Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 33

Ian rode as fast as he could to Dean's place. Unfortunately, Dean lived in the far east of the city, and Ian lived west of Downtown and the gas station was a bit further west from that. On the way he kept replaying his assessment in his head, and kept coming to the same conclusion that the Bulldog had... it was Dean.

He was also envisioning in his head how the conversation would go.

"Dean, get your jacket on, get out of here, the cops are coming for you." Then "What the hell were you thinking when you robbed the gas station?" And "Do you realise what position you have put me in?" That last one Ian had not yet decided whether it was for compromising him with the Benefactor or jeopardising his friendship with Dave.

His legs were burning like fire as he entered the rail yards area. He continued to pedal, with his lungs rasping for air, and his body rejecting any movement beyond what was necessary to maintain balance.

He had to slow to gather his bearings. He remembered a few landmarks to get to Dean's, but that was in a vehicle coming from Chinatown, and that was from a completely different direction. So, Ian had to pick out other landmarks and follow the main artery streets on his bike. At the same time, he was trying to call Dean on his cell, but got nowhere with his number. He got the number from Dave, who complained that Dean would never answer either. Finally, he recognised a street corner with a family owned pharmacy and strip mall as being one that was just two blocks from Dean's apartment.

As he approached Dean's building, he could see several police tactical vehicles approach. He was five minutes too late.

He rode his bike behind some bushes down the street from the apartment to watch. He needed to avoid being seen and taken down as part of Dean's circle of friends.

Ian was oddly entertained by the operation. He knew he should be horrified by the fact that Dean is being taken down, but it was like he was being drawn into a tornado, where he could do little to avoid it, but was more spellbound by the police actions.

The three tactical vehicles stopped on the street outside Dean's apartment. Another car, a station wagon, pulled up to the curb opposite Dean's building. Out of that vehicle climbed a police officer clad head to toe in black, who opened a door and brought out a huge German shepherd dog.

Out of the three tactical vehicles hopped a dozen police officers, all armed to the maximum. They ran without pausing to the front of Dean's building. The speed of deployment was impressive. Three officers ran around back and took positions on the corner of the building, while the remaining officers spaced themselves about the front door. One of the officers brought out a battering ram. With a rather violent swing, he crashed it against the door, amashing it in. Three others burst into the room, creating a lot of noise. Other officers entered the scene, including the two that were in the employ of the Benefactor, Smooshface and the Bulldog. There was a lot of yelling inside. Ian could not make out individual voices, only a lot of yelling. He heard one voice holler above others. It was a female voice, so it could only be the Bulldog. She was screaming that she was going to use the taser. He could also hear the real dog barking and growling, obviously aimed at containing a suspect.

The next thing Ian heard was an intense scream from whomever was being tased. It had been a matter of less than thirty seconds since the cops went in, and the Bulldog had already tased someone. That was brutal.

Ian hid himself even more, not wanting to even chance that the Bulldog and Smooshface, would recognise him.

The tactical unit arose from the building, carrying an unconscious person with them, bound at the wrists and ankles. It was not Dean. It looked like a middle aged east Asian man.

Right at that moment, among the bushes, that Ian realised that the cops have attacked the wrong apartment. Of course, Dean told him that he used the mail box for apartment one because he was paranoid of his ex's new beau. That made sense considering that the police actually hit apartment one, into which mailbox the Benefactor, or rather Courier, would be delivering the plain white envelopes. Dean, if he was actually home, was likely hiding out in apartment two. The police, specifically the Bulldog and Smooshface, going on the Benefactor's information, had taken down the wrong person.

Ian focussed his attention onto the two dirty cops. It seemed that Smooshface already knew that they had the wrong man. This would make things ugly down at the station. He conversed with the Bulldog in an obvious quiet conversation away from the others. They looked distressed, but they would not interfere with the wheels that were already in motion. This would be something that they would sort out at the station. Besides, the citizen they hit obviously needed medical attention. And at the moment, no one was giving it to him. Ian could not tell if he was even alive. The police did not seem to care. Ian had been called a terrorist often enough, the man's brown skin probably meant that he was not going to have a good night.

Ian noticed that Smooshface started to look around more and more at the various hiding spots around the building. Was he looking for where one could hide to spy on this operation? Or was he looking for Dean, to be hiding in plain sight? Despite the distance and bush covering him, Ian suddenly felt exposed. He waited until the two cops started looking the other way, then he started to walk his bike through a newly formed crowd, and away from Dean's apartment. Dean was safe for now, but he would have to be on his own from here on out.