Ham Sandwich Page 4
cigarette to his lips. About to flickon a lighter, he saw Ruben Jeffries watching him with an expression ofdisapproval from across the aisle. Jeffries shook his head, indicatedthe NO SMOKING sign on the wall. Cavender nodded, smiling a ruefulapology for his absent-mindedness, and returned the cigarette to itscase. He shoved his hands into his trousers pockets, slouched back inthe chair.
"I have told you," Ormond was saying, "that the contributions many ofyou so generously made to the Institute were needed for and beingabsorbed by vital research. Tonight I had intended to give you a firstinkling of what that research was accomplishing." He tapped thesuitcase on the table before him. "In there is an instrument of thekind I have mentioned. The beneficial forces of the Cosmos areharnessed by it, flow through it. And I believe I can say that myefforts in recent months have produces the most effective such deviceever seen...."
"Dr. Al," Mrs. Folsom interrupted firmly, "I think you should let themknow how the instrument cured my heart condition."
Faces shifted toward her, then back to Dr. Al. The middle-agedmajority of the students pricked their ears. For each of them,conscious of the years of increasingly uncertain health to come, Mrs.Folsom's words contained a personal implication, one that hit home.But in spite of the vindication of her claim to have seen amaterialized ham sandwich, they weren't quite ready to trust her aboutthis.
Dr. Ormond's face was grave.
"Eleanor," he said reprovingly, "that was letting the cat out of thebag, wasn't it? I hadn't intended to discuss that part of the matterjust yet."
He hesitated, frowning, tapping the table top lightly with hisknuckles. Mrs. Folsom looked unabashed. She had produced anothersensation and knew it.
"Since it was mentioned," Ormond said with deliberation at last, "itwould be unfair not to tell you, at least in brief, the facts to whichEleanor was alluding. Very well then--Eleanor has served during thepast several weeks as the subject of certain experiments connectedwith this instrument. She reports that after her first use of it, herperiodically recurring heart problem ceased to trouble her."
Mrs. Folsom smiled, nodded vigorously. "I have not," she announced,"had one single touch of pain or dizziness in all this time!"
"But one should, of course," Dr. Ormond added objectively, "hesitateto use the word 'cure' under such circumstances."
In the front row someone asked, "Dr. Al, will the instrument heal ...well, other physical conditions?"
Ormond looked at the speaker with dignity. "John, the instrument does,and is supposed to do, one thing. Providing, as I've said, that thestudent working with it has attained a certain minimum level ofInsight, it greatly accelerates his progress towards Total Insight.Very greatly!
"Now, as I have implied before: as one approaches the goal of TotalInsight, the ailments and diseases which commonly afflict humanitysimply disappear. Unfortunately, I am not yet free to show you prooffor this, although I have the proof and believe it will not be longbefore it can be revealed at least to the members of this group. Forthis reason, I have preferred not to say too much on the point....Yes, Reuben? You have a question?"
"Two questions, Dr. Al," Reuben Jeffries said. "First, is it youropinion that our group has now reached the minimum level of Insightthat makes it possible to work with those instruments?"
Ormond nodded emphatically. "Yes, it has. After tonight's occurrencethere is no further question about that."
"Then," Jeffries said, "my second question is simply--_when do westart?_"
There was laughter, a scattering of applause. Ormond smiled, said, "Anexcellent question, Reuben! The answer is that a number of you willstart immediately.
"A limited quantity of the instruments--fifteen, I believe--areavailable now on the premises, stored in my office. Within a few weeksI will have enough on hand to supply as many of you as wish to speedup their progress by this method. Since the group's contributions paidmy research expenses, I cannot in justice ask more from youindividually now than the actual cost in material and labor for eachinstrument. The figure ... I have it somewhere ... oh, yes!" Ormondpulled a notebook from his pocket, consulted it, looked up and said,mildly, "Twelve hundred dollars will be adequate, I think."
Cavender's lips twitched sardonically. Three or four of the groupmight have flinched inwardly at the price tag, but on the whole theywere simply too well heeled to give such a detail another thought.Checkbooks were coming hurriedly into sight all around the lectureroom. Reuben Jeffries, unfolding his, announced, "Dr. Al, I'm takingone of the fifteen."
Half the students turned indignantly to stare at him. "Now wait aminute, Reuben!" someone said. "That isn't fair! It's obvious therearen't enough to go around."
Jeffries smiled at him. "That's why I spoke up, Warren!" He appealedto Ormond. "How about it, Dr. Al?"
Ormond observed judiciously, "It seems fair enough to me. Eleanor, ofcourse, is retaining the instrument with which she has been working.As for the rest of you--first come, first served, you know! If otherswould like to have Mavis put down their names...."
* * * * *
There was a brief hubbub as this suggestion was acted on. Mavis,Dexter Jones and Perrie Rochelle then went to the office to get theinstruments, while Dr. Ormond consoled the students who had foundthemselves left out. It would be merely a matter of days before thenew instruments began to come in ... and yes, they could leave theirchecks in advance. When he suggested tactfully that financialarrangements could be made if necessary, the less affluent alsobrightened up.
Fifteen identical red alligator-hide suitcases appeared and were linedup beside Ormond's table. He announced that a preliminarydemonstration with the instrument would be made as soon as those onhand had been distributed. Mavis Greenfield, standing beside him,began to read off the names she had taken down.
Reuben Jeffries was the fifth to come up to the table, hand Ormond hischeck and receive a suitcase from the secretary. Then Cavender gotunhurriedly to his feet.
"Dr. Ormond," he said, loudly enough to center the attention ofeveryone in the room on him, "may I have the floor for a moment?"
Ormond appeared surprised, then startled. His glance went up to ReubenJeffries, still standing stolidly beside him, and his face slowlywhitened.
"Why ... well, yes, Wally." His voice seemed unsteady. "What's on yourmind?"
Cavender faced the right side of the room and the questioning facesturned towards him.
"My name, as you know," he told the advanced students, "is WallaceCavender. What you haven't known so far is that I am a policedetective, rank of lieutenant, currently attached to the police forceof this city and in temporary charge of its bunco squad."
He shifted his gaze towards the front of the room. Ormond's eyes methis for a moment, then dropped.
"Dr. Ormond," Cavender said, "you're under arrest. The immediatecharge, let's say, is practicing medicine without a license. Don'tworry about whether we can make it stick or not. We'll have three orfour others worked up by the time we get you downtown."
For a moment, there was a shocked, frozen stillness in the lectureroom. Dr. Ormond's hand began to move out quietly towards the checkslying on the table before him. Reuben Jeffries' big hand got therefirst.
"I'll take care of these for now, Dr. Al," Jeffries said with afriendly smile. "The lieutenant thinks he wants them."
* * * * *
Not much more than thirty minutes later, Cavender unlocked the door toDr. Ormond's private office, went inside, leaving the door open behindhim, and sat down at Ormond's desk. He rubbed his aching eyes, yawned,lit a cigarette, looked about in vain for an ashtray, finally emptieda small dish of paper clips on the desk and placed the dishconveniently close to him.
There had been an indignant uproar about Dr. Al's arrest for a while,but it ended abruptly when uniformed policemen appeared in the twoexit doors and the sobering thought struck the students that anypublicity given the matter could make them look personally ridiculousand do damage to their business
and social standing.
Cavender had calmed their fears. It was conceivable, he said, that thedistrict attorney's office would wish to confer with some of themprivately, in connection with charges to be brought against WilliamFitzgerald Grady--which, so far as the police had been able toestablish, was Dr. Ormond's real name. However, their association withthe Institute of Insight would not be made public, and any proceedingswould be carried out with the discretion that could be fully expectedby blameless citizens of their status in the community.
They were fortunate, Cavender went on, in another respect. Probablynone of them