There he was, handcuffed, sitting in a chair in an interview room in my goddamned precinct. John Wilson Matthews, fabled billionaire, wearing the loveliest yellow suit you ever saw. \u00a0Hands actually still bloody from clubbing someone to death.\u00a0 Who could believe it?\u00a0 He had been brought in 10 minutes ago by some of the boys, and had been giggling the whole time.<\/p>\n
\u2014Mr. Matthews, I said, I’d like you to fill out this statement.<\/p>\n
His lawyer, a man named Bodins, sat at his side.\u00a0 The sort who always seems to be on the verge of smoking a cigar.<\/p>\n
Matthews laughed.\u00a0 He looked at Bodins who also began to laugh.\u00a0 What pals these guys were.<\/p>\n
I looked at my partner in disbelief.\u00a0 He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u2014You are in a very serious predicament, I said.\u00a0 I would advise you to cooperate.\u00a0 You are accused of murdering two young women with a hammer.<\/p>\n
Matthews laughed again.\u00a0 He whispered something in Bodins’ ear.<\/p>\n
Bodins drew himself up.<\/p>\n
\u2014Mr. Matthews would like to extend an offer to both of you.\u00a0 Although this will perhaps sound strange or unfamiliar, I advise you to keep an open mind.\u00a0 Mr. Matthews is, as you may know, in control of major industries in several countries.\u00a0 If you agree to help him leave this station house, he will move your families to one of the countries where he has great influence.\u00a0 There you will live in relative wealth and ease.\u00a0 You will never have to work again.\u00a0 All this will take place immediately upon our leaving this station house.\u00a0 It will be a reward for your service.\u00a0 From this point forward, you are no longer a member of the police force.\u00a0 You will immediately be in the employ of John Wilson Matthews, and gain all the privileges of that association.<\/p>\n
\u2014You realize this conversation is being recorded, I said.\u00a0 What kind of…<\/p>\n
Bodins turned to the camera.<\/p>\n
\u2014This offer stands for everyone who is watching the camera as well.\u00a0 Help us to remove John Wilson Matthews from police custody and you will be rewarded.\u00a0 If you are watching this, come to the room where he is being held, the fifth interview room on the second floor of Precinct 77.\u00a0 Anyone who does not cooperate in the escape of John Wilson Matthews is to be restrained or removed.<\/p>\n
\u2014Are you out of your mind?<\/p>\n
\u2014It is a good offer, a better one than you probably have ever had.\u00a0 Five minutes of work to assure your wife and child everything they could ever want.<\/p>\n
Matthews winked at Bodins.\u00a0 Bodins chuckled.<\/p>\n
\u2014At least take these handcuffs off him.<\/p>\n
\u2014Well.<\/p>\n
\u2014Let’s start with this, if you take those handcuffs off, I will give you one million dollars.<\/p>\n
\u2014No chance!<\/p>\n
I could hear my partner unhooking his key ring from his belt.<\/p>\n
A knocking came at the door.<\/p>\n
\u2014You see, said Bodins.\u00a0 They are here already.<\/p>\n
\u2014What?<\/p>\n
The door burst open.\u00a0 Two officers came in, men I knew.<\/p>\n
Bodins stood up.<\/p>\n
\u2014Handcuff key, he said.<\/p>\n
My partner handed him the key.<\/p>\n
\u2014Thank you, said Bodins, removing Matthews’ handcuffs.<\/p>\n
\u2014Take off your uniform, he told one of the officers.\u00a0 Matthews will use it to leave the station.<\/p>\n
The officer began to remove his uniform.<\/p>\n
I drew my service pistol and aimed it at Matthews.<\/p>\n
\u2014Easy, Jack, easy.<\/p>\n
A hand was on my shoulder.\u00a0 It was the on-duty captain.<\/p>\n
I felt relief — someone to help me.<\/p>\n
Suddenly he’d grabbed my hand and bent it back.\u00a0 My gun was on the floor.\u00a0 Two officers had me pinned down.<\/p>\n
I could see from out of the corner of my eye as Matthews put on the police uniform.\u00a0 He was smiling from ear to ear.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bodins was writing on a pad of paper the names of all the policemen.<\/p>\n
\u2014Forget your things, he was saying.\u00a0 Just bring your families to this address in 3 hours time.\u00a0 Yes, yes, this was an unfortunate situation.\u00a0 Somehow people became confused about who was who, but it’s all worked out now.\u00a0 It’s all worked out now.<\/p>\n
Matthews and Bodins laughed and laughed and the officers began to laugh too.\u00a0 Yes, they were all laughing like old friends.\u00a0 I was laughing too, face down on the floor, but laughing, I don’t know why.<\/p>\n
And then a marvelous thing happened.<\/p>\n
\u2014Oh, I forgive you, said John Wilson Matthews, coming over.\u00a0 I forgive you.\u00a0 Let him come along, Bodins.\u00a0 Let Jack come along!\u00a0 Put his name on the list!<\/p>\n
He drew me up to my feet and clapped me on the shoulders.\u00a0 The others all welcomed me back, clapping me on the shoulders too.<\/p>\n
Oh, he looked so fine in that police uniform.\u00a0 Just like a proper officer.\u00a0 Why hadn’t I seen it immediately?<\/p>\n
How grateful I felt!\u00a0 My heart opened like a door.<\/p>\n
\u2014Sir, I said.\u00a0 I’m your man.<\/p>\n
He took my arm, and we went off all together like a hunting party on some beautiful pastoral morning.<\/p>\n
There he was, handcuffed, sitting in a chair in an interview room in my goddamned precinct. John Wilson Matthews, fabled billionaire, wearing the loveliest yellow suit you ever saw. \u00a0Hands actually still bloody from clubbing someone to death.\u00a0 Who could believe it?\u00a0 He had been brought in 10 minutes ago by some of the boys, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[20],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Jypy-GK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10476,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650\/revisions\/10476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}