The assumption that this man had been sent to watch Jed's reaction to the loss of the gold bar, was confirmed when the observer stealthfully approached the one piece of luggage left on the belt, and read the tag. The panic of realization that the missing owner of the suitcase making a unending circuit happened to be Jedidiah Smith, Mt. Cascade, Oregon, was obvious.

After a half-hour of frantic phone calls, the lookout made his way to the departure level loading zone where he was approached by a young man in white shirt sleeves and Yellow Cab Company hat.

"Taxi?"

"I suppose so. What seems to be the matter with your vehicle?"

"Nuthing, Mac," Jed explained, "now and then I get stuck with some dummy student driver. This one retired as a sergeant out of the Marines. I'm trying to get him started out right, ya know what I mean? I had him lift the hood while we were waiting so he could show me what to do if he gets a call to jump a dead battery. Where to, Mac?"

"Just drive. I'll direct you. One is not required to tip a second driver, I presume?"

"Nah. I get paid a bit extra. You get a copilot all for free."

"Very well," the voice from the back seat told Jed, after a pause and turn to check if anyone was following the taxicab, "Take me to the Lafayette Tower Apartments."

During the rest of the twenty-five minute ride, the passenger, concerned about being tailed, ignored the student driver's responses to a quiz about the best route through the late evening traffic, and the cabbie himself explaining —thoroughly handicapped by a horrendous gob of chewing gum— the tricks of the trade, with added emphasis on working a 'John' for a tip.

"Now watch this Sheldon," Jed said, at Lafayette Tower Apartments, hopping out to open the passenger's door with a flourish. "No doorman here, so you ask if you can carry your mark's bag to his door. That usually is worth at least another buck."

"Too, too, bad, young man. I travel light. So sorry."

"Damn! I forgot. OK, Sheldon, don't let him get away so easy. Wait for him to fumble for a key, then hold the lobby door open. Watch."

"Really, I don't think I care for my role in this crass pecuniary demonstration!"

"Sir, consider that Sheldon has a wife and four kids to support on a service pension."