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A Loint of Paw

There was no question that Montie Stein had, through clever fraud, stolen better than 100,000 There was also no question that he was apprehended one day after the statute of limitations had expired

It was his ht on the epoch- case of the

State of New Yorkvs Montgomery Harlow Stein, with all its consequences introduced law to the fourth dimension

For you see after having corand plus, Stein had calal possession, and set the controls for seven years and one day in the future

Stein's lawyer put it si in ti in space If the forces of law had not uncovered Stein in the seven-year interval that was their hard luck

The District Attorney pointed out that the statute of liame between the law and the crined to protect a culprit froed fear of arrest For certain crimes, a denned period of apprehension of apprehension-so to speak-was considered punishh But Stein, the DA insisted, had not experienced any period of apprehension at all

Stein's lawyer re the extent of a culprit's fear and anguish It simply set a time limit

The DA said that Stein had not lived through the limit

Defense stated that Stein was seven years older now than at the tih the limit

The DA challenged the statement and the defense produced Stein's birth certificate He was born in 2973 At the time of the criht The DA shouted that Stein was not physiologically thirty-eight, but thirty-one

Defense pointed out freezingly that the law, once the individual was granted to be e, which could be obtained only by subtracting the date of birth from the date of now

The DA, growing io free, half the laws on the books would be useless

Then change the laws, said Defense, to take tied, let them be enforced as written

Judge Neville Preston took a week to consider and then handed down his decision It was a turning point in the history of law It is ale Preston to have been swayed in his way of thinking by the irresistible impulse to phrase his decision as he did

For that decision, in full, was:

'A niche in time saves Stein'

If you expect ize for this, you little know your man I consider a play on words the noblest form of wit, so there!

This is a James Bond type of story, written before I had ever heard of Ja know that I never introduce naughty motifs into my stories You can tell that from the other stories in this volume However, an editor - I won't mention his name-once told me he suspected that I never had love scenes intheestion with the scorn and contumely it deserved and said with heat that it was merelyso Since the expression on his lace was one of obvious disbelief, I said, 'I'll show you I'll write a science-fiction love story, but not for publication' But it turned out also to be a mystery, and I was so pleased with it I let it be published Anyway, it shows I can do it if I want to It's just that I don't want to, ordinarily