Chapter XXIV Steel fortress

After midnight

After Mindy left his office, the bank's business manager was concerned about what she could do to spoil the plan he had been planning since the time Mindy's father Thomas had left his properties in charge of the bank, he from that time on for his kind of adventurous profession, he had assumed that the sailor would never return. However, he had always had a feeling that his purpose might at some point be hampered by Thomas himself or by a twist of fate.

In order to entangle the possible actions that Mindy could take, he patiently waited for the bank to close, after midnight he went to his office to disappear the evidence that favored Mindy and his intentions to recover the investments of his father.

However, motivated by his obfuscation, he did not consider that all his movements would be recorded on the bank's security video channel.

(end 5 minutes)

When he entered his office now at night, in the bank alone with the dim surroundings and without employees, his concern for what he was doing made his hands tremble a little, on his forehead drops of sweat shone, not realizing those little details, he opened the door of his office, leaving it ajar so that he could easily get out of there when he finished what he had come to do. Going to the personal filing cabinet where the information of the Thomas case was kept, he extracted the corresponding folders, proceeding to review them, as the last sheet of each of the documents is where the signature of Thomas was recorded, he proceeded to replace it with unsigned sheets, even so his degree of ignorance did not lead him to think that the quality of the sheets had noticeable differences with respect to the sheets of the document that Thomas had signed at the time. Once the procedure of "cleaning" was finished, leaving everything in order as if he had not been there that night, leaving the bank through the bank's emergency door, activating the bank's security system again.

A police car that was on duty that night passed in front of the bank at the time the man was leaving the bank headquarters, so the attention lights went on. Calling his attention through a loudspeaker, he felt exposed, however, taking a deep breath, he let the police approach him, raised his arms as indicated they, and when the police light his face, he recognized him, they were friends, so he could lower my arms, despite this I ask him what he was doing leaving the bank building so late. Without hesitation, playing the innocent, he used a trivial excuse, so they said goodbye.

Police expertise

Considering the seriousness of the accusation that Mindy presented to the lawyer, they only will place the complaint with the police, so they went to the police station. There the duty officer took the data from them and gave them forms to fill in with all the information required for those cases. Once they completed it, the officer reviewed it to see if everything was in order and told them that the case would be presented to their boss and they would immediately start working to clarify the situation. Calmer now they left there heading to a nearby restaurant to eat sandwiches since they were both hungry.

A couple of days passed, while Mindy without responsibilities dedicated herself to sleeping overtime, in the afternoons she went to do exercises in the hotel gym in order to stay in shape, motivated to the displeasure that had presented her, she had not lose her hope that the police would put the bank's chargé d'affaires behind bars.

On the morning of the third day, while at the hotel restaurant, she rang her mobile phone, while answering the call, the lawyer's voice indicated the good news that the police had already advanced in the investigation, so that midmorning they would both have to go to the police station as a confrontation of questions was about to present itself.

The lawyer kindly passed by looking for Mindy, they traveled in their car to the city center that at that time had its streets collapsed by traffic, the lawyer honking his horn asked the other drivers to step aside, As some did not pay attention, surprisingly he used a siren similar to the one used by the police´ vehicles. Despite all these inconveniences, they arrived a little before the agreed time. Once they entered the duty officer gave them some identification cards and passed them to a room that had a separation glass on which on the other side a table and two chairs were displayed. The officer who accompanied them told them to sit down as they had to wait for the interrogation to take place in the adjoining room.

After five minutes of being there, and both a little bored with the environment, the lights of the neighboring room went on, passing three men, one of them was the bank's business manager, Mindy when seeing him was surprised since he noticed that the man, now he looked older and his tired and sad appearance denoted that he was no longer that hateful man who had fired her from his office that day.

The interrogation began and the police, with a bundle of papers with the evidences, began to unravel one by one the unknowns and assumptions. At the beginning of the interrogation, however, the defendant knew how to defend himself and gave the impression that he would pass that test by being acquitted, however, after about ten minutes and already a little relaxed, the police officer surprisingly showed him the accusatory evidence with which the bank's charge d'affaires could no longer defend himself. Now it only remained for him to pass the test for the polygraph that would finish unmasking his true personality as a criminal. After the procedure from which the police officer could no longer be released, he called one of his assistants to take the man handcuffed to the dungeon, from there the next step would be to bring the accused before the court in front of a judge and follow the required procedures, for his conviction.

Doomsday

After a week with everything ready, the news about the arrest of the charge d'affaires spread like wildfire around the island, the charge d'affaires of the bank being a man known by many people who knew him for his kindness in his treatment and the way he helps people, even many could not believe that the man was involved in the crimes of which he was being accused.

At the entrance to the court building, there were already reporters from the press and a television camera, at the moment the defendant got out of the police car, the reporter with the microphone in hand went to interview him, at that time other reporters did the same. The police that was driving him up the stairs were trying to cover his face with a towel, the flashes of the cameras flashed giving a touch of intrigue to the moment, until that moment an event of as much importance as the one that had been taking place had not occurred.

Already in the courtroom the people were located, the accused was brought into the courtroom through an auxiliary door, sitting handcuffed next to his defense attorney. Mindy for her part, being the accuser, was sitting next to her lawyer. The moment came when the Judge and the Jury entered and the trial began to unfold.

Despite the protocol that was being followed, the duration of the trial was relatively brief, after presenting the evidence and intervening the parties, the judge asked the jury to proceed to deliberate to decide the case, after about fifteen minutes, the jury finally give his votes. The judge finally read the sentence, which indicated a five-year sentence in the island jail. Hearing the verdict, the defendant shouted wildly that Mindy, being a foreigner, had no right to accuse him of anything. The judge ordered him to be silent and asked the police officers to immediately remove him from there.

Mindy and her lawyer did not fit of happiness, surpassed the first phase of his procedure to rescue the goods of his father. Mindy was wondering now what to do next.

So, in the courthouse, a handsome man approached them, when he presented himself, informed them that he was the main shareholder of the bank. He thanked Mindy for discovering the rotten apple that made life in his bank, so at that moment he said that he would put all his effort into recovering 100% of everything that his father Thomas had consigned years ago. in the bank.

Mindy with a relaxed smile thanked him for the gesture, said:

"Today the memory of my father has been rescued from the shipwreck since that unhappy man is now going to live his last days in a steel fortress"

Genetic study

In order to please Mindy, he then invited them to lunch, so the three boarded a limo leaving the city to eat in one of the most famous restaurants on the island. During the trip, remembering his old days as a tourist guide of the island, he narrated in detail the places where they were passing. Upon reaching the destination, there at that time a group of tourists was simultaneously getting off a bus who were taking pictures of the moment and then went to the main room of the restaurant where they had prepared a long table which was adorned with natural fruits.

Mindy along with her companions went to a large table at the back of the room, there more relaxed they continued talking about the news of what had happened and the anecdotes that Mindy was accumulating thanks to her stay on the island.

After they were served with the culinary specialties of the island, at the time of dessert, the guide of the group of tourists approached the table where they were, after greeting and talking with them, Mindy noticed that he had the same tone of Her father's voice, so at that moment she remembered that his name was Thomas and that he was the person who had received her the day she arrived on the island. He also recognized Mindy at the time so in addition to greeting her directly, he asked her if she was the daughter of the sailor named Thomas since he knew now that she came to the island to recover her father's inheritance. Nodding, she said:

"Yes I am"

Thomas then already clarified the matter, without regard said:

"Miss Mindy, it happens that we are brothers, since my father was the sailor Thomas"

Mindy was astonished to hear his words, as these words of hers confirmed what she had already suspected.

The lawyer and the shareholder of the bank as witnesses to what was confessed by that guide offered him to sit down and tell them more why he was talking about something so serious that until then no one had knowledge.

He agreed to sit down and told them his story. Mindy attentive to his words did not let out any detail. She already knew beforehand that her father had visited that island on many occasions when she was young before being finally separated from her and her mother. What he narrated to them had a lot of coincidence with what she knew about what was the life of her father that her mother constantly told her about.

After a time Thomas was silent, there the four looked at each other's faces as they had nothing more to say, at that time Mindy's lawyer because he knew the legal part of the people who claim an inheritance told them:

"Well, if it is the case that you are Mindy's blood brother, the next thing to do is verify it, subjecting them both to a genetic study to verify that they are indeed brothers"

Mindy, innocent of the fact, did not know that biomedical technology could help them determine the truth of Thomas' words. So reflecting aloud she said:

"What would be the procedure to follow?"

The bank's shareholder intervened and gave them his opinion:

"Given that we are dealing with the case of the legacy of the sailor Thomas, and our bank, on other occasions we have required the heirs to prove their affiliation through a genetic study, very necessary if they are brothers of different mothers, I for tomorrow Once I go to my office, I will find the address and telephone number of the laboratory that is in charge of these studies "

So now everyone agreed they finished eating the dessert and Thomas returned with the group of tourists he had come with.

(the story continues)

© 2020, Felix Garcia P. All rights reserved