"It's obvious that Bugs never intended this to be an honest trade," Brown said.

"What's wrong with it?" sneered Bugs Meany, holding tight to the video game system he'd gotten out of the deal. The reason he'd brought it loomed behind him: Sally Kimball, the only person who could force Bugs to play fair.

"Yeah, what is wrong with it?" Wayne DeLiza asked, clutching nearly as tightly the British officer's sword he'd received in the trade. Even though he'd come to Brown and Kimball with a gut feeling he'd been conned, he clearly wanted the sword to be genuine.

"It's the inscription, see?" Brown pointed at the words on the scabbard: "William Rhode, 19th Light Dragoons, 1818."

"Yeah?" snarled Bugs. "What's wrong with it? It's proof it's a real antique!"

"The 19th Light Dragoons were a British regiment all right, but not in 1818. They were reestablished as the 19th Lancers in 1816. Bugs, I'm afraid your fake missed the mark, even if only by a bare two years."

Fury on his face, Bugs stalked off, leaving the game system with Wayne.

"I can't thank you enough," said Wayne.

"All in a day's work," said Sally, "for Historical Minutiae Brown!"