Be Careful What You Wish For

He stormed out of the meeting, more offended, than he was angry. He knew this day was coming; the pressure at work had been building for months, the rock that was his conviction had finally run up against the hard place of company policy, and being in the middle was no place for someone like A. Quinn Treverrow.

He could never understand why his parents chose to name him Adolphus, he thought to himself. There was no logic to it. But the never-ending teasing from his friends caused him to go by his middle name, Quinn. His best friends, called him Q. His sister, Christine Michelle Treverrow-Downing, went by the name Kiki, and she always worried about her younger brother, since he was so aloof, so withdrawn from society. It was this aloofness that caused Q problems at work, as he preferred to work alone, without collegial interaction, and certainly without corporate supervision. Q was a polymath, a brilliant student, a loner/bookworm who spent the majority of his childhood in libraries, long before the invention of Google, and of the Internet.

Upset over his blow-up at work, Q decided to walk down to an ice cream diner called the Sundae's Best, near his favorite library. Q spent his time with a young divorcee named Sara, a hostess at the diner, and of course Sara had a boyfriend. Good for her, Q thought to himself. Q had a personal rule that said he didn't chase girls who had boyfriends, girls who were married, or girls who were about to get married. Q took comfort in the numbers, the probability that his rule eliminated about 99% of the probable available ladies. As a result, he didn't have a girlfriend. Sara had just come out of a miserable marriage, and was trying to rebuild her life. Q saw Sara as a way to relate to others. He was lost in his thoughts when someone behind him honked his horn.

"Hey, Q, what's up?"

The intruder into Q's momentary distraction was a guy named Darren. Darren was, without question, Q's best friend. Q and Darren were running partners, two profiles in extremes, proving opposites usually attract. Darren was outgoing, popular, and introverted, while Q would really prefer to be left alone. In short, Darren was everything Q was not, so in a strange way they filled each other's needs. That wasn't surprising, because it seemed as if everything in Q's world was a study in extremes.

That was Q's biggest problem. Q suffered from OCPD, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, in general, and arithmomania, in particular. Q had an obsession with counting, with numbers, a fascination that took him all the way back to grade school, and this was what got him in trouble with his superiors at work. Long story short, Q's projects took too much time to complete, while management wanted results yesterday. So typical of bean-counters, Q thought to himself, not stopping to consider that perhaps he was the biggest bean-counter they had ever hired.

What now, Darren, Q thought to himself, as he was on the verge of solving this latest mathematical mystery, the movement of pairs in a given set of values. Q had long obsessed about winning the lottery--- not in the typical way that most winners win, by buying one ticket and then hoping for the best. No, Q had to do things in a logical and rational way, something that was repetitious, reliable, recurring, and predictable. Q wanted a system, based on theory, and not based on random chance. Q realized that all the numbers have the same chances, but not all the numbers exhibit the same behaviors. It was this search for behaviors Q was on, when Darren broke his concentration.

Darren was a real estate agent, and he found this sweetheart deal on a house about to go to probate sale. They're having an estate sale today, he says to Q, and I'm going down there to see this place and see if my investor-buyer can get it before it goes to auction. Wanna come with me?

Annoyed, Q gives in. What the heck. "Okay, Darren, sure, I'll go."

Q gets into Darren's brand-new Porsche 911 Carrera, which is Q's first clue that Darren must be serious since this car moves fast. They drive down the coast until they arrive at a gated mansion. Now I see why Darren was in such a rush to get down here, Q thought to himself. This place used to be the old Colorton estate, Colorton Vineyards, immigrants who came over on the Mayflower, settled in Virginia and came to California during the Gold Rush. Old Man Colorton had died, and his heirs are now fighting over the will. It made sense to see this place soon.

Darren and Q park the car and walk up to the front entrance. They sign the guest book and go into the parlor, when, suddenly, Q sees someone he recognizes. It's Ace Downing, Christine's husband, looking over the artwork--- what a surprise!

"Hello, Quinn, good to see you, Christine is in the library. I was just about to go inside. Is Darren with you? I need to speak with him."

Yeah, Darren's here, he's in the breezeway. I'll go get him."

The three men enter the library, where the clerk from the auction house is selling off the library's large collection of books. Since winemaking involves an extensive knowledge of chemistry, there are many books on the subject. Ace turns to Christine, who is thrilled to see her brother. You won't believe what I found here, she says to Q. All these records on the fermentation processes of Colorton wines--- do you think these would be worth something to their competitors?

The clerk interrupts. All of those records are worthless, she says, without this--- she holds up a little black book, a notebook, really, for all of them to see. It's for sale, if you want it--- but, there IS a catch.

What could be so important about a notebook that strings would be attached, Q is thinking to himself.

This is the most important record, the clerk says. "In here are the formulas to the fermentation processes, and, without this, you won't be able to get the maximum value out of this vineyard. Promise me that if you buy this book, you won't sell this information to the McClellans. They are the primary competitors to the Colorton winery."

Q approaches the clerk. "Do you mind if I take a peek inside the book, see what's in there? I mean, if there are formulas, I'd like to verify their existence."

The clerk says okay. She hands the notebook to Q. It is very old, with dog-eared pages attesting to the passage of time that the generations of Colortons have owned and operated the vineyard. At first, Q didn't notice anything spectacular in there, just a set of notations with dates attached. But then, on page 19, there it was--- the secret sequence of Fibonacci values Q had been searching for in his quest to conquer the lottery!

Q struggled to conceal his excitement--- never in his wildest dreams would he ever hope to run across something like this. Thoughts of the McClellans just melted away. How much for the book, Q asked.

Well, the clerk says, I was hoping to get at least $100.00 for this book, but, for you, I'll let it go for $50.00.

Q immediately reaches for his wallet, when Kiki intervenes. "That's a kinda high price for a book, don't you think, Quinn?"

Q reassures Kiki. "No worries, sis, I think that's a fine price for a book like this."

While Q is paying the clerk, a man in black shades rounds the corner, and is watching the transaction go down. The man is an investigator who was hired to follow the little black book, wherever it goes. The man works for the McClellan family.

The man is very good at his job. He moved past the Treverrow party undetected as he continues his surveillance. He notices the Porsche, writes down the license plate number, and takes a photo of the car. Meanwhile, Q and Kiki say good-bye. Darren and Q depart in the Porsche.

While in the car, Q tries to make sense out of the calculations found on page 19. Fibonacci retracements range between 30% and 70% in a trend, but in most cases do not venture beyond 61.8%. His application to the lottery suggests that the core combinations of the sample (in this case, 69 numbers) should never exceed the 61.8% limit. In other words, limit the number of recurring three-spot combinations to about 62% of the total. Why don't you just try to beat the house on four of a kind, suggests Darren.

This is the kind of thinking that I have to contend with on a regular basis, Q is thinking to himself. Darren drops Q off back at the library, but Q opts to drop by the ice cream diner. He walks over there, all the time being watched by the man in the black shades.

To Quinn's satisfaction, Sara is working tonight. He walks up to the counter and shows Sara the notebook.

What's that, she asks.

"It's a book, it's a notebook I bought today. I thought you might like to see it. Sara takes the notebook and starts flipping through its pages. Q orders a double-scoop of rocky road and pistachio. Sara puts the book down and goes in the back to wash her hands. While she is away, the man in the black shades enters the shop and sits down.

Sara returns to her station while drying her hands. She scoops up Q's ice cream and hands it to him when suddenly the man in the black shades approaches Q and introduces himself. "Mr. Treverrow, my name is Mr. Susnow, and I noticed you were at the estate sale today. I'd like to have a word with you, if you don't mind."

Sara, unsure of the man's intentions, slides the little black book under the counter, as Q pays for his order.

"I'm trying to locate a small black notebook, about so big, that has some important records in it. Someone purchased it this afternoon at the estate sale, before I could get there. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"What makes you think I would know anything about that, my friend? I was only there riding shotgun with a buddy of mine. And, how do you know who I am?"

"Well, Mr. Treverrow, there is a cash reward of $20,000.00 waiting for the person who returns this book to its rightful owners. I represent the interested party, and I've noticed you've signed the guest registry. I'm just trying to see to it that the book gets returned."

Sara stands there looking at the man, wide-eyed. Her hands shake as she returns the notebook to Q. Mr. Susnow pulls out a claim form and motions for his assistant, a notary public, to come inside. The three climb into a booth, where Mr. Susnow produces a small leather satchel. He opens it, revealing two currency straps full of $100.00 bills, $20,000.00, total. Q gasps, mouth open wide. Mr. Susnow watches as Q signs for the reward money, then watches some more as the notary public applies her stamp. "Congratulations, Mr. Treverrow", as Q relinquishes the notebook and collects his reward money. Mr. Susnow and the notary public walk out the front door with the signed form.

Q, still in shock from the quick windfall, promises to help Sara open the new ice cream shop she wants. He grabs his ice cream, and departs. Feeling lucky, Q as he opens his laptop and logs in to his online casino account. He clicks the link titled KENO and loads some numbers into the game, along with 800 credits. Q settles on a set of eight-number combinations, with 5 out of 8 representing the Fibonacci limit. Any time a second-award prize presents itself, Q adds another line, repeating the active combination.

After a few attempts, the screen lights up--- Q wins 20,000 nickels, double-coin 8 out of 8. Q figures if he can hit 8 out of 8 doing this, then 5 out of 5 with the JumboBall is a cinch.