Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 53

"Mr. Gillies. My name is Ian. I want to talk to you about something." He was talking loudly, trying to make sure he was heard through the window.

"You'll get nothing from me. I'll call the police! You'll rot in hell before I tell you anything."

It immediately dawned upon Ian. If he was victim to industrial espionage, then he must suspect by default that the gang here wants to steal secrets by kidnapping him. He needed to change tack.

"No, Mr. Gillies. You have us wrong. We don't want anything from you. We want to help you get what was stolen from your safety deposit box last autumn back to you."

Gillies' expression instantly changed. His eyes went from stress and borderline panic to an inquisitive mode.

"You can do what?"

Breakthrough. "We are here to help you. If you want us to."

Gillies cracked his window. "What can you do for me?"

"I think we need to talk, and not on the boulevard."

"Where do we talk?"

"Can you move ahead to the library? Pull in to the parking lot. We'll talk there and I'll explain everything." Ian held Gillies' gaze for a few seconds. Gillies broke his gaze and nodded. Ian then turned, moved to jump into Rab's car but flashed a quick thumbs up to the others.

In the car he quickly told everyone over the Bluetooth to slowly move to the library and pull into the parking lot. In the parking lot, the cars dispersed a bit, presenting less of a claustrophobic scene for Gillies, but close enough that he could not just throw the car into gear and tear away.

Once the cars were parked, Ian got out. Lauren and Bill also got out of their car. Ian noticed that Moussa, Dean and Rab had all lowered their windows so they could hear.

Ian approached Gills' vehicle. The intensity of the stare was gone, but Ian could definitely feel a bit of the tension remained. He suspected that Gillies noticed that his egress would be challenging.

"Mr. Gillies. My name is Ian." A little good faith in introduction. That should ease tension, Ian hoped. "I know that your safety deposit box in a bank on Kingfisher Avenue was broken into last autumn. I also know that a small leather pouch was taken from it."

"How do you know this?"

"I am not prepared to tell you everything, at this time. I will say this. The person behind that theft is now targeting the six of us. We have had our lives flipped upside down by this person and we are trying to learn as much about him as we can, so we can force him to leave us alone."

Gillies seemed to think about this for a second. He rolled his window down some more, took a cigarette from a pack and lit it. Ian could not decide whether the window being lowered was a sign of Gillies relaxing, or an old habit coming to the surface.

"Sir, all we want from you is to see if you know the identity of the person responsible for the theft from your safety deposit box. That is it."

"You aren't going to press me for what was stolen?"

"Unless that ties into who stole it, I don't think it is important. It is your business, not mine."

Gillies seemed to take a longer than usual drag on his cigarette. Perhaps he was thinking through his options. Perhaps he was stalling for time for a police reaction. Perhaps his nerves needed the nicotine injection. He threw out his cigarette, exhaled slowly and cleared his throat. "Alright. You've been apparently willing to share a bit with me. And you already know who I am and more about this situation than I am comfortable with. So, I will give you some information. But I do it on two conditions. First, no one, and I absolutely mean no one can know that I gave you anything. Second, you will never bother me again."

"I think that is fair." Ian did not even have to think about that one. It is exactly what he wanted for himself.

"I do not want to get into any detail about what the safety deposit box held. But, let it suffice to say that I had some business documents in there. In the not too distant past, I had a personal conflict develop with someone, and those documents involved business interests in which we both had considerable stakes."

"So, this other guy had your safety deposit box broken into?"

"I didn't say that." The rebuke from Gillies was telling. Ian could tell that Gillies was used to having power. And now that Ian had ceded control of this discussion to Gillies, he was going to wield his power about. Ian did not particularly care about a power play. He just wanted a name.

Gillies pulled out another cigarette. "Let's say that the papers that were stolen were worth several millions of dollars to me. They involve a business deal, several millions of dollars and important, international corporations and investments. If I can get them back, I want them back."

Interesting, Ian thought. From a guy who did not want to reveal anything, to now revealing large business deals. Not a lot of detail, but this felt more like a power play – look at how much I am worth. But, it did fit in tightly with Ian's Ockham's Razor assessment about this being a business deal gone wrong.

"Do you know who it was?"

Another long pull on the cigarette. "The that the only person who could hit my safety deposit box and make any profit, monetarily or otherwise, is a man named Dan Corcoran."

The name was not familiar to Stephen, but according to the twin gasps from Lauren and Bill behind him, it was apparently not a completely unknown name.

"Do you mind if I converse with my colleagues? I'll just be one second."

Gillies assented, his mouth barely hiding a smirk at Ian's ignorance of the name.

Ian ignored the smirk and turned around to Bill and Lauren. Rab and Moussa got out of the cars to join them. Dean seemed happy to just sit in the car.

"OK", Ian started. "Who is this guy?"

Bill started, "Dan, or Danny, Corcoran is the name of a former child star, "celebrity" bad boy playboy who turned to politics and environmental activism. He made a lot of money in television and movies quite a few years ago. But he has a bit of a cult following in some parts of the country. He's written novels, directed movies, he was everywhere. Eventually, he started leaving all that behind to enter politics. He said it was a way to ensure a good legacy."

Lauren continued, "He's an arrogant, womanising, self serving male who does not care about anything but his reputation. His films are all testosterone filled fantasy, and he has a long list of Hollywood women whose reputations and hearts he's trashed."

Ian had known Lauren for the better part of a year. He had always known her as a calm, level headed woman. But to hear her speak so aggressively against one person made him think. Dan Corcoran sounded like a real piece of work. And the fact that they now had a name, and possibly a face, to the Benefactor, made the situation more real. This is the guy who had been manipulating the gang for about a year, and Kate for much longer than that. This is a guy who had to go down. This was a guy who had forced these people to break the law for his own personal, financial gain, rather than some moral higher purpose. This was a guy that Ian wanted to destroy.

With his heart now pumping hard, Ian turned back to Stephen Gillies sitting in his car. "Mr. Gillies. I cannot make any promises except this. We will do our absolute best to confront Mr. Dan Corcoran, and take him down. I can't promise that we'll be able to return those papers, but I will promise that he will not get through this unscathed."

Gillies smiled and offered his hand. Ian shook it tentatively.

"Thanks Ian. I look forward to this little victory that will be upcoming."

Ian had a thought, something that had been bothering him. "Sir, if those papers were so important, why did you not file an insurance claim for them?"

Gillies' smile immediately vanished and he yanked his hand away.

"Remember, I don't ever want any of you to contact me again." And with that he started his car. Ian and the others made room for him, and he drove away.

Apparently, he did not want to be associated in any way shape or form with the destruction of Dan Corcoran.