Bits of life

f-23 Words-650

the bank and get a clear picture of the thieves. The cc cameras arranged on the corners of walls in the main room showed them even more clearly.
All of us were taken aback and a unanimous sigh out of shock escaped those of us watching the scenario.
They were Oliver and Jake! They were looking around the room as though looking for someone they were wary of. Oliver hung behind as though he didn’t want to partake in the shady proceedings. Yet, he was there, why so, we had no idea who or what caused him to be there. Was there something that forced him to be an accomplice much against his will? Jake was looking like a pretty aggressive fellow. Obviously, he seemed the brain behind the murky affair. These were my impressions, which might or might not be true.

We saw Cathy once again crossing over to the manager’s room and coming directly to us, crowded around the big table. Poor lady, it must have been a tough challenge for her to keep the thieves unsuspecting for as long as she didn’t receive orders from Mr. Anderson, the manager.

“Sir, what is going to be the next step?” she asked anxiously.

“Let me think about it Cathy. Surely there must be a way to delay them till the police arrive. I have just rung up the officer in charge of the police station near to our bank. He said he would be here soon.”

I said promptly, “Mr. Anderson, please tell them not to come in police uniform. They should hide their identity behind civilian clothes.”

“Jim is right. We should not let these thieves run away this time round. They should be arrested and tried. This will teach them not to tamper with others’ money,” uncle John said with an intense feeling.

The manager couldn’t agree more. He had sent Cathy back and to make Oliver and Jake stay a while longer, till the police arrived on the scene and took charge of the mischief makers.
He went back to talking to the police and conveyed our suggestions. It looked as though the police officer on the other side of the phone call agreed to his proposal.
Thus we had put our heads together and came up with this game plan that hadn’t left any door open for the criminals to make an escape.
We could see Cathy talking to Jake quietly and the serious expression on her face must have conveyed to them that she meant business. We saw the duo nodding and walking back to the seats they were occupying.

Shadows started lengthening and the business hours slowly seemed drawing to an end.

A few minutes later, we saw the police jeep dropping two tough looking guys dressed informally in tee-shirts and jeans entering the premises of the bank. Now I could feel excitement mounting and anticipation growing. We were waiting for the climax, which would end this drama once the thieves would walk into the net that spread around them without their knowledge.

The twist in the tale came quite suddenly. The manager was about to send word to them to come to his chamber. The two guys got up and were walking to the manager’s room when a third person approached them and told them something. Immediately, they began to walk out of the bank. But the police were quicker and surrounded them in a flash. Their hands were cuffed and they were taken into custody. Both guys paled and put their heads down and without much ado, got into the police vehicle stationed by the road side. Those by-standers who watched the drama started talking about it to those who began to gather around place.


Pity was that we didn’t get a chance to meet Oliver and let him know how his arrest came to be with this friend of his.
We returned