In a community where most people can read each other’s minds, crimes can still happen when a person doesn’t know the intentions of the other and they can be taken advantage of.  Such was the case of Langrin versus Gornaran. 

In 1843 a man named Mondran Gornaran met a woman named Sadrian Langrin.  He was rich and successful while she was rich and beautiful.  He did business in a dozen different dimensions and had little spare time.  But when he met Sadrian, he made time to be with her. 

They traveled extensively, when he wasn’t on business at first and eventually he would take her along.  Sometimes it meant being away from him for most of the day either in a hotel room or out on the town shopping and seeing the sights.   But even if he made it to their room at 3:00 AM and spent a few hours asleep in their bed, it was enough for her. 

This arrangement went on for over a year.  Often he wouldn’t see her for weeks on end and when they did go on a business trip together, they wouldn’t see much of each other.  But on the days when he wasn’t involved with clients or in meetings, they would spend it together doing things like eating at restaurants, watching movies, taking in concerts, and just being with each other. 

By late 1844, it looked like the relationship was becoming very serious.  It would only be a matter of time before he asked her to marry him.  But the night when she thought he would propose to her, he did something unusual.  He asked to borrow some money from her in order to close a business deal that required him to invest in a client’s company as a show of good faith.  She loaned him $150,000. 

A couple weeks later, he asked for another $150,000 and she reluctantly loaned it to him.   Days later, he went on a business trip without her and didn’t come back for months.  When he did come back, he needed to borrow another $200,000 which she loaned to him.

After loaning him half a million dollars, she became suspicious that he was using her.  But every time he was with her, she had warm feelings and felt an excitement that a woman in love felt about the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

She went to an investigation agency in Newgate called the Valtram Investigation Agency.  She walked through the door and was met by Serdrum Valtram who was watching TV out in the lobby.

“May I help you?” he asked as he stood and approached her. 

“I suspect the man that I have been with for over a year is taking advantage of me.  He has borrowed half a million dollars from me and all he told me was that he needed it so he could invest in a client’s company.  I think he lied to me.”

“Was he poor and you made him rich?”

“No, nothing like that.  When I met him he was worth almost as much as I was.  At least he let on he was rich. We ate at the finest restaurants and went to expensive hotels on his business trips.  He even gave me  expensive presents that I know a poor man could never afford.  But he never told me exactly what his business was.  I’m afraid he might be a criminal.  Can you help me?”

“I’ll try.  Let’s go into my office.”

The pair walked back a short hall to the man’s office.  Against the wall was a control panel on a desk in front of five television screens.  Three screens were showing in 3-D what was going on in three locations.  A time record was being kept that was displayed in the bottom right corner of the screens. 

“Those are three of my synthetics investigating people for three of my clients.  I like keeping an eye on them, so their eyes are also cameras.  I’m recording everything they are seeing and hearing.  They are a big help when it comes to taking legal action against someone.  Would you like to sit?  Want some coffee?  Pie?”

The man sat at his desk and had his food and beverage synthesizer produce a mug of coffee and a piece of pecan pie.  Sadrian sat in front of the desk in a comfortable cushioned chair that glided across the wooden floor on ball bearings.  The woman stepped on the foot lever that magnetically locked the bearings in place so the chair wouldn’t move. 

After taking a sip of coffee, Serdrum asked the woman, “Who is the man you want me to investigate?”

“His name is Mondran Gornaran.  At least that is what he writes down in the registries at the hotels.”

“May I record his identity from your memory?”

“Of course.”

Serdrum flipped a switch and out of the top of his desk a scanner appeared that was a curved metal plate that measured a foot wide and three inches wide atop a foot high metal shaft that was half an inch in diameter. 

“Think about how he looked the last time you saw him,” he told her.  Seconds later, a projection of the man appeared to the right of the desk.

“Do you remember what he told you then?  I want to get a voice record.”

The projection said, “After I invest the money, my client will be ready to do business with me.  He needs the money at this time to complete his factory in Shombran Wee.  After it’s up and running it should be making enough money to allow me to pay you back with interest.  Trust me.”

“That’s fine,” said the investigator.  The projection disappeared. 

“Can you help me find out what is going on?  The last time I was with him was two weeks ago and I haven’t heard from him since then.”

“Where was the last place you saw him?”

“In my house on the outskirts of Newgate.”

“I’ll assign one of my synthetics to your house to scan for his field so I can get a lock on his identity.  Since it’s been two weeks since you saw him, the scan should be fairly accurate.  Did he tell you where he was going before he left you?”

“All he told me was that he needed to return to Shombran Wee to oversee the construction of the rest of the factory.  He wanted to make sure everything was coming along fine.  I would go, but I’m afraid he would think I was suspicious of him.”

“Smart move.  If he is up to no good, I would hate to have you hurt.”

“Oh I’ve been hurt enough by him,” she said, upset.  “If he’s up to no good, he’s the one that should be hurt and bad.  How much do I owe you?”

“The clock starts when my synthetic scans your house.  Everything I do up until then is free.  I might be able to find out all I need on my computer.  The price is $20 a day plus expenses.  My expenses could run $50 a day.  I know it’s a little steep.  But I use a lot of equipment during my investigations and my overhead costs need to be considered.

“If he is brought before a court, I will pay all court costs.  The testimony of my synthetics is admissible in a court of law.  They can’t lie.  What they collect is rock-solid.  If Gornaran is guilty of anything, I will nail him.  You can count on that.  How much do you want to sue the man for?”

“I want to see all my money returned to me and then some.”

“When you say and then some, how much is that?”

“He should pay for what he did.  I want at least $100,000 for every month we have known each other.  Since that has been 15 months, that would be three times what he took from me.”

“Sounds fair to me.  But what if it is legitimate business expenses and he is not trying to defraud you?”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” she admitted flatly.

“Me neither.  I’ll get right on it.”

The man pushed a button and seconds later, a female appearing synthetic walked out of a closet dressed in what a typical woman of the day wore in town.  It was a plain dress made of cotton that had long sleeves, a slim waist, and a loose collar.  She also wore a linen bonnet and had a small clutch purse made of leather plus fashionable shoes also made of leather. 

“Call her Taila.  She might be assigned to go after him, if he is doing what I suspect he is doing.”

“And what pray tell is that?”

“You might not be the latest female victim of the man.  Why didn’t you read him mind to see what he was up to?”

“I did.  But all I could read was that he loved me and needed the money for business.  That was it.”

“He might be using what we call in the business a double mind.  He presents what he wants you to know for reading and hides his real intentions by using the scan blocking ability of the double mind.  I find it being used more and more nowadays.”

“Can you break through to what he is really thinking?”

“Yes.  But I usually reserve that equipment for when he is in the witness box.  Thank God this nation’s Constitution considers a court trial due process of law so that I can compel him to testify against himself.”

“But I’ve read that people are using the Fifth Amendment to keep from doing that.”

“That’s only because lawyers and judges are allowing that to happen.  They aren’t reading the Constitution grammatically.  The accused can not be compelled to testify against themselves without due process of law.  Since that qualification is met in a trial, they can be compelled.   Trust me.  I know the Constitution backwards and forwards.  I’ve been used from time to time as a lawyer.  I charge $1 an hour plus expenses when I’m hired to be a lawyer.”

“Will you charge me that if I use you as my lawyer?”

“No.  Those costs are included in my investigation expenses.”

The pair stood and shook hands.

“I’ll do everything I can to bring the man to justice.  You can count on it.” 

Sadrian left the office with the synthetic and took a robotic cab home that glided over the streets of the town by means of a double-field motive system.   It just looked like a typical carriage only with no wheels that was pulled by a synthetic horse that had synthetic rubber horse shoes so that the noise was kept down as the hooves struck the cement pavement. 

The synthetic scanned the house until she got a good identification scan.  She left the house and was assigned to find the man and investigate him in whatever manner she saw best.  With the help of the computer, the synthetic tracked down the man and approached him as a rich woman who wanted someone she could trust to handle her investment capital. 

For the next week, the man wined her and dined her in an attempt to get more money out of her.  All that time, Serdrum did background checks on the man and finally found what he was looking for.  As he suspected, he had various identities.  He had defrauded at least a dozen other women in that many dimensions.  He was rich because he was able to use women to turn the small fortune he had inherited from his father into a vast fortune thanks to them.  He also had business dealings in those dimensions.  But they weren’t as lucrative as his financial dealings with the women. 

The man was arrested in an illegal bordello in one of the dimensions and brought to Newgate to face the charges of defrauding Sadrian of half a million dollars and attempting to defraud the synthetic known as Taila of another quarter million dollars.  Since Taila was a synthetic and didn’t need money, the quarter million dollars plus another quarter million for punitive damages would go to the investigator Serdrum Valtram. 

In the municipal court of Newgate, synthetics and computers administer justice.  There is no need for a jury most of the time unless people want to use one.   Normally the judgement is fair and since no emotions are swayed, people who deserve to be punished are punished. 

Case 1845-38, Langrin v. Gornaran, decided on May 3, 1845 went Sadrian’s way.  But since Mandran’s assets were only $12 million and usually no more than 10% of a person’s assets could be collected so that he wouldn’t be thrown into poverty, Sadrian was awarded $ 900,000 and Serdrum received $300,000. 

After the trial, the other woman in the other dimensions found out about Gornaran who was also known as Milvan Ferdlock, Greng Freesh, Solnan Horsh, Tervan Main, and Byrups Gohorskaday.  He was went to prison in one of the dimensions for 20 years and was bankrupted.  The last time anybody heard about him he was working in an investment firm in another dimension making shady deals and was bound to be caught someday unless he could stay ahead of the law and more women he probably kept defrauding so he could maintain his wealthy lifestyle.   

If he was caught, he was going by a different name and changed his identity.  If he was killed by someone, it probably served him right.  Whatever happened, at least in Newgate, justice was done.