Mary: "Mr. Snyder? Your brother Bellie said-"
Roland: "You must be the young lady from the diner. Come in, come in! Don't look so spooked, Bellie called and told me to expect a visitor. I'm Roland."
Mary: "Mary McMally. Thank you for seeing me."
Roland: "The pleasure's all mine. My wife Cecelia is in the kitchen getting us some coffee going. We can talk in the living room."

Mary smiled, genuinely touched by Roland Snyder's open and friendly nature. She sat down on a well-used couch, slowly taking in her surroundings. There was nothing unusual about the house or its occupants- the décor seemed to be what she always thought of as 'typical old person'.

Roland: "Bellie tells me you're interested in learning more about one Mr. Andrew Stone. Any particular reason you want to go digging around in his past?"

Mary felt oddly compelled to be upfront and honest with the man seated across from her. Something in his eyes and the tone of his voice told her that, while he may receive an annual Christmas card from him, he didn't trust Stone anymore than she did.

Mary: "He's involved with my best friend, and to be honest I don't trust him. I just want to find out if I'm certifiable, I guess."
Roland: "Not many people would find Andrew untrustworthy. Did he do something to you personally?"
Mary: "In a round about way. It's complicated."
Roland: "It always is with him. The more complicated, the more he gets out of it. He always liked a challenge."

A stout woman walked into the room then carrying a tray with various assorted cookies and donuts, along with two cups of steaming coffee. She moved slowly and precisely, the walk of someone who didn't want to make a fool of themselves by tossing snack items into a stranger's lap.

Cecelia: "I'll just drop these off and get out of your hair. Talk of Andrew Stone always puts me in a foul mood and I just don't want to go there today."
Mary: "You and I both, Mrs. Snyder."
Cecelia: "I trust you have your reasons for digging up his past, and I'll leave you to them. Roland, I'll be out in the front garden if you need me for anything."
Roland: "Of course, dear."

Roland: "So what do you want to know about him?"
Mary: "Anything you're willing to tell me, really. I couldn't find anything about him before 1992, and Bellie told me why that was. Other than the fact that he worked with you and your wife in 1985, I don't know much of anything apart from some lucky tech investments."

Mary watched as Roland absentmindedly rubbed below his left collarbone, his eyes distant in thought.

Roland: "I'm sure Bellie told you Andrew saved my life. But what I've never told anyone other than Cecelia is that, while I was laying there on the ground, I could swear he purposefully tried to let me die."
Mary: "What makes you say that, Mr. Snyder?"

Mary waited while Roland took a deep breath, seeming to weigh out whether or not he should continue. Finally, after a few seconds, he continued.

Roland: "I don't remember a lot about that night, but there are certain things that are burned into mind forever. He was leaning over me, trying to control the bleeding before the medics arrived, then he just stopped."
Mary: "Stopped?"
Roland: "Stopped putting pressure on my shoulder and just stared at me- it was the scariest thing I've ever seen. Hell it was scarier than being shot in the first place. When he heard or saw the ambulance arrive, he quickly went back to doing what he was told."

Roland: "I remember it so clearly because it was the first time I saw a spark of any kind in that kid's eyes. Before that night, he'd always had this sort of… dead feeling about him. It was after that night we noticed him starting to change."
Mary: "How so?"
Roland: "He started to interact with people, you could almost see him trying to manipulate them. I can't really explain how, he just seemed to know exactly what to say to people to get exactly what he wanted out of them without them even realizing it. I still don't know how much he played us, I'd really rather not think about it."

Roland: "He worked with us for quite a few years, actually. He was kicked out of school not long after the robbery. The principal wanted him to see a psychiatrist, but he would have nothing to do with the man after that night. The school didn't want to deal with a kid with his kind of needs, so they expelled him for the first thing they could come up with. We were good friends with his foster parents, God rest their souls, they did everything they could but the system won in the end."

Roland paused, taking a long sip of coffee and looking blankly into the distance. Mary could almost see thoughts flickering across the man's face as old memories were dusted off to present to a complete stranger. Finally, after a few moments of quiet reflection, he took a deep breath and continued.

Roland: "At any rate, he started going to night school after that- this would be from around late 1985 'til 1987. Got himself into college, even. We didn't see much of him during the semesters since he was going up to UW in Seattle, but we did let him keep working for us over some of the longer breaks like Christmas and summer."

Roland: "He seemed genuinely happy during that time- he was on the dean's list, making friends, dating -everything seemed to be turning around for him. But something happened right before he was due to graduate, changed him into the man you know. I'll never forget the conversation we had that night…"