Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 22

Early in the morning on the day of the heist, Ian found himself out of bed early and on his way to meet his partners. Ian thought that the heist gods must be smiling upon them. The weather was a brisk, clear autumn day. It was cool enough to not have them sweat except when exerting, but not so cold that they would look out of place riding bikes through the city. This was the perfect weather for a heist.

When Ian arrived to the Traveltel, Dean was sitting on the bed in his usual position. Lauren was also there waiting, sitting across the room watching the television. Nothing important was on, it seemed to be just something to draw the attention. The bikes were locked up in a bike rack outside the motel, and the van was in place. Ian had even found a piece of solid plywood to use as a ramp for the bikes to get in the van. Things were coming up roses.

Ian took up a position at the table, watching the television over Lauren's shoulder. Ian perceived that both she and Dean were excited, but nervous. Feeding off their energy, he sat in his own silence. He started going through his escape once again, in his head.

A voice brought him out of his reverie. Surprisingly, it was Dean who broke the ice. He opened with a sneering comment aimed at Ian for having to ride a bike, but he relented before both Ian and Lauren pointed out to him that there was no chance of slipping into another vehicle.

Silently, Ian and Dean sat there, eyes locked. Ian did not like Dean, but he could not hate him. The thought crossed his mind to ask how he had been roped into helping the Benefactor, but he thought against it. This was no time to try to bond. Their relationship had been set, at least until after the heist.

Lauren spoke up, speaking a bit faster than usual, likely due to excitement. She claimed that she had not taken her car, but had taken the bus. With her rather heavy satchel, it would have made for a challenging trip. However, she would not admit to needing help, she was here at the rendezvous at the Traveltel.

Ian noted to himself that both Dean and Lauren had both avoided talking about the heist. Interesting. A quick application of Ockham's Razor gave him two good options. First, they were truly nervous, feeling out of their league, not thinking they could do the job. Or second, they did not trust their partners, and felt a bit of risk in the operation. Given that Ian had some misgivings about Dean, he knew which one it was. He decided that he did not want to talk about the job either, but would out of the necessity to keep himself safe.

Ian, trying to instil confidence, looked at his watch and smiled to the others. He could tell it was not working. It was half past eleven. They had two and a half hours to hit the bank. It was a twenty-minute ride on the bikes. They had plenty of time.

"We've got plenty of time. I'm going to show you the van, and the bridge. This will take us to the bank via a longer way around, but you will be completely aware of the route."

"That sounds great" replied a smiling Lauren. Ian was sure that her smile reflected the fakeness of his.

Dean remained his usual silent self, but at least he had lost the scowl. With that, Ian led the way out to the parking lot, starting the van and heading south to cross the Oxbow River.

He drove them around at a leisurely pace to avoid suspicion. He covered the landmarks that they would see if they had to ride that route to avoid the police. The only disadvantage was that they were covering the route in reverse to the way they would be riding it while escaping.

They got to the bridge and to Ian's delight, the warning tape was still up, and Ian was able to indicate the bridge to the others. He was also able to tell them that once on the other side on the north of the Oxbow River, they would hang a left and ride for a few streets. From there, Ian continued down the road. They road east until they got to a bridge closer to downtown. There they crossed the Oxbow River, once again.

They drove to the location where the van would be parked. Ian wanted them to know exactly where it would be. He told them that the back would be unlocked, and they could put their bikes up in the van without difficulty.

Ian looked at his watch, it was quarter to one. "We had better head to the motel and prepare for the ride to the bank."

"Good", said Lauren. "I will have to take about fifteen minutes before we ride " she continued. "I need to prime my kits for operation."

Ian, having to prepare this van and then ride to the motel replied "No problem."

Ian drove up to the motel, dropped them off at the front with the keys to their bike locks. He then returned to the spot to park the van and set everything to go so they could disappear quickly.

He hoped against the winds that he was doing enough.