Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 39

The Diner was bustling with its usual morning crowd when Ian walked in. He was plenty early. He figured that seeing as how he suggested the place, he needed to be here for when the others arrived so that they would not feel like they arrived at the wrong spot. It was typically busy for the time of day. The two immigrant men were in their spot at the counter chatting away just like normal. The nurse was in to get her bagel and run. There seemed to be a steady flow of people grabbing coffee to go. The staff were jumping from customer to customer. It must be exhausting, but the fact that they were busy would likely mean that they were doing well financially.

He sat down in a booth, which was different for him. Usually, he and Dave would sit at the counter. But today, knowing there would be five, he took a booth. Oddly enough, this was the same booth where he and Kate had sat all those months ago. He started to think about her, but snapped himself out of it. He needed to focus.

He really liked the Diner. He never saw a place like it back home in Seattle. This was what he imagined a truck stop would be like, however, on a side street, next to a municipal park, off a boulevard, there were no trucks. But it was usually busy. A lot of locals would come here for the coffee, gossip and occasional breakfast. Even though it served a robust set of meals for lunch and supper, breakfast seemed to be the cornerstone of this business's customer base. During the week, it was the going to work crowd, then during the weekend it was the "I can't be bothered to cook" crowd. Ian felt right at home.

It was quite a bit older than he suspected most cosmopolitan suburbanites would tolerate. It looked like it was last fully remodelled in the 1970s, and had only been fixed up with several coats of paint, probably every five years, slathered one on top of the other. The countertop had its traditional Formica layer of veneer on top. But it was actual chairs, not swivel cushion seats as he had seen in films, that the customer sat on. There was room for 10 comfortably, but over along the far wall, beside the requisite two high chairs for babies, sat another two chairs to be used at a table, end of a booth, or squeezed in along the counter. Opposite those chairs, behind the counter, the wait staff worked their coffee percolators, fetched orders from the kitchen and generally carried on the local gossip. "Did you hear that they plan on tearing up the street? It will kill this business. The mayor just does not care." In the centre of the room sat eight tables, all square, with four chairs each. For whatever reason, salt and pepper shakers, and nothing else, sat on each table. Ian, knowing the American penchant for ketchup, wondered why the salt and pepper were left alone while ketchup was the one that was preferred. And along two of the walls of the diner sat seven booths. Nice red cushioned seats. The booths would seat four routinely, except the corner booth which, because it was in a corner, actually had seating along three sides of the table, allowing seating for five or six comfortably. And this is where Ian sat.

From this booth, he could see the counter, front door and all the tables. Only blind spot for him was all the booths.

He could see the server working her way around the tables. There were three that regularly worked here, and he knew them all. They were a Mom/Daughters team. Marcie, the Mom, ran the place, had a very quick, dry sense of humour, and was very friendly to everyone who walked in the door. Her daughters were both delightful to talk to. Not as sarcastic or witty as their Mom, but definitely ones who loved to gossip. Jen was married to one of the cooks in the back, Craig, and Ian would routinely find a little extra Craig special item on his plate when he would eat here. Her sister Jan was married to a public works fellow who ate here probably six days per week. Ian had met him before, and knew him as Ryan, but never really got to know him. Ian was frequently observing that Jen and Craig, Jan and Ryan, all got along well, very well in fact. He could see the genuine love and affection. He just knew that their families would be great.