Fake Currency(Last Part)

(You can read first part of the story here)

But Mister Jackal was not the one to give up so easily. He said to Mister Clerk, “I am really sorry but I think I would have to use your washroom.”

Even before Mister Clerk could say anything he got up from his chair and hobbled towards the washroom.

“Poor fellow, he can’t even walk properly,” muttered Mister Clerk.

Mister Jackal quietly entered the washroom. The guard was washing his hands. Jackal hit him on his head with the butt of his pistol. The guard was taken by surprise. He collapsed on the floor. Jackal took his gun and locked the door from outside.  At this point Mister Hyena promptly locked the door of the bank from inside.

 “Please give the keys of the safe,” Mister Jackal said to bank manager. Bank manager was a timid, old fellow. Other two employees were young. But they were equally timid. Manager promptly gave him the keys. Mister Jackal opened the safe. It was full of currency notes. Mister Jackal started filling a bag with the cash. 

Mister Hyena abruptly caught hold of his friend’s hand. Mister Jackal glared at him in anger.

“These are all thousand rupees notes. We should not take these currency notes; they could be fake,” Mister Hyena muttered in his ear.

“What do you mean?” said Mister Jackal in anger.

“Other day when we had come to the bank, one of the clerks was telling a customer that some of the notes brought by him were fake.”

“Did the clerk accept the fake notes?”

“No.”

“If he did not accept the fake notes then there would be no fake notes in the bank.”

 “But we should not take a chance. Why don’t we ask the manager?”

Mister Jackal called the manager, “Are there any fake currency notes in your bank? Do you accept fake currency?”

“No, we don’t accept fake currency from customers. But this cash in the safe was sent by our main office. We have not checked these notes. There could be  fake notes in the safe,” said bank manager.

Mister Jackal and Mister Hyena looked at each other. Both of them were confused. Bank manager said, “Can I make a suggestion?”

For once Mister Jackal could not decide. Mister Hyena said, “What is it?”

“If you permit then I will call my main office. I will ask them to send some cash in hundred rupees and fifty rupees notes. There are no fake notes in those denominations. But you will have to promise that you will not harm any of us.”

“How much time will it take for the cash to arrive?” asked Jackal.

“If the cash is available it would be here in half an hour.”

Mister Jackal and Mister Hyena went into a huddle.

“What should we do?” asked Mister Jackal.

“We should accept his suggestion. We will take away all the cash; even the cash which is in the safe. If there are no fake notes in the safe it would be a win-win situation for us. And if there are some fake notes it would not matter.”

“It’s a brilliant idea. Why could not I think of it? Let us ask him to hurry.” Mister Jackal asked the bank manager to quickly call his main office, “If the cash is not here in thirty minutes I will kill one of your employees.”

Bank manager rang the main office and asked them to send five million in cash in hundred and fifty rupees notes.

They had to wait for exactly twenty eight minutes for the cash to arrive. Luckily for the robbers, and unluckily for bank employees, no customer came to the bank in that period.

When they heard a knock, manager opened the door. Outside there were two persons from the main branch with the cash. They were allowed to come in. The robbers were overjoyed. Both of them got busy stuffing the cash in the two bags that they had brought with them. They were so excited that they did not even notice Inspector Hardnose who had quietly entered the bank.  Inspector pointed his two revolvers at them; he was holding one in each hand.

“Will you please raise your hands?” he almost shouted at them. Both of them were stunned, for they had not seen the officer entering the bank.

They were carrying pistols. But their pistols were in their pockets. They knew that now they could not take out their pistols. The manager opened the washroom door. The guard came out. He was slightly injured. But he took his gun and took a position near the main door. The robbers were trapped.

“Well, Mister Robber, there are no fake currency notes in the safe. I lied to you. I wanted an opportunity to call the main office. The call told them that the bank was being robbed for I never call them for cash. I always send a written request. The main office informed the police. The persons who brought the cash are policemen.  There is no escape for you. You had almost robbed the bank. But your silly friend spoiled your game,” bank manager said to Mister Jackal.

Mister Jackal knew that what the manager was saying was right. He had been foolish to make Hyena his partner-in-crime. He was very angry with Mister Hyena; he just wanted to beat the hell out of him. But he knew that he could not do so; not with so many weapons trained at them.

Both the robbers were arrested and sent to jail. In the jail Mister Jackal did beat the hell out of Mister Hyena. That was the end of their partnership.

©i b arora

You may also like this story for children

An Empty Bottle

Mr Fox and Mr Hyena were thieves. But they were only petty thieves; they had never succeeded in stealing something valuable like a rare painting or a priceless diamond. They had never robbed a bank or a reputed store. No one in the underworld, therefore, respected them.

“I think our time has come,” said Mr Fox.

“How come?” asked Mr Hyena.  

“Mr Bear, who is the regular guard of Tiny’s Bank, has gone on leave. Mr Tiny has hired Mr Jackal as a temporary gap guard.”

“How does that help us?”

“No one in the bank knows that Mr Jackal loves to drink; in fact he loves to get drunk.’

“Well, I can see an opening there. We can offer him a free drink and he will let us rob the bank.”

Same day, at about 10 PM, Mr Fox and Mr Hyena were loitering near Tiny’s Bank. Mr Fox was holding a bottle of whisky in his hand. Mr Jackal looked at them with suspicion. He was alert and kept a close watch on them.

“Sir,do you have a lighter?” Mr Fox politely inquired of Mr Jackal.

“No. I don’t like to smoke when I am on duty,” he answered tersely. But his eyes were focused on the bottle that Mr Fox was holding. It was a whisky he had never tasted.

“You are great guy; I like you and thanks anyway,” Mr Fox could sense that it would be easy to trap Mr Jackal.

Next day same time the two thieves were again loafing near the bank. This time Mr Hyena was holding a bottle of whisky; and he made no pretence of hiding it. They cleverly engaged Mr Jackal in small talk.

“You drink whisky every day?” he could not resist asking them.

“Well, not every day; but we do love to drink when we are with our friends,” said Mr Fox.

“We can be friends too and a have drink when you are off duty,” said Mr Hyena.

Mr Fox and Mr Hyena did not come near the bank for next couple of nights. Mr Jackal had been eagerly waiting for them, for he wanted to befriend them.

Then, one night Mr Fox came but he was alone. He was carrying a bottle of whisky.  He looked a bit sad.

“What happened, why this long face?” asked Mr Jackal.

“My son is a good for nothing fellow; that is what I always thought. But he proved me wrong. He will become an Army officer. I thought I will have a drink with my friend and celebrate the success of my stupid son. I bought this expensive bottle of whisky too. But Mr Hyena has already left for Green Town on a business assignment. I am so disappointed. Today I can’t even celebrate and have a small drink, for my friend is not here to give me company,” said Mr Fox.

“It is really a great news and we must celebrate it. I will give you company. But mind you, I will have only one small drink,” said Mr Jackal.

 Mr Fox thanked him profusely. He had come prepared for the occasion. Each of them took a small drink. But Mr Fox was clever. He kept praising and flattering Mr Jackal, and he kept on pouring whisky in Mr Jackal’s glass. While Mr Fox drank a small quantity of whisky, Mr Jackal kept on drinking till the bottle was empty. Mr Jackal was eventually dead drunk.

Mr Hyena appeared on the scene; all the time he had been hiding nearby. They tied Mr Jackal’s hands and feet with a thick rope. They broke open the lock of the main door of the bank. Inside the bank there was a huge safe.  Mr Fox had brought the necessary tools to break open the safe. Now, Tiny’s Bank was actually a tiny bank and did not even have an alarm system. No one came to know that bank was being robbed.

Mr Fox and Mr Hyena stole all the cash that was in the safe. The whole operation did not take even ten minutes.

“Don’t leave any evidence, no foot prints, no finger prints,” cautioned Mr Hyena.

“Don’t you worry; police will find nothing that would lead them to us,” Mr Fox said arrogantly.

Before leaving the bank they untied the hands and feet of Mr Jackal who was sleeping like a log. They were excited for they had, for the first time, robbed a bank, even if it was a tiny bank. No one would make fun of them, they said to each other. They were no longer petty thieves; they were now bank robbers. 

Morning came and Mr Jackal woke up from his sleep.

“What a sound sleep I had after many nights,” Mr Jackal said to himself. But then he got a shock of his life. He was not in his home, enjoying his sleep in his cosy bed. He had been sleeping outside the bank. The door of the bank was open. Inside the bank, the safe was open and empty.

“The bank has been robbed. Those two crooks must have robbed the bank. It was foolish of me to drink while on duty. Mr Fox tricked me. What should I do now? Should I inform the manager? Should I call the police? I think I am in deep trouble; I think I should run away.” Mr Jackal cursed himself and took to his heels.

The bank manager arrived at his usual time. He too got a shock when he saw the bank door open. He immediately called the police. Police officer instructed him on telephone, “Do not touch anything, we have to collect evidence and take finger prints to nab the robbers.”

In minutes the police officers arrived. They promptly got busy looking for evidence.

“Can I talk to the bank guard?” asked the Senior Inspector.

“Our regular guard is on leave for last fifteen days. We had hired Mr Jackal as a temporary guard; but he is nowhere around,” replied the manager.

“Did you check his background before hiring him?”

“Well, I was just thinking of getting his background verified,” manager replied weakly.

“But you ought to have verified it before hiring him,” Inspector said harshly.

At that point of time a constable came and showed an empty bottle of whisky that he had found outside, near main door.

“Who in the bank is fond drinking such an expensive whisky?”

“No one in the bank can afford to buy this whisky. Someone must have left the bottle there,” manager said after inspecting the empty bottle.

“That someone could be a bank robber.” He asked one of the constables to check with all whisky shops in the town, “It could be well worth a try”.

By afternoon the police knew that Mr Fox had purchased that bottle of whisky.

“Well Mr Fox, you were not smart enough and you left behind evidence in the form of an empty bottle,” mumbled the Senior Inspector.

Now Mr Fox and Mr Hyena were very confident that they had not left any evidence in the bank; they did not think it necessary to go into hiding. Police were able to nab them without any difficulty.

“You have no evidence against us,” Mr Fox said arrogantly.

“We have this empty bottle of whisky; it has your finger prints.”

“That’s impossible, it cannot have my finger prints, I was wearing rubber gloves,” blurted Mr Fox. But no sooner had uttered these words he knew he had committed a blunder.

“You are right; it does not have your finger prints. I lied and now you have admitted your guilt,” said the police officer with a polite smile.

Mr Fox and Mr Hyena were sent to jail for five years. But they did become famous in the underworld. Didn't they?

© i b arora