Update: Cancel that, no further posts.
My WIP has a character dealing pot out of his Manhattan apartment in the late nineties. Someone rats him out to the police, who raid his building.
Here's the thing: for plot reasons, I need the cops to raid the wrong apartment. Without getting into too much detail, I'll explain how I have things set up so far. The dealer, in apartment 3A, is named Tom. His neighbor across the hall in 3B is named Thomas. Feeling paranoid after an unrelated event, Tom (from 3A) has stashed his stock in a locked box which he has given to the woefully naive Thomas (3B) for safekeeping. Tom's name is not on the lease or the mailbox for 3A; Thomas is listed as the occupant of 3B. Looking for a 'Tom' on the third floor, the cops bust into the wrong apartment, but by an unhappy coincidence they do find the stash they were seeking, and arrest the hapless Thomas. (My apologies if this all seems incredibly convoluted.)
Is this scenario remotely plausible? Do I have a fundamental misunderstanding about how a drug bust would work? I'm guessing I do, but I'm hoping I can tweak my plot just a little to make it work. And, as a bonus, anyone who could tell me how such a scenario might play out once the mix-up comes to light would save me another post once I've written the above scene.
My WIP has a character dealing pot out of his Manhattan apartment in the late nineties. Someone rats him out to the police, who raid his building.
Here's the thing: for plot reasons, I need the cops to raid the wrong apartment. Without getting into too much detail, I'll explain how I have things set up so far. The dealer, in apartment 3A, is named Tom. His neighbor across the hall in 3B is named Thomas. Feeling paranoid after an unrelated event, Tom (from 3A) has stashed his stock in a locked box which he has given to the woefully naive Thomas (3B) for safekeeping. Tom's name is not on the lease or the mailbox for 3A; Thomas is listed as the occupant of 3B. Looking for a 'Tom' on the third floor, the cops bust into the wrong apartment, but by an unhappy coincidence they do find the stash they were seeking, and arrest the hapless Thomas. (My apologies if this all seems incredibly convoluted.)
Is this scenario remotely plausible? Do I have a fundamental misunderstanding about how a drug bust would work? I'm guessing I do, but I'm hoping I can tweak my plot just a little to make it work. And, as a bonus, anyone who could tell me how such a scenario might play out once the mix-up comes to light would save me another post once I've written the above scene.
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