He drove to the local , wandering past the glowing aisles of curved TVs and high-end gaming laptops until he found the telecommunications section. There, tucked between cordless handsets, was a small, unassuming black box: a CPR Call Blocker .

The silence that followed was the sweetest sound he’d heard all year. He went back to his crossword, finished 14-Across ( "A state of quiet or tranquility" ), and wrote in the word: .

The "Blue Shirt" employee, a kid who looked barely old enough to drive, walked him through it. "This thing is a gatekeeper, Arthur. It comes pre-loaded with thousands of known scam numbers. If someone new calls, you just hit this big red button, and they’re gone forever."