
There are lots of things that are considered perfectly acceptable ... provided they don't work. And of course everyone knows they really don't, which is why they're acceptable....
A seasoned criminal lawyer finds his routine disrupted when a wiry, sharp‑eyed client strolls into his office clutching a compact, black box. The man, Jason Howley, claims the device can subtly alter the speed of roulette balls and dice, promising a quiet edge for anyone daring enough to use it. Their conversation quickly turns from polite small talk to a detailed, almost clinical description of lenses, silver plates, and a dial that mimics a roulette wheel, leaving the lawyer both skeptical and intrigued.
As Howley hints that his invention could land him in legal hot water—especially in Nevada, where gambling is legal but cheating is a swift crime—the attorney faces a dilemma. He must weigh his professional duty against the lure of a case that could plunge both of them into a precarious jam. The stage is set for a tense dance of law, morality, and the thin line between cleverness and criminality.
Language
en
Duration
~44 minutes (42K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
Nov 18, 2007
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1927–1987
A prolific American science fiction and fantasy writer, Randall Garrett is best known for the clever Lord Darcy mysteries, where magic functions as a rigorous science in an alternate twentieth-century world. His energetic short fiction and collaborations helped make him a memorable voice of mid-century speculative literature.
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