The Accidental Heist

I had thought that yesterday had been an unbridled success. I had finally had success with the TTS (Transmitter Teleportation System) shortly after turning it on. Given that I am going to have to make a few adjustments, but I can always sit down and peruse my little black notebook that is currently sitting on my worktable, jam-packed with the different theorems and formulas that I had worked out to develop the system so far; trying to work out the kinks in the technology. But to finally be able to use the TTS to move objects between locations while maintaining their physical structure and integrity is remarkable. Next step, transporting living things.

I had expected it to work to some degree, just not so unbelievably well. After I flipped the master power switch, imagine my surprise when my eyes adjusted after the bright flash of light and focused on the large pile of cash that had appeared on the TTS port pad in front of me. As the shock washed away from me, my thoughts began to race.

Was this money real? Did I just create this from thin air? After a brief inspection, I determined that it was, in fact, real. However, creating it did not seem likely. Which is when I had thought to check the coordinates.

Comparing my math to the charts on my worktable, I had easily found the issue. I had it set up to pull from somewhere a couple of blocks away. It must have defaulted there. I had decided to figure out what my next action would be after I had gotten a little sleep. This whole matter was just too much. And frankly, I had kind of thought that it was already a dream. That was the most restless night of sleep that I had ever had.

It was not until this morning that the mystery had been solved.

I had woken up just a bit before 7:00 this morning. While I started brewing coffee to get my brain kick-started, I flipped the television on to serve more as background noise than anything. When I had heard the top story of the hour, I had just about dropped the coffee cup from my hand and whipped around. The news now had my full attention.

The news correspondent sat at his desk above a marquee that was ticking off other stories, most of which would be covered later in the newscast. As he spoke professionally, he faced directly at the camara, but that was not what got my attention. It was what he had said. He was reporting on an alleged bank robbery that bared no clues.

“The Middleton Bank was mysteriously robbed last night,” the newscaster started, “However, the police seem to have absolutely no leads as of right now.” The camara cut to a shot of two frustrated-looking police officers that were combing the inside of a bank vault that was wrapped with yellow police tape, one that I knew from experience was located only two blocks away from where I was at.

God, I thought to myself, who could I have been so foolish? Why hadn’t I questioned the source of the surprise cash last night when it had happened? I had no desire to be labeled as a felon for the rest of my life, so with shaky hands I did the only thing that I could think to do. I picked up the phone and dialed the police.

And that is where I am right now.

The phone only rang twice before an operator scooped up the connection. After five long minutes of persistent urging and persuading on my end, she finally forwarded my call to the chief of police. I could not contain the slight quiver in my voice as I described the last twelve hours in detail to the police chief. Who patiently listened to the story, only interrupting once to get me back on track when I started rambling on about the science behind my breakthrough. When I finally finished, there was a long pause on her end of the line before she could find the words that she was looking for.

“Let me get this straight,” she started slowly, “The money wasn’t stolen, but it was taken, accidentally, due to your tinkering around two blocks away by plucking it out of thin air with the building being locked up tight and the vault door being shut, sealed, and secured, completely bypassing all security measures that the bank had put in place. Then you managed to somehow have the cash set almost literally at your feet. And all of this was just some accident?” She made sure to stress this last word.

I could practically feel her skepticism radiating from the earpiece of the phone, causing my face to begin to flush. The entire scenario was beyond believable; in fact, it was somewhat embarrassing. I drew a deep breath to regain control and let it out slowly. “So,” I finally exclaimed, “what’s my move?” I was asking the chief just as much as I was asking myself.

I started hearing a siren off in the distance that sharply increased my heartbeat while the chief responded. “Now we check out your story. I am sending a squad car now. If you resist, I will personally guarantee we make an arrest, and you will do time. But if you cooperate and everything checks out, I’ll do everything in my power to work with you.”

Once I was off the phone, I began to shake and tremble. Images of prison began playing through my head as I listened to the sirens getting closer until the squad car was just outside. A wave of nausea washed over me as I let the officers in. Here we go, I thought to myself.

I offered them a seat and they began their barrage of cursory questions. While I explained everything for a second time, I was interrupted by a knock at the door that announced the arrival of the police chief. I made sure to hand over every bill that had appeared last night, still packaged and arranged as they had been when they had appeared and answered every question that they asked as honestly as I could while the chief looked over a thin file that had turned out to be my record. At least it was supposed to be if I had ever had a record. But I have had no priors, not even a speeding ticket.

The rest of the interview became a blur. I responded when asked to, but that was all. At some point I was handcuffed and led to the back of a police cruiser. They then took me to what I could only imagine was a jailhouse and escorted me to a small interrogation room. It looked just like the interrogation rooms that are seen in all those cop shows; one-way mirror and all.

The rest of the visit could have lasted any amount of time because I had lost all track of it, despite the plain-looking face clock that was hanging from the wall. At the end, I signed several documents (you would think that I would have tried to read them, but I was in an almost hypnotic stupor) and the police chief personally escorted me from the room.

I was surprised when she had walked me outside, where I could clearly see that it was not a jailhouse at all, but the local police station. I fought to gather my wits about me for a moment and then faced the chief.

“So, what now?” I started to question. I was almost afraid of the answer, but at the same time I was intrigued by the fact that we were now outside, and it was just me and the chief. A slight crooked smile formed on her face as she began to speak.

“You have no priors,” she said while watching me from over her horn-rimmed glasses. “That and the fact that you returned the cash without demand or request and you have appeared to have been 100% honest with us when we asked anything. I suppose you could just be playing us, but I certainly don’t think so. You’re free to go,” as she swept her hand out to the side, palm up in a friendly gesture. With that, the police chief spun on her heel and started back towards the station a few steps before stopping once more.

She turned back to me with a sly grin. “And if I were you,” she began, clearly enjoying the fact that I was squirming in her crosshairs, “I would double check all of your calculations before hitting that on button next time.” Then with a wink and a flash of teeth, she continued back into the station, leaving me dumbfounded on the sidewalk with a single thought.

Time for the next step.