ican country at the time, making liaisons with that gov-19
ernment for a fruit concern in the Midwest. He knew the 20
plan before it was executed but did nothing to stop it.
21
“It was not my business,” he said.
22
“But could you have stopped it?” I asked.
23
“Not without killing every man, woman, and child in 24
this world,” he answered. “And it’s not really worth it, you 25
know. Saving lives.”
26
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
27 S
“I saved a man once,” he said. “He was a journalist in 28 R
the south of Africa. For the crime of writing against a
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The Man in My Basement
mineral conglomerate, he was framed, arrested, and sen-1
tenced to death. I went to him on behalf of his sister. She 2
worked in an office I kept in Rhodesia. She begged me to 3
help. I liked her a lot so I told her that he was doing what 4
he had to do, but she still begged me. I went to him and 5
told him what would happen after he died. How the rest 6
of his friends and his loved ones would suffer. When he 7
refused me I told him that I would have to give his sister’s 8
name to the army because she was working against them 9
too. All he had to do was agree to keep silent and the min-10
eral company would forget him and give him money to 11
migrate off the continent.”
12
“Did he agree?” I asked.
13
“Yes.”
14
“So you saved him.”
15
“He died from drink in Morocco in just two years. You 16
can’t save fools and you can’t save victims. That’s why I’ve 17
got this bubble in my head. It’s like every step is planned 18
from the beginning.”
19
Weeks passed. Every day I spent down in the basement 20
with my prisoner and my secret tape recorder. That’s how 21
I began to think of him. My prisoner. As long as he was in 22
that basement, I figured that the world was a little safer 23
place. I was also his confessor, the chronicler of his sins.
24
After hearing about hundreds of crimes, I decided to 25
ask about Bennet’s own past.
