I had hardly laid down the pen when the three receivers came in. They smoked a little and talked and I held my breath while they looked at the books. I couldn’t figure out what they were going to do.

One of them whistled when he saw the Legal Printing Company figures. “Well,” he said, “business has been good.”

“Fair,” I said modestly.

The door to the shop opened and High-Pockets Jones walked in. I gulped; eight High-Pockets Joneses walked in behind him.

The three receivers stared. Their eyes stuck out until it was ludicrous. But it wasn’t funny; I knew something was going to happen now.

By the time the last High-Pockets got in, the first receiver had seen what was going on and was trying to get out, but nine High-Pocketses in one room are a lot. For a minute it looked like a basketball game.

The elder lawyer looked at me suspiciously. “Please explain this.”

I was too weak. “See for yourself,” I said.

One High-Pockets spoke to me. “Sorry, Mr. Shane. Just came in to say goodbye. Never realized⁠—”

“That’s okay,” I said. “You’ve done your part; I can’t squawk.”

The attorney spoke up. “ Mr. Shane,” he said, “I think the affairs of the Imperial Printing Company are in perilous circumstances. I do not know what is the meaning of this, but certainly there is something here without precedent.” And if you know lawyers, you know that anything without precedent is very unholy.

I told what we had done, but he was interested in only one thing. “Think what a combined suit by these nine-er-twins here would do.”