midnight
Fifteen minutes or so later , Cade heard the announcer hand out the prizes for first , second , and third place . The other contestants were heartily thanked and given surprise consolation prizes in the form of twenty-dollar dealer 's room gift certificates , then the band cranked up . Through Cade 's earpiece came , `` Open the doors now , '' and he kicked the stops back up on his doors , opened them , and stood to one side of the alcove as people left the ballroom . It was a short rush of people ; some headed for the restrooms or the escalators , but most of those gathered in the ballroom remained seated because the evening 's entertainment would continue until around midnight . Maybe ten minutes later John made his way to Cade through the swarming people and eyed the alcove for a moment before he said , `` Both backpacks were full of plastique . It did n't really matter which one got through . '' `` Kinda figured that . ''