Читать книгу Kobra - Деон Мейер - Страница 15

“For starters, you should know that Adair has been divorced for nine years. He is completely estranged from his ex-wife. The marriage was childless. His next-of-kin is his younger sister, Sarah, a lecturer at the School of Mathematics at the University of Birmingham. By all accounts she is an extremely competent academic, but alas, not quite the genius her brother is. We have made highly discreet inquiries as to her knowledge of her brother’s whereabouts, and it is clear that she has not heard from him since his disappearance. In other words, there is no need for you to contact her.”

“Ah,” sê Nyathi. “I’m assuming that you have also been … monitoring her communication channels since last Tuesday?”

“We are positive that no attempt has been made to communicate with her about her brother since that time.”

“May I ask to which ‘we’ you are referring?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You said ‘we are sure’ …” sê Nyathi geduldig.

“The British authorities,” sê sy, nou self met ’n ironiese glimlag.

“And the nature of professor Adair’s work?”

Sy knik. “Now please bear with me, because this gets a little complicated. But I want to get it right, not least so that you will also understand the great need for circumspection in this matter.”

“Please,” sê Nyathi.

Griessel sê niks, maar luister net.

“An internet search of his name will eventually lead you to the good professor’s responsibility for the so-called Adair Algorithm. To save time, and to enunciate the necessity for discretion, I would like to explain what that is. Have you heard of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT?”

“Vaguely.”

“Very well. Please allow me to elaborate: SWIFT is based in Belgium. It is a network which enables financial institutions across the globe to send and receive information about monetary transactions. Your bank, for instance, would have a SWIFT code which is part of this system. Should you receive money from abroad, this code is used, and the information about the transaction is registered on SWIFT’s computers. Simple stuff, is it not?”

Hulle knik in gelid.

“Now, shortly after 9/11 the CIA and the US State Department set up the top secret and pretty controversial Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme, also known as TFTP. In a nutshell, this programme provides US authorities with access to the SWIFT database, in order to trace financial transactions that might identify potential terrorist activities. You might have heard of it …”

“Yes,” sê Nyathi.

“In June of 2006 The New York Times ran the first media exposé on TFTP, but the project survived, due to the public sentiment at the time, perhaps, but also because TFTP proved extremely useful right off the bat. However, being a US only initiative, it lacked in reach and scope. To be truly effective, it needed to go global. So, the USA invited the European Union to come on board. Of course, Europe was equally concerned about the terrorist threat, and keen to cooperate. But initially the European Parliament rejected an interim EU-US TFTP agreement, because they felt it did not offer EU citizens enough privacy protection. Are we still on the same page?”

“Yes,” sê Nyathi.

“Good. This is where David Adair enters our story. He was invited to be a member of the EU evaluation team of the TFTP agreement, because of his expertise in database search algorithms. Adair took a long, hard look at the US system, and came to the conclusion that it could be vastly improved – not only in terms of privacy safeguards, but also in effectiveness. He then proceeded, as geniuses do, to write a vastly superior algorithm on a whim, and offer it to the authorities. Of course, they gratefully accepted, and in 2010 the EU announced their resumption of the TFTP. The so-called Adair Algorithm then became the standard methodology to sniff out terrorists in the international banking system. It has been responsible for the identification and subsequent termination of at least seven terrorist cells, and an impressively large number of senior Al-Qaeda leaders and operatives.”

Emma Graber leun terug in haar stoel, maak haar hande oop asof sy niks meer het om weg te steek nie.

“Gentlemen, the Adair Algorithm is one of the best-kept and most vital international security secrets in history. If it falls into the wrong hands …”

Sy laat die gedagte daar hang, dan sê sy: “Now please tell me about the nature of the kidnapping.”

* * *

Griessel hoor hoe Nyathi sekere besonderhede van die ondersoek verswyg.

Met woorde wat hy noukeurig kies, en in perfekte Engels, vertel Die Giraffe vir Emma Graber van Adair se aanvanklike kontak met Body Armour, sy aankoms en verblyf op La Petite Margaux, die dood van die plaaswerker en twee lyfwagte, en die tekens van struweling in die hoofslaapkamer. Hy verduidelik van die sekuriteitsmaatreëls, en hoe hulle dink die misdaad gebeur het.

Graber vra Nyathi of sy die e-posadres kan kry vir die Paul Anthony Morris-skuilnaam.

Hy sê hulle sal hul notas moet gaan raadpleeg, maar hy sal dit aanstuur. Griessel onthou die adres goed, maar bly stil.

Van die koeëldoppies met die gravering van die slang en die letters NM daarop sprak Nyathi geen sprook nie. Ook nie van die vermiste skootrekenaar, iPad en moontlike selfoon nie – die Valke se enigste leidrade.

Griessel vermoed dit is met opset, maar hy is nie seker nie.

Toe die kolonel klaar is, onderhandel hulle oor ’n gesamentlike persverklaring om die honger van die media te stil en die druk op die lyfwag-slagoffers se naasbestaandes en die wynplaaspersoneel te verlig.

Dit sal sê ’n onbekende man, vermoedelik ’n Europese toeris, word vermis nadat ’n gastehuis-werknemer en twee sekuriteitsbeamptes tydens ’n inbraak doodgeskiet is. Gebrekkige en moontlik foutiewe paspoortbesonderhede het tot dusver die identifisering van die vermiste persoon bemoeilik, maar daar word vermoed dat hy manlik en ’n Britse burger is. Die Direktoraat vir Prioriteitsmisdaadondersoeke is dankbaar vir die diensvaardigheid en samewerking van die Britse konsulaat in dié verband. Sodra ’n positiewe identifikasie met sekerheid gemaak kan word en die sensitiwiteit van die ondersoek dit toelaat, sal die media ten volle ingelig word. Intussen word geen steen onaangeroer gelaat om die boosdoeners aan die man te bring en die vermiste persoon op te spoor nie. Verskeie leidrade word opgevolg.

Nyathi sê vir Graber hulle sal nog een van hul kollegas móét inlig oor die identiteit en agtergrond van David Adair: majoor Benedict Boshigo, lid van die Statutêre Misdaadgroep van die Valke se Handelsmisdaadtak in die Kaap – hul groot kenner van finansiële sake. Maar hy kan haar die versekering gee dat Boshigo, net soos hulle, die inligting streng vertroulik sal hanteer. “Until such time as we agree otherwise.”

“Very well,” sê sy ruimhartig en gemoedelik.

Hulle kom plegtig ooreen om mekaar wedersyds in te lig oor relevante verwikkelinge, so dikwels as wat omstandighede dit toelaat.

Graber stap saam tot by die hysbak, waar sy hulle groet.

* * *

Eers toe hulle in Buitengracht indraai, in die rigting van Bellville, praat Nyathi.

“I want you to call the Body Armour boss, Bennie, and inform her that the British authorities might contact her. I want you to tell her that divulging any information to anyone other than the SAPS would constitute a crime …”

“Sir, I think we should … She’s a tough one, it would be better not to …”

“Threaten her?”

“Yes.”

“See what you can do. But above all, ask her not to share Morris’s email address.”

Hy bel. Sy antwoord vinnig.

Hy vertel vir haar dat die Valke later vanaand ’n verklaring aan die media sal uitreik wat die druk op die twee vermoorde lyfwagte se naasbestaandes sal verlig. Hy onderneem om dit ook vir haar aan te stuur.

“Ek waardeer dit,” sê sy.

“Daar’s ’n moontlikheid dat iemand van die Britse konsulaat jou mag kontak. Ons wil vra of dit dalk moontlik sal wees om al hulle vrae na óns toe te verwys.”

Sy bly so lank stil dat Griessel dink die oproep het verlore geraak.

“Hallo?” sê hy.

“Ek is hier.”

Hy wag.

“Hier’s die ooreenkoms,” sê sy. “Ek sal vir hulle niks sê nie. Maar jy gaan my alles vertel.”

“Dit is nie nou moontlik nie.”

“Jy gaan vir my alles vertel wanneer dit moontlik ís. Ek wil niks in die media lees wat ek nie weet nie, anders bel ek die konsulaat.”

“Dis reg,” sê Griessel en lui af.

“Mission accomplished?” vra Nyathi.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well done. You’re pretty good with people, Bennie …”

Hy weet nie wat om daarop te antwoord nie.

“The first thing you have to understand about the intelligence community is that they only tell the truth if it serves a purpose. Their purpose, mostly.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Graber is most likely MI6. Also known as the Secret Intelligence Service, or SIS. She is probably working closely with MI5, the British national security service, which hunts terrorists inside the UK, amongst other duties.”

“Sir …” Hy kan dit nie meer onderdruk nie. “You seem to know a lot about all this?”

Nyathi lag, en Griessel wonder of dit die eerste keer is dat hy die kolonel dit sien doen.

“Twenty-six years ago I was recruited for MK Intelligence, Bennie. Because I was a schoolteacher, they thought I was intelligent. And I worked in London for a while … What I’m trying to say is that lying is part of that profession. And I think she is lying to us. Or at least not telling the whole truth.”

“Why, sir?”

“Two things, Bennie. The first one is that she tried very hard to have us believe that this is about terrorism, but she never actually said it. Her problem is that she is working in a foreign country and she has to tread very carefully not to lie directly. Very bad for diplomacy, should things get out of hand later. She has to keep the back door open, the one that allows her to say: ‘Oh, you must have misunderstood, would you like to listen to the recording again?’”

“I understand.”

“The second is the channel she’s chosen. If this were purely about a potential terrorist act, their ambassador in Pretoria would have approached our Minister of Security. Musad and I would have been called by him, not by them.”

Die forse brigadier Musad Manie is die Valke se Kaapse bevelvoerder.

“You think this is about something else, sir?”

“All I know is that Adair is probably who she says he is. As for the rest, we’ll have to see.”

Griessel begin verstaan. “Is that why you did not just send me and Vaughn when they called, sir? You knew, when they called this late on a Monday evening …”

“I suspected something might be brewing.”

“And that’s why you did not tell her everything, sir?”

“Yes, Bennie. When you’re working with intelligence people, you should always have an ace up your sleeve. Always. We have a few, and I want to keep it that way. So, the first thing you do, is send her the wrong email address for Paul Anthony Morris. Just a small typo …”

Hy wonder of hy ’n hunkering in Nyathi se stemtoon gehoor het.

Griessel het hom nog altyd as ’n regverdige, nadenkende man ervaar, maar stil, ingetoë en grootliks onlees- en onkenbaar. Vanaand het hy ’n skerpsinnigheid ontdek, ’n vaardigheid vir dié strategiese spel wat hy wat Bennie is hom moeilik sal kan nadoen.

Die kolonel het dit geniet daar in die konsul-generaal se kantoor, dit kon hy sien. En nou, hier in die kar, was daar ’n geesdrif, ’n bruising wat hy nog nie voorheen by Die Giraffe bespeur het nie. Hoe moet dit wees om ná die adrenalien en opwinding van spioenasie in Londen nou in ’n bevelvoerderspos – eintlik meestal net mensebestuur, administrasie en pyn vat van bo af – in die SAPD te wees?

Geniet hy sy werk?

Anderkant Canal Walk vra Nyathi of hy asseblief vir Cloete, die skakeloffisier, kan bel en vra om in te kom. En vir majoor Benedict “Bones” Boshigo. “Tell Bones to come directly to my office, and not to talk to anyone.”

Nadat hy dit gedoen het – en Bones gereageer het met ’n “dis nooit ’n goeie sign nie, nè” – besluit hy en die kolonel wat hulle vir hul kollegas gaan sê.