on the device picked up their conversation.
‘We only checked in here a couple of hours ago. I can’t believe he’s making us repeat the search already,’ one said to the other, looking fed up.
‘Oh, you know what the chief’s like,’ the other replied. ‘Everything by the book.’
Otto noticed that the dog was sniffing curiously around the door of the shower cubicle that the device had come up through. He couldn’t understand it. The device shouldn’t have any scent – it was just metal and plastic – so why should the dog be so interested in that particular cubicle? The dog turned, following the scent across the floor, tracking the precise trail that the device had followed. Suddenly it struck Otto. He was such an idiot, he told himself. The device itself might not smell of anything that the dog would be able to track, but he’d just sent it crawling several hundred yards through the drains and you could bet that would leave a scent trail that the animal would be able to trace.
The device had now reached the vent on the wall, and Otto very carefully manoeuvred its two front legs under the edge of the hinged grille, trying to lever open a space wide enough to squeeze itself through. He hoped that the hinge on the cover wouldn’t be too stiff for the tiny machine to lift, and so was relieved to see that the gap that was being forced open was increasing steadily. He swivelled the camera again and saw the dog still sniffing the floor, advancing between the benches towards the vent with its handler in tow.
‘Looks like Rex has got something here,’ the handler remarked, kneeling down beside the dog. ‘What you got, boy? Smell something? Go get it.’ He unclipped the dog from its lead and it padded across the room, getting closer and closer to the device, which had almost finished dragging itself through the narrow gap at the base of the grille. Otto nudged the device forward again, and it finally pulled itself fully into the vent, its last leg vanishing through the gap. It was now fully inside the shaft, which sloped gently downwards into the darkness. Unfortunately, this tiny movement caught the dog’s attention and it started to bark repeatedly, scraping at the wall with its front paws as it tried in vain to get closer to the vent by the ceiling.
The two policeman walked across the room towards the agitated dog, the man with the leash looked curiously at his canine companion.
‘Well, he can definitely smell something up there. We’d better check that vent.’
Otto’s blood ran cold. He edged the device away from the grille – if he could just get it a few more feet into the shaft he knew that the darkness would conceal it, but he only had a couple of seconds. Suddenly the face of one of the policemen appeared on the other side of the grille, peering curiously into the gloom within the shaft.
‘I can’t see much in there,’ he informed his unseen colleague.
‘You can open the grille. Look, it’s just on a hinge,’ replied the other policeman.
If he opened that grille, there was no way that he’d miss Otto’s device sitting there. Equally, if Otto tried to move the device quickly the policeman would undoubtedly hear it walking on the metal-lined surface of the ventilation shaft. Otto thought frantically. Of course! He hit a key on his keyboard and the status window changed again, displaying DEVICE DEACTIVATED .
Within the air conditioning shaft the device’s legs immediately retracted back into its spherical body and gravity did the rest. The sphere rolled silently away from the grate down the gently sloping shaft into the darkness, just as the policeman swung the grille upwards. Otto could still hear their voices as they checked the shaft.
‘There’s nothing in here. I don’t know what Rex is getting so wound up about.’
‘He probably just smelled something coming through the air conditioning from the kitchens. You know what he’s like. Greedy old thing.’
The voices slowly
‘We only checked in here a couple of hours ago. I can’t believe he’s making us repeat the search already,’ one said to the other, looking fed up.
‘Oh, you know what the chief’s like,’ the other replied. ‘Everything by the book.’
Otto noticed that the dog was sniffing curiously around the door of the shower cubicle that the device had come up through. He couldn’t understand it. The device shouldn’t have any scent – it was just metal and plastic – so why should the dog be so interested in that particular cubicle? The dog turned, following the scent across the floor, tracking the precise trail that the device had followed. Suddenly it struck Otto. He was such an idiot, he told himself. The device itself might not smell of anything that the dog would be able to track, but he’d just sent it crawling several hundred yards through the drains and you could bet that would leave a scent trail that the animal would be able to trace.
The device had now reached the vent on the wall, and Otto very carefully manoeuvred its two front legs under the edge of the hinged grille, trying to lever open a space wide enough to squeeze itself through. He hoped that the hinge on the cover wouldn’t be too stiff for the tiny machine to lift, and so was relieved to see that the gap that was being forced open was increasing steadily. He swivelled the camera again and saw the dog still sniffing the floor, advancing between the benches towards the vent with its handler in tow.
‘Looks like Rex has got something here,’ the handler remarked, kneeling down beside the dog. ‘What you got, boy? Smell something? Go get it.’ He unclipped the dog from its lead and it padded across the room, getting closer and closer to the device, which had almost finished dragging itself through the narrow gap at the base of the grille. Otto nudged the device forward again, and it finally pulled itself fully into the vent, its last leg vanishing through the gap. It was now fully inside the shaft, which sloped gently downwards into the darkness. Unfortunately, this tiny movement caught the dog’s attention and it started to bark repeatedly, scraping at the wall with its front paws as it tried in vain to get closer to the vent by the ceiling.
The two policeman walked across the room towards the agitated dog, the man with the leash looked curiously at his canine companion.
‘Well, he can definitely smell something up there. We’d better check that vent.’
Otto’s blood ran cold. He edged the device away from the grille – if he could just get it a few more feet into the shaft he knew that the darkness would conceal it, but he only had a couple of seconds. Suddenly the face of one of the policemen appeared on the other side of the grille, peering curiously into the gloom within the shaft.
‘I can’t see much in there,’ he informed his unseen colleague.
‘You can open the grille. Look, it’s just on a hinge,’ replied the other policeman.
If he opened that grille, there was no way that he’d miss Otto’s device sitting there. Equally, if Otto tried to move the device quickly the policeman would undoubtedly hear it walking on the metal-lined surface of the ventilation shaft. Otto thought frantically. Of course! He hit a key on his keyboard and the status window changed again, displaying DEVICE DEACTIVATED .
Within the air conditioning shaft the device’s legs immediately retracted back into its spherical body and gravity did the rest. The sphere rolled silently away from the grate down the gently sloping shaft into the darkness, just as the policeman swung the grille upwards. Otto could still hear their voices as they checked the shaft.
‘There’s nothing in here. I don’t know what Rex is getting so wound up about.’
‘He probably just smelled something coming through the air conditioning from the kitchens. You know what he’s like. Greedy old thing.’
The voices slowly
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