A Most Unusual Artifact (3)

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McGinty nodded, and the young woman ushered him over to a larger desk in the opposite corner.  It, too, was occupied by a woman—but a middle-aged one, wearing tortoise shell reading glasses of a kind McGinty thought appropriate for a banker.  On the wall behind her desk was a photograph of a Little League baseball team.  On the desk itself lay an inscribed ceremonial gavel from the Chamber of Commerce.

“Mrs. Varkenee, this is Mr. McGinty.”

“Charlotte,” said the older woman, smiling as she rose to offer him a handshake.   “Call me Charlotte.”

McGinty began to feel more at ease.  He settled into a chair.

“Mr. McGinty has a...I mean, he's developed a...”  The young woman tired of her own faltering attempts.  “Would you like to just show it to her?”

McGinty obligingly reached into his bag and pumped out another small cloud.

The branch manager gazed balefully at her assistant.

The assistant lowered her eyes.  “The idea is that it makes people nice to other people,” she said hesitantly.

The manager's face fell into a full scowl.  She looked again at McGinty, and drew in her breath.  Suddenly she appeared to have thought of something amusing.

“Well, we could certainly all use more of that,” she chuckled.

She readjusted her glasses, sat more erect, and clasped her hands in front of her.

“I suppose that sounds a little hard to believe,” said McGinty.  “But one of the first things I’m going to do with the money is hire a crackerjack research outfit to prove it out.”

The manager's face went partially blank again.

“Also,” McGinty continued, “you wouldn't actually be risking a penny.   It would all be secured by my house, which is paid for in full.”

© COPYRIGHT 1994 ROBERT WINTER.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.