Irwin Lewis

“ Imagine their mad desire to rush forward in righteous obedience to the law, and their awful frustration to find every other automobile and truck obeying the same law, regardless of the direction from which it is coming. It has been estimated by noted mathematicians who are involved in this plan, that within forty-five seconds all traffic in Manhattan would come to a standstill, it becoming impossible for a car to move forward or backward. ”

“ I tapped the little man on the shoulder.
"Pardon me, sir," I whispered, "is this your book?" He whirled around violently. He had a thin, sharp-pointed face with deep-set eyes, heavy brow and a receding chin that terminated in a little scrub of a beard. Rudely he snatched the book from my hand and began leafing through it with shaking fingers.
I started to say, "If Roman numerals had been used instead of—" but saw he was paying no attention to me, so I headed for the Main Room to get another card. I had no sooner reached the entrance when I was confronted by the little bearded man again. ”

“ There were no identification papers on him, only a pocket full of subway tokens which, police believed, had been used to weight down the body.
"Good heavens!" I said aloud. Several passengers raised their eyebrows. I flushed, hurried out of the train and to my apartment where I fell into my chair, shocked and shaking. No doubt the body was that of Rumplestein. The poor little man! What did this mean? Could his story conceivably have been true?
The knock on my door startled me. "Professor, are you home?" ”

“ Once again, simplicity is the key. What do subway riders use to gain entrance through the turnstiles? Tokens. Let us suppose that on this same given day the majority of tokens distributed are all fractionally larger than normal. Not enough to be noticed, mind you, but just enough so they cannot pass through the slots and activate the mechanism. ”

“ Professor Clarke sighed. "Well, I cannot really blame you, gentlemen. I only hope you do not live to regret it." He got up and put a coin on the bar. Jimmy went to make change.
Then we became aware of automobile horns blasting steadily on a rising note of urgency. Jimmy and I ran outside. Traffic was piling up rapidly in the street. And as far as we could see in every direction, all the traffic lights had turned green! ”

“ Rumplestein-O'Grady, do you expect me to charge into a police station and blurt out this ridiculous story?"
"I don't expect you to charge anywhere, professor. Not without proof. I will get the proof for you, by tomorrow. Then—as I suspect—if I am unable to warn the authorities, I will expect you to do so. In the meantime, make use of these when you go to the university, tomorrow. I found them on the body of the man I disposed of."
He dropped several tinkly objects on my desk, rose, and, without another word, was gone. I picked up the items. They were subway tokens. ”

“ I said.
"Eh?"
"Man is daily in danger from man. An ancient Roman said that."
"He knew what he was talking about. But this is only Phase One of the plan. A corollary is based upon the axiom that one disabled automobile is equal to ten thousand operating ones."
"I don't follow."
"The highways leading into and out of this island. Regardless of the number of lanes, if one automobile breaks down, traffic is immobilized for miles. ”

“ There, as you probably know, one may obtain books on most subjects by filling out a slip, receiving an odd or even number, and retiring to either the odd or even Reading Room, where your number will eventually flash on a lighted board. ”