The Secret Manuscript (15 page)

“Yesterday?”
he repeated. “I was… I was nowhere.”

“You weren’t
at the bank on 12th Avenue at 3:00?”

“Nope, not me,
wasn’t there. Why do you ask?”

One of the
detectives opened up a folder, took out a picture, and showed it to
Ben. “Is this you?”

The photo
showed Ben peering through the window. Although the quality of the
photo was not perfectly clear, it was unmistakably him. In fact,
Ben was wearing the same outfit he had on in the picture. Ben
looked down and took notice of his attire, as did the detectives.
They shot him a look as though it was foolish for trying to deny
it. Ben handed the photo back to one of the detectives and said,
“No, this isn’t me. This is just a blurry image of a guy peering
through a window. That could be anybody.”

“Did you rob
the bank on 12th yesterday?” one of the detectives asked
bluntly.

“How dare you
come into my home and accuse me of robbing a bank.”

“Nobody
accused you, Mr. Owen. My partner simply asked if you robbed the
bank.”

“Listen, if I
robbed the bank yesterday on 12th, then you would have a picture of
me robbing the bank, but you don’t. All you have is an image of
some guy who shares my likeness, standing outside the bank.”

“You’re
getting awfully defensive, Mr. Owen. Are you sure you don’t have
any information you’d like to share with us?”

“Of course I’m
getting defensive. I’m an honest guy and you’re suggesting I had
something to do with a bank robbery. You have no proof I even
stepped foot in the bank yesterday.”

“Maybe not,
but I’ll tell you what we do have. We have surveillance footage of
you waiting outside the bank and making physical contact with the
robber, then watching the robbery through the window. After that,
it appears as though you waited for your partner across the street
and then followed him onto a bus a block away. So, what’s it going
to be Mr. Owen, are you going to talk now, or do you want to
contact your lawyer?”

Ben had to
admit, on the surface it did not look good for him. Even though
they did not have any substantial proof connecting Ben to the bank
robbery, they had enough circumstantial evidence to convict him as
an accomplice.

“Okay, okay.
Look, you’ll have to forgive my outburst earlier. I didn’t get a
lot of sleep last night. Hypothetically speaking, suppose I was at
the bank yesterday, and this is me peering through the window. I
know it may appear I was an accomplice to the robber, but I had
nothing to do with any bank robbery. Still speaking hypothetically,
I may have been going to the bank yesterday to seek out a small
line of credit when I was bumped from behind by a man wearing
combat boots and a military jacket. Those two pieces of apparel
inside a nice bank like the one on 12
^th
Avenue would
have aroused the suspicions of most people. Now, if it was me, not
saying it was, but if it was, I probably would have stayed outside
and observed through a window at a safe distance.”

“What about
following the robber onto the bus, was that a safe distance?”

“That was
purely coincidental… I mean, not saying I did that or anything, but
if I did, then it would be a mere coincidence. I probably had no
idea I was getting onto a bus with a bank robber.”

“Another
surveillance footage we obtained shows you two sat right next to
each other, you’re saying that was purely coincidental.”

“Could be, who
knows? Like I said, I wasn’t there.”

The two
detectives continued their questioning until they had extracted
everything they needed to know from Ben. For every question, Ben
provided a valid response. After a while, the detectives seemed
satisfied with Ben’s story — he had become a dead lead. They got up
to leave and handed Ben their cards.

“Call us if
you remember anything else, Mr. Owen.”

Ben accepted
the card and looked at the name — Detective Barry Todd.

Over the next
several hours, Ben was consumed with reading the manuscript.
Considering its value, he kept it locked in the secret room at all
times, even when reading it. He was aware of how easy it would be
for someone to come into his home in the middle of the night and
take it from him. With the manuscript in hand, Ben stretched out on
the couch, fully engrossed in the text.

The silent
alarm was triggered and within minutes, the place was surrounded by
cops. Detective Todd was the officer in charge. He and his partner
entered the bank with caution and when they realized the bank
robber was no longer there, they began their formal investigation.
While one interviewed the bank manager, the other spoke to the
teller involved in the incident. Everyone else was told to
wait.

Other than the
bank teller, who was noticeably shaken up by the incident, Ben was
the only other person who had made contact with the robber. Ben
waited around the bank like everyone else. It was a minor
inconvenience, but during the wait, he made small-talk with the
fellow customers to pass the time. When it was Ben’s turn, he was
brought to a corner of the bank and was asked to recount his
version of the event. He offered what little information he could
and then asked a few questions of his own.

“
Do these
guys usually get caught?” Ben asked.

“
Most of
these ‘note passers’ are repeat offenders with prior criminal
records. We send our best detectives out to follow any leads. With
some luck, we will be able to make an arrest.”

It was not
exactly the most confidence-inspiring answer, but the police did
not want to start advertising how easy it was to get away with
robbing a bank.

Less than a
week later, Ben was reading the newspaper and a particular headline
caught his attention. Upon reading the article, he learned the
police had caught the guy who had done it. The article stated the
robber had attempted to hit up another bank a few days later and
during the robbery, there was a shoot-out where the man was shot
and killed along with an innocent bystander. As Ben read the
article, it made him really appreciate his life by reminding him
how one event could change everything.

It was two in
the afternoon when Kyle came home, a time when he would normally be
at work.

“
Kyle, what
are you doing home so early?” Ben asked.

Kyle let out a
big sigh and was noticeably perturbed.

“
I’m having
the worst week,” Kyle said. “First my team loses and now
this.”

“
Now what?”
Ben asked. “What’s going on?”

“
We’ll most
likely lose our research grant.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah,
right now my team is working on a new treatment that would stave
off the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. But today it was announced
that a competing lab in Switzerland released a similar
medication.”

“
So?”

“
You don’t
understand. Whoever goes to market first has a huge advantage. We
may as well pack up our bags and move on to something
else.”

“
That’s
terrible, Kyle. I’m sorry to hear that... but, it’s great for
Alzheimer’s patients though.”

“
Yeah, I
guess.”

“
So what
are you going to do?” Ben asked.

“
I don’t
know. I suspect our funding will be cut, and when that happens,
I’ll have to start an entirely new thesis. It definitely sucks, but
there’s really nothing I can do about it.”

Ben’s eyes
became heavy and he decided to put the manuscript down for a while.
The stuffy room did not get proper ventilation so he rose from the
couch and headed down the long corridor. Ben crawled through the
fireplace and sealed it behind him. Once upstairs, Ben walked over
to the large window in his living room. He saw his neighbour Gladys
attempting to haul a garbage pail to the curb on her own. Ben saw
the struggling senior and dashed outside to offer his
assistance.

“Here, let me
help you with that,” he said, cutting across his front lawn.

“Oh, thank
you, dear. You know, I don’t mind doing it on my own, it gives me
an excuse to get out of the house.”

“I hear ya, I
often have to create excuses for myself to get out as well.”

“I find that
hard to believe,” Gladys said.

“It’s true, in
fact, right now I have absolutely nowhere to go.”

“Well, that
makes two of us.”

Ben thought
for a moment and then did something uncharacteristic of him, “Would
you like to go for a walk?” he asked.

“Sure, that
sounds lovely.”

Ben and Gladys
headed down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace without any direction
or purpose other than to get some exercise, fresh air, and enjoy
each other’s company.

“I’m sure a
nice man like you has plenty of dates,” Gladys said.

“Honestly,
you’re one of two women I’ve talked to since moving here and the
other one… well, that didn’t go so well.”

“I’m sorry to
hear that. What went wrong?”

“I got in my
own way,” Ben said, reflecting on the event. “But it was probably
for the best, I didn’t really deserve her.”

“Why do you
say that?”

“I don’t know,
I guess I had it in my mind what kind of guy a girl like her would
want to be with, and then I pretended to be that guy instead of
just being myself.”

“So pretending
to be this other guy didn’t work out?”

“Not at all,
it completely backfired on me since I couldn’t maintain the
charade.”

“How do you
know what kind of guy she wants? After all, she agreed to go out
with you in the first place, right?”

“Yeah, but I
may have misrepresented myself when we first met.”

“How so?”

“It’s
complicated, but let’s just say I wasn’t really acting like
myself.”

“Oh, I see.
Well, what’s done is done. Now, all you can do is try to learn from
your mistakes and hope for a better outcome next time.”

“Thanks. So
what do you like to do in your spare time, Gladys?”

“I like to
meet with the gals at the community centre; I do that three times a
week. We knit and play Canasta. I like to watch my shows — Law
& Order, CSI, and a few others. What else? I like to read,
bake, work on my garden… what about you?”

“I like to
read, write, and… well, that’s pretty much it.”

“You’re still
young and have plenty of time to discover what else the world has
to offer. That’s one of my greatest regrets in life, not seeing the
world.”

“It’s not too
late.”

“I’m afraid
it’s not so easy to travel at my age.”

Ben and Gladys
continued to walk and get to know more about each other. For some
reason, he found comfort in talking with people who were much older
than himself. Perhaps he liked their wisdom and non-threatening
nature. The pair circled the block and arrived back where they had
started.

“Thank you for
the company, Ben. I had a lovely time.”

“I assure you,
the pleasure was all mine. We can do it again whenever you like,
just come knocking, I’m usually always home.”

“If you and
Kyle have no plans this weekend, you are more than welcome to come
over and watch the big game.”

“What big
game?” Ben asked.

“The Grey Cup
is this weekend.”

“Grey Cup,
what’s that?”

“I guess you
don’t watch sports. The Grey Cup is the championship game for
Canadian football, and this year my team is in it.”

“Your team?”
Ben asked.

“Yes, the
Calgary Stampeders are facing the Saskatchewan Roughriders.”

“Gladys, I
didn’t realize you were into sports.”

“There are
plenty of things you have yet to discover about me,” she
smirked.

“Very true.
I’ll talk to Kyle and see if he watches—”

Just then a
thought entered Ben’s brain midsentence and before he finished, his
eyes bulged wide.

“What is it,
dear?” Gladys asked.

“Sorry, it’s
nothing, I just remembered I have something important to do. If
you’ll excuse me,” Ben said, dashing across his lawn. “It was nice
talking with you, Gladys. I’ll see you soon!”

Ben arrived at
the university by bus, and ran across nearly half the campus before
arriving at the main science building. Panting for breath, Ben
entered the building and located the elevator to avoid taking the
stairs. When he found the elevator, he slipped inside just as the
doors were about to close, and crammed in with the other
passengers.

Ben generally
avoided confined spaces, but he reached the top floor before his
claustrophobia became an issue. Upon exiting the elevator, he
walked at a brisk pace down the west wing where the science labs
were located.

Wearing safety
goggles and a long white lab coat, Kyle was busy at work. When he
saw Ben walk in, he stood up and removed his goggles.

“Hey, man,”
Kyle said, wondering why Ben was there.

“Hey, sorry to
bother you, but I need to ask you something… actually I need to ask
you two things.”

“Is everything
okay?”

“Everything is
better than okay,” Ben said, hardly being able to contain his joy.
“Can we please go somewhere private. I promise I won’t take up too
much of your time.”

“Yeah, sure,”
Kyle said, leading the way to the usual storage room. “What’s in
the backpack?”

“I’ll explain
later.”

They entered
the supply room like they had done previously and as soon as the
door closed, Ben began his inquiry.

“What’s your
favourite football team?” Ben asked.

“My favourite
football team?” Kyle repeated in confusion. “You came all the way
out here to ask me that?”

“Just answer
the question,” Ben insisted.