Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief

Shocked by the burning man in front of him, Ernest reasons that because spontaneous combustion is a myth, the man was murdered. He suspects that the police at the front of the building did not witness the event, so he investigates the scene. He finds a burner phone in the dead man’s suit. An unidentified woman calls asking for “Bryce” and says, “We’re in,” before hanging up.

Ernest concludes that Bryce’s killer is among the hostages. He decides he must control the crime scene. He puts on the dead man’s mask and suit and begins to act the part of the Fencer.

Ernest finds a slip of paper in Bryce’s pocket with a potential safe combination: 29-39-34. After hiding the body, he is contacted on the police radio by Tobias, who has spotted movement on the roof. Using Bryce’s voice-changer, Ernest impersonates the thief and claims that the hostage Ernest is with him.

When Tobias sends a sniper to a nearby church tower for visual confirmation, Ernest must prove that both men are present. He speaks to Tobias as the Fencer, quickly sheds the disguise to appear as himself for the sniper, then puts the disguise back on. He rejects Tobias’s offer to release Cordelia in exchange for cooperation and repeats Bryce’s original demand for $1 from the vault.