The Maltese Cube (Chapter 21)

What happened in Chapter 20

Gassly goes ballistic when he thinks that Mac and Pindler are going to throw him to the dogs for Newton’s murder. Mac sucker punches him and he goes down for the count. Police Detective Barry Astronomer barges in to see what’s going on. Pindler, who was not aware of the police presence, questions why they are there. Mac informs Pindler of Gassly’s shady past.

Chapter 21
The Cube at last

While I had more information to reveal, I decided to let it wait for a bit. It was time to show these people what they had been striving so hard to attain.

I walked back around my desk towards the alcove where I had hidden the Maltese Cube. I removed the panel covering, took out the small suitcase within and opened it to unveil its contents.

Piece by piece, I placed the Maltese Cube and its various components on my desk. Bell leaned forward and greedily looked over the small computer. Pindler, true to form, disclosed little of what he was thinking.

Bell ran his hands over the seventeen-inch flat screen display, clearly impressed with its lightweight and small stature. The screen alone was a marvel to look at. Barely larger than the viewing area, it was leaps and bounds ahead of its CRT cousins.

Putting that aside, he picked up the one button round mouse and sneered at it. He was obviously unimpressed and in the case of the mouse, I didn’t blame him. It resembled a hockey puck more than a pointing device.

The keyboard, except for its color co-ordination with the rest of the system was equally undistinguished. Finally getting to the heart of the matter, he picked up the Cube.

He seemed puzzled at its size and once he looked at the connection ports on the bottom, he realized that this was all there was to it. He turned it over and over in his hands; trying to grasp whatever concept it had been intended for. By the look of anger across his face, I could tell that Apple’s philosophy for designing this machine eluded him.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of those cheap throwaway screwdrivers that vendors are always pawning off at their demos. He began to scratch at the acrylic surface marring its clear coating.

‘What the heck is this?’ he screamed. ‘There’s a crack across the top of it!(1) No PCI or AGP slots? Nowhere to replace or upgrade the cheap graphics and sound cards we put in our top of the line machines(2)? Where’s the aftermarket? Everyone knows our margins are razor thin! Our REAL profits are in soaking the gullible users into buying add-ons.(3) This is useless! USELESS!

Bell fell to the floor sobbing. The Maltese Cube falling from his trembling fingers. He got up and stumbled towards the door, a broken man. As he left, I could hear Barry stopping him in the outer office, probably getting his name and address if needed for further questioning.

A low moan sounded from Gassly. Looking over, I saw him scowling at me as he worked his jaw back and forth. He no doubt now expected me to turn him over to the police as Newton’s killer.

‘Hey there Gassly.’ I said. ‘How’s your head? Now we’re even for the book to the noggin at my place.’

‘I suppose that is it then.’ Said Pindler. ‘Everything wrapped up.’

‘Not yet.’ I replied. ‘One more thing and then we’re quits.’

‘What else could there be?’ Pindler asked. ‘The Cube is found. Bell has paid both us for our time and trouble, and it seems that Mr. Gassly killed Newton.’

I stared for a moment at Gassly. It would be so easy to pin this on him. His background and reputation would assure that the police, even if unable to secure a conviction for Newton’s murder, could keep him ice for a long time. But Newton deserved better than that. He deserved nothing less than the truth.

‘Did he now?’ I asked. ‘Are you so sure?’

Notes for Chapter 21

(1) ‘There’s a crack across the top of it!’ ‘“ When the Cube first came out, many people complained about an apparent crack across the top of the machine. This actually was not a flaw (or a feature), it was a left over from the manufacturing process in the molds used. While not pretty, I think way too much was made of it by the PC press.

(2) ‘No where to replace our cheap graphics and sound cards’ ‘“ I think the one big issue that PC buyers have with Macs is price comparison. They look at some E-Machines or Dell PC and say ‘Look how much more Macs cost!’ when no other lame comparison can be found. If they looked a little harder, they might find that their ‘cheap’ PC is just that. Cheap. Upgrading to the same specs as a comparable Mac would cost them hundreds more. Macs are still more expensive, but you get more out of the box.

(3) ‘Our REAL profits are in soaking the gullible users into buying add-ons.’ ‘“ This is so beyond true, it almost goes beyond saying (but I did anyway).

TOMORROW! The FINAL Chapter (Thank God)!