Path of punishment

The cashier was what one would call a good Samaritan and he had encountered his fair share of criminals to be able to recognize suspicious behaviour. He testified that Harold's actions fit his criteria for said behaviour and it made the man zero in on Harold's face, instead of the distant memory Harold would have become if he hadn't been asking all these questions. The zeroing in, caused the man to remember having seen Harold before and that is when a fragment of the news came to mind. All of a sudden it clicked for him and he realized he had been right in thinking that the man before him was suspicious. So, before he began to put on an act of his own, he pressed the emergency button underneath the counter. An emergency button is usually installed to alert the police in case of a robbery without triggering the alarm in the store. This case was no different but today would be the first time that the button would be used to have a different type of criminal arrested. One ever so slick and a lot more dangerous.

Once he knew that officers would be on their way, the good Samaritan became the chattiest person you will every meet. He laughed, made jokes and mirrored Harold's earlier behaviour with the addition of telling him all kinds of tales about the things that Harold would be passing on the way to one of the 'wonderful' hotels he had recommended. While he had indeed given him directions to hotels nearby and just across the border, these hotels were far from recommendable. In fact he had directed him towards those that were known as the worst of the worst.

As for the rest, it was simply testing his patience while keeping him busy. The cashier and Samaritan wanted to see how long Harold could keep up his act of the enthusiastic tourist and how dedicated he was to the part. Although the cashier knew for a fact that Harold would not be interested in what places he should visit and what sights to see during his travels across the border, as a supposed tourist, he would have to fake it. Any tourist would be interested in all the sight-seeing that was available for him, especially those recommended to him by a local and those that are free. So, walking away in the middle of his story, would make his earlier act be for nothing. Forcing Harold to keep playing along for the time being.

Although Harold did finally snap, by then it was already too late for him to escape as cops had surrounded the station and his car. He glared at the cashier, who had been distracting him like the good Samaritan that he was, and said in an angrily voice, "You! It was you, wasn't it!?!". As he said these words he was approaching the man with a raised index finger, but the man quickly hid away and locked himself behind the register booth. Harold tried to force his way through that door, in order to at least get some vindication for the betrayal he felt, and when he didn't succeed in that, he redirected his anger towards the merchandise in the store. While shouting, he threw whatever he could land his hands on and threw it to the ground.

Entire shelves were pulled down and as the officers were using megaphones to tell Harold to surrender and step outside calmly, he went for the dramatic finish. He grabbed the heaviest things he could get his hands on, which happened to be some canned goods, and he began to throw them with full force at the glass that the cashier had sought refuge behind. It was the glass which separated the counter, holding the register, from the rest of the store. Fortunately for the cashier, who had chosen his hiding spot well, the glass was bulletproof and wasn't easily broken. The cans that Harold had thrown out of anger, hadn't so much as caused a scratch on the glass, much less break it.

Since Harold had not obliged with the officers' request to surrender himself and come out, they had decided to enter the store to get him out themselves. With Harold's little rebellion, they had found enough time to observe the situation inside the store and had seen that there was nobody visibly inside but him, meaning that them entering the store would not put any civilians in danger. Under gun-point the officers then put Harold under arrest and brought him to the station, cuffed and angry.

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Currently Harold was meeting with his attorney, who, according to the police report, had been requested immediately upon entry and was scheduled to come in at the earliest opportunity. At this police station, this meant at around 7:30 AM. Having gotten a clear picture of what had gone down yesterday, Noah was pleased with how Harold's path of punishment had begun. Although he would have liked to have landed a blow on him himself before turning him in to authorities, this was probably for the best in terms of how the rest of this process would go. It was best not to give Harold any ammunition to fire back at him with. So, for now Noah took pleasure in the anger the cashier had caused Harold as he saw any chance to escape disappear before his very eyes.