Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 55

The mood the following morning in the Diner was a jubilant one. They were becoming a regular fixture there, so regular, in fact, that the staff knew what their beverage selection would be before they even got to the booth. The six of them were still feeling the surge of success from the previous day.

"I can't believe that the Benefactor turned out to be Danny 'freaking' Corcoran." Dean was quite animated. "He kicked ass in his old movies."

The cacophony from the table was loud, but not disruptive.

The door to the Diner opened and immediately the table fell silent. Kate was standing there. She walked over to the table and made a gesture asking if she could sit. Moussa assented and slid over on the bench a bit.

"Hello everyone. I didn't mean to interrupt. Ian thought I should join you this morning."

Ian stammered, "Uh, I'll get Jen to get you a cup and some coffee." With that he and Lauren stood up.

"I'll give him a hand" she said.

The two of them walked to the counter and sat on the chairs to try and get Jen's attention. Ian flagged her down and told her they needed more coffee and another cup at the booth.

Jen acknowledged and turned to another customer. Lauren then turned to Ian.

"What is she doing here?"

"I asked her last night after I got back from the stop yesterday. I figured she would want to be in on the action."

"I don't trust her at all. She is trouble."

"No, she's just like us. She's been manipulated by Corcoran just like we were."

"She says she's been manipulated. She hasn't proven anything to us."

"She's proven enough to me." Ian started to get annoyed. This was not the first time Lauren had demonstrated her dislike of Kate.

Lauren's eyes opened wide. "You are sleeping with her! That's why you are defending her."

"Uh, no. I'm not sleeping with her." Ian's thoughts were with the fact that Kate had just recently declared that she wanted nothing to do with him, but his answer was weak.

Jen walked past them carrying the pot of coffee and a mug. Lauren stood up, eyes locked on Ian's eyes. She turned around and walked back to the booth.

Ian took a breath, stood and contemplated walking right out of the Diner. But, knowing that he had a job to do, he resigned himself to heading back to the booth.

He settled in and everyone looked at him. Did they want him to lead the discussion, or were they shocked at his bringing Kate? He was betting on the fact that he had led most of the planning for the previous activities. So, he decided to start the planning.

"OK, let's get down to business. Dan Corcoran. How do we get him to give up his grip on us?"

Bill chimed in. "Where is he vulnerable?"

"Well", said Lauren, "He's a politician, former movie star and a celebrity playboy. So, a controversy with a woman won't work, that will feed his bad boy playboy image. Drugs? That would keep with the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle. Finances? He's earned most of his money legitimately through his Hollywood years and public investments. He's untouchable insofar as our ability to impact his finances. What is left?"

Rab had it. "His reputation."

Ian looked at Rab. He seemed serious. "How so?"

Rab continued, "He has announced his candidacy for the state legislature. That means his reputation is very vulnerable. If we can find a way to let him know that we will compromise his integrity if he does not leave us alone, then I say we pursue that."

Ian thought he was on to something? "How do we do that? If we just make stuff up it will be too easy to blow us off as crazies that don't have a grip on reality."

"What about tying him to the heist?" It was Moussa. "What if we can connect the finances, or the transfer of finances specifically, then we can draw enough of an allusion to impropriety."

"Would that not mean it can be tied to us?"

"No. There is enough of a paper trail for hotel payments, rentals, long distance calls, et cetera. None of that directly points to us. But, it can point in the direction of the Benefactor, er Corcoran."

Ian concurred. "Rab, I think you are onto something. We need to take action on this."

"I can start by chasing down payments to the two cops, Collins and Dumont. I'll also compare payments for the room. I'll look to see if there were any other rentals. We were at the Great Plains Hotel and you were at the Traveltel. I will see who was renting rooms at all three at the same time." Bill was in the zone.

Lauren built upon that. "With Bill's information, I can create an anonymous blog and associated podcast. There, I can drop enough innuendo and hints that would make someone squirm."

"And I can graffiti the news." Dean was now contributing. "I'll put it up so that anyone who drove by would see the connection."

There was a murmur of acceptance. Better to have Dean do something than kick off a new crisis by being left to his own devices. Ian did not think that graffiti would result in any change, but also did not think that allowing it did their cause any harm either.

He got his thoughts in order. "OK. So, we have the genesis of a plan. First, we need Bill to get us some information. Stuff that can connect Corcoran to the heist but leave us out. Second, we will take that information and Lauren will spread it via blog and podcast. Third, we will get Dean to graffiti the news. Fourth, unless we gain immediate success, we need to insure against Smooshface and the Bulldog, er, Collins and Dumont, coming after us. We need to get them a message that despite our little détente so far, we will react if they challenge. Moussa, can you and Rab threaten an internal affairs investigation involving Dean's 'arrest' at the hospital? Good. Is this going to be enough?"

"I don't know." Bill was rubbing his chin. "I can dig up information, but there will be little context in which to set the information. This is only a single point and unless we can make waves about it early, it can easily be explained away by someone with some credibility, even if it is a lie."

Lauren countered, "I might be able to get some heat and light on this. I'll tease the blog and podcast with some local reporters and get them whipped up to pursue this. They see a scoop and they will latch onto it. In fact, their investigating may surpass ours in scope and depth."

Bill continued, "That may be enough to make our single point, but we may need more."

Ian jumped in before their momentum was lost. "OK, I think I know where you are going, Bill. I will go to the hotels myself, and see what I can dig up. I'll get as much information from each of the three hotels, their staffs, security footage, their records, as I can. I'll claim to be security or something. I'll need to think that one through."

"And what do we do with all this activity?" Moussa asked.

Ian already knew the answer. "We confront Corcoran and we demand he leave us alone. We put him in a position of vulnerability, force him to let us free from any imagined obligation, and we confirm to him that we will not put him under the same."

Ian felt a bit of power. The others were nodding. He felt like he was demonstrating to Kate that he was going to make her life much calmer.

But a look at her told him that he might be wrong.