13-09-2019, 07:49 AM
Luc gave a tiny smile as Ramirez offered his thoughts, looking over at the trap that would have awaited whoever stepped into it if they hadn't spotted the slightly differently colored step.
"The dog chain only goes to the bottom of the stairs." He observed. "If you're unwilling to shoot a dog, your only option is to retreat back up the stairs. In your struggles to get away, you're thinking about the vicious animal in front of you rather than the trap you passed a moment ago and are backing into."
Luc's main interest seemed to be Scott's choice of wall decorations. He stood at the base of the stairs, where he could see down the hallway, and studied it.
"I presume the gun room is behind that red door?" Luc asked. LeGrasse nodded and he turned his attention back to the hall. "Scott fancied himself something of a decorator. A telling motif, don't you think?"
Ramirez stood next to him and tried to see what Luc was seeing. He looked down the hall at the posters lining it.
"Nazis tend to regard him as the Second Coming of Hitler." Hernando mused.
"Oui." Luc answered. "A deliberate aesthetic choice." He gestured to the WWII images on the wall in front of them. "Here is the past." He then gestured into the posters along the hallway. "And down this hallway is the present, leading us to..."
"A big dog?" Hernando asked. The three men chuckled before he answered seriously. "Safeguarding the future behind the red door."
"Oui." Luc replied. "Most of this room doesn't tell us much right as we enter. We know Scott worked in maintenance; a full workshop in the basement is to be expected. We know he was, as you said upstairs, 'sufficiently vicious and paranoid' to plant traps in his home and do such things to an animal. We know that he built things in his home. He was probably the one who retooled the van. Or they borrowed his workshop. He'd have been too busy at work to show them how to hide their compartments better." He turned to one of the technicians and asked, "Has a safe been found?"
"Yes, Detective Inspector." The Bomb Squad tech replied. "In that room." He pointed down the hall.
"I see. Has it been checked for traps and opened?"
The man nodded his head affirmatively.
"It was wired, sir." The technician replied. "With a kilo of C-4. We took care of it. We found more in it. It's clear for your inspection."
"Rule of three?" Hernando asked. Luc nodded. He turned to LeGrasse to explain. "He had the false step trap in this room and the dog in the hall. There was almost certainly a third trap on the safe. There may be more in the bedroom, but likely not. That door trap on the bedroom would only get the first person who tried to enter; give him enough warning to pull out a gun kept at hand. These are people to whom guns matter more than lives, you will at least find a large pistol or shotgun in the bedroom. Probably more hidden around the house."
The three proceeded to the red door.
* * *
Beyond the door, they found what Luc was anticipating. More valuable Nazi memorabilia than was kept in the workroom sat in display cases along three walls. Luc frowned at an empty container of Zyklon-B on one of the shelves.
On the fourth wall was what all of them anticipated. Guns of various ages and models dating back to the War. Organized like the tools in the other room to show where they're to be put back. LeGrasse noticed that half the outlines were missing.
"No other guns have been found yet?" Luc asked as he studied the outlines of the missing weapons. LeGrassse confirmed Hernando's statement that other guns were being found stashed around the house. When Luc got down to the pistols, he laughed and pointed at it.
"Browning HP." LeGrasse smiled in agreement. He explained to Ramirez. "When the Nazis invaded France, they graciously allowed the workers at the Browning factory to keep their jobs, but now make guns for Germany. La Resistance sabotaged so much of their own work that a War-era Browning with German markings; especially Nazi ones, is more likely to kill the shooter than whomever they're shooting at. Someone took one. It probably had a neat Swastika on it. There's at least one whom we won't have to worry about if it comes down to a shootout."
"Someone?" Ramirez asked. "Scott didn't take them himself?"
Luc faced him.
"If Scott had taken any these guns off the rack for himself, our encounter at the studio would have gone differently. His first reaction upon seeing you was to run. If he'd had the ability to take a hostage or make a stand, he'd have done so. Cyanide is one thing; going down guns blazing, heiling Hitler is another. No, recall what I said earlier. Dietz was a hero in his eyes." He gestured over to a photo of Dietz printed from the internet. "His hero's come to town with some killing to be done, and it was hard enough for Dietz to smuggle himself and his team into San Finzione, let alone bring weapons. He'd HAVE to acquire them here!"
"The dog chain only goes to the bottom of the stairs." He observed. "If you're unwilling to shoot a dog, your only option is to retreat back up the stairs. In your struggles to get away, you're thinking about the vicious animal in front of you rather than the trap you passed a moment ago and are backing into."
Luc's main interest seemed to be Scott's choice of wall decorations. He stood at the base of the stairs, where he could see down the hallway, and studied it.
"I presume the gun room is behind that red door?" Luc asked. LeGrasse nodded and he turned his attention back to the hall. "Scott fancied himself something of a decorator. A telling motif, don't you think?"
Ramirez stood next to him and tried to see what Luc was seeing. He looked down the hall at the posters lining it.
"Nazis tend to regard him as the Second Coming of Hitler." Hernando mused.
"Oui." Luc answered. "A deliberate aesthetic choice." He gestured to the WWII images on the wall in front of them. "Here is the past." He then gestured into the posters along the hallway. "And down this hallway is the present, leading us to..."
"A big dog?" Hernando asked. The three men chuckled before he answered seriously. "Safeguarding the future behind the red door."
"Oui." Luc replied. "Most of this room doesn't tell us much right as we enter. We know Scott worked in maintenance; a full workshop in the basement is to be expected. We know he was, as you said upstairs, 'sufficiently vicious and paranoid' to plant traps in his home and do such things to an animal. We know that he built things in his home. He was probably the one who retooled the van. Or they borrowed his workshop. He'd have been too busy at work to show them how to hide their compartments better." He turned to one of the technicians and asked, "Has a safe been found?"
"Yes, Detective Inspector." The Bomb Squad tech replied. "In that room." He pointed down the hall.
"I see. Has it been checked for traps and opened?"
The man nodded his head affirmatively.
"It was wired, sir." The technician replied. "With a kilo of C-4. We took care of it. We found more in it. It's clear for your inspection."
"Rule of three?" Hernando asked. Luc nodded. He turned to LeGrasse to explain. "He had the false step trap in this room and the dog in the hall. There was almost certainly a third trap on the safe. There may be more in the bedroom, but likely not. That door trap on the bedroom would only get the first person who tried to enter; give him enough warning to pull out a gun kept at hand. These are people to whom guns matter more than lives, you will at least find a large pistol or shotgun in the bedroom. Probably more hidden around the house."
The three proceeded to the red door.
* * *
Beyond the door, they found what Luc was anticipating. More valuable Nazi memorabilia than was kept in the workroom sat in display cases along three walls. Luc frowned at an empty container of Zyklon-B on one of the shelves.
On the fourth wall was what all of them anticipated. Guns of various ages and models dating back to the War. Organized like the tools in the other room to show where they're to be put back. LeGrasse noticed that half the outlines were missing.
"No other guns have been found yet?" Luc asked as he studied the outlines of the missing weapons. LeGrassse confirmed Hernando's statement that other guns were being found stashed around the house. When Luc got down to the pistols, he laughed and pointed at it.
"Browning HP." LeGrasse smiled in agreement. He explained to Ramirez. "When the Nazis invaded France, they graciously allowed the workers at the Browning factory to keep their jobs, but now make guns for Germany. La Resistance sabotaged so much of their own work that a War-era Browning with German markings; especially Nazi ones, is more likely to kill the shooter than whomever they're shooting at. Someone took one. It probably had a neat Swastika on it. There's at least one whom we won't have to worry about if it comes down to a shootout."
"Someone?" Ramirez asked. "Scott didn't take them himself?"
Luc faced him.
"If Scott had taken any these guns off the rack for himself, our encounter at the studio would have gone differently. His first reaction upon seeing you was to run. If he'd had the ability to take a hostage or make a stand, he'd have done so. Cyanide is one thing; going down guns blazing, heiling Hitler is another. No, recall what I said earlier. Dietz was a hero in his eyes." He gestured over to a photo of Dietz printed from the internet. "His hero's come to town with some killing to be done, and it was hard enough for Dietz to smuggle himself and his team into San Finzione, let alone bring weapons. He'd HAVE to acquire them here!"
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