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Project Gutenberg's ...Or Your Money Back, by Gordon Randall Garrett

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Title: ...Or Your Money Back

Author: Gordon Randall Garrett

Release Date: November 18, 2007 [EBook #23534]

Language: English

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... OR YOUR MONEY BACK

BY DAVID GORDON

Illustrated by Summers

[Transcriber note: This etext was produced from Weird Tales March 1951.Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

There are lots of things thatare considered perfectly acceptable ... provided they don'twork. And of course everyoneknows they really don't, whichis why they're acceptable....

There are times when Idon't know my ownstrength. Or, at least,the strength of my advice.And the case ofJason Howley was certainly an instanceof one of those times.

When he came to my office withhis gadget, I heard him out, tryingto appear both interested and co-operativewhichis good business.But I am forced to admit thatneither Howley nor his gadget werevery impressive. He was a lean,slope-shouldered individual, five-feet-eightor ninewhich was shorterthan he lookedwith straightbrown hair combed straight backand blue eyes which were shieldedwith steel-rimmed glasses. The thick,double-concave lenses indicated a degreeof myopia that must have borderedon total blindness withoutglasses, and acute tunnel vision, evenwith them.

He had a crisp, incisive mannerthat indicated he was either a manwho knew what he was doing or aman who was trying to impress mewith a ready-made story. I listenedto him and looked at his gadget withoutgiving any more indication thannecessary of what I really thought.

When he was through, I said:"You understand, Mr. Howley thatI'm not a patent lawyer; I specializein criminal law. Now, I can recommend"

But he cut me off. "I understandthat, counselor," he said sharply."Believe me, I have no illusion whateverthat this thing is patentable underthe present patent system. Evenif it were, this gadget is designed todo something that may or may notbe illegal, which would make ithazardous to attempt to patent it, Ishould think. You don't patent newdevices for blowing safes or newdrugs for doping horses, do you?"

"Probably not," I said dryly, "although,as I say, I'm not qualifiedto give an opinion on patent law.You say that gadget is designed tocause minute, but significant, changesin the velocities of small, movingobjects. Just how does that make itillegal?"

He frowned a little. "Well, possiblyit wouldn't, except here inNevada. Specifically, it is designedto influence roulette and dicegames."

I looked at the gadget with alittle more interest this time. Therewas nothing new in the idea of inventinga gadget to cheat the red-and-blackwheels, of course; the localcops turn up a dozen a day here inthe city. Most of them either don'twork at all or else they're too obvious,so the users get nabbed beforethey have a chance to use them.

The only ones that really workhave to be installed in the tablesthemselves, which means they'reused to milk the suckers, not rob themanagement. And anyone in theState of Nevada who buys a licenseto operate and then uses crookedwheels is (a) stupid, and (b) out ofbusiness within a week. Howley wasright. Only in a place where gamblingis legalized is it illegalandunprofitableto rig a game.

The gadget itself didn't look toocomplicated from the outside. It wasa black plastic box about an inchand a half square and maybe threeand a half long. On one end was alensed opening, half an inch indiameter, and on two sides therewere flat, silver-colored plates. Onthe top of it, there was a dial whichwas, say, an inch in diameter, and itwas marked off just exactly like aroulette wheel.

"How does it work?" I asked.

He picked it up in his hand, holdingit as though it were a flashlight,with the lens pointed away fromhim.

"You aim the lens at the wheel,"he explained, "making sure thatyour thumb is touching the silverplate on one side, and your fingerstouching the plate on the other side.Then you set this dial for whatevernumber you want to come up andconcentrate on it while the ball isspinning. For dice, of course, youonly need to use the first six ortwelve numbers on the dial, dependingon the game."

I looked at him for a long moment,trying to figure his angle. Helooked back steadily, his eyes lookinglike small beads peering throughthe bottoms of a couple of shotglasses.

"You look skeptical, counselor,"he said at last.

"I am. A man who hasn't got theability to be healthily skeptical hasno right to practice lawespeciallycriminal law. On the other hand, nolawyer has any right to judge anythingone way or the other withoutevidence.

"But that's neither here nor thereat the moment. What I'm interestedin is, what do you want me to do?People rarely come to a criminallawyer unless they're in a jam. Whatsort of jam are you in at the moment?"

"None," said Howley. "But I willbe very soon. I hope."

Well, I've heard odder statementsthan that from my clients. I let itride for the moment and lookeddown at the notes I'd taken whilehe'd told me his story.

"You're a native of New YorkCity?" I asked.

"That's right. That's what Isaid."

"And you came out here forwhat? To use that thing on our Nevadatables?"

"That's right, counselor."

"Can't you find any games tocheat on back home?"

"Oh, certainly. Plenty of them.But they aren't legal. I wouldn't careto get mixed up in anything illegal.Besides, it wouldn't suit my purpose."

That stopped me for a moment."You don't consider cheating illegal?It certainly is in Nevada. InNew York, if you were caught at it,you'd have the big gambling interestson your neck; here, you'll haveboth them and the police after you.And the district attorney's office."

He smiled. "Yes, I know. That'swhat I'm expecting. That's why Ineed a good lawyer to defend me.I understand you're the top man inthis city."

"Mr. Howley," I said carefully,"as a member of the Bar Associationand a practicing attorney in theState of Nevada, I am an Officer ofthe Court. If you had been caughtcheating and had come to me, I'd beable to help you. But I can't enter intoa conspiracy with you to defraudlegitimate businessmen, which is exactlywhat this would be."

He blinked at me through thoseshot-glass spectacles. "Counselor,would you refuse to defend a manif you thought he was guilty?"

I shook my head. "No. Legally, aman is not guilty until proven soby a court of law. He has a right totrial by jury. For me to refuse togive a man the defense he is legallyentitled to, just because I happenedto think he was guilty, would be trialby attorney. I'll do the best I canfor any client; I'll work for his interests,no matter what my privateopinion may be."

He looked impressed, so I guessthere must have been a note of convictionin my voice. There shouldhave been, because it was exactlywhat I've always believed and practiced.

"That's good, counselor," saidHowley. "If I can convince you thatI have no criminal intent, that I haveno intention of defrauding anyoneor conspiring with you to do anythingillegal, will you help me?"

I didn't have to think that oneover. I simply said, "Yes." After all,it was still up to me to decidewhether he convinced me or not. Ifhe didn't, I could still refuse the caseon those grounds.

"That's fair enough, counselor,"he said. Then he started talking.

Instead of telling you what JasonHowley said he was going to do, I'lltell you what he did do. They aresubstantially the same, anyway, andthe old bromide about actions speakinglouder than words certainly appliedin this case.

Mind you, I didn't see or hear anyof this, but there were plenty of witnessesto testify as to what went on.Their statements are a matter ofcourt record, and Jason Howley'sstory is substantiated in every respect.

He left my office smiling. He'dconvinced me that the case was notonly going to be worthwhile, butfun. I took it, plus a fat retainer.

Howley went up to his hotel room,changed into his expensive eveningclothes, and headed out to do thetown. I'd suggested several places,but he wanted the biggest and besttheGolden Casino, a big, plush, expensiveplace that was just inside thecity limits. In his pockets, he wascarrying less than two hundred dollarsin cash.

Now, nobody with that kind ofchicken feed can expect to last longat the Golden Casino unless theystick to the two-bit one-armed bandits.But putting money on a roulettetable is in a higher bracket by farthan feeding a slot machine, evenif you get a steady run of lemons.

Howley didn't waste any time. Heheaded for the roulette table rightaway. He watched the play for aboutthree spins of the wheel, then hetook out his gadgetin plain sightof anyone who cared to watchandset the dial for thirteen. Then heheld it in his hand with thumb andfinger touching the plates and puthis hand in his jacket pocket, withthe lens aimed at the wheel. Hestepped up to the table, bought ahundred dollars worth of chips, andput fifty on Number Thirteen.

"No more bets," said the croupier.He spun the wheel and dropped theball.

"Thirteen, Black, Odd, and Low,"he chanted after a minute. With apracticed hand, he raked in thelosers and pushed out Howley's winnings.There was sixteen hundreddollars sitting on thirteen now. Howleydidn't touch it.

The wheel went around and thelittle ball clattered around the rimand finally fell into a slot.

"Thirteen, Black, Odd, and Low,"said the croupier. This time, hedidn't look as nonchalant. He peeredcuriously at Howley as he pushed outthe chips to make a grand total offifty-one thousand two hundred dollars.The same number doesn't comeup twice in succession very often,and it is very rare indeed that thesame person is covering it both timeswith a riding bet.

"Two thousand limit, sir," thecroupier said, when it looked asthough Howley was going to let thefifty-one grand just sit there.

Howley nodded apologetically andpulled off everything but two thousanddollars worth of chips.

The third time around, the croupierhad his eyes directly on Howleyas he repeated the chant: "Thirteen,Black, Odd, and Low." Everybodyelse at the table was watching Howley,too. The odds against Howleyoranyone else, for that matterhittingthe same number three timesin a row are just under forty thousandto one.

Howley didn't want to overdo it.He left two thousand on thirteen,raked in the rest, and twisted thedial on his gadget over a notch.

Everyone at the table gasped asthe little ball dropped.

"That was a near miss," whispereda woman standing nearby.

The croupier said: "Fourteen, Red,Even, and Low." And he raked inHowley's two thousand dollars witha satisfied smile. He had seen runsof luck before.

Howley deliberately lost twomore spins the same way. Nobodywho was actually cheating would calltoo much attention to himself, andHowley wanted it to look as thoughhe were trying to cover up the factthat he had a sure thing.

He took the gadget out of hispocket and deliberately set it to thegreen square marked 00. Then heput it back in his pocket and put twothousand dollars on the DoubleZero.

There was more than suspicion inthe croupier's eyes when he raked inall the bets on the table except Howley's.It definitely didn't look goodto him. A man who had started outwith a fifty-dollar bet had managedto run it up to one hundred seventy-fourthousand two hundred dollarsin six plays.

Howley looked as innocent as possibleunder the circumstances, andcarefully dropped the dial on hisgadget back a few notches. Then hebet another two thousand on High,an even money bet.

Naturally, he won.

He twisted the dial back a fewmore notches and won again onHigh.

Then he left it where it was andwon by betting on Red.

By this time, of course, thingswere happening. The croupier hadlong since pressed the alarm button,and five men had carefully surroundedHowley. They looked likecustomers, but they were harder-lookingthan the average, and theywere watching Howley, not thewheel. Farther back from the crowd,three of the special deputies fromthe sheriff's office were trying to lookinconspicuous in their gray uniformsand white Stetsons and pearl-handledrevolvers in black holsters. You canimagine how inconspicuous theylooked.

Howley decided to do it up brown.He reset his gadget as surreptitiouslyas possible under the circumstances,and put his money onthirteen again.

"Thirteen, Black, Odd, and Low,"said the croupier in a hollow voice.

The five men in evening dress andthe three deputies moved in closer.

Howley nonchalantly scraped inhis winnings, leaving the two thousandon the thirteen spot.

There was a combination of hostilityand admiration in every eyearound the table when the croupiersaid, "Thirteen, Black, Odd, andLow" for the fifth time in the spaceof minutes. And everyone of thoseeyes was turned on Jason Howley.

The croupier smiled his professionalsmile. "I'm sorry, ladies andgentlemen; we'll have to discontinueplay for a while. The gentleman hasbroken the bank at this table." Heturned the smile on Howley. "Congratulations,sir."

Howley smiled back and beganstacking up over three hundredthousand dollars worth of plasticdisks. It made quite a pile.

One of the deputies stepped uppolitely. "I'm an officer, sir," he said."May I help you carry that to thecashier's office?"

Howley looked at the gold starand nodded. "Certainly. Thanks."

The other two deputies steppedup, too, and the three of them walkedHowley toward the cashier'soffice. Behind them came the five menin dinner jackets.

"You'll have to step into the officeto cash that much, sir," said one ofthe deputies as he opened the door.Howley walked in as though hehadn't a care in the world. He puthis chips on the desk, and the deputiesfollowed suit, while one of thedinner-jacketed men closed the door.

Then one of the deputies said: "Ibelieve this gentleman is carrying agun."

He had his own revolver out andhad it pointed at Howley's middle."Carrying a concealed weapon isillegal in this city," he went on."I'm afraid we'll have to searchyou."

Howley didn't object. He put hishands up high and stood there whilehis pockets were frisked.

"Well, well," said the deputycoolly. "What on Earth is this?"

It was Howley's gadget, and thedial still pointed to ThirteenBlack,Odd, and Low.

The next morning, I went downto the jail in response to a phonecall from Howley. The special deputieshad turned him over to the citypolice and he was being held "undersuspicion of fraud." I knew wecould beat that down to an "attemptto defraud," but the object was toget Howley off scott-free. AfterHowley told me the whole story, Igot busy pushing the case through.As long as he was simply being heldon suspicion, I couldn't get him outon bail, so I wanted to force the districtattorney or the police to prefercharges.

Meanwhile, I made sure thatHowley's gadget had been impoundedas evidence. I didn't want anyonefiddling with it before the casewent to courtexcept, of course, theD. A. and his men. There wasn'tmuch I could do to keep it out oftheir hands.

After throwing as much weightaround as I could, including filing apetition for a writ of habeas corpuswith Judge Grannis, I went over toHowley's hotel with a signed powerof attorney that Howley had givenme, and I got a small envelope outof the hotel safe. It contained a baggagecheck.

I went over to the bus depot, turnedover the check to the baggagedepartment, and went back to myoffice with a small suitcase. I lockedmyself in and opened the case. Sureenough, it contained three dozen ofthe little gadgets.

Then I sat down to wait. By noon,Judge Grannis had issued the writof habeas corpus, and, rather thanrelease Jason Howley, the police hadbooked him, and District AttorneyThursby was getting the case readyfor the grand jury. There was overa quarter of a million dollars atstake, and the men behind the GoldenCasino were bringing pressure tobear. If Howley wasn't convicted,they'd have to give him his moneyandthat was the last thing theywanted to do. A quarter of a millionbucks isn't small potatoes, even to agambling syndicate.

It wasn't until early on the morningof the third day after Howley'sarrest that I got a tip-off from oneof my part-time spies. I scooped upthe phone when it rang and identifiedmyself.

"Counselor? Look, this is Benny."I recognized the voice and name.Benny was one of the cabbies that I'ddone favors for in the past.

"What's the trouble, Benny?"

"Oh, no trouble. I just got a littletip you might be interested in."

"Fire away."

"Well, the D.A. and some of hisboys went into the Golden Casinoabout ten minutes ago, and nowthey're closin' up the place. Just fora little while, I understand. Hour,maybe. They're chasin' everyone outof the roulette room."

"Thanks, Benny," I said, "thanksa lot."

"Well, I knew you was workingon that Howley case, and I thoughtthis might be important, so I"

"Sure, Benny. Come by my officethis afternoon. And thanks again."

I hung up and started moving.

Within ten minutes, I was pullingup and parking across the streetfrom the Golden Casino. I lockedthe car and dodged traffic to getacross the street, as though I'd neverheard of laws against jaywalking.

There were still plenty of peoplein the Casino. The bar was full, andthe dice and card games were goingfull blast. The slot machines werejingling out their infernal din whilefools fed coins into their insatiableinnards.

But the roulette room was closed,and a couple of be-Stetsoned deputieswere standing guard over theentrance. I headed straight forthem.

Both of them stood pat, blockingmy way, so I stopped a few feet infront of them.

"Hello, counselor," said one."Sorry, the roulette room's closed."

I knew the man slightly. "Let mein, Jim," I said. "I want to seeThursby."

The men exchanged glances. Obviously,the D.A. had given themorders.

"Can't do it, counselor," said Jim."We're not to let anyone in."

"Tell Thursby I'm out here andthat I want to see him."

He shrugged, opened the door,stuck his head inside, and called toDistrict Attorney Thursby to tellhim that I was outside. I could hearThursby's muffled "Damn!" fromwithin. But when he showed up atthe door, his face was all smiles.

"What's the trouble?" he askedpleasantly.

I smiled back, giving him mybest. "No trouble at all, Thursby. Ijust wanted to watch the experiment."

"Experiment?" He looked honestlysurprised, which was a fine pieceof acting. "We're just checking tosee if the table's wired, that's all. Ifit is, your client may be in the clear;maybe we can hang it on the croupier."

"And get a conspiracy charge onmy client, too, eh? Well, if youdon't mind, I'd like to watch thattable check myself. You know howit is."

Thursby hesitated, then he scowled."Oh, all right. Come on in. Butstay out of the way."

I grinned. "Sure. All I want to dois protect my client's interests."

Thursby just grunted and openedthe door wider to let me in. He wasa shrewd lawyer, a good D.A., andbasically honest, even if he did havea tendency to bend under pressurefrom higher up.

They were checking the table, allright. They had three specialistsgoing over it with everything fromfine tooth combs to Geiger counters.They found nothing. No magnets,no wires, no mechanical gimmicks.Nothing.

It took them an hour to take thattable apart, check it, and put it backtogether again. When it was allover, Thursby glanced at me, thensaid: "O.K., boys; that does it. Let'sgo."

The men looked at him oddly, andI knew why.

"Aren't you going to test myclient's gadget?" I asked innocently.

Thursby looked angrily baffled fora moment, then he clamped his lipsgrimly. "As long as we're here, Iguess we might as well."

I knew perfectly well it was whathe had intended to do all along.

"One of you guys spin thatwheel," he said to the technicians.One of them gave the wheel a spinand dropped the ball. It clattered onits merry way and dropped into aslot. Forty-two.

Thursby took the gadget out ofhis pocket. It was still set at Thirteen.

The men who had surroundedHowley on the night of his arresthad been keeping their eyes open,and they had seen how Howley hadhandled the thing. Wellalmosthow. Thursby had the lens openingpointed at the wheel, but his thumband fingers weren't touching the silverplates properly.

"Spin it again," he said.

Everyone's eyes were on the ballas it whirled, so I had time to getmy own copy of Howley's gadgetout and set it at Thirteen. I hopedthe thing would work for me. I concentratedon Thirteen, making suremy thumb and fingers were placedright.

Evidently they were. The ball fellinto Thirteen, Black, Odd, andLow.

A huge grin spread over Thursby'sface, but he was man enoughnot to turn and grin at me. "Try itagain," he said.

Thirteen, Black, Odd, and Low.

"I wonder how the thing works?"said Thursby, looking at the gadgetin a sort of pleased awe.

"You'd better be able to provethat it does work, Thursby," I said,trying to put irritation into myvoice.

This time, he did grin at me. "Oh,I think we can prove that, all right."He turned back to the technician."Spin it once more, Sam, and showthe defense counsel, here, how itworks."

The technician did as he was told."Thirteen, Black, Odd, and Low,"he chanted, grinning.

"Let's try another number,"Thursby said. He turned the dial toOne. And this time, when he pointedit, his fingers were touching theplates in the right places.

"Just a minute," I said. "Let mespin that thing."

"Be my guest, counselor," saidThursby.

I spun the wheel and scooted theball along the rim. It dropped intoa slot. One, Red, Odd, and Low. Ilooked as disappointed and apprehensiveas I could.

"Co-incidence," I said. "Nothingmore. You haven't proved anything."

Thursby's grin widened. "Ofcourse I haven't," he said with asoothing, patronizing tone. "But Idon't have to prove anything untilI get to court."

Then he looked at the techniciansand jerked his head toward the door."Let's go, boys. Maybe the counselorwants to look over the tablefor himself. Maybe he thinks we'vegot it rigged."

There was a chorus of guffaws asthey walked out. I just stood there,scowling, trying to keep from laughingeven harder than they were.

Jason Howley sat next to me atthe defense table, just inside the lowpartition that divided the courtfrom the public. There weren't manypeople in the auditorium itself; listeningto some poor dope get himselfsentenced for cheating at gamblingis considered pretty dullentertainment in the State of Nevada.

Thursby had managed to push theindictment through the grand juryin a hurry, but, as he sat across theroom from me at the prosecutiontable, I thought I could detect afalse note in the assumed look ofconfidence that he was trying towear.

Howley tapped me on the shoulder.I turned around, and he whispered:"How much longer?"

I tapped my wrist watch. "Coupleminutes. Judge Lapworth is one ofthose precisionists. Never a momentlate or early. Getting jumpy?"

He shook his head gently andsmiled. "No. You've handled thiseven better than I'd have imagined.You thought of things I didn't evenknow existed. I'm no lawyer; I cansee that."

I returned the smile. "And I don'tinvent gimmicks, either. So what?"

His eyes looked at me from behindthe distorting negative lenses."I've been wondering, counselorwhyare you so interested in this? Imean, I offered you a pretty goodfee, and all that, but it seems to meyou're taking an unusual interest inthe case."

I grinned at him. "Mr. Howley,my profession is Lawwith a capitalL. The study of the Law isn't likethe study of physics or whatever;these are manmade lawscommands,not descriptions. They don'tnecessarily have anything to do withfacts at all. Take the word 'insanity,'for instance; the word isn't evenused by head-shrinkers any more becauseit's a legal definition that hasnothing whatever to do with the conditionof the human mind.

"Now, any such set of laws as thatcan't possibly be self-consistent andstill have some use on an actionlevel. A lawyer's job is to find thelittle inconsistencies in the structure,the places where the pieces have beenjammed together in an effort to makethem look like a structured whole.To find, in other words, the loopholesand use them.

"And when I find a loophole, Ilike to wring everything I can outof it. I'm enjoying this."

Howley nodded. "I see. But whatif something"

I held up my hand to silence him,because the door to the judges' chambersopened at that moment, andJudge Lapworth came in as the bailiffannounced him. We all stood upwhile the bailiff intoned his "Oyez,oyez."

Thursby made a short preliminaryspeech to the jury, and I requestedand was granted permission to holdmy own opening statement until thedefense was ready to present itscase.

Thursby was looking worried, althoughit took a trained eye to see it.I was pretty sure I knew why. Hehad been pushed too hard and hadgone too fast. He'd managed to slidethrough the grand jury too easily,and I had managed to get the trialdate set for a week later. Thursby'scase was far from being as tight ashe wanted it.

I just sat still while the prosecutionbrought forth its witnesses andevidence. The croupier, the deputies,several employees of the GoldenCasino, and a couple of patrons alltold their stories. I waived cross-examinationin every case, which madeThursby even edgier than he hadbeen.

When he called in the head of thetechnicians who had inspected thetable at the casino, I made no objectionto his testimony, but I made myfirst cross-examination.

"Mr. Thompson, you have statedyour qualifications as an expert onthe various devices which have beenused to illegally influence the operationof gambling devices in thisstate."

Thursby said: "Oh, if the Courtplease, I should like to remind counselfor the defense that he has alreadyaccepted the qualifications of thewitness."

"I am not attempting to impugnthe qualifications of the witness," Isnapped.

Judge Lapworth frowned at Thursby."Are you making an objection,Mr. District Attorney?"

Thursby pursed his lips, said,"No, Your Honor," and sat down.

"Proceed with the cross-examination,"said the judge.

"Mr. Thompson," I said, "youhave testified that you examined thetable at the Golden Casino for suchdevices and found none. Is thatright?"

"That's right," he said positively.

"Have you seen the device labeledPeople's Exhibit A, which was foundby the officers on the person of thedefendant?"

"Well ... yes. I have."

"Have you examined this device?"

Thursby was on his feet. "Objection,Your Honor! This material wasnot brought out in direct examination!"

"Sustained," said Judge Lapworth.

"Very well, Your Honor," I said.Then I turned back to Thompson."As an expert in this field, Mr.Thompson, you have examined manydifferent devices for cheating gamblingequipment, haven't you?"

"Yes, I have."

"How many, would you say?"

"Oh ... several hundred."

"Several hundred different types?"

"No. Several hundred individualdevices. Most of them are just variationsof two or three basic types."

"And you are familiar with thefunction of these basic types andtheir variations?"

"I am."

"You know exactly how all ofthem work, then?"

He saw where I was heading."Most of them," he hedged.

Thursby saw where I was heading,too, and was sweating. I'd managedto get around his objection.

"Have you ever examined anywhich you could not understand?"

"I ... I don't quite know whatyou mean."

"Have you ever," I said firmly,"come across a device used in cheatingwhich you could not comprehendor explain the operation of?"

Thursby stood up. "Same objectionas before, Your Honor."

"Your Honor," I said, "I am merelytrying to find the limitations ofthe witness' knowledge; I am nottrying to refute his acknowledgedability."

"Overruled," said Judge Lapworth."The witness will answer thequestion."

I repeated the question.

"Yes," Thompson said in a lowvoice.

"More than once?"

"Only once."

"Only once. You did find one devicewhich didn't operate in anyfashion you can explain. Is thatright?"

"That's right."

"Can you tell me what this devicewas?"

Thompson took a deep breath. "Itwas People's Exhibit Athe devicetaken from the defendant at the timeof his arrest."

There was a buzz in the courtroom.

"No more questions," I said, turningaway. Then, before Thompsoncould leave the stand, I turned backto him. "Oh, just one moment, Mr.Thompson. Did you examine this devicecarefully? Did you take itapart?"

"I opened it and looked at it."

"You just looked at it? Youdidn't subject it to any tests?"

Thompson took a deep breath."No."

"Why not?"

"There wasn't anything inside itto test."

This time, there was more thanjust a buzz around the courtroom.Judge Lapworth rapped for order.

When the room was quiet, I said:"The box was empty, then?"

"Well, no. Not exactly empty. Ithad some stuff in it."

I turned to the judge. "If theCourt please, I would like to have theso-called device, Exhibit A, openedso that the members of the jury maysee for themselves what it contains."

Judge Lapworth said: "The Courtwould like very much to see the internalworkings of this device, too.Bailiff, if you will, please."

The bailiff handed him the gadgetfrom the exhibit table.

"How does it open?" asked thejudge. He turned to Thompson."Will the witness please open thebox?"

Reluctantly, Thompson thumbedthe catch and slid off the top.

The judge took it from him, lookedinside, and stared for a long moment.

I had already seen the insides. Itwas painted white, and there wereinked lines running all over the inside,and various picturesa ball, apair of dice, a roulette wheelandsome other symbols that I didn't pretendto understand.

Otherwise, the box was empty.

After a moment, Judge Lapworthlooked up from the box and staredat Thursby. Then he looked atThompson. "Just what tests did youperform on this ... this thing, Mr.Thompson?"

"Well, Your Honor," Thompsonsaid, visibly nervous, "I checked itfor all kinds of radiation and magnetism.There isn't anything like thatcoming from it. But," he addedlamely, "there wasn't much else totest. Not without damaging thebox."

"I see." His honor glared atThursby, but didn't say anything tohim. He simply ordered the box tobe shown to the jury.

Thursby was grimly holding hisground, waiting.

"Have you any more questions,counselor?" the judge asked.

"No, Your Honor, I have not."

"Witness may step down," saidhis honor to Thompson.

Thursby stood up. "If the Courtplease, I would like to stage a smalldemonstration for the members ofthe jury."

The Court gave permission, anda roulette wheel was hauled in on asmall table.

I watched with interest and withoutobjection while Thursby demonstratedthe use of the gadget andthen asked each of the jurors in turnto try it. It was a long way frombeing a successful demonstration.Some of the jurors didn't hold thething right, and some of those thatdid just didn't have the mental abilityrequired to use it. But that didn'tbother Thursby.

"Your Honor, and Gentlemen ofthe Jury," he said, "you are all awarethat a device constructed for the purposeof cheating at any gamblinggame is not necessarily one hundredper cent infallible. It doesn't have tobe. All it has to do is turn the oddsin favor of the user.

"You are all familiar with loadeddice, I'm sure. And you know thatloading dice for one set of numbersmerely increases the probability thatthose numbers will come up; it doesnot guarantee that they will come upevery time.

"It is the same with markedcards. Marking the backs of a deckof cards doesn't mean that you willinvariably get a better hand than youropponent; it doesn't even mean thatyou will win every hand.

"The device taken from the defendantat the Golden Casino doesnot, as you have seen, work everytime. But, as you have also seen, itcertainly does shift the odds by a considerablepercentage. And that, Isubmit, is illegal under the laws ofthis state."

He went on, building on thattheme for a while, then he turnedthe trial over to the defense.

"Call Dr. Pettigrew to the stand,"I said.

I heard Thursby's gasp, but I ignoredit.

A chunky, balding man with amoon face and an irritated expressioncame up to be sworn in. He wasirritated with me for having subpoenaedhim, and he showed it. Ihoped he wouldn't turn out to behostile.

"You are Dr. Herbert Pettigrew?"I asked.

"That is correct."

"State your residence, please."

"3109 La Jolla Boulevard, LosAngeles, California."

"You are called 'Doctor' Pettigrew,I believe. Would you tell theCourt what right you have to thattitle?"

He looked a little miffed, but hesaid: "It is a scholarly title. A Doctorateof Philosophy in physicsfrom Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology."

"I see. Would you mind telling theCourt what other academic degreesyou have?"

He reeled off a list of them, allimpressive.

"Thank you, doctor," I said."Now, what is your present occupation?"

"I am a Professor of Physics, atthe University of California in LosAngeles."

I went on questioning him toestablish his ability in his field, andby the time I was finished, the jurywas pretty well impressed with hisstatus in the scientific brotherhood.And not once did Thursby object.

Then I said, "Dr. Pettigrew, I believeyou came to this city on a professionalmatter?"

"Yes, I did." He didn't hesitateto answer, so I figured I hadn't gothis goat too much.

"And what was the nature of thatmatter?"

"I was asked to come here by Mr.Harold Thursby, the District Attorney,to perform some scientific testson the ... er ... device ... thedevice known as People's ExhibitA."

"Did you perform these tests?"

"I did."

"At the request of District AttorneyThursby, is that right?"

"That is correct."

"May I ask why Mr. Thursby didnot call you as a witness for theprosecution?"

Thursby, as I had expected, wason his feet. "Objection! The questioncalls for a conclusion of the witness!"

"Sustained," said Judge Lapworth.

"Dr. Pettigrew," I said, "whatwere your findings in reference toExhibit A?"

He shrugged. "The thing is a plasticbox with a dial set in one side, aplastic lens in one end, and a coupleof strips of silver along two othersides. Inside, there are a lot of markingsin black ink on white paint."He gestured toward the exhibittable. "Just what you've seen; that'sall there is to it."

"What sort of tests did you performto determine this, Dr. Pettigrew?"I asked.

He took a long time answeringthat one. He had X-rayed the thingthoroughly, tested it with apparatusI'd never heard of, taken scrapingsfrom all over it for microchemicalanalysis, and even tried it himself ona roulette wheel. He hadn't been ableto make it work.

"And what is your conclusionfrom these findings?" I asked.

Again he shrugged. "The thing isjust a box, that's all. It has no specialproperties."

"Would you say that it could beresponsible for the phenomena wehave just seen? By that, I mean thepeculiar action of the roulette wheel,demonstrated here by the prosecution."

"Definitely not," he stated flatly."The box could not possibly haveany effect on either the wheel or theball."

"I see. Thank you, doctor; that'sall. Cross-examine."

Thursby walked over to the witnessstand with a belligerent scowlon his face. "Dr. Pettigrew, you saythat the box couldn't possibly havehad any effect on the wheel. And yet,we have demonstrated that there isan effect. Don't you believe the testimonyof your own senses?"

"Certainly I do!" snapped Pettigrew.

"Then how do you account forthe behavior of the roulette wheelas you have just seen it demonstratedin this court?"

I suppressed a grin. Thursby wasso mad that he was having troubleexpressing himself clearly.

"In several ways!" Pettigrew saidsharply. "In the first place, thatwheel could be rigged."

Thursby purpled. "Now, just aminute! I"

I started to object, but Judge Lapworthbeat me to it.

"Are you objecting to the answer,Mr. District Attorney?"

"The witness is insinuating that Ifalsified evidence!"

"I am not!" said Pettigrew, visiblyangry. "You asked me how I couldaccount for its behavior, and I toldyou one way! There are others!"

"The wheel will be examined,"said Judge Lapworth darkly. "Tellus the other ways, Dr. Pettigrew."

"Pure chance," said Pettigrew."Pure chance, Your Honor. I'm surethat everyone in this courtroom hasseen runs of luck on a roulette wheel.According to the laws of probability,such runs must inevitably happen.Frankly, I believe that just such arun has occurred here. I do not thinkfor a minute that Mr. Thursby oranyone else rigged that wheel."

"I see; thank you, Dr. Pettigrew,"said the judge. "Any further questions,Mr. District Attorney?"

"No further questions," Thursbysaid, trying to hide his anger.

"Call your next witness," said thejudge, looking at me.

"I call Mr. Jason Howley to thestand."

Howley sat down and was swornin. I went through the preliminaries,then asked: "Mr. Howley, you haveseen People's Exhibit A?"

"I have."

"To whom does it belong?"

"It is mine. It was taken from meby"

"Just answer the question, please,"I admonished him. He knew hisscript, but he was jumping the gun."The device is yours, then?"

"That's right."

"Under what circumstances didthis device come into the hands ofthe police?"

He told what had happened onthe night of the big take at the GoldenCasino.

"Would you explain to us justwhat this device is?" I asked whenhe had finished.

"Certainly," he said. "It's a goodluck charm."

I could hear the muffled reactionin the courtroom.

"A good luck charm. I see. Thenit has no effect on the wheel at all?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Howley saiddisarmingly. He smiled andlooked at the jury. "It certainly hassome effect. It's the only good luckcharm I ever had that worked."

The jury was grinning right backat him. They were all gamblers atheart, and I never knew a gambleryet who didn't have some sort ofgood luck charm or superstitionwhen it came to gambling. We hadthem all in the palms of our hands.

"What I mean is, does it have anyphysical effect on the wheel?"

Howley looked puzzled. "Well, Idon't know about that. That's not myfield. You better ask Dr. Pettigrew."

There was a smothered laughsomewhere in the courtroom.

"Just how do you operate thisgood luck charm, Mr. Howley?" Iasked.

"Why, you just hold it so thatyour thumb touches one strip of silverand your fingers touch the other,then you set the dial to whatevernumber you want to come up andwish."

"Wish? Just wish, Mr. Howley?"

"Just wish. That's all. What elsecan you do with a good luck charm?"

This time, the judge had to poundfor order to stop the laughing.

I turned Howley over to Thursby.

The D.A. hammered at him forhalf an hour trying to get somethingout of Howley, but he didn't get anywhereuseful. Howley admitted thathe'd come to Nevada to play thewheels; what was wrong with that?He admitted that he'd come just totry out his good luck charmandwhat was wrong with that? He evenadmitted that it worked for himevery time

And what was wrong, pray, withthat?

Thursby knew he was licked. He'dknown it for a long time. His summationto the jury showed it. Theexpressions on the faces of the juryas they listened showed it.

They brought in a verdict of NotGuilty.

When I got back to my office, Ipicked up the phone and called theGolden Casino. I asked for GeorgeBrockey, the manager. When I gothim on the phone and identified myself,he said, "Oh. It's you." Hisvoice didn't sound friendly.

"It's me," I said.

"I suppose you're going to slap asuit for false arrest on the Casinonow, eh, counselor?"

"Not a bit of it, George," I said."The thought occurred to me, but Ithink we can come to terms."

"Yeah?"

"Nothing to it, George. You giveus the three hundred grand and wedon't do a thing."

"Yeah?" He didn't get it. He hadto fork over the money anyway, accordingto the court order, so whatwas the deal?

"If you want to go a little further,I'll tell you what we'll do. We'llgive you one of our little good luckcharms, if you'll promise to call yourboys off Howley."

"Nobody's on Howley," he said."You ought to know better thanthat. In this state, if we get whippedin court, we play it square. Did youthink we were going to get rough?"

"No. But you kind of figured onlifting that gadget as soon as he getsit back from the D.A., didn't you?I saw your boys waiting at his hotel.I'm just telling you that you don'thave to do that. We'll give you thegadget. There are plenty more wherethat came from."

"I see," Brockey said after a longpause. "O.K., counselor. It's a deal."

"Fine. We'll pick up the moneylater this evening, if that's O.K."

"Sure, counselor. Anytime. Anytimeat all." He hung up.

I grinned at Howley, who was sittingacross the desk from me. "Well,that winds it up."

"I don't get it," Howley said."Why'd you call up Brockey? Whatwas the purpose of that 'deal'?"

"No deal," I told him. "I was justwarning him that killing you andtaking the gadget wouldn't do anygood, that we've covered you. Hewon't bother having anything doneto you if he knows that thesecret of the gadget is out already."

Howley's eyes widened behindthose spectacles of his. "You meanthey'd kill me? I thought Nevadagamblers were honest."

"Oh, they are, they are. But thisis a threat to their whole industry.It's more than that, it may destroythem. Some of them might kill tokeep that from happening. But youdon't have to worry now."

"Thanks. Tell me, do you thinkwe've succeeded?"

"In what you set out to do? Certainly.When we mail out thosegadgets to people all over the state,the place will be in an uproar. Withall the publicity this case is getting,it'll have to work. You now have acourt decision on your side, a decisionwhich says that a psionic devicecan be legally used to influence gamblinggames.

"Why, man, they'll have to startinvestigating! You'll have every politicoin the State of Nevada insistingthat scientists work on that thing. Tosay nothing of what the syndicatewill do."

"All I wanted to do," said Howley,"was force people to take noticeof psionics. I guess I've donethat."

"You certainly have, brother. Iwonder what it will come to?"

"I wonder, myself, sometimes,"Howley said.

That was three and a half yearsago. Neither Howley nor I are wonderingnow. According to the frontpage of today's Times, the firstspaceship, with a crew of eightyaboard, reached Mars this morning.And, on page two, there's a smallarticle headlined: ROCKET OBSOLETE,SAY SCIENTISTS.

It sure is.

THE END

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