"A good luck charm. I see. Then it has no effect on the wheel at all?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Howley said disarmingly. He smiled and looked
at the jury. "It certainly has _some_ effect. It's the only good luck
charm I ever had that worked."
The jury was grinning right back at him. They were all gamblers at
heart, and I never knew a gambler yet who didn't have some sort of good
luck charm or superstition when it came to gambling. We had them all in
the palms of our hands.
"What I mean is, does it have any _physical_ effect on the wheel?"
Howley looked puzzled. "Well, I don't know about that. That's not my
field. You better ask Dr. Pettigrew."
There was a smothered laugh somewhere in the courtroom.
"Just how do you operate this good luck charm, Mr. Howley?" I asked.
"Why, you just hold it so that your thumb touches one strip of silver
and your fingers touch the other, then you set the dial to whatever
number you want to come up and wish."
"_Wish?_ Just _wish_, Mr. Howley?"
"Just wish. That's all. What else can you do with a good luck charm?"
This time, the judge had to pound for order to stop the laughing.