Ockham's Razor: A Deductive Riddle

Chapter 37

Ian was chomping at the bit to get off shift at the gas station. He wanted to get out of there and get a hold of Kate. He could not let Dave know that he was super keen to leave, after what Dave had gone through because of him. Ian wanted desperately to do enough to get Dave to keep his job, and their friendship.

Dave, as Ian expected, was taking particular pleasure in showing Ian all the little aspects of the job. It seemed that Dave wanted, and expected, Ian to be able to handle every aspect of working at the gas station after his orientation. Even though Dave would tell Ian continually about the operation of the gas station when the two would get together, Dave was still taking his job seriously and ensuring that he got through the entire briefing without missing a beat.

Ian got through the power up procedures for the gas pumps, how to make the coffee in the coffee pot, how to stock the shelves with product, how to make the blue windshield washer fluid in the outside washer bins, where the stuff was to mop the floor, where the materials were to clean the washrooms, how one goes about pumping gas for customers who, for whatever reason, cannot do so, how to work the debit and credit card machine and finally, how to work the cash register. If it was done by an employee somewhere, some time, some how, Ian learned how to do it on that first shift.

At the cash register, it was stressed that at any one time, there will be less than one hundred dollars in the till. When there is a break in the flow of customers, Ian is supposed to check his cash. He is supposed to count the fives, tens and twenties. Once he gets to one hundred dollars, he is to take the rest of the twenties and bundle them up in a small container that can be found under the till, and put them in the drop box safe in the office. They did not worry about coins, as counting them would rarely cover more than, say, $10. Ian understood right away that the rule about having less than one hundred dollars in the till was not an absolute rule. The only time there would be one hundred dollars in the till would be at the opening of the shift. Immediately after that, there would be more than one hundred dollars. Even after the purge of money, taking the extra twenties out, there would be one hundred dollars in bills. But, there would be a substantial amount in singles and coinage. That meant that there could be a considerable amount of money in the till at peak times. After all, it required down time to be able to move money to the safe. If it was too busy, you would not be able to count the money then move it to the back while leaving the till unsupervised.

When Ian had a moment, he asked "Dave? How much did the robber who hit this place take from the till?" Ian knew it was Dean, but he did not want to reveal it. Plus, he was curious as to how much Dean was willing to risk for a much smaller amount of cash than he had gotten from the Benefactor and the bank.

Dave, looking like he was contemplating on withholding that information, finally raised his brow and replied, "By our close of business numbers, it appears that he got right around $115."

"That's all covered by insurance, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is if the boss wants to risk raising his premiums. The deductible is likely more than the robber got, so the boss is likely just going to absorb the cost as a one-time loss," bemoaned Dave. "But $115 does not seem like a good enough sum when you have the barrel of a gun inches from your face."

This made Ian cringe. Here, Dean had been paid over ten thousand dollars to do the bank job, he had a real job here, yet he risked his life, freedom and that of others over a mere one hundred fifteen dollars. It was enough to want to let Dean just sit there in the psych ward.