Out on the roof, he immediately saw what Amanda had meant.  There was a sort of mini-crane on a swivel bolted to the roof.   Standing six feet high with an electric motor and two pulleys, it could be turned toward any of the four sides of the building and used to lower the ropes that supported the bench.  The bench with the rope coiled atop it lay nearby.

One look at the base of the crane and Allistor said, “We’ll have to come back for this.  The bolts are welded.  And somebody with more knowledge than me is going to have to figure out how to disconnect the electrical wires in a way that lets us reconnect it later.”  She stared at the bolts and didn’t disagree.

“But we can take the rope!”  He stepped forward and examined the bench.  It was basically just three two-by-six boards screwed to three slats underneath.  The rope passed through two holes in each end and was knotted underneath.  The knots were sealed with something transparent.  There was no way to untie them.

“No worries.” Allistor simply lifted the bench with the two hundred feet or so of rope coiled atop it and looked around.  “Which side is the cafeteria?”

Amanda pointed east, and he walked to the edge and dropped the bench off the side.  A moment later there was a crash as the bench hit the ground.  Dusting off his hands, he said, “That was easy!”   She just gave him a half-smile and headed for the door.

Back downstairs, they returned to the maintenance room.  He reluctantly agreed to use one of the morgue carts to load up the bags they’d filled.  Since they couldn’t push it up the stairs, she directed them toward the lower level loading dock.  This was where funeral homes came to pick up the bodies and supplies were delivered.

As soon as they walked out onto the dock, Allistor whooped for joy!  Which caused Amanda to jump and nearly wet herself.   When she turned on him, he was already gone.  Headed to the far side of the dock where three large grey plastic bins with wheels sat.  Each of them was about three feet wide and five feet long.

“Ew!  They use those to collect the trash!” she called out.  “Do you know how nasty hospital trash can be?”

He shrugged, peering down inside the nearest one and sniffing.  “They’re not so bad. We can line them with plastic.  I saw some tarps in there.  And I’m putting tools in here, not food.”

She made a disgusted face but went to help him.  They pushed the three bins back to the maintenance room and filled them until they creaked under the weight.  Then Allistor laid a ladder across the top of one, and a workbench atop each of the others.  Once again, they made a train down to the loading dock.   Leaving their loot there, they returned to the main floor.