Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 40

Ian, Moussa and Lauren were hiding in plain sight. They had taken up seats on the bus stop bench outside the Great Plains Metropolitan Hospital where Dean was. Ian, trying to act calm, had put on an iPod he borrowed from Dave. Listening to the soft, soothing music of Feist. A little Mushaboom was enough to calm him down while at the same time motivating him to carry out the tasks.

Lauren, who was acting considerably more nervously than she was before the heist, was talking on her cell phone. She was in communications with Bill, who had tapped into the security system. She did not feel comfortable talking over the Bluetooth headsets Bill provided, but she said that when they went in, she would wear hers. Bill would let Lauren know when it was safe to get into the hospital. There were no cameras tied into their security system, probably having to do with privacy issues, but there were the usual alarms and direct security lines. Bill had done his computer networking magic and managed to sneak into their network. Apparently, the only problem was the risk of someone trying to "ping" the network when he was there. They would get a nil response, which was not unusual. It just usually required someone to reinitiate a communications link. This would provide either a broken connection, or another nil response, which was not normal, and would indicate that the system was either broken, or compromised. Ian had no idea what that all meant. He just knew that Bill knew his stuff. The end result, regardless was that they had to be quick in the hospital, and get Dean out with a minimum of delay.

Ian went over the plan in his head. Rab was getting a vehicle and pulling up to the cargo delivery doors to the rear of the building. Rab was on the Bluetooth through his phone as well. Once Bill had blocked the security calls out of the building, he would let Lauren know. The three of them would enter the building. Lauren would grab an elevator and bring it to the floor Dean was held on. On the elevator, Ian and Moussa would quickly put on hospital scrubs while Lauren would act like a cop. Lauren would "authorise" the final move of Dean. Ian and Moussa would go to the room. Moussa would subdue any security resistance that was in the room, namely if Smooshface or the Bulldog were there. Ian would go in, grab Dean, and get him to the hall. He hoped there was a wheel chair, but if necessary, he would just get Dean to walk. At that point, Moussa, Dean and Ian would make their way to the elevator. Lauren would already be back at the elevator to hold it. They would take the elevator to the floor with the cargo door, exit that building there and jump in the van. Rab would then get them out of the area quickly. Once out of the area, but before they got out of range, Bill would be notified to clear the blocks and erase any evidence of his virtual presence.

The plan was so clear and simple that everyone could understand it without extensive rehashing. All that remained was to determine where Deans was, what floor the cargo door was on, and how much security was at the room. They had Dean's room number, but even the great Bill could not get accurate enough floor plans to find out physically where the room was.

The Bluetooth crackled. "Dean's on the fourth floor, not the fifth floor. He was moved earlier today to a different room. By the way, guess what room."

The answer was obvious. Ian responded, "Let me guess, room 468?"

"Nope" came Bill's chuckling response. "Room 4F-8. I thought I'd break the tension a bit. I'll have the river dammed in about five minutes." River was Bill's code word for security. He seemed to relish this spy business. "You might as well move on in. By the time you get there, I'll have the river completely blocked."

Rab called in on the Bluetooth. "I've got the van and I'm in the rear parking lot. Once I hear that you are on your way out, I'll pull in by the cargo doors. Looks like it is ground floor, but in the back."

Ian was satisfied. The only thing that was not known was exactly the amount of security surrounding Dean.

The three got up off the bench and headed towards the building. They looked around and saw that no one was paying any attention to them. This did not make Ian feel like he was not in peril. He remembered when he was going to the Midcontinental Hotel and the fact that he felt like he had avoided all surveillance, only to find out that he had actually walked right into a trap.

Crossing the street, he realised just how conspicuous they looked. Ian and Moussa, both visible minorities in this white bread town flanking a woman who was dressed for business carrying a small suitcase, while the men were wearing sweats, carrying nothing. Ian thought about putting some space between the men and Lauren, but realised that no one was really paying attention, so let it go.

They got to the front step. Moussa started climbing the stairs two at a time. He got to the door, and opened it for the other two. Ian took a good look at him, and Moussa, too, seemed to be enjoying himself in this spy game. Bill and Moussa were seemingly having a good time. Was Ian missing something?

Once inside, Ian and Moussa looked around the foyer of the hospital and spotted the stairs. This was going to be their way to manoeuvre around the hospital if things went pear shaped. Lauren broke off and headed to the elevator.

Ian took the hint and started to follow Lauren to the elevator. He wanted to show the same enthusiasm for the game that Moussa was showing. They briskly walked up to the double door and pushed the elevator. Once the door closed, Ian and Moussa ripped off their sweats and shoved them in Lauren's suitcase. They then pushed the button for number four and silently counted the floors. The only sound they heard was Bill, who seemed to be talking to a cat. Not unsurprising in the least, but not fully welcome, either.

The doors slid open onto fourth floor corridor and Ian moved to step out. Ian stopped in his tracks and both Lauren and Moussa crashed into him. Smooshface was sitting in the corridor, not forty feet from where the elevator opened up. It did not take Ian too long to guess which room he was guarding.

He grabbed his two partners and pushed them back into the elevator and pushed for the seventh floor.

"What are you doing?" asked Moussa. He had obviously not seen the cop in the corridor.

"Friggin' Smooshface is sitting out there. He won't let us get anywhere near Dean without arresting us."

"Cripes! How are we going to get Dean?" Moussa's face was all concern. It was not like he and Ian would go unnoticed.

"Good question, let me think."

Lauren piped in reminding them that "Rab and Bill are waiting for us."

"I know. How are we going to let them know how dire our situation is?"

"I'll tell you what." Moussa seemed like he was on to something. " Lauren, let the others know by the Bluetooth. And I'll find out what the situation is with the cops."

"How? Do you have any special information that we know?"

"No, but I have an idea. Wait here for me."

Not being satisfied with standing in an elevator off of a corridor with a cop just feet away from him. He and Lauren followed Moussa to the stairwell. They went down to the third floor, and exited. They moved to the elevator and pushed the button. It was useless. Someone was very likely using the elevator somewhere.

Moussa, who seemed to be taking the lead here. "We should split up and move off to the bus stop again. There we can meet up and come up with a new plan."

Ian agreed. "Good idea." He then headed to the opposite end of the building. He found another stairwell. He entered and headed down to the ground floor. He got into the corridor and headed back towards the exit. He turned the first corridor and then heard Lauren come over the Bluetooth explaining the situation to Rab and Bill.

"What the hell is taking you so long?" Rab was undoubtedly nervous, feeling conspicuous in his van.

"Stop it, we have a problem."

"What can it be?" The sarcasm was clear over the headset.

"The male cop is sitting in the hallway. He is guarding Dean. We won't be able to get him away long enough to get Dean out."

"Christ." Rab's emotion came out in that single syllable. "What do we do?"

"We are on our way back outside. We are going to meet at the bus stop across from the hospital. There we will then come up with a new plan of action."

Lauren's voice stopped on the Bluetooth, and Ian was glad that she broadcast the situation. He was certain that if he had said it, either Bill or Rab would have protested. Ian pressed the bar on the door to the outside and felt the warm fresh air hit him. He knew it was going to be an interesting next hour trying to get Dean out.