...Or Your Money Back

When he came to my office with his gadget, I heard him out, trying to appear both interested and co-operativeÑwhich is good business. But I am forced to admit that neither Howley nor his gadget were very impressive. He was a lean, slope-shouldered individual, five-feet-eight or nineÑwhich was shorter than he lookedÑwith straight brown hair combed straight back and blue eyes which were shielded with steel-rimmed glasses. The thick, double-concave lenses indicated a degree of myopia that must have bordered on total blindness without glasses, and acute tunnel vision, even with them.

He had a crisp, incisive manner that indicated he was either a man who knew what he was doing or a man who was trying to impress me with a ready-made story. I listened to him and looked at his gadget without giving any more indication than necessary of what I really thought.

When he was through, I said: ÒYou understand, Mr. Howley that IÕm not a patent lawyer; I specialize in criminal law. Now, I can recommendÑÓ But he cut me off. ÒI understand that, counselor,Ó he said sharply. ÒBelieve me, I have no illusion whatever that this thing is patentable under the present patent system. Even if it were, this gadget is designed to do something that may or may not be illegal, which would make it hazardous to attempt to patent it, I should think. You donÕt patent new devices for blowing safes or new drugs for doping horses, do you?Ó ÒProbably not,Ó I said dryly, Òalthough, as I say, IÕm not qualified to give an opinion on patent law. You say that gadget is designed to cause minute, but significant, changes in the velocities of small, moving objects. Just how does that make it illegal?Ó He frowned a little. ÒWell, possibly it wouldnÕt, except here in Nevada. Specifically, it is designed to influence roulette and dice games.Ó I looked at the gadget with a little more interest this time. There was nothing new in the idea of inventing a gadget to cheat the red-and-black wheels, of course; the local cops turn up a dozen a day here in the city. Most of them either donÕt work at all or else theyÕre too obvious, so the users get nabbed before they have a chance to use them.