Overload by Arthur Hailey Page A

downtown
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they checked on the guy who lives here, and it seems he's a tool-and-die
    maker. It figures. Take a look at this." As the others moved aside, London
    pointed to a tiny hole in the glass cover of the irieter. A small piece of
    stiff wire protruded through it. Inside the meter the wire extended to a
    central metal disc which normally revolved as electricity was consumed.
    "That wire, which shouldn't be there, stops the disc from turning," London
    said.
    Nim nodded his understanding. "So the meter doesn't record, even though
    current goes on flowing."
    "Right. But stopping the disc does no harm, so when the wire's removed,
    everything's back the way it should be."
    "Except for that little hole."
    "You'd never notice it," the serviceman behind them said, "unless you were
    looking hard. My guess is, the guy used a jeweler's drill to make the hole,
    which is why the glass didn't break. Damn clever."
    "He won't feel so clever when he gets his next bill," London said. "Besides
    which, we'll watch the house tonight. More than likely the neighbors will
    tell him about us being here, which will make him nervous and he'll want to
    take out that wire. When he does, and if we catch him at it, we can make a
    prosecution stick."
    They left while the photographer was taking close-ups of the incriminating
    hole and wire.
    At the communications center, reports of other discoveries continued to
    flow in. An even more ingenious power thief had penetrated the heart of his
    electric meter, apparently filing off several teeth from a shaft gear which
    turned the meter rec~rding disc. This bad the effect of slowing the disc
    and reducing recorded cornsumption by approximately half. The downtown
    Billing Department, searching t6ir records, es'timated the cheating had
    gone on for three years, undetected.
    In another instance a customer had adroitly switched meters. Somehow he had
    obtained an extra electric meter-Harry London suspected it was stolen-and
    substituted it for the regular meter supplied by GSP & L. Obviously the
    customer left his "private" meter in place for a portion of each billing
    period, during which any electricity used was "free."
    Though gas meters were considered more difficult to tamper with, this bad
    not deterred some ambitious freeloaders. As London put it, "Disconnecting
    or connecting a gas meter takes some plumbing skill, but not much. A
    do-it-yourselfer can catch on fast."
    One such do-it-vourselfer, a meter reader found, had removed his gas meter
    entirelv, filiing the gap with a length of rubber hose. It was a dangerous
    theft method, but effective. Presuinablv the meter was left disconnected
    for part of each month, then replaced near the time a regular meter reading
    was expected.
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Another offender-a businessman owning several adjacent stores which he
    leascd to others-had acted similarly, except his gas meter was reversed,
    with its face turned toward the wall, causing it to run backwards. It was
    here the only violent incident of the day erupted. The businessman,
    enraged at being discovered, attacked the company serviceman with a pipe
    wrench and beat him badly. The serviceman was later taken to the hospital
    with a broken arm and nose, the businessman to jail where he faced
    assault and other charges.
    One facet of the many cases being uncovered puzzled Nim. He told Harry
    London, "I thought our billing computers were programmed to signal
    warnings of abrupt changes in any customer's consumption."
    "They are, and they do," London acknowledged. "Trouble is, people are
    getting wise to computers, learning to outwit them. It isn't hard. If you
    steal power and have the sense to reduce your bills gradually-a little
    the first month, then a little more every month after that, instead of
    a big reduction all at once-a computer will never pick it up."
    "Any way you look at it, we're on the losing side."
    "Maybe right now. But that will change."
    Nim was less sure.
    Perhaps the most bizarre