The Largest Luger

Pitney Philips meets in his San Antonio office with firearms dealer Orville Reuben and gun collector Harlan Morris.  Reuben refuses to show his pistol, demanding to know more of Philips’s qualifications.   

Citing the weapons expert’s unassailable credentials, Morris asks Philips to authenticate a rare Luger manufactured on spec for the U.S. Army.  Morris asks after the gun’s worth, but Philips declines to assign a value, noting only that it may be expensive if real.

Reuben opens a leather case and displays the firearm, pointing out its fine features. Philips looks over the pistol, its oversized barrel and checkered handle.  Reuben asks for Philips’s assessment, which he withholds pending a closer examination.  Philips asks that Reuben and Morris return the following day so that he will not be responsible for holding the pistol overnight.  Reuben agrees to place the Luger in Morris’s home safe, and the pair depart. 

After the meeting, Philips notices a smell on his hands.  He stops at a newsstand on his way home and reflects on the market for firearms.