enthusiastically, reaching for some forms. "Will you be transferring all your funds here, Mr. Adams?"
"As far as my personal funds are concerned, yes," I said. "I'm not sure about the company funds as yet, and won't be until I look closer at the projects, but in any event we'll want to place a substantial amount here."
"Well, for your personal account, Mr. Adams, all you have to do is write me a check for the remaining balance in your New York bank and that will close that account out."
"Is that all?" I said, feigning surprise. "I didn't realize it was that simple." I took my checkbook from my inside pocket and, holding it so he couldn't see it, ran my finger down an imaginary column of figures, murmuring. Then I looked up at him. "May I use your adding machine, please? I wrote some checks yesterday and didn't balance my checkbook and I'm not much on adding figures in my head."
"Certainly," he said and turned the machine for my use. I ran a few figures and then nodded.
"Well, I make my balance $17,876.28, and I'm sure that's correct," I said. "But let's just open an account for $17,000. I'll be going back to New York on occasion and I'd like to maintain a small balance there."
I wrote him a check for $17,000 and gave him the necessary information for setting up an account. I gave my address as the hotel where I had registered. "I'll be staying there until I can find a suitable apartment or house to lease," I said.
The young banker nodded. "You realize, of course, Mr. Adams, you can't write any checks on your account until your check has cleared in New York," he said. "That shouldn't take over four or five days, however, and in the meantime if you run short of funds, come to me and I'll take care of it. Here are some temporary checks for such an event."
I shook my head. "That's kind of you, but I anticipated the delay," I said. "I have ample funds for my needs."
I shook hands with him and left. That night I flew to Miami and the following afternoon I appeared in front of another glass-fronted bank, again in a Rolls-Royce but at the wheel myself, and casually but again expensively attired. I glanced at my watch as I entered the lobby. The Philadelphia bank would be open for another thirty minutes. A strikingly handsome and chicly dressed woman who had noted my arrival greeted me as I stepped into the lobby.
"May I help you, sir?" she asked, smiling. On closer inspection she was much older than I had first thought, but she was still an alluring woman.
"I hope so," I said, returning the smile. "But I think I'd better speak to the bank manager."
Her eyes lit impishly. "I am the bank manager," she said, laughing. "Now, what's your problem? You certainly don't appear to need a loan."
I threw up my hands in mock defeat. "No, no, nothing like that," I said. "My name's Frank Adams and I'm from Philadelphia and I've been looking around Miami for years for a suitable vacation home. Well, today I found a fantastic deal, a floating house near Biscayne Bay, but the man wants cash and he wants a $15,000 deposit by five o'clock today. He won't take a personal check and I don't have a bank account here.
"I'm wondering, could I write you a check on my bank in Philadelphia and you issue me a cashier's check, payable to cash, for $15,000? I realize you'll have to call my bank to verify that I have the money, but I'll pay for the call. I really want this house. It would mean I could spend half my time down here." I paused, a pleading look on my face.
She pursed her lips prettily. "What's the name of your bank in Philadelphia, and your account number?" she asked. I gave her the name of the bank, the telephone number and my account number. She walked to a desk and, picking up the telephone, called Philadelphia.
"Bookkeeping, please," she said when she was connected. Then: "Yes, I have a check here, drawn on account number 505-602, Mr. Frank Adams, in the amount of $15,000.1 would like to verify the check, please."
I held my breath, suddenly aware of the burly bank guard standing in one corner of the lobby. It had been my experience that clerks in bank bookkeeping departments, when asked to verify a check, merely