Read Online You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled by Parnell Hall - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Parnell Hall
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COPY , START , and STOP .
One button said HELP . Mimi wondered if she should press it.
She sat down at the desk. Chuck’s computer was on. Mimi had used it before, to type lists and letters. She called up WordPerfect, clicked on FILE . Clicked on NEW DOCUMENT , as she always did to select the custom letterhead Chuck had designed for her. Instead, she scrolled through a series of choices on a series of screens until she found what she wanted. She clicked on it, and a document appeared with the heading:
FAX:
Mimi filled it in, stopping only to look up the number of the paper.
TO: Bakerhaven Gazette
FAX: 203-555-1415
FROM: Mimi Dillinger
DATE: 5/16
SUBJECT: Human interest story
PAGES: (including header) 2
COMMENTS: I banged the fender of my
husband’s car. Cora Felton, the
Puzzle Lady, created a special
puzzle,just for him, to help me
break the news. Chuck loved it. I
can’t thank her enough.
Mimi printed the document, stuck it in the fax machine. She smoothed out the puzzle, stuck it in behind. Using the keypad, she punched in the number of the
Gazette.
As she did, it appeared in a little windowon the machine. But nothing else happened. Mimi frowned. She pushed the button marked START , was rewarded by a dial tone, followed by a ring. After two rings there was a scratchy tone, a loud hum, and the two pages were sucked into the machine.
When it was finished, the machine shut off. Mimi was pleased. She’d done it. Except the two papers wound up on the floor. Mimi wondered if there was any way to avoid that, if it was a sign of her inexperience.
Mimi stooped down, picked up the papers, set them on the desk.
There was the corner of a paper poking out from beneath the blotter. She must have moved it using the keypad or the mouse. Mimi lifted the blotter, pulled out the paper.
It was a hundred-dollar bill. Bright, crisp, new. Not a crease in it.
Well, that was lucky. A quick hundred bucks Chuck must have lost. If she hadn’t moved the blotter, she’d never have found it.
Mimi stopped.
There was the corner of something else poking out. Moving the bill must have dislodged it. Could it be another hundred-dollar bill? That certainly seemed unlikely. Even so.
Mimi moved the keypad aside, lifted the edge.
Gasped.
The top of the desk was covered with hundred-dollar bills. New, crisp, clean hundreds. They were not stacked, but spread out thin so as not to make a bulge. It was hard to tell at a glance, but there must have been fifty.
Five thousand dollars?
The phone rang.
That startled her. It was the fax line. Was she getting a fax? If so, how did she do it?
Mimi snatched up the phone, expecting to hear some terrible tone telling her she’d done something wrong.
“Hello? Did you just send me a fax?”
“What?”
“This is Ned Browning, at the
Bakerhaven Gazette.
Did you just fax us something?”
“Oh, it went through? I wasn’t sure I’d done it right.”
“Good guess.” Ned sounded hearty, amused. “You just sent us two blank pages. I assume that wasn’t what you wanted.”
“Two blank pages?”
“Yes. We’re pleased to get faxes, but this one was less than helpful. Can I assume you were trying to send us something else?”
“I sent you two pages.”
“I’m sure you did. Tell me, did you read them when you sent them?”
“Of course I did.”
“I mean when you put them in the machine.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“When you put them in the machine. Could you read what you were sending?”
“Of course.”
“Well, that’s the problem. You put ’em in backwards, and faxed me the blank side.”
“I put ’em in frontwards.”
“Yes, you did. With the writing toward you. Put ’em in with the writing away from you, and we’ll be in business. What’s this about, by the way?”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
“You got that right. Fax it to me again. If it’s not self-explanatory, I’ll give you a call.”
“But—”
The click of the editor hanging up the phone cut
One button said HELP . Mimi wondered if she should press it.
She sat down at the desk. Chuck’s computer was on. Mimi had used it before, to type lists and letters. She called up WordPerfect, clicked on FILE . Clicked on NEW DOCUMENT , as she always did to select the custom letterhead Chuck had designed for her. Instead, she scrolled through a series of choices on a series of screens until she found what she wanted. She clicked on it, and a document appeared with the heading:
FAX:
Mimi filled it in, stopping only to look up the number of the paper.
TO: Bakerhaven Gazette
FAX: 203-555-1415
FROM: Mimi Dillinger
DATE: 5/16
SUBJECT: Human interest story
PAGES: (including header) 2
COMMENTS: I banged the fender of my
husband’s car. Cora Felton, the
Puzzle Lady, created a special
puzzle,just for him, to help me
break the news. Chuck loved it. I
can’t thank her enough.
Mimi printed the document, stuck it in the fax machine. She smoothed out the puzzle, stuck it in behind. Using the keypad, she punched in the number of the
Gazette.
As she did, it appeared in a little windowon the machine. But nothing else happened. Mimi frowned. She pushed the button marked START , was rewarded by a dial tone, followed by a ring. After two rings there was a scratchy tone, a loud hum, and the two pages were sucked into the machine.
When it was finished, the machine shut off. Mimi was pleased. She’d done it. Except the two papers wound up on the floor. Mimi wondered if there was any way to avoid that, if it was a sign of her inexperience.
Mimi stooped down, picked up the papers, set them on the desk.
There was the corner of a paper poking out from beneath the blotter. She must have moved it using the keypad or the mouse. Mimi lifted the blotter, pulled out the paper.
It was a hundred-dollar bill. Bright, crisp, new. Not a crease in it.
Well, that was lucky. A quick hundred bucks Chuck must have lost. If she hadn’t moved the blotter, she’d never have found it.
Mimi stopped.
There was the corner of something else poking out. Moving the bill must have dislodged it. Could it be another hundred-dollar bill? That certainly seemed unlikely. Even so.
Mimi moved the keypad aside, lifted the edge.
Gasped.
The top of the desk was covered with hundred-dollar bills. New, crisp, clean hundreds. They were not stacked, but spread out thin so as not to make a bulge. It was hard to tell at a glance, but there must have been fifty.
Five thousand dollars?
The phone rang.
That startled her. It was the fax line. Was she getting a fax? If so, how did she do it?
Mimi snatched up the phone, expecting to hear some terrible tone telling her she’d done something wrong.
“Hello? Did you just send me a fax?”
“What?”
“This is Ned Browning, at the
Bakerhaven Gazette.
Did you just fax us something?”
“Oh, it went through? I wasn’t sure I’d done it right.”
“Good guess.” Ned sounded hearty, amused. “You just sent us two blank pages. I assume that wasn’t what you wanted.”
“Two blank pages?”
“Yes. We’re pleased to get faxes, but this one was less than helpful. Can I assume you were trying to send us something else?”
“I sent you two pages.”
“I’m sure you did. Tell me, did you read them when you sent them?”
“Of course I did.”
“I mean when you put them in the machine.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“When you put them in the machine. Could you read what you were sending?”
“Of course.”
“Well, that’s the problem. You put ’em in backwards, and faxed me the blank side.”
“I put ’em in frontwards.”
“Yes, you did. With the writing toward you. Put ’em in with the writing away from you, and we’ll be in business. What’s this about, by the way?”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
“You got that right. Fax it to me again. If it’s not self-explanatory, I’ll give you a call.”
“But—”
The click of the editor hanging up the phone cut
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