“I’m gonna set it back and when the detective comes, he can just look at it again. I can only output it towards VHS though, as again this is a very crappy security console. This is the best that I can do, and I really wish that we had a more updated system with the latest and greatest, but we don’t. I am happy that there are still some good shots that were captured.”
The officer seems to understand, and isn’t at all bothered by the weak surveillance cameras. He along with Russell walk of the security camera room. Russell walks back into the lobby who notices a very obese man with spiked hair wearing a suit. The man quickly scans his head around the bank, then makes eye contact with Russell.
“Is this guy the manager, if he is then I need to speak with him. I have a lot to discuss and talk with him, and there are some things I have to go over with him.”
Russell extends his hand out for the detective to shake, however the detective simply looks at him in a rude manner, and does not acknowledge or reciprocate the handshake. Russell puts his hand back, and then introduces himself to the man.
“Yes, I am the bank manager. I’m Russell McCoy sir. If there is anything that you want for me to do, or need for me to do for you let me know. This is a very upsetting time, and me and my employees are very shaken over it, and it is extremely terrible sir.”
The detective gives Russell a dismissive look and walks past him. The detective for a minute looks around the bank, with Russell following behind him. The detective seems to be puzzled and confused, and has a lot of concerns which are plaguing his mind. The detective is going around many corners over the bank, and having peculiar looks on his face while he is doing it. He is not at all satisfied to the current state of the investigation and senses something is wrong. The detective then starts to angrily shout out his feelings out loud to everyone.
“First of all, I can already tell by looking this bank shouldn’t even be operating. With all due respect, I’m not surprised a robbery happened today.”
Russell immediately scrunches his face at the detective and harbors a lot of negative thoughts towards the detective’s comments. Russell knows that the “Sunset Credit Union”, wasn’t the best when it came to security and aesthetic, but it was still a bank that Russell was proud to be the manager of. Listening to the detective say that, almost gave Russell a frenzy of frustration and anger of having to deal with that. Russell continues to walk behind the detective as he is surveying the bank, from the results of the robbery. The detective continues ranting.
“Where is that branch manager at, because I have a bone to pick with him. These security cameras just by looking at them aren’t regulated, in addition to that, they aren’t positioned right at all. There should be a camera in front of every teller, there is not.”
Russell folds his arms together while listening to the detective’s qualms and gripes. He keeps his feelings to himself and doesn’t wish to respond or give into what he says. The detective continually finds more things to nitpick about the bank. He feels there are so many incorrect policy and regulation penalties that the bank is committing. The detective continues venting.
“Banks apart of the Los Angeles Federal Credit Union branches do not have to have safety glass over the tellers, but if there were safety partitions, it could prevent a lot of things from happening. Being that this bank is located in a metropolitan downtown area, there should be safety glass in front of the tellers. I can understand why there isn’t any, but just a thought.”
Although Russell was taking much of the gripes the detective was giving as being dismissive at this point, he did agree that because the tellers weren’t protected by glass, he at times did feel apprehensive on that. But according to Peter’s wishes, he felt customers felt more safe and homely at banks which didn’t have protective glass covering the tellers. In Peter’s mind, he felt that it would make the bank feel like a jail, and seem unattractive to patrons. The detective continued to add his opinions and commentary towards things in the bank he felt weren’t correct, while Russell was steadily listening in chagrin.
“The way this vault area is set up is also a big violation. It shouldn’t be constructed this way. There should be more security barriers around this vault foyer. This is beyond unacceptable and not even almost close to following current safety regulations.”
Russell kept quiet and continued to not reply to the detective, as he didn’t see the need to offer his own sentiments or responses. Russell was in agreement that there were certain things here and there with the bank that weren’t up to par, and needed to be improved and upgraded. For the most part however, Russell was very content with the way the bank ran and was comfortable to attend work. The behavior the detective is exhibiting is attacking Russell very much, but he is allowing him to have his opinions and concerns nevertheless. The detective shows more concern and worry on the state of affairs of the bank, and the ongoing investigation. He goes over to an officer and in a very loud tone, shows tense impatience and exclaims his feelings.
“Why isn’t the branch manager here yet? There is no official incident report yet filled, and the branch manager along with the bank manager here needs to notarize that a robbery did take place, so that it goes on record. It’s the law, and everything has to be done properly.”
The detective then shakes his head at the officer, and glances over at Russell for a few seconds, looking very agitated and displeased by his company. He then walks over by where Russell is standing, and asks a question strictly directed towards him.
“How long have you been working at this bank as a manager for? I need you to tell me that, because I want to know how experienced you are with this.”
Russell responds to him in a proper, polite, and formal manner.
“Sir, I’ll be honest, I’ve only been manager of this bank for a few months. I am quite new to this bank yes, but I do have experience. Having said that, my knowledge in banks is quite well. I used to work for “First National” across town before I came here.”
The detective is not pleased with Russell, and continues to show much disdain and an assumed disrespectful attitude towards him. The fact Russell admitted he’s new to being manager at this bank, didn’t sit well with the detective. After Russell mentioned that, the detective with a smug look on his face, walks away from him and inspects the bank more. Russell then decides to once again return to his seat in the lobby by Jesse, and sits down. While he is seated, he notices Yvette continuing to pack her things away. Russell begins to recollect the day, and get his thoughts situated. He feels very punished by the way the detective is treating him, and feels guilt and embarrassment over his position as assistant manager. Russell then looks outside the entrance of the bank again, and sees the barricades outside of the doors of the bank. He is very much enthralled over the storm of activity centered around the bank. While he is still sitting in the lobby leering outside into the area outside of the bank, his thoughts are interrupted when the detective walks over to where Russell is seated to talk to him. Russell stands up to listen to the words the detective wishes to tell him.
“I never introduced myself to you, for that I apologize. I am Detective Mike Henderson. I’ve been with the LAPD as a detective for many years, and I’m very knowledgeable on armed robbery investigations, and I’ve basically seen and witnessed it all.”
This time, the detective however does reach out his hand for a shake, and Russell returns the favor by shaking his hand. Russell reintroduces himself, and the both of them attempt to turn a new leaf into their relationship and their social actions. The detective explains to Russell that due to the hectic activity and poor investigation protocols, is the cause of the way he’s behaving. Detective Henderson is a thirty-five-year-old, police detective who’s a very chubby man. Like Russell, he is always wearing a tailored suit to work. The detective has spiked black hair, which he uses hair gel to make his hair styled in that from. Overall he’s a good detective with good intentions towards his work. However, generally he is serious and str
ict with his job. He continues to talk to Russell.
“I’m sorry if I’m prodding and making you uncomfortable, I am very frustrated right now that people aren’t doing things according to the law. The branch manager should have been here at this point, and I can’t believe how people are acting. Can you please show me the surveillance tapes? I don’t believe I had the chance to look at those yet.”
Russell agrees to let the detective into the surveillance room, but this time, he also allows Jesse and Yvette to view the whole ordeal on tape as well. He felt that they deserved to see the whole situation and how it evolved, being that they are all victims in the robbery. He directs each of them to the security room. Everyone watches the monitors and reviews the entire robbery, from every camera angle. Jesse and Yvette, being that this was their first time reviewing everything, are in shock and in much disbelief of how everything panned out. The detective is not happy or thrilled on the way the security tapes are managed, and considers it unprofessional in a sense. However, he feels it is acceptable enough to be taken into evidence, as most of the action is able to be seen by the cameras. The detective then offers his own take on how the events ran down, based on the security monitors.
“So it appears there were two robbers, and they had an interesting approach. One of the robbers stayed in the lobby to scare those on that side of the building. The other robber was the one who looted the money, went inside the vault, and killed two employees. The robber located in the lobby of the building ran, and is at large.”
Russell is then able to take the feed from the robbery into a VHS tape, and hands it over to Detective Henderson for evidence. Everyone in the room walk out after this. Jesse returns to the lobby, and Yvette returns to her desk. Russell walks behind Detective Henderson, who proceeds towards the entrance of the bank. He looks up and notices a strange peculiar looking van situated near the dry cleaners and deli of the strip mall. He wonders if that was the vehicle the robbers had used to get themselves to the bank. The detective then instructs the officers that are inside the bank, to go outside and check it out.
“I need you guys to investigate that van right now. I believe that’s their van; I have a good feeling that it is. There were keys recovered on the suspects corpse right? So go out there and diagnose the van, and see if it belongs to them.”
The officers sprint outside into the parking lot towards the van to investigate it. The detective’s assumptions were correct, and the van did indeed belong to the robbers. However, the van did not contain any identifying factors. The license plates and VIN plates were removed from the vehicle, and no registration information was inside the van. The only contents that were contained inside, were simply miscellany items. The detective later deduced the van was most likely scrapped and stolen, explaining why it was hard to identify who the vehicle belonged to. Detective Henderson then asked Russell to unlock the vault as a part of their investigation, and to explain the emergency vault system which Peter attempted to use. Russell opened the vault and inside contained the deceased robbers assault rifle, and both sacks of money which the robber had looted. The detective was able to match the gun which Russell found in the trash can, with the gun located in the vault. Both of the weapons matched, and belonged to each of the suspects. Russell also demonstrated how the vault uses an emergency shut in lock, which automatically alerts the police.
The detective then reveals that the police were actually notified from an anonymous 911 call from someone who was witnessing the robbery right as it happened in the parking lot, and that the vault alarm had no impact or any purpose in this particular case. The detective also redirects information on who the robber that was accosted by the police was, hoping to get information as to who his partner that ran was, based off that. He also confirmed that the robbery took place for a little over three minutes. Although according to Russell, it felt extremely longer than that, and he couldn’t understand how all of what happened did in just three minutes. The detective at this point continues to wait for the branch manager to arrive to officially close and wrap up the investigation at this time. The detective then makes a statement.
“I want to thank you all for your cooperation, I am truly sorry for the events that sadly took place. I’m waiting for the branch manager to attend, so we can continue with the proceedings. Again, I apologize for my initial attitude, and please disregard that and forgive me.”
Russell accepts and acknowledges his apology, and shakes the detective’s hand again. Russell then walks away from him, and meanders and roams himself inside of the lobby with his hands in his pants pockets. Observing an array of different things in the lobby, he notices Yvette retouching her makeup at her desk. Jesse is simply sitting in the lobby with his arms crossed. Russell then decides to yet again return to the lobby area and sit down near Jesse. Russell sits back in the chair with his head back, and closes his yes. A couple minutes later, Detective Henderson approaches Russell and Jesse. He gives each of them both a form and a pen.
“I almost forgot, I’m going to need you guys to fill out an incident statement. I gave the woman sitting over there one as well. Be honest and truthful, and explain as much as you know. I understand the robbers acted fast, and it’s possibly all a blur now, but try to record it all again.”
Russell and Jesse then start to write their events as to what happened. Russell peeks over at Jesse writing his form out of curiosity, yet quickly returns to minding his own business and continues to fill out his incident form. Russell was having difficulty refreshing his memory of the events. He really just wanted to leave all of that behind him, and not think about it again. He was struggling to write the graphic and gruesome details that happened. Russell is able to power through writing his incident form, and explains everything he is able to. The detective then reminds both he and Jesse to sign their names at the bottom of the incident form. The both of them give their forms to Detective Henderson, and he thanks them both and walks away.
Feeling tired and overworked, Russell returns to putting his head back in the seat, and closes his eyes, as if he were taking a nap. However, he is wide awake and simply resting his eyes. Jesse stares at Russell for a bit, but then gets up from the lobby and goes over to Yvette’s desk. Jesse then tries to talk to Yvette who is still putting her makeup on.
“Sweetheart, you okay? I wanted to check up on you girl. What’s up with you?”
Yvette puts her compact down and gives eye contact at Jesse in a disappointed, defeated and agitated manner. She is giving the same treatment that she gave to Russell, over to Jesse. By her tone and actions, she is making it very clear that she doesn’t wish to be bothered at this time, and she is under high stress at the moment. Russell being nosy, watches Jesse and Yvette talk and listens in on their conversation. Yvette snaps at Jesse, and exhibits some very harsh truths on the matter towards him, yet still being somewhat polite.
“Honey, leave me alone. I don’t hate you as much as I hate Russell, because unlike him, I can see you’re a free spirited person, and a more open minded person. Russell he’s very two faced and stuck up, and he’s an asshole. I believe most of this mess is his fault indirectly. But please leave me alone. I don’t want to talk right now Jesse. Okay hun?”
Jesse shows concern towards her, and wishes to speak more with her, yet decides to let it lie, and walks away from Yvette’s desk. He returns to his seat at the lobby by Russell, who laughs at him once he is seated. Jesse ignores Russell and doesn’t respond to his laugh. Jesse then pulls out a men’s fashion magazine out of his tote bag, and begins to skim through the pages. Russell peeks over at Jesse reading the magazine for a bit, but returns to resting his eyes.
About ten minutes later, Detective Henderson alerts for Russell. He has a big stack of papers in his hand, waving them in the air.
“Excuse me, can I talk to you once more for a few moments? We have some new interesting developments, that I just wanted to let you in on. It will only take a few moments”
Russell gets up an
d walks over to the detective in a private area of the bank so the both of them can talk. The detective informs him that he was just faxed some information by the state on some interesting details over the robbers. Detective Henderson explains this to Russell.
“I decided to send pictures of the van that belonged to the suspects in, I also sent the grainy surveillance video of the suspects to the state. It turns out, these guys have actually hit two banks upstate earlier today. Go figure, wow. Can you believe your bank was the third?”
After taking in this news, Russell was amazed that the police were able to gather all of that rather quickly, and put the puzzle pieces together. The detective also had some more papers that he was faxed, which had information on the identity of the deceased robber. He proceeds to show this to Russell.
“I also was able to find out the robber that was shot is named Scott Anderson. He’s thirty-three years old, and this guy has robbed at least ten banks that we have on account. He is serious business and a very dangerous man. Unfortunately, we don’t know who the other robber that ran away is, and we couldn’t find any ties as to connect them both.”
Russell thanks the detective for also explaining this information. Detective Henderson gives Russell the stack of papers that had the developing news on the robbery. Russell standing in the middle of the lobby, then calls Jesse and Yvette to come over where he is. He then allows the both of them to look at the papers Detective Henderson gave him minutes ago. Russell relays this to them.
“I was just given all of this, and I wanted to share it with the both of you. These guys robbed two other banks today. That is so crazy, and we were the third. This is also the robber that killed Peter and Jennifer. They don’t know who the other robber is, but this is one of the guys.”
Jesse and Yvette accept what he tells them, and are amazed at this information just as Russell was. The both of them after analyzing what Russell presented to them, however go back to what they were doing before. Yvette returns to her desk, and Jesse goes back to his seat in the lobby to read his magazine. Russell also directs himself back to his seat. He notices more and more officers leave the bank, and assuming the investigation is leading to a close.
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained Page 7