Archive for September, 2008
Cerberus Bay…Sort of a Conclusion
So here is the deal. I have tentatively finished the first puzzle portion of the episode. The problem is that i don’t know exactly how to present the solution. Do i just write in the solution as part of the story? Or do i right a small abstract solution section like you would see in a puzzle game?
My thinking was that because these are not epic mysteries with labyrinthine plots and the like, that to write the solution in as part of the story would be a little underwhelming. It would also take away part of the fun of sitting back and trying to solve the puzzle. The problem is that i have a small conclusion to the story that i have yet to write. If you can picture the solution to each and every TV show you watch occurring at maybe 90% of the way through the episode, you then get a commercial break and 10% of epilogue stuff before credits roll.
So my idea was to put the solution in as an abstract section set apart from the story section, then write the epilogue stuff in story format as a separate post which would pick up chronologically sometime shortly after the solution.
If that sounds confusing i apologize, it really isn’t.
So here it is, the end of the puzzle portion. Remember, these are not mega mysteries. With some deduction, reasoning, imaginative guess work, all that jazz you should be able to figure it out. As a person i generally am more preoccupied with the why and the how instead of the who. Anyway, i hope you enjoy it. Next week will be epilogue stuff and the actual conclusion to the episode.
Cerberus Bay
Suddenly he found himself feeling agitated. The idea of having an audience watch him while he worked left him feeling exposed and on edge. He could disappear in a room full of people, become invisible in a crowd at a moments notice, but now he had to contend with the undivided attention of an officer of the law and he found the experience distasteful.
Refocusing his attention, Hades went back over the various bank employees, mentally removing them one after another until he was left staring at the name plate of one Brenda Pelt. The teller sat cock eyed at her station and was diligently filing her inch long finger nails, painted red, no doubt from a freshly mauled colleague. She was doing her best to look disinterested and mildly hostile at the same time so as to discourage any would be conversationalists. Still, her pitch black hair was picture perfect, and the suit she wore was in pristine condition. A powerful aura of professionalism, bitterness, and loneliness projected from behind the counter that looked to be protecting everyone else from her. Hades smiled inside.
“The perfect source of information.”
Happy people could not be relied upon. Everything was always less severe or not as bad. Potentially incriminating details were blurred out of distinction and irrelevant positives were thrust to the forefront. They lived in a world where empty glasses did not exist. For Hades, anyone who deluded themselves into believing the best about the world was worthless for gathering information. What he needed was someone disgruntled by life; a sponge for absorbing rumors and gossip about every employee, policy, and poorly punctuated memo. Someone who had no qualms about dishing the dirt, a person who would be almost universally and consistently negative in their daily reports, a person whose positive remarks would therefore stand out that much more, but at the same time a person who wished things weren’t so bad, a person always looking for that small connection or opportunity to feel valued and understood. A person like Brenda Pelt.
With no one to compete for her attention, Hades put on a straight face and strolled confidently up to her place of repose.
“We are closed until the police investigation is finished.” said Brenda who continued filing without looking up.
“I’m not here to make a transaction.” Responded Hades plainly.
“Well than what are you…” Brenda looked up with a curious expression that put strains on her makeup, “How did you get in here anyway? The police have the whole building locked down.”
Hades pointed toward Detective Tarman,
“I’m working with the detective; I was hoping to ask you a few questions.”
“So you’re a cop?” said Brenda putting down her nail file.
Hades stifled a laugh,
“No, I’m just with the detective.”
Now he had Brenda confused,
“You’re with him?”
“Yeah.” said Hades taking a deep breath, “For the foreseeable future anyway.”
“Why don’t you just talk to Mr. Staker?”
“I don’t want to talk to Mr. Staker. I want to talk to you.”
Hades could tell Brenda wasn’t used to hearing those words,
“Why?”
“Does it matter?”
Brenda thought about it for a moment, “No I guess it doesn’t, I just wasn’t expecting to give a statement or anything.”
“It’s not really a statement.” said Hades, “I’m just interested in your thoughts on what happened.”
“You’re not going to take notes?” she asked.
Hades shook his head, “I’ll remember, now why not start from the beginning.”
Brenda drummed her freshly filed fingernails on the marble counter top as she spoke,
“Well, Mr. Staker, some regional big wig from company headquarters, was sent in to oversee the re-opening of this branch. It’s only been something like two weeks and now he’s accused the bank manager Mr. Jims of stealing several sealed cases of cash straight out of the vault. At least that’s what I’ve heard; I mean everyone should have heard it by now the way Mr. Staker has been bellowing about Mr. Jims since the police arrived.”
Hades paid close attention to each word,
“But no one besides Mr. Staker saw anything?”
Brenda’s eyes rolled back in her skull, “No. Seems ridiculous, but no.”
“How convenient.”
“What about security cameras?” asked Hades, “Why didn’t they see anything?”
A frown appeared on Brenda’s face at the mention of the word security,
“The re-opening has gone less than smoothly. With all the robberies and concerns about robberies, this branch was dramatically redesigned to be equipped with state of the art technology to all but assure foolproof security. To bad no one bothered to make sure the equipment actually worked. We have had nothing but trouble since day one.”
“What kind of trouble?”
Brenda snatched her file and began furiously scraping a nail,
“All kinds of trouble. Circuit overloads, power surges, camera blackouts, general malfunctioning, you name it. The stress level has been through the roof and then headquarters sends us Mr. Staker to smooth things out.”
“Arrogant fool.” said Hades as easily as if he were ordering a pizza.
Brenda did a double take, unsure if he had been serious, joking, or if she had even heard him correctly. Hades looked down at her as if nothing out of the ordinary had been said finally her head began to nod slowly,
“Yeah, it’s only made things worse for all of us, especially Mr. Jims.”
“Tell me about Mr. Jims.” said Hades as if he were a patient psychiatrist.
“Him? He’s just the bank manager.”
“Just the bank manager?”
Brenda’s face went blank as if the thought of the man left her completely without any strong emotions,
“I mean that’s his title and he does make sure things get done, but…”
“But he’s a pathetic sniveling weasel?” offered Hades cheerfully finishing her sentence.
Brenda wasn’t as caught of guard by his remark this time and took it in stride,
“I don’t think weasel is really the right word, he’s more of a…well he just doesn’t seem like the manager type. If it weren’t for the title beneath his name tag I don’t think anyone would guess he had the smallest shred of authority. I’d say he’s more like a prairie dog.”
“A prairie dog who stutters.” added Hades.
Brenda almost smiled,
“He can’t help it. Whenever he gets nervous or anxious the words just stick. It’s actually kind of cute. We always know when he has something difficult to ask an employee because his first sentence takes a while to get going.”
Hades was having trouble visualizing Mr. Jims as a thief,
“And this is the man Mr. Staker is accusing of robbing the bank?”
Brenda’s countenance soured again,
“Apparently. He says it happened last night. A few of the higher ranking employees worked late to try and iron out a new wrinkle. Something about several new systems, including the cameras going on the fritz during that huge storm we had.”
“Of the people working late, how many had access to the vault?”
“When I left, both Mr. Staker and Mr. Jims were still working. I don’t know of anyone else there that could have gotten inside without their authorization. More pointless regulations if you ask me.”
“Then this morning when Mr. Staker found Mr. Jims in the vault he accused him of stealing?” questioned Hades for confirmation.
“That’s right, and things have been shut down since the police arrived.”
Hades was silent as he compiled all the information. Then the far corner of his mouth twitched upward into a half smile for an instant before vanishing as he turned away from Brenda Pelt and left without another word.
Brenda leaned over the counter miffed,
“Your welcome!”
Hades barely heard her, he was already focused on Detective Tarman who remained entrenched with no end in sight to the denials and accusations. He came alongside the detective and remained silent as Mr. Staker and Mr. Jims filled the air with howling bluster and defiant stuttering. Detective Tarman looked over at his thieving counterpart but said nothing. Hades understood. If the detective were to open his mouth unpleasant words would almost surely come out, and while he might have only spent a small amount of time with the detective, Hades could tell professionalism was high on his list of priorities. Blocking the obnoxious noise out, Hades looked casually at the vault behind them. Like a critic at an art gallery, he scrutinized the gargantuan metal door. Satisfied with his analysis, Hades raised his hand,
“Excuse me.”
Both arguing men stopped, suddenly aware his presence.
“I just have one question.”
“Say it then.” said Mr. Staker.
“The night you claim Mr. Jims robbed the vault, was the vault door working?”
“Of course.” declared Mr. Staker, “It was one of the only things that was working.”
Hades face remained placid and both Mr. Staker and Mr. Jims remained silent, pondering the significance of his question. Hades tapped Detective Tarman on the shoulder and whispered,
“Tell Mr. Jims he’s going to jail for the rest of his life.”
The detective’s brow furrowed in speculation,
“What for?”
“Just do it.” said Hades trying to hold back a smile.
Detective Tarman turned to the bank manager and did his best to sound serious,
“Mr. Jims. You are going to prison for a very long time.”
“The rest of your life.” Hades added quickly.
Mr. Jim’s eyes bulged to space alien proportions and his mouth dropped open,
“N.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n..”
He couldn’t even get the word out and Hades grinned broadly at the spectacle before tapping the detective on the shoulder once more,
“You can arrest Mr. Staker now.”
Now it was the detective’s turn to look surprised,
“What? Why? I thought we were arresting Timothy Jims.”
Hades just shook his head, “Not today.”
“And why not?”
Hades chuckled to himself, “Take it from a retired thief, There is no way Mr. Jims could have committed the crime, and that leaves Mr. Staker to take the blame.”
Why couldn’t Timothy Jims the bank manager have committed the crime?
The solution is below.
Timothy Jims could not have stolen the money because of his stuttering. In an effort to make the new Underworld Vault branch more secure, voice recognition was added as a requirement to get into the vault. On an average day with no extra pressure, his stuttering would not have manifested itself and therefore not have been a barrier, but in the face of committing a major crime the anxiety associated with the deed would have been through the roof for someone of Mr. Jims fragile constitution. He would therefore have been unable to successfully open the vault door to take advantage of the malfunctioning security cameras, leaving Mr. Staker as the only person capable of committing the crime.
Hope you enjoyed it, and please keep the comments coming. I appreciate the input.
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