The Maltese Cube (Chapter 9)

What happened before in Chapter 8

With Gassly holding a gun, Pindler makes threats to try and get Mac to help him. Mac mentions that a man he knows named Newton has the Maltese Cube. This surprised Lisa, since she was the one that told Mac about Newton having it. Mac makes a deal with Pindler and Gassly to come see him tomorrow for more information and keeps Lisa with him for her safety.

Chapter 9
Lisa connects the dots

It was quiet when I woke up the next morning. I’m not sure what I had expected to happen, but with Pindler having no problem with breaking and entering, uninterrupted sleep wasn’t it. I had a slight headache from the book shampoo Gassly had given me the night before.

I walked to the kitchen, poured myself a glass of orange juice and took stock of my situation. I had two clients that were essentially looking for the same thing. Bell’s professed interest in how Apple kept their customers satisfied was a smokescreen.

I don’t think Bell really cared whether or not his customers were happy. Most of the PC manufacturers knew that their clients wouldn’t go elsewhere. Lock them in and take their money. Offer inconsequential upgrades without ever changing what was really wrong with their systems.

It wasn’t the hardware that was the problem. It was the operating system that put it all together. The old adage ‘Garbage in, Garbage out’ certainly applied when talking about PCs. So what Bell really wanted was the Maltese Cube. Everything else was camouflage.

Pindler and Gassly on the other hand were right up front about what THEY wanted. It was the Cube. It was obvious that Pindler knew of Bell. But did Bell know Pindler? Were they working together? Maybe they were after the same thing for different reasons.

What was it that was so important about the Maltese Cube that had all these people looking for it. No way to tell yet. I finished my juice and put the glass in the sink. Time to stop messing around.

I looked in on Lisa. As far as I could tell, she was still asleep. I decided to give Sherlock a call. No matter what time I called him, he always sounded chipper and eager to do my bidding. I would never admit it to him, but he disturbs me in some way(1). As usual, he picked up on the first ring.

I spoke quickly, keeping my voice down so as not to not disturb Lisa. ‘Hey Sherlock. Good morning.’

‘Good morning Mac. What can I do for you today?’

‘I need you to look up whatever you can on Pindler and Gassly. Also, a Mr. M. Bell. Lastly, a Lisa Ecksell. Cross reference anything in common.’

‘No problem. Call you at home?’

‘Not at home. Call Umax (2) at the office and have her transcribe whatever you get. I’ll look at it when I get to the office.’

‘Alright. It’ll be there when you do.’

I knew I could count on him. ‘Thanks, I’ll talk to you later.’

As I hung up the phone, I heard a noise behind me. It was Lisa. Standing in the living room in one of my button up dress shirts. I don’t know what it is, but there is something incredibly sexy about that(3). Most women know how to use that to their advantage. Lisa was no exception. As she looked at me, she leaned against the back of a stuffed chair, and crossed her legs.

‘So Mac, what’s on the agenda this morning?’

‘You’re going to get dressed and tell me where to find Newton. I have some errands to run and I want you to stay here where it’s relatively safe and wait for me.’

Lisa pushed away from the chair and wandered toward the telephone. Tearing off a message sheet, she wrote down an address and handed it to me. Looking at it, I realized it was not exactly in the best part of town.

Notes for Chapter 9

(1) Sherlock disturbs me in some way – Sherlock doesn’t really disturb me, but it does fascinate me. Prior to OS/X, it was the only Internet search utility that I used.

(2) Umax – For those you late to the game, UMAX Corporation made Mac clones in the late nineties. Good solid working machines, with many useful design features. I’ve used one for almost 4 years. Mac’s secretary is named Umax in their honor.

(3) Women in button-up dress shirts ‘“ Yes, I know this is a sexist remark. I wanted to add some sex into the story without being needlessly graphic. This is a family friendly site you know. Besides, I DO find women in nothing but a button-up dress shirt sexy. Sue me.