Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 24

The three of them dismounted at the side of the bank. Ian saw Lauren and Dean steel themselves, secure their masks completely and nod to one another. They burst through the door, Lauren leading. Ian remounted his bike and set it up at his departure location. He returned to the other bikes, grabbed Lauren's and did the same thing. As he grabbed Dean's bike, he could hear the commotion inside. Dean's voice was clear. Ian tried looking inside, but because it was much brighter outside, the inside of the bank was darker than the outside, so all he saw was his own reflection in the windows. He got Dean's bike into position, mounted his and waited for the others to flee the bank so he could block the traffic.

A minute passed. Ian, feeling tense, started urging the two of them onto task, under his breath. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Lauren crashed out of the bank door. She dropped her satchel, fiddled with something inside and then ran to her bike.

Ian, knowing that Dean was to burst out exactly three seconds after Lauren, rode out into traffic to block it. He managed to get the traffic blocked going in both directions. Lauren passed, but there was no sign of Dean. He waited. Lauren stopped on the far side of the street and waited.

"Where's Dean?" Ian hollered to Lauren.

"I don't know, he was right behind me" she bellowed right back.

Cars on both sides of the street started honking at Ian, making him want to just ride away. He must have been very suspicious in a mask outside a bank blocking traffic. No doubt there were a few 911 calls being made. Just as Ian was ready to turn around and find out what was holding Dean up, the tardy conspirator burst through the door. He turned the wrong direction looking for his bike, did an about turn, located his bike and with a disgusted cry, mounted and bolted across the street to get on it.

"What the hell took you so long?" screamed Ian as they got to the far curb.

"Things did not go so smoothly, pal."

"We'll have plenty of time to discuss this later, gentlemen." That was Lauren, getting to the point.

The three rode out of there with Ian in the lead. They made good progress, riding on adrenaline, up the street until the left-hand turn. Once there, Ian took a look behind him. Lauren was right on his tail, but Dean seemed to be having a bit of trouble. Not wanting to trust Lauren to lead the way, just yet, Ian decided to keep pressing, but keeping an eye on Dean as they went.

The next right had them riding on a gently curving street towards the north. They were making good time. Ian had not heard any sirens as of yet, but that did not mean they were clear of trouble, by any stretch.

The end of the curving street brought them to the campus of the girls school. The pathway that Ian had taken was as clear as if it was a ghost town. There, Ian turned around to see Dean struggling with the ride. He continued to press onward, hoping that, despite Dean's slowness, the rest of the route remained clear.

His expectations were shattered as soon as he saw the gates he had cut open. The gates remained chained open, but the students of the school took that as the executive order for them to park in the lane instead. He now needed to plan on the fly. He turned right, hoping that Lauren and Dean would be able to follow.

Racing down the sidewalk, he looked down towards the corner. There were about thirty people standing there waiting for the light to change. Fearing a massive collision, Ian started hollering for them to get out of the way. Oddly, this did more to make them block his route than clear the road.

Ian had to slam on the brakes. Lauren, right on his trail did likewise. Sneaking his bike through the pedestrians, Ian had a chance to see Dean finally catch up.