The Briefcase in the Taxi, also known as Circuit Breaker, is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the June 1983 issue of Gallery magazine.
Summary[]
At the Union Club, Griswold tells of an industrial-espionage incident at a large computer company. Two corporate security officers, who had been watching a suspected employee, arrested Ralph Chase as he hailed a taxi. Chase was wearing Western-style clothing. As a passing taxi moved by, Chase suddenly turned and flung his briefcase out the open window toward the cab; the taxi then drove off with the briefcase.
Believing the briefcase contained stolen computer material, the company investigators assumed Chase had just handed off sensitive data to an accomplice. When the taxi driver later opened the case, however, it contained only ordinary personal items, nothing confidential. The physical evidence therefore did not show any documents or media.
Griswold examined the facts and concluded the briefcase was a deliberate decoy. The real theft had been accomplished electronically beforehand; the tossed briefcase was meant to mislead pursuers and create the appearance of a physical handoff. Once this rationale was revealed, it became clear the briefcase contents were irrelevant to the crime, the theft was a digital one, and the theatrical briefcase toss had been a smokescreen.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Jennings
- Baranov
- Ralph Chase
- Corporate Security Officers
- Taxi Driver
See Also[]
List of short stories by Isaac Asimov