An old and very rich friend of mine told me he had an unpleasant experience. He went to a famous jewelry shop and asked to be shown some gold necklaces. After examining several, he decided to buy a gold necklace with a precious stone, and asked if he could pay by check. The assistant said that was quite in order, but the moment my friend signed his name, he was invited into the manager's office. The manager was very polite, but he explained that someone with exactly the same name had given them a worthless check not long ago. My friend got very angry when he heard this and said that he would buy a necklace somewhere else. When he got up to go, the manager told him that the police would arrive at any moment and he had better stay unless he wanted to get into serious trouble. Sure enough, the police arrived soon afterwards. They were polite, too, but explained that a person who had used the same name as his was responsible for a number of recent robberies. Then the police asked my friend to copy out a note which had been used by the thief in a number of stores, The note read, 'I have a gun in my pocket. Ask no question and give me all the money in the drawer.' Fortunately, my friend's handwriting was quite unlike the thief’s. He was not only allowed to go without further delay, but to take the necklace with him. When the man asked ff he could pay by check, the assistant ______.