Lingk: But we have to
before Monday. To get our money ba...
Roma: Threebusiness days. They mean threebusiness days.
Lingk: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Roma: I don't understand.
Lingk: That's what they are. Three business if I wait till Monday, my time limit runs out.
Roma: You don't count Saturday.
Lingk: I'm not.
Roma: No, I'm saying you don't include Saturday in your three days. It's not abusiness day.
Lingk: But I'm notcounting it.(Pause.) Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. So it would have elapsed.
Roma: What would have elapsed?
Like Moss evading Aaronow on the subject of whether or not they are "talking," this segment in Act Two is another fine example of a salesman manipulating words and pretending not to understand what his conversational partner is saying. Roma is masterful at elaborate psychological cons, but in this segment he resorts to the simplest, silliest form of trickery to try to fool Lingk. Lingk's wife has told him that, by law, he has three days in which he is allowed to cancel the deal that he has signed with Roma the previous night. Roma is trying to delay discussing this matter with Lingk until Monday, when it will be too late for Lingk to renege. Lingk, however, is aware of this timeframe. Roma ridiculously tries to convince Lingk that he is erroneously counting Saturday as a business day when Lingk knows that he is not. When this tactic does not work, Roma pretends that