“Yeah, Doug didn’t deserve that. I wasn’t thinking.”

“What happened when they took you into the vault?”

“There’s a small room with a table in it. That’s where a person takes their safety deposit box, where they can have some privacy. Then there’s another door to the actual boxes. He had me open that door, and then he went into the room for a minute. And then he brought me back to the storage room.”

“Why’d you keep pushing the robbers, asking them to let us go?”

A hand instinctively went to his stomach, and he lightly brushed his shirt. “You don’t have to point out that I was stupid. I’ve never been hit like that in my life. Honestly, in the seconds after that, I thought I was going to die. I couldn’t breathe.”

“You’ll have a bruise for quite a while.”

“Yeah. It hurts just touching it.”

“Well, you wisely kept your mouth shut after that.”

“For all the good it did me. They took me with them.” He had the burger halfway to his mouth, but he set it down then. “I really did wonder if I was going to die, and you know what’s funny? In that moment, I thought maybe I deserved it, because I realized how I’d put everyone at risk.”

“Nobody deserved to die. They had no right to do what they did. You shouldn’t have been in the situation at all.”

“I’ve never been in a bank robbery before.”

That didn’t surprise Jo, but she nodded for him to go on with his thought.

“Yeah. I graduated from college a year ago, and I’ve been working at the bank, trying to get some financial experience. Luckily, nothing like this ever happened.”

“What do you think those guys were after?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. They didn’t have enough time to get into all the boxes, that’s for sure. But I saw that duffel bag. It was pretty full.”

“Do you have access to accounts with safety deposit boxes?”

He shook his head. “I see names here and there of people with the boxes, but I don’t know specifically who they are.”

Jo sipped at her water. That would be good information, but she didn’t know how she would get it.

“Are there any well-known people who have accounts there, anybody that you can think of? Politicians, or some wealthy or famous person?”

He shook his head. “Some people have a lot of money, but I don’t know who they are.” He stared at his plate. “I wonder if the police think I might’ve been involved because of the way I acted. I tried to tell the detective it was just me being angry and stupid.” He looked toward the door. “Somebody had to tell the robbers about the bank, to give them intel. But it wasn’t me.”

“What about one of the other employees at the bank?”

He took a couple bites of his burger while he thought about that. “I don’t know. I haven’t been there that long. Doug’s worked there for years, and he’s a good guy. I can’t see him being a part of something like that.”

“And Ward?”

“I don’t know him. He stays in his office, and he doesn’t interact with us a whole lot.”

“Could he help with information?”

“I suppose.”

Something to think about, at least. Jo went on. “What about Sabrina?”

“I don’t know.”

She sensed something in the way he said it. “What?”

“I don’t like her that much. She’s never been that friendly to me.”

“Was she acting suspiciously this morning?”

More contemplation. “Maybe. She’s been edgy for a while now, sometimes snaps at me. I just chalked it up to her not really liking me.”

She pressed him. “Was she that way with just you, or with others?”

“I guess some of the others, too. I heard she had some trouble at home, broke up with her boyfriend or something. Maybe it was that.”

“Did you watch her when we were in the storage room?”

“She seemed pretty scared, don’t you think?”

“Yes.” She didn’t tell him about Sabrina’s steady pulse, how physiologically she didn’t act like someone who was terrified about what was happening around her. “What’s her last name?”

“Padilla.” He looked at her. “You’ll talk to her, too?”

She didn’t say anything to that. “Had you seen any of those men in the bank before?”

“The police asked me that, and no. I mean, obviously, we couldn’t see their faces, but I didn’t recognize any of their voices.”

“You’re sure?”

He nodded vigorously. “Yes.”

“What about the tellers?”

“Cameron’s fairly new, and Mandy’s been there about as long as me. I don’t think either one of them would’ve known enough to be able to help the robbers.”

“You know that, or you’re guessing?”

“I’m guessing.”

“How much do you know about either one?”

“Not much.” He laughed bitterly. “I wouldn’t make much of a detective. I don’t pay that much attention to what’s around me, it seems, and I don’t know much about people.”

“What about the two customers—Barbara and Darlene?”

“I don’t know either of them. Hadn’t seen them before.”