Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 59

This plan was classic Ian. It was straightforward, had low risk and would provide results. Even a minor result would be a step in the right direction. There was no way the increasingly antagonistic Rab could have any opposition to it.

Unfortunately, Kate was not around to listen to it.

Lauren would invite Danny Corcoran to a college media interview at the Trib. She would call his office claiming to be from the journalism department of her school and request a 15-minute TV interview with Danny. It would ever be so helpful. During the interview, Ian would operate the camera and Bill would act as the sound man. Bill's sound would not exactly be recording onto Ian's video, but would be captured to be transmitted via a small radio to Rab, Moussa and Dean who would be sitting at a table near a park on the edge of the Trib with a hand-picked representation of the local media. They would get to listen to Danny Corcoran fend off accusations of being the Benefactor minutes after being levelled by a, surprise surprise, hard hitting Lauren. Once they got their dirt, they would leave the Trib. Someone would let Gillies know, that all had been resolved. Once that was done, their nightmare would finally be over.

But, almost before they could get going, there were snags. Lauren was able to get Danny Corcoran to agree to a meeting at the Trib, however not for three days. That put a major crimp in their timeline. Added to that, no journalist was biting about this scoop. While the podcast was interesting, and maybe there was something newsworthy somewhere, there was no guaranteed news story out of it beyond a gossip article. And even the most junior of the cub reporters did not want to be tied to gossip. They all wanted to be Woodward and Bernstein, not Nancy Grace. Therefore, Lauren decided that this interview would end up on the blog and in the podcast. That would be how the message gets out.

It was time to put the action into play.

Then a major snag hit in the form of a loud banging on Ian's apartment door.

"Ian, it's Lauren. Are you there?"

Ian rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at the clock. It was just a few minutes past 3 am. He opened his door, the hall light nearly blinding him. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night. I have to work in the morning."

"I don't care. I got a message on my voicemail. I don't pick up numbers I don't know, so I did not answer. Listen to this."

"How do you know where I live?"

"Bill figured it out for me". Of course, Bill did.

She put her phone on Ian's table. Ian, knowing he was not going to get rid of her, sat down and noticed that she was super well dressed. It looked like she was just coming off a date.

"When did the call come in," Ian asked.

"Around midnight. I was busy, saw a number I did not know, so I did not pick up."

"Who was on the phone?"

"You'll see. I gave the number to Bill and he's running the number right now."

Bill already had the number? Was he on the date with her? He needed more sleep or a drink to process that one.

She finished pushing buttons on her screen and laid the phone down. Ian could hear the voicemail open up.

"Lauren. This is the Benefactor. I assume I have caught you at an inopportune time. I will be quick. First. Congratulations on the blog and podcast. I'm enjoying it greatly. You have become quite the astute detective. Well done. Second. I'm already well ahead of you and I am not at any risk of exposure. So, your efforts will all be for nothing. Third, there are no traces that can permanently link me to anything of lasting reputational damage. However, if you try, I have more than enough to damage you. But, I am a man of reason. You have scheduled a fake media interview for tomorrow. No need to go to those lengths. I am still willing to meet you at the designated time and place to discuss terms of disengagement that will be mutually beneficial and desirable. Looking forward to seeing you."