He spun around and was in mid-stride when he stopped and said, “Cancel that. You”—he pointed at Bones—“jump in back with Red. This is an armed robbery in progress, so if you see any movement from those doors, I want you both to get down and stay down.” 

Bones nodded. The car had no cage separating the front from the back, so he just climbed over the seats and sat next to me. Together we watched Office Reilly approach the bank doors. As Reilly was about to go in, an elderly man in a jacket and tie with a fancy hat and briefcase came out. He politely nodded and carefully stepped out of the Officer Reilly’s way.

Office Reilly disappeared inside the bank, and the old man stood at the door for a moment, as if contemplating something, then he walked away with a slightly hurried shuffle. He was headed directly toward us, but then he turned suddenly and went around the back of the cruiser. 

Even though a bank robbery was going on only a couple hundred feet away, for some reason I couldn’t help staring at this old man who had a big grin on his face. I though he was going to keep on walking across the street, but all of the sudden, he pulled open the driver’s-side door and jumped into the seat with a surprising amount of agility for an old man.

He spun around and said, “Well, the Ridgewood Police Department starts ’em young. Are you boys in training?”

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