exception.
“It’s complicated, but not impossible,” Harry began. “There are two or three systems that have to be dealt with: first, we have the television surveillance—one camera outside sweeps the parking lot. It has a forty-five-second cycle one way—a minute and a half to return to the starting point.
“During the day there is one guard at the main desk. He used to be replaced after eight hours, but now, the guard tells me, there is an economy program on and so there is only one eight-hour shift—nine to five.”
“Except holidays and weekends. We all know that, Grafton.”
“Okay. The guard leaves at five and the whole system is switched up to the main security office. It will stay that way until nine in the morning. Inside, a second camera covers the lobby and reception desk on the first floor. There are none beyond that point.
“To put them out of commission, I will tap the lines carrying the transmission to the monitors at the security office. I’ll tape three minutes of surveillance, then cut the tapes into the lines, and transmit the same three minutes over and over again for the rest of the night.
“Getting inside the building is another matter. The system or systems are partly connected, partly freestanding. The report you gave me only described one set—the new one. The door is protected by a standard contact alarm, the kind you see all over the place—little boxes side-by-side on the door or windows. When the system is on, separating the boxes trips the alarm. That one is easy. The problem is the motion detector set up inside. Any movement and it triggers either a silent alarm through the house current or a siren, buzzer—something like that, which may, in turn, set off a sound-sensitive alarm.
“Like the door, once I get to it, it’s easy enough to deactivate, just pull the plug. Getting to it may take some doing. It and the door alarms are easy. After I get them turned off, I’ve got a series of things that have to be shut down. Whoever put the system in built it to last. It’s as good as I’ve seen. Better than they need.
Harry paused and searched the faces of his listeners for comprehension. Donati’s eyes remained impassive. Red exhaled smoke toward the ceiling where it mixed with the already heavy haze he had created. Angelo watched Donati.
“Anyway, I’ve got to get to the main panel and disarm thirty or forty separate trips before anyone can come in, and I’ve got that piece of science fiction to get by before I can do that.”
“What do you mean science fiction?” Donati murmured.
“The photoelectric alarm—but one with real class,” Harry replied.
“Photoelectric—invisible eye, something like that?” Donati replied.
“Yeah, but these are lasers and tricky. You know in big beam units you just have to set a couple mirrors at ninety-degree perpendiculars and bounce the beam around or back, depending on how it works. In this one, the tolerances are very tight and the transmission angles are a fraction off ninety degrees and no two alike. I can’t make a mirror box because I don’t know the angles and I can’t get them until I see the beams on.”
“You mean there’s more than one?” Donati asked.
“Oh yes.”
“How many?”
“Forty-seven, one every foot or so in the floor and ceiling, and five horizontal, every two feet on the walls. The whole makes an irregular grid with one by two foot intervals. Since they used lasers, you can’t see the beams—just ruby dots on the floor, ceiling, and walls. And, as I said, the angles are off a degree here, three or four there. It’s tough.”
“Can you get through?” Donati asked.
“I think so.”
“You think so. I am not interested in what you think. What do you know?”
“I think so, yes. You ever go to the beach, Donati?”
“Huh?” Donati looked startled.
“The beach. You ever swim in the ocean?”
“Sometimes, when I was a kid…what’s the beach got to do with this?”
“People
“It’s complicated, but not impossible,” Harry began. “There are two or three systems that have to be dealt with: first, we have the television surveillance—one camera outside sweeps the parking lot. It has a forty-five-second cycle one way—a minute and a half to return to the starting point.
“During the day there is one guard at the main desk. He used to be replaced after eight hours, but now, the guard tells me, there is an economy program on and so there is only one eight-hour shift—nine to five.”
“Except holidays and weekends. We all know that, Grafton.”
“Okay. The guard leaves at five and the whole system is switched up to the main security office. It will stay that way until nine in the morning. Inside, a second camera covers the lobby and reception desk on the first floor. There are none beyond that point.
“To put them out of commission, I will tap the lines carrying the transmission to the monitors at the security office. I’ll tape three minutes of surveillance, then cut the tapes into the lines, and transmit the same three minutes over and over again for the rest of the night.
“Getting inside the building is another matter. The system or systems are partly connected, partly freestanding. The report you gave me only described one set—the new one. The door is protected by a standard contact alarm, the kind you see all over the place—little boxes side-by-side on the door or windows. When the system is on, separating the boxes trips the alarm. That one is easy. The problem is the motion detector set up inside. Any movement and it triggers either a silent alarm through the house current or a siren, buzzer—something like that, which may, in turn, set off a sound-sensitive alarm.
“Like the door, once I get to it, it’s easy enough to deactivate, just pull the plug. Getting to it may take some doing. It and the door alarms are easy. After I get them turned off, I’ve got a series of things that have to be shut down. Whoever put the system in built it to last. It’s as good as I’ve seen. Better than they need.
Harry paused and searched the faces of his listeners for comprehension. Donati’s eyes remained impassive. Red exhaled smoke toward the ceiling where it mixed with the already heavy haze he had created. Angelo watched Donati.
“Anyway, I’ve got to get to the main panel and disarm thirty or forty separate trips before anyone can come in, and I’ve got that piece of science fiction to get by before I can do that.”
“What do you mean science fiction?” Donati murmured.
“The photoelectric alarm—but one with real class,” Harry replied.
“Photoelectric—invisible eye, something like that?” Donati replied.
“Yeah, but these are lasers and tricky. You know in big beam units you just have to set a couple mirrors at ninety-degree perpendiculars and bounce the beam around or back, depending on how it works. In this one, the tolerances are very tight and the transmission angles are a fraction off ninety degrees and no two alike. I can’t make a mirror box because I don’t know the angles and I can’t get them until I see the beams on.”
“You mean there’s more than one?” Donati asked.
“Oh yes.”
“How many?”
“Forty-seven, one every foot or so in the floor and ceiling, and five horizontal, every two feet on the walls. The whole makes an irregular grid with one by two foot intervals. Since they used lasers, you can’t see the beams—just ruby dots on the floor, ceiling, and walls. And, as I said, the angles are off a degree here, three or four there. It’s tough.”
“Can you get through?” Donati asked.
“I think so.”
“You think so. I am not interested in what you think. What do you know?”
“I think so, yes. You ever go to the beach, Donati?”
“Huh?” Donati looked startled.
“The beach. You ever swim in the ocean?”
“Sometimes, when I was a kid…what’s the beach got to do with this?”
“People
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