"He's already agreed," Retief said. "My pocket recorder, you know."
"Put it in writing," Mancziewicz said.
Magnan called in Miss Gumble. The others waited silently while Magnan
dictated. He signed the paper with a flourish, passed it across to
Mancziewicz. He read it, re-read it, then picked up the pen and signed.
Magnan impressed the Consular seal on the paper.
"Now the grant," Retief said. Magnan signed the claim, added a seal.
Mancziewicz tucked the papers away in an inner pocket. He rose.
"Well, gents, I guess maybe I had you figured wrong," he said. He
looked at Retief. "Uh ... got time for a drink?"
"I shouldn't drink during office hours," Retief said. He rose. "So I'll
take the rest of the day off."
* * * * *
"I don't get it," Sam said signalling for refills. "What was the
routine with the injunction--and impounding _Gertie_? You could have
got hurt."
"I don't think so," Retief said. "If you'd meant business with
that Browning, you'd have flipped the safety off. As for the
injunction--orders are orders."
"I've been thinking," Sam said. "That gold deposit. It was a plant,
too, wasn't it?"
"I'm just a bureaucrat, Sam. What would I know about gold?"
"A double-salting job," Sam said. "I was supposed to spot the phoney
hardware--and then fall for the gold plant. When Leatherwell put his
proposition to me, I'd grab it. The gold was worth plenty, I'd figure,
and I couldn't afford a legal tangle with General Minerals. The lousy
skunk! And you must have spotted it and put it up to him."