The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and elsewhere caused me,
as I’m sure it did many people, to think back to the attacks on our soil in
2001. We were in Las Vegas at the time. (I told how I heard about the event on an anniversary -- see posting “Nine
Eleven” of September 11, 2012).
We had taken quite a bit of cash to gamble with and were
lucky to bring a lot of it back with us. A week later after we finally got home (that’s a whole ‘nother story), I was counting
the money, preparatory to putting it back in the bank, when I came across what
I described at the time as “the weirdest thing.”
There was a $100 bill that had been stamped with your basic rubber
stamp, on the back, on the short edge – exactly where one would endorse a check.
It must somehow have gotten mixed in with some checks or something, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part
was what the stamp said:
DA AFGHANISTAN BANK, KABUL
By that time there were more details coming out about the
terrorists who flew the planes, and it was said they had spent time in Las
Vegas some days or weeks before the attacks. We debated about what, if anything,
to do about it, and finally I called the FBI.
The local number I found switched me to the FBI
office in Detroit. I felt kind of stupid, but the agent I talked to was very
nice. He asked where I got the bill, and
I couldn’t tell him, of course. I said
it could have come from any of the casinos in which I had played blackjack, at least fifteen of them.
He said there was no way to trace it if I couldn’t say
exactly where it came from, and I apologized for wasting his time, but it is of
note, I think, that during our brief conversation he said, “That’s really
interesting,” three times.
I agree. Very
interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment