The Maltese Cube (Chapter 3)

What happened before in Chapter 2

Mac has sent his investigator Sherlock to find more information about Apple and the Maltese Cube. While waiting for results, Two men force their way into his office asking questions about the Cube. Their names? S. Pindler and Gassly.

Chapter 3
The Game

Pindler sat there with his hand still over the quarter. A small smile played across his face as he waited for my reaction.

‘Interesting play.’ I said ‘Care to try it again?’

‘Please Mr. Tosh, let’s not dally. I believe you will be the richer for this as will I.’ He said. I sat, said nothing and waited.

Pindler sighed and went on ‘Mr. Bell has asked you to investigate a certain group of individuals. Said individuals are fanatically loyal to the type of personal computer they use. How am I doing so far?’

I replied ‘So far, so good. What’s your angle and why do you care?’

‘About those computer users,’ he said with a certain amount of venom ‘I care little. I helped them get rid of Pepsi-man(1) and how did they reward me? I was cast aside like yesterdays news. They had their chance to do things my way and chose to go with Black Mock-Turtle instead.’

My eyebrows rose at the mention of the cult leader that Bell had told me about.

‘Yes, I know all about their savior.’ Pindler said ‘Him and his candy colored computers! FEH!’ Pindler spat into my trash can telling me what he thought of the as yet unnamed leader.

Gassly became animated at this point and cried out ‘To Be, or not to Be! What’s the NeXT question!(2)‘

Pindler looked pained and repeated his earlier statement ‘He’s French.’ After a moment, he continued ‘No, my interest lies elsewhere. Did Mr. Bell mention anything about a’¦..Maltese Cube?’

I tried to seem uninterested, but something in my demeanor must have tipped off Pindler. ‘AH! I see you are aware of this little item. Tell me what you know.’

‘Why should I say anything? You seem to have all the answers.’ I said.

‘Mr. Tosh. I did not come here to help you with your investigation. I came here for you to help me. You would be well rewarded for any assistance you could give in finding this item.’

Pindler’s eyes gleamed and sweat beaded on his forehead as he awaited my response. I knew what kind of reward came from people like this. A .38 slug in the back in some alley as dark as an IT manager’s soul. From the office lobby I heard the ringing of a telephone. I glanced at my phone and saw it was my private line. Very few people knew that number and the only one who would be calling it tonight would be Sherlock. I had to get Pindler and the mad Frenchman out of here. Umax, as efficient as ever, picked it up on the first ring. Shortly thereafter, it flashed on hold.

‘Well Pindler, at this time I still don’t really know anything about the Maltese Cube.’ I said more cheerfully than I felt. ‘Leave your number, and I’ll call you with any information I receive.’

Pindler chuckled. ‘No Mr. Tosh. I will return when it suits my purpose. I hope you will have better news for me then.’

He rose stiffly from his chair and made his way to the door, Gassly not far behind shouted for no discernable purpose. ‘Vive Le’ Car!(3)‘ Pindler sighed heavily and left my office.

Notes for Chapter 3

(1) Pepsi-man ‘“ Another reference to yet another former Apple CEO. John Scully (Former Pepsi-co CEO) was chosen by Steve Jobs to be the Apple CEO in the mid 80’s. Ironically, Scully forced Steve to the sidelines (and his ultimate resignation) when the Apple Board of Directors backed Scully, when Jobs tried to take the reins back.

(2) To Be, or not to Be! What’s the NeXT question? ‘“ The Be refers to the Be OS, created by the company that Gasslee (Gassly) created after leaving Apple. NeXT was the Hardware/ Software Company Steve Jobs created (and eventually sold to Apple. Parts of the NeXT OS lives on in Macintosh OS/X) after being dumped by Apple.

(3) Vive Le Car! ‘“ More so-called humor at the expense of the French. The Renault Le Car was the French response to the success of the Volkswagen Rabbit/Golf. Seeing how the Golf is still around and the Le Car (as well as Renault) is nowhere to be seen in this country, I’ll leave you to your own conclusions over who won that battle.