Opportunity

I always tell the truth.

I have never told a lie.

Do you believe me? You should do. I am the most honest person that you will ever meet.

people ask me to do things, because they know I will get things done and they are always satisfied.

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They were wondering how the factory had burned down.

They asked why the fire brigade had not been called, as I was the night watcheman.

They said that I should have called them when I saw that the fire was out of control.

I told them I had been trying to put the fire out.

They said "On your own? Surely not. That is why we have the fire brigade"

I told them I tried to call but the phone was engaged each time that I tried, and I did try in between trying to deal with the fire. The problem is that calls from these landlines are not recorded in any way when they are not answered.

That meant I couldn't prove that I had called the fire brigade, but on the other hand, they couldn't prove that I hadn't tried.

It's a bit like when you argue with religious people about the non-existence of their god, they always come back with "Well you can't prove that God doesn't exist".

So we all looked at the factory, or rather the ashes that were all that were left of the building.

It hadn't helped with the delivery of petroleum, gas cylinders and paper that we had taken two days ago.

The place was potential inferno, and who knows maybe the investigators would find a rogue cigarette stub, cigarettes and inflammables and not a perfect mix.

They kept questioning me and I kept telling them the truth, my truth, and they could not find a way to discredit me even though they were desperate to do.

They said this was a definite insurance job (my boss was due to collect over a million, which would stave off his bankruptcy and gambling debts) so they kept grilling me saying that I must be incompetent or a liar.

If you tell the truth you never have to cover your tracks, so I was ok with their grilling, although they weren't, they just seemed to be getting more and more upset.

I had done everything I could to prevent the place from burning down, it just wasn't enough, in that I agreed with them, though I had done all that I could.

I asked if I could go home as I was tired, I had been there all night.

They had taken all my details, including my address and phone number, though obviously all the work records had gone up in smoke, so there was nothing about me left there.

I was told not to leave town as this would be investigated by the police and insurance company, and there would be more questions about what I had done to prevent the conflagration.

I was fine.

I just told the truth, it didn't matter whether they believed me or not. My boss vouched for me too and said that I was a loyal employee and had a spotless employment record, though that had gone up in flames now, so his word would have to do.

They let me go, so I walked home.

I got through the door, took off the coat and pulled the brown envelope from my pocket. I counted the two hundred fifty pound notes, the money was all there.

Ten thousand pounds was a great bonus for a night of not actually doing anything.