Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN IN THE WORN COAT
Twenty-three minutes earlier, Martha had entered the bank alone.
No driver waited outside.
No assistant carried her purse.
No expensive coat announced wealth.
She wore the same brown winter coat she had owned for twelve years.
The cuffs were frayed.
One button had been replaced with a darker one.
Her walking shoes were clean but old.
She approached Jessica’s counter and carefully placed three items on the polished surface.
Her driver’s license.
A certified cashier’s check for fifty thousand dollars.
A handwritten note containing the destination account number.
Jessica looked at the coat before she looked at the documents.
“What do you need?”
“I’d like to deposit this into the Robinson House Community Fund.”
Jessica glanced at the check.
Then at Martha.
Then back at the check.
“Where did you get this?”
Martha’s tired eyes sharpened slightly.
“It was issued to me.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Several customers nearby heard the tone and looked over.
Martha lowered her voice.
“I sold a small piece of property in Queens. This is part of the proceeds.”
Jessica picked up the check by one corner as though it might be dirty.
“People don’t normally walk into Midtown branches carrying fifty-thousand-dollar checks dressed like this.”
Martha looked down at her coat.
“Dressed like what?”
Jessica gave a restrained smile.
Daniel emerged from his glass office after noticing the growing line.
He was tall, well-groomed and visibly irritated.
“What is the problem?”
Jessica turned toward him.
“She’s trying to deposit a suspicious check.”
Martha said, “It is certified.”
Daniel glanced at it for less than two seconds.
Then he looked at Martha’s purse.
“Do you have an account here?”
“Yes.”
“Account balance?”
“I don’t discuss that in public.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You came into my branch with questionable documents and now you’re refusing basic verification.”
“I gave your employee my identification.”
He did not pick it up.
He looked only at her clothes.
“Ma’am, this bank is not a warming center.”
The people waiting behind Martha became uncomfortable.
But no one intervened.
Martha looked toward the security camera above the teller line.
Then back at Daniel.
“I asked for a deposit.”
May you like
Daniel pointed toward the entrance.
“And I’m asking you to leave.”
