A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158o)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158o)

Hobie had been at lunch when the ‘excitement’ took place and when he tried to return found he couldn’t get back to the bank with his car. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being a little anxious as to what he’d done about “Polak Joe” and his meddling in the new account/gift campaign. The monumental traffic jam had caused him to retreat and head back home leaving me wondering. After finishing up with Jerry I was going to check on the progress of the clean up of the wreck and as I started across the lobby a cop walked in the front door. I stopped to ask if I could help and he asked if I was they guy who’d reported one of the women in the crash as being “impaired”. I told him it was me and he immediately asked if he could interview me… privately. The only real privacy was up in the Board room but Hobie wasn’t in his area so I pointed to it. I thought he was going to ask if I’d seen the accident happen. He didn’t.

With lo these many years to reflect on the situation I can still say it remains troublesome. He asked if I’d gotten into the woman’s car. I told him I had and just what I’d done, turning off the ignition. His next words were like a bolt of lightning had struck me… “Did you touch or take the woman’s purse?” Because the question was so unexpected I was shocked… and the expression on my face must’ve been read by the cop as one of guilt. The next thing I heard was “Please follow me.”

I told Bret that I was needed over at the police station to make a statement about the accident. I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen as we walked across the street. I was taken to a room right behind the front desk and I saw the cop I’d told about the woman being drunk. He didn’t waste any time and asked me just exactly what I’d done when I went into the woman’s car. It was easy to explain… I went to the passenger side door, opened it and reached over to the ignition switch and turned it off. The cop asked if I’d seen a handbag or purse on the seat and I told him that I hadn’t seen anything on the seat. He then asked if I said anything to the woman and I really hadn’t. I told him I saw there were other people that probably knew more about what to do than I did so just backed my way out of the car. Then he asked why I felt the woman was drunk. I think I might’ve laughed but, not trying to be a smart ass, told him the interior of the car smelled like a bar. He asked if I spoke to the woman and I hadn’t which led him to ask if she’d said anything. I told him I wasn’t sure because there were people gathering around who were yelling for help but I thought I’d heard her ask “What happened?”.

At this point I asked if I could leave and he said he needed more information. By then I was getting concerned. I was told to have a seat and after a while two different cops came in and asked for what I called a step by step description of what I’d seen and heard right from the beginning. Basically, I told them what I’ve written in the previous post. When I got to the part where the guy went to help the woman get out of her car they wanted to know if I knew who he was. I didn’t but they wanted to know if I could describe him. I didn’t want to admit that I’d concentrated on the woman so just told them he was average height and build. I wasn’t really sure. I told them the guy had helped her get into the bank building and then disappeared. I was again asked if I'd seen a purse and when I repeated that I hadn't the two cops had a brief, whispered conversation and told me they’d be in touch with me. Walking back to the bank I wasn’t sure where I stood with them. Even though they hadn’t come right out and accused me it appeared that I was being looked at as a thief.

Back inside the bank my thoughts were certainly not on banking. In spite of my earlier concern about “Polak Joe” and his meddling into the gift/promotion area I didn’t give it a thought. It was just about the time the doors closed (3pm) that Hobie re-appeared and headed right for me. He wanted to know what had happened that had closed down the street. I told him about the crash but not about my involvement and I still don’t know why. In any case, he told me the original gift/promotion program was still ‘on track’ but that I was to find a source for blankets and that the committee would still make the selection. Where that should’ve provided some relief for me it didn’t. The missing handbag/purse was still weighing on my mind.

Because of the havoc the accident caused (no ingress/egress to the parking lot) the mortgage committee meeting had been postponed to the following week. Bret knew I’d gone over to the police station so after Hobie left my desk he came over to ask if I learned anything about what was going to happen to the drunk lady. I wanted to tell him about my ‘grilling’ but, as far as I knew, no one else knew about the missing handbag/purse so kept my mouth shut about it. I didn’t want to talk any more about the whole thing and told him I didn’t feel well and headed for home.

Initially I wasn’t going to tell Elle about it but when I showed up way early she knew something was wrong. The fact that I pretty much ignored her by not even giving her a cursory feel of her panties she was all over me. It was my second ‘grilling’ for the day.

To be continued…