What didn't the thieves realize?

[@lateralcast]

FULL EPISODE: www.lateralcast.com/episodes/105 PRE-ORDER THE BOOK: www.lateralcast.com/book

[@SaszaDerRoyt]

"There were a number of ways to phrase that sentence, that was certainly one of them" I think this is going to have to enter my regular vocabulary lmao

[@itscoolstaghorn]

I want to "yes, and" Taha's movie idea - somehow the robbers gets mixed up with a bunch of people going to an escape room and both groups go to the wrong places, so the thieves ends up hitting the escape room while the escape room-goers end up doing an actual big-scale theft while under the impression that it's part of the escape room.

[@sexyscientist]

I'll watch this answers in productions movie.

[@Menjari]

That's basically the film with Bill Murray "The Man Who Knew Too Little" except instead of bank robbery it's spies.

[@IceMetalPunk]

Ocean's Dumbasses is definitely not a film I ever thought I'd beg for, but now I really want it 😂

[@korbindallas4552]

Sea's Eleventeen

[@lucbloom]

A film about a robbery gone wrong, where the thief’s daughter insisted on coming along, directed by Wes Anderson.

[@Motorman2112]

Johnny English.

[@louisnorred8530]

American Animals

[@PianoKwanMan]

Ocean's 9, because got lost on the way

[@korg47237]

Before they even finished reading the question, I immediately thought.. .. .. "Escape room", it seemed obvious the way it was worded. Also, CCTV cameras usually don't store the footage locally. It just sends it to a central location put simply.

[@DavidWeinehall]

Yup, one of very few Lateral questions I immediately figured out.

[@CWRules]

Also guessed it immediately, and also surprised that nobody in the call knew how CCTV systems work.

[@BrainMedicine]

Me too. Got it immediately.

[@Rognik]

As Tom said, the name Mysterium almost screams "escape room" from the jump.

[@drunkshinx]

to be fair, since the question said they were not smart people, it makes sense to think that they might have thought thats how cctv cameras work

[@waterdogzzz]

Since Tom made a point of it I got curious. The Dutch word that got translated as bastards was "prutsers", which would be better translated as fumblers or fools.

[@franny5156]

Oh so it really was a choice

[@niklasbrandt7415]

Thank you, I was curious about that, but didn't know how to find the original quote. That seems like an exeptionally poor translation. Even idiots would be a better translation

[@PeterAnnema]

I think "botchers" might better convey the incompetence from "prutsers". "Bastards" gets the sentiment from the employee across though.

[@Norgodir]

@@niklasbrandt7415 I just searched inbraak Mysterium and the first hit had it.

[@JasperJanssen]

Dumbasses would be close, as well.

[@ripopol]

at 28 seconds making my guess: That sounds like an escaperoom. Like an expensive deluxe one with great props (legitimately antique safe), but between the name "mysterium" and the fact the key was right there in reach? I think its an escaperoom.

[@globalincident694]

nicely done

[@QemeH]

Before watching: That is exactly my guess. Although, I guess the reply "nicely done" will turn out to have been a spoiler...

[@DaveG207]

This comment showed on my screen as the video started. 😒

[@darjanator]

Being a closed circuit TV system, the recording wouldn't even have been kept on the camera. Those are just sensors, motors and lenses. All the data is fed to a central server on the same CLOSED CIRCUIT, so all they did was prevent someone else to be seen.

[@hebl47]

But the question here is: did the thieves know that? Or did they think that the data of that camera was actually just stored on said camera?

[@darjanator]

@@hebl47 Well, it had been established that the thieves weren't burdened with an overabundance of schooling, so that's where it probably came from.

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

@@darjanator It seems that they weren't caught, so we won't know, but I am also pretty sure that they just took the camera either out of frustration or to resell it. It's also not very likely that there even is a video, the camera might have been there to make sure guests aren't hurt in their escape attempts or don't damage anything, so it's likely that the system was switched off when the thieves broke in. Otherwise I'd love to see the video, might be a hit on youtube.

[@theeaglesshadow449]

It might not even have been the security camera though. Some escape rooms have cameras in them that the operators can use to help with hints if need be. So it might not even have been actually recording or storing information anywhere. But if it was a CCTV security camera you'd be absolutely right.

[@darjanator]

@@theeaglesshadow449 Well, it was never stipulated it was a security camera, just CCTV. "Security" comes from its purpose, not implementation.

[@nicojar]

This is the most Dutch/Utrecht story there could be! There's an element of context you guys might be missing here... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Utrecht is the student/party city in Netherlands. The guys were not caught, took snacks and soda and the bit of cash in the till. And the camera, indeed in hope they'd resell. But it's highly likely they were stoners being completely high. They got to the safe because it is a small, quaint house with a big window pane, it looks like a shop from outside. The escape room is in a popular neighbourhood where people are often drunk / under drugs at night. And the fact that they took snacks is a telltale clue: they got the munchies. ;) That is literally what you can imagine, no doubt about that.

[@_Egitor]

Utrecht more like Utretcht ja toch

[@FlesHBoX]

My initial guess: What they thought they were breaking into was just a fake display, or did not contain what they were looking for, and they thought that stealing the camera would protect them from getting caught, lol.

[@FlesHBoX]

lol, imagine being thew thieves and seeing the news about it with them calling you stupid! That's awesome.

[@hadinossanosam4459]

5:28 So Ocean's 11 crossed with Johnny English? Yeah, I'd watch that xD

[@aenorist2431]

With the name and the key round the corner, this has to be an escape room.

[@PaulMutser]

Utrecht is misspelled in the question

[@Destructificial]

Literally the first thing I noticed too 🤣

[@abraxolotl]

I'm just happy whenever our (*country's) tiny little spec on the map gets some of the limelight. But with a premise like that, depending on how this story goes I may need to retract that statement.

[@ArifRWinandar]

Yet it was spelled correctly in the subtitles, Tom certainly has bought some damn subtitles.

[@IceMetalPunk]

@@abraxolotl I knew about Utrecht entirely because I've used GameMaker (now called GameMaker Studio) since I was about 13. Before it became Studio and was bought by the Scottish company YoYoGames, it was developed by one man: Mark Overmars, a professor at Utrecht university. And its old domain name had the NL TLD 😁

[@Xathroz]

Ut-wrecked

[@Patrick-.-]

Utrecht* As a dutchy, I did not know this one.

[@TakeruDavis]

My mind went straight to escape rooms when key being just behind a corner. Even the name of the place gave that vibe.

[@Creamcups]

5:55 I googled the quote and "fools" or "doofuses" would be a more accurate translation

[@hmoham]

Something about the way the question was written my first joke guess actually turned out to be the actual answer.

[@holgerchristiansen4003]

Even while hearing the question being read out, my mind just screamed . . . . . Mysterium? That sounds like an Escape Room! Antique Safe, Key around the corner, CCTV Camera - it all fits Easiest question ever for me (being an escape room enthusiast with around 65 rooms done, and knowing will that the Netherlands are kind of known for those, too)

[@geoffroi-le-Hook]

I once asked Google Maps for directions in one of two twin cities. It gave me directions to the same address in the other one.

[@aytelonne6866]

one thing that made you overcredit the thieves is "if they steal the camera, there is no proof" camera footage is always connected to a recorder that saves the footage, the video still exist

[@Squant]

How is that crediting the thieves? The whole point is we're talking about people who are clearly not very smart.

[@aytelonne6866]

@@Squant exactly, the thieves are dumb, so why do they insist about stealing the camera to delete the footage

[@SylviaRustyFae]

Unrelated tangent: On folk bein surprised by the contents of a safe... This reminds me of the funny story of when my gpa and gmas house burned down Obvs the house burnin down isnt the funny part. When the firefighters showed up and went inside, they realised prty quickly that the home was gonna be comin down soon; so they grabbed things that seemed important that werent alrdy aflame, and took some of it out One such thing they browt out was a large metal chest in the kitchen, which theyd assumed held valuable documents... But when my gpa saw them luggin it out he just laughed and said "The potatoes are done" Yeah, the metal chest was just the best place to keep the potatoes away from light or humidity; and they ate a lot of potatoes prty regularly - its the Irish in them :p Any valuable documents were just kept in open air or even on display in terms of pictures and ofc that all burnt up in the fire - but hey, at least their potatoes were baked to perfection xD

[@lrizzard]

lol, im glad your grandparents and their potatoes were safe

[@JasperJanssen]

So, a) I live in Utrecht (PS: the video misspelled it), b) I’ve never heard of it. Guess at 0:30 behind spoiler space: It’s *gotta* be an escape room.

[@SigEpBlue]

I had the answer, but my mind almost instantly discarded it as a possibility, with the rationale that no one, not even thieves, are that stupid. 🙄

[@57thorns]

This one I felt war rather obvious from the start, with that name and the key hidden nearby. I hope the morons did not damage the safe.

[@shaneg9081]

Agreed

[@alxk3995]

One of the first questions I had no clue and luckily guessed. What an absurd and funny situation. 😂

[@MrDannyDetail]

I love that all three of them seemingly think that CCTV cameras have either film or videotape actually inside of them, and presumably an operator with a long ladder to change the reels/tapes every couple of hours in a 'forth road bridge' style job, going from camera to camera.

[@rachmanfachri]

The moment I heard what the name of the place is I already knew why those people aren't the brightest to enter the escape room, let alone get out of it

[@VinnieBartilucci]

My guess was that they simply thought that polished up, the camera might fetch four bits on the open market, since there was nothing else in the room of any value.

[@DiMono]

Cyan Games puts on an event each year called Mysterium. My first thought was that this was that event, and they'd done up a scavenger hunt of some sort with puzzles for people to solve. That also would have explained the weird contents of the safe and the key being around the corner (could be a decryption key), but not the theft of the camera.

[@ChronoAegis]

It hurts to hear that they think taking the cctv camera equals taking the footage. The footage isn't saved on the camera itself but a Hard Drive Disk (HDD) or even Solid State Drive (SSD) somewhere else.

[@rgbii2]

Probably true, but not always. My security cameras record both to a centrail unit with drives, but each also has a micro SD card that records in case you didn't purchase the centrail unit.

[@IceMetalPunk]

Thank you! I kept thinking, "but... that's not how security cameras work, is it?" I started to doubt myself... thank you for un-gaslighting me 😂

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

I am not sure if there even is a recording. The camera might have just been there to watch over the guests so that the staff can react fast in case of an emergency.

[@ChronoAegis]

@@MyRegardsToTheDodo I assume there are recordings because of 2 situations: 1. Liability: If a guest willfully damages something or gets hurt by willful wrongdoing, having the thing recorded is key. - 2. While never having visited a physical Escape Room myself, I do know there are Escape Rooms where you can buy a recording of yourself (or your group) solving the room.

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

@@ChronoAegis Possible, but even then the cameras were probably switched off, because that was not during work hours.

[@danlw212]

I really thought this was about Geraldo Rivera and Al Capone’s vault! 🤣🤣🤣

[@franciskisner920]

Being "not smart" people, they may have taken the camera thinking that the evidence of their presence was held inside the camera. Of course a CCTV immediately sends the recorded images to another location.

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

Considering they weren't caught makes me think that there was no video. Maybe the camera was just there so that the staff could check on guests in the escape room, to make sure they could react fast in case of an emergency. Imagine a guest having a medical emergency and nobody outside of his group realizes, because they can't get out of the escape room.

[@nanardeurlambda]

0:29 with a place with that name, I'm expecting a illusionist shop kind of thing. so I'm going to say the safe had a false bottom, and the real valuable stuff had been replaced by a line of colorful handkerchieves. 3:30 we said "seemingly" 4:25 my answer was kind of funny, this version is so much better.

[@tubegerm6732]

got this one instantly from the question.

[@MrQuickLine]

I'd like to know who created the amazing art behind Taha.

[@cannot-handle-handles]

Their full potential. They didn't realize their full potential.

[@loppydisk]

I feel smart I figured this one out before they did

[@cheeto4493]

I guessed this one right away. Ooh Hoo.

[@scrabblehandforaname]

Oh cool, my immediate intuition was correct!

[@RobBulmahn]

What I don't understand is that all the panelists are talking about stealing the camera to hide the evidence, but CCTV cameras typically don't store video locally; they're all connected up to a central location that would record the video feed.

[@noticiasinmundicias]

That's the joke though, that the thieves are dumb.

[@mightygreen3364]

As soon as the question was read, I thought: Escape Room. To be fair, I thought beeing thieves was the theme of the room and they were just stupid visitors, not stupid actual thieves...

[@JonatasAdoM]

How did they even come into contact with it. Did the see the room and thought it as an actial safe room?

[@AkutomiNamikaze]

Felt really proud of myself for guessing this correctly from the jump, and then I looked at the comments...

[@tomcardale5596]

There's an opening scene in an episode of "The Rookie" where a couple of police officers inadvertently chase a suspect into an escape room at night, get locked in and then spend a while breaking out of it with the suspect.

[@benjaminmoroni]

We must have "too many" escape rooms in Utah because I immediately knew it was an escape room, and I figured they took the camera because it was the main thing valuable in the room.

[@Cossieuk]

Maybe they tried to do the Escape Room and failed and then went back cause they really wanted to know what was in the safe. They then stole the camera so it looked like a break in rather then just someone that got stumped

[@ArtyFartyBart]

Didn't expect to hear my current town mentioned in this video

[@gljames24]

TIL: The UK uses the term prise instead of pry.

[@markusklyver6277]

Utrecht is not spelled like that

[@morklrr]

An Ocean's style movie where the gang plan a hit on a Four Seasons Casino but end up robbing Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

[@aarondavis5386]

just guessing from tom's initial questions based on the antique safe, presence of the key, strange safe contents, and cc tv camera... the theives had broken into an escape room or maybe a shop that sells magic tricks

[@jasper265]

I got this one halfway through the question. I'd like to believe I knew that a thing called "Mysterium" in the Netherlands almost has to be an escape room. However, there's a non-zero chance I've heard the name before and my subconscious just remembered it.

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

It's kind of funny that no one of them seems to understand how CCTV cameras work.

[@yessirge]

First thought is "Mysterium" sounds like an escape room

[@RiverShock]

Yeah. The only real options are something like that, or somewhere that exhibits weird art pieces. The latter is where I assumed it was going, lol.

[@tangent5]

Just initially my thought it that the contents of the safe was a screen displaying the live camera feed.

[@lastnamefirstname8655]

amazing intelligence of these thieves.

[@pardox28]

I’m willing to guess they took the camera not knowing that the video feed is taped elsewhere.

[@johnjacobs8879]

It does feel very Inside No 9

[@Giftedbryan]

'Utretcht'? Might want to give the fact checker a few more minutes 😅

[@johnnythegringo8855]

From the comments, looks like I'm not the only one who had "escape room" come to mind early. But I couldn't work out the rest of it. Nothing prepared me for the idea that these were actual thieves who were dumb enough to treat an escape room safe like a real thing that actually contained treasure.

[@JelMain]

The other 40% are pushing up the tulips.

[@timothymclean]

People kept guessing that the burglars stole the CCTV camera to stop people from finding out it was them or take the recordings or something, but...I'm pretty sure closed-circuit television cameras don't store anything inside? Certainly it's not the only copy. That's what the CCTV is for.

[@jamesaditya5254]

My guess was this is just a board game, spoilers below... it's as close as I'd get to nailing one of these questions, that was a fun story

[@empath69]

SPOILER SPACE . . . . . The panel obviously entered into this with a set of unfounded expectations. They were expecting a mastermind heist crew out of the mind of Steven Soderbergh or David Mamet, but in actuality they were given bumbling amateurs a la Blake Edwards or Guy Ritchie.

[@I_cant_spell879]

Did they steel the camera or the footage on the camera

[@ripopol]

also Utrecht is spelled Utrecht not Utretcht, you wrote one T too many.

[@fariesz6786]

at least Tom didn't pronounce it like _tch_ though i suppose the person typing it in might have in their head ^^

[@lundylow]

Well he got the subtitles right.

[@ElukeNL]

The first and 3rd time Tom pronounces Utrecht the U sounds good to me but the cht at the end sounds like -kt or -ct to me. The 2nd time he pronounces Utrecht, the -cht sounds right to me. But the extra T in the card got me thinking ‘maybe there is a place called ‘Utretcht’ somewhere on the planet?’ Also: is there any word in English that has that sound the U in Utrecht has?

[@JonatasAdoM]

I read Utretch 3 times. Wish I had contacts.

[@expectationlost]

Not having the the question up on the screen for the 'contestants' ...

[@skivernatnjilten493]

My guess: They are trying to steal from a magician workshop (Mysterium?). The safe was a part of a performance, meaning the contents was meaningless and the key was nearby because it was just a prop… they stole the camera because it was the only actually valuable thing in there.

[@SirExal]

Guys. Guys. GUYS! They just stole the CCTV camera because it was the most valuable thing they could find! There's no sneakier reason behind it! Stop guessing!

[@SpyrosKoronis]

I'm calling it as an escape room - the name, safe with worthless contents and CCTV all track.

[@erictaylor5462]

A friend of mine had his house broken into. As the burglar was quietly looking for valuables he heard a voice from the darkness, "Jesus is watching you," Startled he shines the light into where the voce comes from and sees a parrot. "You're just a bird." "My name is Moses." What sort of person names a bird Moses?" The same kind that names a Rottweiler Jesus.

[@undefined40]

As the thieves were described as "not very smart people", i assume they stole the camera it captured them and they thought so they were taking the recording of their break in with it. Similar to shows and movies picturing destruction of computers by destroying monitors, just that cameras are input and not output devices.

[@fariesz6786]

despite prior knowledge of the incident, i would have made this one very short, and i think i'm not the only one 😂

[@mikecase2372]

Now I want to watch "Logan Lucky".

[@muurrarium9460]

There are only 2 T's in Utrecht (sorry, I got distracted, what was the question again?)

[@sortius_]

Yeh, I got it straight away. Escape room. Still, not sure on the logic of stealing a security camera to get video recordings. It's rare a security camera will record locally.

[@lundylow]

TIL about "prise vs pry"

[@lucbloom]

“Mysterium”… is that perhaps an Escape Room (with a vault theme)?? If so, oh boy, dumdums.

[@aetch77]

They may not have been the smartest but they still opened the safe without the key.

[@Slikx666]

If they were stupid enough to break into there thinking it was a real bank, maybe they're stupid enough not to understand that the vast majority of CCTV cameras don't store video? Taking the camera dose nothing! 🤣

[@Quasihamster]

My guess: They broke into an escape room for whatever reason. Guess they solved the puzzle then, except in reverse order...

[@AFNacapella]

first typo in question? at least the first I spotted

[@TheGreatSteve]

I guessed escape room straight away.

[@PaulASmyers]

Oceans naught point three.

[@walker1054]

But did they do it in under an hour?

[@VictorSchmits]

Pedant here: my the city is spelled Utrecht, not Utretcht ..... flies away ....

[@notthere83]

"Mysterium" - sounds like an escape room. I wonder whether I'll be right. Update: Wow! First time since the show started that I was able to guess it!

[@boy638]

Did they get caught in the end? So they did escape the room.

[@_asphobelle6887]

5:56 I believe most Dutch speak English very well, so depending on the outlet the owner's interview was published in, "bastards" could well be the original word, not an audacious translation

[@maartenvandijk3629]

We do speak English very well but this was reported on a news site for local news. The original word was "prutsers" which would roughly translate to stupid people

[@deBobsico]

bastards is a very odd choice to translate "prutsers"into, it means someone who habitually messes up, fools, idiots, etc.

[@funicksystem]

First time I got the answer second 1 \o/

[@ecchikitty1395]

Try to buy a CCTV camera, can understand grabbing one for resale value. I'd been thinking museum and a display with fake money.

[@MotoCat91]

I need to know what's going on with Taha's wall.. was that intentional? is he testing paint colours? will he ever finish the entire wall? was it just a patch and he's so colour blind he didn't notice the fact it's blue? I MUST KNOW

[@ciaramc29]

They must have been high.

[@aaaaaaaaaaghaaaaa]

spoiler ... ... a dutch person here i just looked it up and they didn't steal a cctv camara jus a normal digital camara, also the owner called the thieves prutsers wich can best be translated as idiots or fools.

[@antonm_]

I mean, it's practically the plot to the 1973 movie "The Sting" 😅

[@FabioInsaccanebbia]

I was thinking more of 1958 "Big Deal on Madonna Street" (I soliti ignoti)

[@robertwilloughby8050]

If you want a (double) funny story.... In 1978, a daring raid stole a van full of diamonds. Only problem was..... it was industrial diamonds. Yep. They look like sand and have no value on the stolen goods market - well, not much, anyway. This happened twice, Over the course of two weeks. In Ireland. The senior Gardai in charge of both cases said - and I quote - "It seems to be a pastime nowadays - Italian criminals blow themselves up, and ours rob the wrong vans".

[@fragglet]

I think Sabrina forgot to turn on her green screen

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Initial thoughts: was Mysterium a play? And they thought it had real treasure? Then they stole the camera to "get rid of the evidence"?

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Result: close, but no cigar.

[@odesseus]

Is Taha ever going to paint his wall?

[@LaPingvino]

Utretcht > Utrecht