Free The Great Escape by Natalie Haynes Page B

least one security guard with at least one Alsatian patrolling the building
perimeter. The security guy told me that. The CCTV cameras are on and recording at night – they’re inside and outside the building. We definitely can’t get the cats out during the
day – there are too many people there. Actually, that’s a good question.’
    ‘What is?’
    ‘How did
you
get out during the day?’
    ‘I was cunning,’ Max began grandly.
    ‘I never doubted it. That lab tech looked like an idiot, though.’
    ‘Well, that certainly helped.’ Max acknowledged the helping hand of stupidity in his grand plan. ‘I had been planning it since the day I arrived. I had been chewing at the
catch on my cage every time no one could see me. It was quite loose to begin with, because the room is sealed, and the cage doors have to be easy to open and shut with one hand while you hold an
annoyed cat in the other one.’
    ‘How is the room sealed?’
    Max thought for a second. ‘There are two doors. The second one will not open while the first one is open.’
    ‘Like an airlock?’ Millie asked.
    Max looked quizzical.
    ‘In a submarine?’ she suggested.
    ‘Yes, exactly like that. I am a world-renowned expert on submarines, of course.’
    ‘You’ve seen a James Bond film,’ Millie said. ‘They all have submarines in.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘Most of them do. The ones that don’t have spaceships in. Spaceships with airlocks.’
    ‘Well, I must have failed to pay attention,’ said Max serenely. ‘Anyway, you appear to have the idea. So I escaped from the cage, which was easy, because, as you noticed, that
man was not very good at his job. I hid behind him, and snuck through the door as he did. The second door opened, and then a noise sounded, like an alarm. So I ran straight past him and down the
stairs: the stair door was propped open with a fire extinguisher.’
    ‘Simple, but brilliant,’ Millie congratulated him.
    Max shrugged modestly. ‘I thought so.’
    ‘So,’ Millie pondered, as she would a tricky equation, ‘the alarm only sounded when the second door opened. Had you heard it go off before?’
    ‘No, never. The lab techs used to come in and out all the time, and it never went off. To be honest, when it did go off, I was pretty . . .’ He looked pained. ‘Is the word I
want here “alarmed”?’
    Millie laughed. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Is that your first pun?’
    ‘And my last. I guarantee it.’
    ‘Did the lab techs come in one at a time, or together?’
    Max tried to think. ‘One by one. I am sure of it.’
    ‘Then I think there must be a motion sensor there that picks up two people in the lock, well, one person, one cat, instead of just the usual one. And it’s on the outer door, so that
suggests they’re more worried about people coming
in
than cats going
out
. That’s useful to know. And the door to the stairs would normally be shut, because they all have
signs on – at least all the ones I saw do – saying they’re fire doors, and they have to be kept shut. So someone must have just propped it open to get some air. It was hot that
day, wasn’t it?’
    ‘The windows don’t open on the top floor. There was no fresh air in there.’
    ‘That makes sense, then. You were pretty lucky.’
    ‘And very skilled,’ Max reminded her.
    ‘That too. This is all stuff we need to think about for the rescue. I think it has to be at night – we couldn’t get that lucky again. And so much for leaving a window open and
hoping for the best. I was really hoping we could get in through the rubbish room, where I spent most of this afternoon. But it’s no good – I saw that woman lock it from the inside. We
can’t do it on our own,’ she declared. ‘We’ll need those protesters to help us.’
    ‘Will they?’
    ‘I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. They raid laboratories sometimes – I’ve seen it on the news. We just need to persuade them to do Haverham,’ she
said