two more spins the same way. Buddy, who was actually cheating,
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Speaker 1: would call too much attention to himself, and Holly wanted
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Speaker 1: it to look as though he were trying to cover
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Speaker 1: up the fact that he had a sure thing. He
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Speaker 1: took the gadget out of his pocket and deliberately set
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Speaker 1: it to the green square marked zero zero. Then he
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Speaker 1: put it back in his pocket and put two thousand
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Speaker 1: dollars on the double zero. There was more than suspicion
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Speaker 1: in the Croupierre's eyes when he raked in all the
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Speaker 1: bets on the table except Holly's. It definitely didn't look
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Speaker 1: good to him. A man who had started out with
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Speaker 1: a fifty dollars bet had managed to run it up
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Speaker 1: to one hundred seventy four thousand, two hundred dollars in
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Speaker 1: six plays. Holly looked as innocent as possible under the circumstances,
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Speaker 1: and carefully dropped the dial on his gadget back a
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Speaker 1: few notches. Then he bet another two thousand on high,
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Speaker 1: an even money bet. Naturally he won. He twisted the
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Speaker 1: dial back a few more notches and one again on high.
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Speaker 1: Then he left it where it was and won by
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Speaker 1: betting on red. By this time, of course, things were happening.
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Speaker 1: The GROUPI Air had long since pressed the alarm button,
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Speaker 1: and five men had carefully surrounded Holly. They looked like customers,
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Speaker 1: but they were harder looking than the average, and they
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Speaker 1: were watching Holly, not the wheel. Farther back from the crowd,
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Speaker 1: three of the special deputies from the Sheriff's office were
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Speaker 1: trying to look inconspicuous in their gray uniforms and white
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Speaker 1: stetsons and pearl handled revolvers in black holsters. You could
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Speaker 1: imagine how inconspicuous they looked. Holly decided to do it
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Speaker 1: up brown. He reset his gadget as surreptitiously as possible
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Speaker 1: under the circumstances, and put his money on thirteen again.
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Speaker 1: Thirteen black odd and lo, said the croupier in a
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Speaker 1: hollow voice. The five men in evening dress and the
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Speaker 1: three deputies moved in closer. Holly nonchalantly scraped in his winnings,
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Speaker 1: leaving the two thousand on the thirteen spot. There was
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Speaker 1: a combination of hostility and admiration in every eye around
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Speaker 1: the table when the croupier said thirteen black, odd and
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Speaker 1: low for the fifth time in a space of minutes,
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Speaker 1: and every one of those eyes was turned on Jason Holly.
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Speaker 1: The croupier smiled his professional smile. I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen,
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Speaker 1: we'll have to discontinue play for a while. The gentleman
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Speaker 1: has broken the bank at this table. He turned the
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Speaker 1: smile on Holly. Congratulations, Sir, Holly smiled back and began
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Speaker 1: stacking up over three hundred thousand dollar worth of plastic discs.
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Speaker 1: It made quite a pile. One of the deputies stepped
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Speaker 1: up politely. I am an officer, sir, he said, May
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Speaker 1: I help you carry that to the cashier's office. Holly
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Speaker 1: looked at the gold star and nodded certainly. Thanks. The
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Speaker 1: other two deputies stepped up too, and the three of
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Speaker 1: them walked Holly toward the cashier's office. Behind them came
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Speaker 1: the five men in dinner jackets. You'll have to step
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Speaker 1: into the office to cash that much, sir, said one
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Speaker 1: of the deputies as he opened the door. Holly walked
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Speaker 1: in as though he hadn't a care in the world.
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Speaker 1: He put his chips on the desk and the deputies
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Speaker 1: followed suit while one of the dinner jacketed men closed
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Speaker 1: the door. Then one of the deputies said, I believe
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Speaker 1: this gentleman is carrying a gun. He had his own
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Speaker 1: revolver out and had it pointed at Holly's middle. Carrying
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Speaker 1: a concealed weapon is illegal in this city. He went on,
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Speaker 1: I'm afraid we'll have to search you. Holly didn't object.
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Speaker 1: He put his hands up high and stood there while
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Speaker 1: his pockets were frisked. Well, well, said the deputy Coolly,
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Speaker 1: what unearthed is this? It was Holly's gadget and the
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Speaker 1: dial still pointed to thirteen Black Odd and Low. The
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Speaker 1: next morning I went down to the jail in response
17:25
Speaker 1: to a phone call from Holly. The Special Deputies had
17:29
Speaker 1: turned him over to the City Police and he was
17:31
Speaker 1: being held under suspicion of fraud. I knew we could
17:36
Speaker 1: beat that down to an attempt to defraud, but the
17:39
Speaker 1: object was to get Holly off Scott free. After Holly
17:43
Speaker 1: told me the whole story, I got busy pushing the
17:46
Speaker 1: case through. As long as he was simply being held
17:49
Speaker 1: in suspicion, I couldn't get him out on bail, so
17:52
Speaker 1: I wanted to force the District Attorney or the police
17:55
Speaker 1: preferred charges. Meanwhile, I made sure that Holly his gadget
18:00
Speaker 1: had been impounded as evidence. I didn't want anyone fiddling
18:04
Speaker 1: with it before the case went to court, except, of course,
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Speaker 1: the DA and his men. There wasn't much I could
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Speaker 1: do to keep it out of their hands. After throwing
18:14
Speaker 1: as much weight around as I could, including filing a
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Speaker 1: petition for a writ of habeas corpus with Judge Grannis.
18:21
Speaker 1: I went over to Holly's hotel with the sign power
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Speaker 1: of attorney that Holly had given me, and I got
18:25
Speaker 1: a small envelope out of the hotel safe. It contained
18:29
Speaker 1: a baggage check. I went over to the bus depot,
18:32
Speaker 1: turned over the check to the baggage department, and went
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Speaker 1: back to my office with a small suitcase. I locked
18:38
Speaker 1: myself in and opened the case. Sure enough, it contained
18:43
Speaker 1: three dozen of the little gadgets. There I sat down
18:48
Speaker 1: to wait. By noon, Judge Grannis had issued the writ
18:53
Speaker 1: of hapeas corpus, and rather than release Jason Holly, the
18:57
Speaker 1: police had booked him and district attorney was getting the
19:01
Speaker 1: case ready for the grand jury. There was over a
19:04
Speaker 1: quarter of a million dollars at stake, and the men
19:07
Speaker 1: behind the Golden Casino were bringing pressure to bear. If
19:10
Speaker 1: Holly wasn't convicted, they'd have to give him his money,
19:13
Speaker 1: and that was the last thing they wanted to do.
19:16
Speaker 1: A quarter of a million bucks isn't small potatoes, even
19:20
Speaker 1: to a gambling syndicate. It wasn't until early on the
19:24
Speaker 1: morning of the third day after Holly's arrest that I
19:27
Speaker 1: got a tip off from one of my part time spies.
19:30
Speaker 1: I scooped up the phone when it rang and identified
19:33
Speaker 1: myself counselor. Look, this is Benny. I recognized the voice
19:38
Speaker 1: and name. Benny was one of the cabvies that I'd
19:41
Speaker 1: done favors for in the past. What's the trouble, Benny, Ah,
19:45
Speaker 1: no trouble. I just got a little tip you might
19:47
Speaker 1: be interested in fire away while the DA and some
19:51
Speaker 1: of his boys went into the Golden Casino about ten
19:54
Speaker 1: minutes ago, and now they're closing up the place just
19:57
Speaker 1: for a little while. I understand hour maybe, but chasing
20:00
Speaker 1: every one out of the roulette room. Thanks Benny, I said,
20:05
Speaker 1: thanks a lot. Well, I knew you was working on
20:08
Speaker 1: that Holly case and I thought this might be important,
20:11
Speaker 1: So why sure, Benny, come buy my office this afternoon.
20:14
Speaker 1: And thanks again. I hung up and started moving. Within
20:19
Speaker 1: ten minutes, I was pulling up and parking across the
20:22
Speaker 1: street from the Golden Casino. I locked the car and
20:25
Speaker 1: dodged traffic to get across the street. As though I'd
20:27
Speaker 1: never heard of laws against jaywalking. There were still plenty
20:31
Speaker 1: of people in the casino. The bar was full, and
20:34
Speaker 1: the dice and card games were going full blast. Slot
20:37
Speaker 1: machines were jingling out their infernal din while fools fed
20:41
Speaker 1: coins into their insatiable innards. But the roulette room was closed,
20:46
Speaker 1: and a couple of bestetts and deputies were standing guard
20:49
Speaker 1: over the entrance. I had it straight for them. Both
20:53
Speaker 1: of them stood pat blocking my way, so I stopped
20:57
Speaker 1: a few feet in front of them. A count said one, sorry,
21:02
Speaker 1: the roulette rooms closed. I knew the man slightly let
21:06
Speaker 1: me in. Jim, I said, I want to see Thursby.
21:11
Speaker 1: The men exchanged glances. Obviously the DA had given them orders.
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Speaker 1: Can't do it, counselor, said Jim, for not to let
21:19
Speaker 1: anyone in. Tell Thursby I'm out here and that I
21:24
Speaker 1: want to see him. He shrugged, opened the door, stuck
21:29
Speaker 1: his head inside, and called the district Attorney Thursby to
21:33
Speaker 1: tell him that I was outside. I could hear Thursby's
21:37
Speaker 1: muffled damn from within, but when he showed up at
21:41
Speaker 1: the door, his face was all smiles. What's the trouble,
21:45
Speaker 1: he asked pleasantly. I smiled back, giving him my best.
21:50
Speaker 1: Now trouble at all, Thursby, I just wanted to watch
21:53
Speaker 1: the experiment. Experiment. He looked honestly surprised, which was a
21:59
Speaker 1: fine piece of acting. We're just checking to see if
22:02
Speaker 1: the table's wire, that's all. If it is, your client
22:05
Speaker 1: may be in the clear. Maybe we can hang it
22:07
Speaker 1: on the croupierre and get a conspiracy charge of my
22:11
Speaker 1: client too. Eh. Well, if you don't mind, I'd like
22:16
Speaker 1: to watch that table check myself. You know how it is.
22:20
Speaker 1: Thursby hesitated. Then he scowled, all all right, come on in,
22:25
Speaker 1: but stay out of the way. I grinned. Sure. All
22:29
Speaker 1: I want to do is protect my client's interests. Thursby
22:34
Speaker 1: just grunted and opened the door wider to let me in.
22:38
Speaker 1: He was a shrewd lawyer, a good da and basically honest,
22:42
Speaker 1: even if he did have a tendency to bend under
22:45
Speaker 1: pressure from higher up. They were checking the table, all right.
22:50
Speaker 1: They had three specialists going over it with everything from
22:52
Speaker 1: fine tooth combs to Geiger counters. They found nothing. No magnets,
22:59
Speaker 1: no wires, no mechanical gimmicks. Nothing. It took him an
23:04
Speaker 1: hour to take that table apart, check it and put
23:07
Speaker 1: it back together again. When it was all over, Thursby
23:11
Speaker 1: glanced at me then said, okay, boys, that does it
23:15
Speaker 1: let's go. The men looked at him oddly, and I knew,
23:19
Speaker 1: why aren't you going to test my clan's gadget, I
23:24
Speaker 1: asked instantly. Thursby looked angrily, baffled for a moment. Then
23:30
Speaker 1: he clapped his lips grimly. As long as we're here,
23:33
Speaker 1: I guess we might as well. I knew perfectly well.
23:37
Speaker 1: It was what he had intended to do all along.
23:41
Speaker 1: One of you guys, spin that wheel, he said to
23:43
Speaker 1: the technicians. One of them gave the wheel a spin
23:46
Speaker 1: and dropped the ball. It clattered on its merry way
23:49
Speaker 1: and dropped into a slot forty two. Thursby took the
23:54
Speaker 1: gadget out of his pocket. It was still set at thirteen.
24:00
Speaker 1: The men who had surrounded Holly on the night of
24:02
Speaker 1: his arrest had been keeping their eyes open, and they
24:05
Speaker 1: had seen how Holly had handled the thing well almost
24:09
Speaker 1: how Thursby had the lens opening pointed at the wheel,
24:13
Speaker 1: but his thumb and fingers weren't touching the silver plates properly.
24:17
Speaker 1: Spin it again, he said. Everyone's eyes were on the
24:21
Speaker 1: ball as it whirled, so I had time to get
24:23
Speaker 1: my own copy of Howling's gadget out and set it
24:26
Speaker 1: at thirteen. I hoped the thing would work for me.
24:29
Speaker 1: I concentrated on thirteen, making sure my thumb and fingers
24:34
Speaker 1: were placed right. Evidently they were. The ball fell into
24:38
Speaker 1: thirteen black, odd and low. A huge grin spread over
24:45
Speaker 1: Thresby's face, but he was man enough not to turn
24:48
Speaker 1: and grin at me. Try it again, he said, thirteen black,
24:54
Speaker 1: odd and low. I wonder how the thing works, said Thursby,
24:59
Speaker 1: looking at the gadget in a sort of pleased awe.
25:03
Speaker 1: You'd better be able to prove that it does work, Thursby,
25:05
Speaker 1: I said, trying to put irritation in my voice. This
25:09
Speaker 1: time he did grin at me. Oh, I think we
25:13
Speaker 1: can prove that, all right. He turned back to the technician.
25:16
Speaker 1: Spin it once more, Sam, and show the defense council
25:20
Speaker 1: here how it works. The technician did as he was told,
25:24
Speaker 1: thirteen black, odd and low. He chanted, grinning. Let's try
25:30
Speaker 1: another number, Thursby said. He turned the dial to one,
25:34
Speaker 1: and this time when he pointed it, his fingers were
25:36
Speaker 1: touching the plates in the right places. Just a minute,
25:40
Speaker 1: I said, let me spin the thing. Be my guest counselor,
25:44
Speaker 1: said Thursby. I spun the wheel and scowed at the
25:48
Speaker 1: ball along the rim. It dropped into a slot one red,
25:54
Speaker 1: odd and low. I looked as disappointed and apprehensive as
25:58
Speaker 1: I could incidents. I said, nothing more. You haven't proved anything.
26:04
Speaker 1: Thursby's grin widen. Of course I haven't, he said, with
26:08
Speaker 1: a soothing, patronizing tone. But I don't have to prove
26:11
Speaker 1: anything until I get to court. Then he looked at
26:14
Speaker 1: the technicians and jerked his head toward the door. Let's go, boys.
26:18
Speaker 1: Maybe the counselor wants to look over the table for himself.
26:21
Speaker 1: Maybe he thinks we've got it rigged. There was a
26:24
Speaker 1: chorus of guffaws as they walked out. I just stood there, scowling,
26:30
Speaker 1: trying to keep from laughing even harder than they were.
26:35
Speaker 1: Jason Holly sat next to me at the defense table,
26:38
Speaker 1: just inside the low partition that divided the court from
26:41
Speaker 1: the public. There weren't many people in the auditorium itself.
26:45
Speaker 1: Listening to some poor dope yet himself sentenced for cheating
26:48
Speaker 1: at gambling is considered pretty dull entertainment in the state
26:51
Speaker 1: of Nevada. Thursby had managed to push the indictment through
26:55
Speaker 1: the grand jury in a hurry, but as he sat
26:58
Speaker 1: across the room from me at the prosecution table. I
27:01
Speaker 1: thought I could detect a false note in the assumed
27:03
Speaker 1: look of confidence that he was trying to wear. Holly
27:06
Speaker 1: tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, and he
27:09
Speaker 1: whispered how much longer? I tapped my wrist watch a
27:14
Speaker 1: couple minutes. Judge Lapworth is one of those precisionists, never
27:19
Speaker 1: a moment late or early getting jumpy. He shook his
27:23
Speaker 1: head gently and smiled. No, you've handled this even better
27:27
Speaker 1: than i'd have imagined. You've thought of things I didn't
27:30
Speaker 1: even know existed. I'm no lawyer. I can see that.
27:34
Speaker 1: I returned the smile, and I don't intend gimmicks either.
27:38
Speaker 1: So what his eyes looked at me from behind the
27:42
Speaker 1: distorting negative lenses. I've been wondering, counselor why are you
27:46
Speaker 1: so interested in this? I mean, I offered you a
27:49
Speaker 1: pretty good feed and all that, but it seems to
27:52
Speaker 1: me you're taking an unusual interest in the case. I
27:56
Speaker 1: grinned at him, mister Holly, my profession is low with
28:00
Speaker 1: the capital L. The study of law isn't like the
28:04
Speaker 1: study of physics or whatever. These are man made laws, commands,
28:08
Speaker 1: not descriptions they don't necessarily have anything to do with
28:12
Speaker 1: the facts at all. Take the word insanity, for instance.
28:16
Speaker 1: The word isn't even used by headshrinkers anymore because it's
28:19
Speaker 1: a legal definition that has nothing whatever to do with
28:23
Speaker 1: the condition of the human mind. Now, any such set
28:27
Speaker 1: of laws as that can't possibly be self consistent and
28:31
Speaker 1: still has some use on an action level. A lawyer's
28:35
Speaker 1: job is to find the little inconsistencies in the structure,
28:39
Speaker 1: the places where the pieces have been jammed together in
28:41
Speaker 1: an effort to make them look like a structured hole,
28:44
Speaker 1: to find, in other words, the loopholes and use them.
28:49
Speaker 1: And when I find a loophole, I like to wring
28:52
Speaker 1: everything I can out of it. I'm enjoying this, Holly nodded.
28:57
Speaker 1: I see, but what if something? I held up my
29:00
Speaker 1: hand to silence him. Because the door to the judge's
29:02
Speaker 1: chambers opened at that moment, and Judge Lapworth came in.
29:06
Speaker 1: As the bailiff announced him, we all stood up while
29:10
Speaker 1: the bailiff intoned his oh yea oh YEA Thursby made
29:16
Speaker 1: a short preliminary speech to the jury, and I requested
29:20
Speaker 1: and was granted permission to hold my own opening statement
29:23
Speaker 1: until the defense was ready to present its case. Thursby
29:27
Speaker 1: was looking worried, although it took a trained eye to
29:29
Speaker 1: see it. I was pretty sure I knew why. He
29:33
Speaker 1: had been pushed too hard and had gone too fast.
29:35
Speaker 1: He'd managed to slide through the grand jury too easily,
29:39
Speaker 1: and I had managed to get the trial date set
29:41
Speaker 1: for a week later. Thursby's case was far from being
29:44
Speaker 1: as tight as he wanted it. I just sat still
29:48
Speaker 1: while the prosecution brought forth its witnesses and evidence. The Croupriire,
29:53
Speaker 1: the deputies, several employees of the Golden Casino, and a
29:57
Speaker 1: couple of patrons all told their stories. I waved cross
30:01
Speaker 1: examination in every case, which made Thursby even edgier than
30:05
Speaker 1: he had been when he called in the head of
30:10
Speaker 1: the technicians who had inspected the table at the casino.
30:14
Speaker 1: I made no objection to his testimony, but I made
30:17
Speaker 1: my first cross examination. Mister Thompson, you have stated your
30:22
Speaker 1: qualifications as an expert on the various devices which have
30:26
Speaker 1: been used to illegally influence the operation of gambling devices
30:30
Speaker 1: in this state. Thursby said, Oh, if the court please,
30:34
Speaker 1: I should like to remind counsel for the defense that
30:37
Speaker 1: he has already accepted the qualifications of the witness. I
30:41
Speaker 1: am not attempting to impugne the qualifications of the witness,
30:45
Speaker 1: I snapped. Judge Lapworth frowned at Thursby. Are you making
30:49
Speaker 1: an objection? Mister district attorney. Thursby pursed his lips, said, know,
30:55
Speaker 1: your honor, and sat down. Proceed with the cross examination,
30:59
Speaker 1: said the judge. Mister Thompson, I said, you have testified
31:05
Speaker 1: that you examined the table at the Golden Casino for
31:08
Speaker 1: such devices and found none. Is that right? That's right?
31:12
Speaker 1: He said, positively. Have you seen the device labeled People's
31:17
Speaker 1: Exhibit A, which was found by the officers on the
31:20
Speaker 1: person of the defendant. Well, yes, I have. Have you
31:25
Speaker 1: examined the device? Thursby was on his feet objection, your honor.
31:31
Speaker 1: This material was not brought out in direct examination, sustained,
31:35
Speaker 1: said Judge Lapworth. Very well, your honor, I said. Then
31:40
Speaker 1: I turned back to Thompson. As an expert in this field,
31:45
Speaker 1: Mister Thompson, you have examined many different devices for cheating
31:49
Speaker 1: gambling equipment, haven't you? Yes, I have? How many, would
31:54
Speaker 1: you say, oh, several hundred, several hundred different types. Now
32:02
Speaker 1: several hundred individual devices. Most of them are just variations
32:06
Speaker 1: of two or three basic types. And you are familiar
32:12
Speaker 1: with the function of these basic types and their variations.
32:16
Speaker 1: I am you know exactly how all of them worked.
32:21
Speaker 1: Then he saw where I was heading most of them,
32:26
Speaker 1: he hedged. Thursby saw where I was heading two and
32:30
Speaker 1: was sweating. I'd managed to get around his objection. Have
32:36
Speaker 1: you ever examined any which you could not understand? I
32:41
Speaker 1: don't quite know what you mean. Have you ever, i said, firmly,
32:47
Speaker 1: come across a device used in cheating which you could
32:51
Speaker 1: not comprehend or explain the operation of. Thursby stood up
32:58
Speaker 1: same objection as before, your honor, Your honor, I said,
33:02
Speaker 1: I am merely trying to find the limitations of the
33:05
Speaker 1: witness knowledge. I am not trying to refute his acknowledged ability. Overruled,
33:12
Speaker 1: said Judge Lapworth. The witness will answer the question. I
33:16
Speaker 1: repeated the question, Yes, said Thompson in a low voice.
33:22
Speaker 1: More than once, only once, only once. You did find
33:29
Speaker 1: one device which didn't operate in any fashion you can explain?
33:34
Speaker 1: Is that right? That's right? Can you tell me what
33:40
Speaker 1: this device was? Thompson took a deep breath. It was
33:47
Speaker 1: people's Exhibit A, the device taken from the defendant at
33:51
Speaker 1: the time of his arrest. There was a buzz in
33:54
Speaker 1: the court room. No more questions, I said, turning away. Then,
33:59
Speaker 1: before Thompson could leave the stand, I turned back to him. Oh,
34:02
Speaker 1: just one moment, mister Thompson, did you examine this device carefully?
34:08
Speaker 1: Did you take it apart? I opened it and looked
34:12
Speaker 1: at it. You just looked at it. You didn't subject
34:16
Speaker 1: it to any tests. Thompson took a deep breath. No,
34:22
Speaker 1: why not? There wasn't anything inside it to test. This time,
34:28
Speaker 1: there was more than just a buzz around the courtroom.
34:31
Speaker 1: Judge Lapworth rapped for order. When the room was quiet,
34:35
Speaker 1: I said the box was empty. Then, well, no, not
34:41
Speaker 1: exactly empty. It had some stuff in it. I turned
34:45
Speaker 1: to the judge. If the court please, I would like
34:48
Speaker 1: to have the so called device Exhibit A open, so
34:52
Speaker 1: that members of the jury may see for themselves what
34:54
Speaker 1: it contains. Judge Lapworth said, the court would like very
35:00
Speaker 1: much to see the internal workings of this device too, Bailiff,
35:03
Speaker 1: if you will please. The bailiff handed him the gadget
35:07
Speaker 1: from the exhibit table. How does it open, asked the judge.
35:11
Speaker 1: He turned to Thompson, Will the witness please open the box? Reluctantly,
35:18
Speaker 1: Thompson thumbed the catch and slid off the top. The
35:22
Speaker 1: judge took it from him, looked inside and stared for
35:26
Speaker 1: a long moment. I had already seen the insides. It
35:31
Speaker 1: was painted white, and there were eight lines running all
35:35
Speaker 1: over the inside, and various pictures a ball, a pair
35:39
Speaker 1: of dice, a roulette wheel, and some other symbols that
35:43
Speaker 1: I didn't pretend to understand. Otherwise, the box was empty.
35:50
Speaker 1: After a moment, Judge Lapworth looked up from the box
35:53
Speaker 1: and stared at Thursby. Then he looked at Thompson, Just
35:57
Speaker 1: what tests did you perform on this thing, mister Thompson, Well,
36:03
Speaker 1: your honor, Thompson said, visibly nervous. I checked it for
36:07
Speaker 1: all kinds of radiation and magnetism. There isn't anything like
36:12
Speaker 1: that coming from it. But he added lamely, there wasn't
36:16
Speaker 1: much else to test, not without damaging the box. I see,
36:22
Speaker 1: his honor glared at Thursby, but didn't say anything to him.
36:26
Speaker 1: He simply ordered the box to be shown to the jury.
36:30
Speaker 1: Thursby was grimly holding his ground waiting, have you any
36:34
Speaker 1: more questions, counselor, The judge asked, no, your honor, I
36:38
Speaker 1: have not witness. May step down, said his honor to Thompson.
36:44
Speaker 1: Thursby stood up. If the Court please, I would like
36:47
Speaker 1: to stage a small demonstration for the members of the jury.
36:51
Speaker 1: The court gave permission, and a roulette wheel was hauled
36:54
Speaker 1: in on a small table. I watched with interest and
36:58
Speaker 1: without objection, while demonstrated the use of the gadget, and
37:02
Speaker 1: then asked each of the jurors in turn to try it.
37:05
Speaker 1: It was a long way from being a successful demonstration.
37:09
Speaker 1: Some of the jurors didn't hold the thing right, and
37:12
Speaker 1: some of those that did just didn't have the mental
37:14
Speaker 1: ability required to use it. But that didn't bother Thursby,
37:20
Speaker 1: your honor and gentlemen of the jury, he said, you
37:24
Speaker 1: are all aware that a device constructed for the purpose
37:27
Speaker 1: of cheating, that any gambling game is not necessarily one
37:31
Speaker 1: hundred percent infallible. It doesn't have to be. All it
37:35
Speaker 1: has to do is turn the odds in favor of
37:38
Speaker 1: the user. You were all familiar with loaded dice, I'm sure,
37:43
Speaker 1: and you know that loading dice for one set of
37:46
Speaker 1: numbers merely increases the probability that those numbers will come up.
37:50
Speaker 1: It does not guarantee that they will come up every time.
37:55
Speaker 1: It is the same with marked cards marking the backs
37:58
Speaker 1: of a deck of cards. It doesn't mean that you
38:00
Speaker 1: will invariably get a better hand than your opponent. It
38:04
Speaker 1: doesn't even mean that you will win every hand. The
38:08
Speaker 1: device taken from the defendant at the Golden Casino does not,
38:12
Speaker 1: as you have seen, work every time, but as you
38:17
Speaker 1: have also seen, it certainly does shift the odds by
38:20
Speaker 1: a considerable percentage, and that, I submit, is illegal under
38:25
Speaker 1: the laws of this state. He went on building on
38:29
Speaker 1: that theme for a while. Then he turned the trial
38:32
Speaker 1: over to the defense. Called doctor Pettigrew to the stand.
38:36
Speaker 1: I said, I heard Thursby's gasp, but I ignored it.
38:41
Speaker 1: A chunky, balding man with a moonface and an irritated
38:45
Speaker 1: expression came up to be sworn in. He was irritated
38:49
Speaker 1: with me for having subpoenaed him, and he showed it.
38:52
Speaker 1: I hoped he wouldn't turn out to be hostile. You are,
38:56
Speaker 1: doctor Herbert Pettigrew, I asked, that is correct. State your residence, please,
39:02
Speaker 1: thirty one O nine La Roya Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
39:09
Speaker 1: You are called doctor Petigrew. I believe would you tell
39:12
Speaker 1: the court what right you have to that title? He
39:15
Speaker 1: looked a little miffed, but he said it is a
39:18
Speaker 1: scholarly title, a doctorate of philosophy in physics from Massachusetts
39:23
Speaker 1: Institute of Technology. I see, would you mind telling the
39:27
Speaker 1: court what other academic degrees you have? A real lawful
39:31
Speaker 1: list of them? All impressive, Thank you, doctor, I said, Now,
39:36
Speaker 1: what is your present occupation? I am a professor of
39:41
Speaker 1: physics at the University of California in Los Angeles. I
39:46
Speaker 1: went on questioning him to establish his ability in his field,
39:49
Speaker 1: and by the time I was finished, the jury was
39:51
Speaker 1: pretty well impressed with his status in the scientific brotherhood,
39:55
Speaker 1: and not once did Thursby object. Then, I said, doctor Pettigrew,
40:02
Speaker 1: I believe you came to this city on a professional matter.
40:05
Speaker 1: Yes I did. He didn't hesitate to answer, so I
40:08
Speaker 1: figured I hadn't got his goat too much, and what
40:11
Speaker 1: was the nature of that matter? I was asked to
40:15
Speaker 1: come here by mister Harold Thursby, the district Attorney, to
40:19
Speaker 1: perform some scientific tests on the device. The device known
40:24
Speaker 1: as People's Exhibit A. Did you perform these tests? I
40:30
Speaker 1: did at the request of District Attorney Thursby? Is that right?
40:36
Speaker 1: That is correct? May I ask why mister Thursby did
40:41
Speaker 1: not call you as a witness for the prosecution. Thursby,
40:46
Speaker 1: as I had expected, was on his feet objection. The
40:50
Speaker 1: question calls for a conclusion of the witness, sustained, said
40:54
Speaker 1: Judge Lapworth. Doctor pettigrew I said, what were your fine
41:00
Speaker 1: in reference to Exhibit A? He shrugged. The thing is
41:05
Speaker 1: a plastic box with a dial set in one side,
41:08
Speaker 1: a plastic lens in one end, and a couple of
41:11
Speaker 1: strips of silver lung two other sides. Inside there are
41:14
Speaker 1: a lot of markings in black ink on white paint,
41:18
Speaker 1: he gestured toward the exhibit table. Just what you've seen.
41:21
Speaker 1: That's all there is to it. What sorts of tests
41:25
Speaker 1: did you perform to determine this, doctor pettigrew I asked.
41:29
Speaker 1: He took a long time answering that one. He had
41:32
Speaker 1: X rayed the thing, thoroughly tested it with apparatus i'd
41:35
Speaker 1: never heard of, taken scrapings from all over it for
41:39
Speaker 1: microchemical analysis, and even tried it himself on a roulette wheel.
41:43
Speaker 1: He hadn't been able to make it work. And what
41:47
Speaker 1: is your conclusion from these findings? I asked again. He shrugged.
41:51
Speaker 1: The thing is just a box, that's all. It has
41:54
Speaker 1: no special properties. Would you say it could be responsible
42:00
Speaker 1: for the phenomena we have just seen? By that, I
42:03
Speaker 1: mean the peculiar action of the roulette wheel demonstrated here
42:07
Speaker 1: by the prosecution. Definitely not, he stated flatly. The box
42:11
Speaker 1: could not possibly have any effect on either the wheel
42:15
Speaker 1: or the ball. I see, thank you, doctor, that's all.
42:18
Speaker 1: Cross examined, Thursby walked over to the witness stand with
42:23
Speaker 1: the belligerent skull on his face. Doctor Pettigrew, you say
42:29
Speaker 1: that the box couldn't possibly have had any effect on
42:32
Speaker 1: the wheel, and yet we have demonstrated that there is
42:37
Speaker 1: an effect. Don't you believe the testimony of your own senses?
42:41
Speaker 1: Certainly I do, snapped Pettigrew. Then how do you account
42:45
Speaker 1: for the behavior of the roulette wheel as you have
42:48
Speaker 1: just seen it demonstrated in this court? I suppressed the
42:52
Speaker 1: grinn Thursby was so mad that he was having trouble
42:56
Speaker 1: expressing himself clearly in several ways. Pettigrew said, sharply in
43:02
Speaker 1: the first place that wheel could be rigged. Thursby purple.
43:06
Speaker 1: Now just a minute, I I started to object, but
43:10
Speaker 1: Judge Lapworth beat me to it. Are you objecting to
43:13
Speaker 1: the answer, mister District Attorney, The witness is insinuating that
43:18
Speaker 1: I falsified evidence. I am not, said Pettigrew, visibly angry.
43:23
Speaker 1: You asked me how I could account for its behavior,
43:26
Speaker 1: and I told you one way. There are others. The
43:30
Speaker 1: wheel will be examined, said Judge Lapworth, darkly. Tell us
43:34
Speaker 1: the other ways, doctor Pettigrew. Pure chance, said Pettigrew, Pure chance,
43:39
Speaker 1: your honor. I am sure that everyone in this courtroom
43:42
Speaker 1: has seen runs of luck on a Roulett wheel. According
43:46
Speaker 1: to the laws of probability, such runs must inevitably happen. Frankly,
43:51
Speaker 1: I believe that just such a run has occurred here.
43:54
Speaker 1: I do not think for a minute that mister Thursby
43:57
Speaker 1: or any one else rigged that wheel. I see, Thank you,
44:01
Speaker 1: doctor Pettigrew, said the judge. Any further questions, mister district Attorney,
44:07
Speaker 1: No further questions, Thresby said, trying to hide his anger.
44:13
Speaker 1: Call your next witness, said the judge, looking at me.
44:17
Speaker 1: I called mister Jason Howley to the stand. Holly sat
44:22
Speaker 1: down and was sworn in. I went through the preliminaries,
44:25
Speaker 1: then asked, mister Holly, you have seen people's exhibit. Ay,
44:30
Speaker 1: I have to whom does it belong? It is mine,
44:35
Speaker 1: It was taken from me by Just answer the question, please,
44:39
Speaker 1: I admonished him. He knew his script, but he was
44:42
Speaker 1: jumping the gun. The device is yours, then, that's right.
44:48
Speaker 1: Under what circumstances did this device come into the hands
44:51
Speaker 1: of the police, He told what had happened on the
44:54
Speaker 1: night of the big take at the Golden Casino. Would
44:57
Speaker 1: you explain to us just what this device is? I
45:00
Speaker 1: asked when he had finished. Certainly, he said, it's a
45:04
Speaker 1: good luck charm. I could hear the muffled reaction in
45:07
Speaker 1: the courtroom. A good luck charm, I see, then it
45:12
Speaker 1: has no effect on the wheel at all. Oh, I
45:16
Speaker 1: wouldn't say that, Holly said, disarmingly. He smiled and looked
45:20
Speaker 1: at the jury. It certainly has some effect. It's the
45:23
Speaker 1: only good luck charm I ever had that worked. The
45:27
Speaker 1: jury was grinning right back in him. They were all
45:30
Speaker 1: gamblers at heart, and I never knew a gambler yet
45:33
Speaker 1: who didn't have some sort of good luck charm or
45:36
Speaker 1: superstition when it came to gambling. We had them all
45:39
Speaker 1: in the palms of our hands. What I mean is,
45:43
Speaker 1: does it have any physical effect on the wheel? Holly
45:48
Speaker 1: looked puzzled. Well, I don't know about that. That's not
45:52
Speaker 1: my field. You'd better ask doctor Pettigrew. There was a
45:56
Speaker 1: smothered laugh somewhere in the courtroom. Just how do you
46:00
Speaker 1: operate this good luck charm? Mister Holly? I asked? Why?
46:05
Speaker 1: You just hold it so that your thumb touches one
46:07
Speaker 1: strip of silver and your fingers touched the other. Then
46:11
Speaker 1: you set the dial to whatever number you want to
46:13
Speaker 1: come up and wish, wish, Just wish, mister Holly, Just wish.
46:22
Speaker 1: That's all. What else can you do with a good
46:25
Speaker 1: luck charm? This time the judge had to pound for
46:29
Speaker 1: order to stop the laughing. I turned Holly over to Thursby.
46:34
Speaker 1: The da hammered at him for half an hour, trying
46:37
Speaker 1: to get something out of Holly, but he didn't get
46:39
Speaker 1: anywhere useful. Holly admitted that he'd come to Nevada to
46:43
Speaker 1: play the wheels. What was wrong with that? He'd admitted
46:46
Speaker 1: that he'd come just to try out his good luck charm,
46:49
Speaker 1: and what was wrong with that? He even admitted that
46:52
Speaker 1: it worked for him every time, and what was wrong
46:56
Speaker 1: pray with that? He knew he was licked. He'd known
47:02
Speaker 1: it for a long time. His summation to the jury
47:06
Speaker 1: showed it. The expressions on the faces of the jury
47:09
Speaker 1: as they listened showed it. They brought in a verdict
47:12
Speaker 1: of not guilty. When I got back to my office,
47:18
Speaker 1: I picked up the phone and called the Golden Casino.
47:21
Speaker 1: I asked for George Brocky, the manager. When I got
47:25
Speaker 1: him on the phone and identified myself, he said, oh,
47:28
Speaker 1: it's you. His voice didn't sound friendly. It's me, I said,
47:34
Speaker 1: I suppose you're going to slap a suit for false
47:36
Speaker 1: arrest on the casino now, ah, counselor not a bit
47:40
Speaker 1: of it, George, I said, The thought occurred to me.
47:42
Speaker 1: But do you think we can come to terms? Yeah,
47:46
Speaker 1: nothing to it, George. You give us the three hundred
47:49
Speaker 1: grand and we don't do a thing. Yeah, he didn't
47:53
Speaker 1: get it. He had to fork over the money anyway,
47:56
Speaker 1: according to the court order. So what was the deal?
48:00
Speaker 1: If you want to go a little further, I'll tell
48:02
Speaker 1: you what we'll do. We'll give you one of our
48:05
Speaker 1: little good luck charms if you'll promise to call your
48:08
Speaker 1: boys off. Holly. Nobody's on, Holly, he said, you ought
48:12
Speaker 1: to know better than that. In this state, if we
48:15
Speaker 1: get whipped in court, we play it square. Did you
48:18
Speaker 1: think we were going to get rough? No? But you
48:22
Speaker 1: kind of figured on lifting that gadget as soon as
48:24
Speaker 1: he gets it back from the DA, didn't you. I
48:27
Speaker 1: saw your boys waiting at his hotel. I'm just telling
48:30
Speaker 1: you that you don't have to do that. We'll give
48:32
Speaker 1: you the gadget. There are plenty more where that came from.
48:38
Speaker 1: I see. Rocky said, after a long pause, Okay, Counselor,
48:43
Speaker 1: it's a deal. Fine, we'll pick up the money later
48:47
Speaker 1: this evening. If that's okay, sure, counselor any time, any
48:51
Speaker 1: time at all. He hung up. I grinned at Holly,
48:56
Speaker 1: who was sitting across the destiny. Well, that winds it up.
49:00
Speaker 1: I don't get it, Holly said, why'd you call up Rocky?
49:04
Speaker 1: What was the purpose of that deal? No deal, I
49:07
Speaker 1: told him. I was just warning him that killing you
49:11
Speaker 1: and taking the gadget wouldn't do any good. That we've
49:14
Speaker 1: covered you. He won't bother having anything done to you
49:17
Speaker 1: if he knows that the secret of the gadget is
49:20
Speaker 1: out already. Holly's eyes widened behind those spectacles of his.
49:25
Speaker 1: You mean they'd kill me. I thought of that a
49:28
Speaker 1: gamblers were honest. Oh they are, they are. But this
49:32
Speaker 1: is a threat to their whole industry. It's more than that.
49:36
Speaker 1: It may destroy them. Some of them might kill to
49:40
Speaker 1: keep that from happening. But you don't have to worry now. Thanks.
49:45
Speaker 1: Tell me, do you think we've succeeded in what you
49:49
Speaker 1: set out to do. Certainly, when we mail out those
49:53
Speaker 1: gadgets to people all over the state, the place will
49:56
Speaker 1: be in an uproar with all the publicity this case
49:59
Speaker 1: is getting. It'll have to work. You now have a
50:02
Speaker 1: court decision on your side, a decision which says that
50:06
Speaker 1: a psionic device can legally be used to influence gambling games. Why, man,
50:12
Speaker 1: they'll have to start investigating. You'll let every politico in
50:16
Speaker 1: the state of Nevada insisting that scientists work on that thing,
50:20
Speaker 1: to say nothing of what the syndicate will do. All
50:24
Speaker 1: I wanted to do, said Holly, was force people to
50:28
Speaker 1: take notice of psionics. I guess I've done that. You
50:32
Speaker 1: certainly have, brother. I wonder what it will come to.
50:36
Speaker 1: I wonder myself sometimes. Holly said. That was three and
50:42
Speaker 1: a half years ago. Neither Holly nor I are wondering now.
50:47
Speaker 1: According to the front page of Today's Times, the first
50:51
Speaker 1: spaceship with a crew of eighty aboard reached Mars this morning,
50:55
Speaker 1: and on page two there's a small article headline obsolete,
51:01
Speaker 1: say scientists. It sure is. This is the end of
51:08
Speaker 1: For your money Back by Gordon Randall Garrett. Recording by
51:13
Speaker 1: Tom Weiss,