Chilcott said, “We are aware of Mr. Vance’s personal investigation into the identity of the American double agent Odin.” He explained, “Jason Butler informed Howard about Anna Albrecht’s interview with the BKA.”
Brodie wondered if Jason Butler had informed Howard Fensterman knowingly, or via a phone tap. Brodie offered, “Vance’s investigation of Odin began in May of last year, and I wanted to know if any part of his official CID business around that time might have been the catalyst for his interest in this double agent.”
Fensterman asked, “And did you find a connection between Odin and the Stuttgart case?”
Brodie looked at him. “If I’d found anything, Howard, you’d be the first to know, but not because I told you.”
Fensterman had no reply.
Chilcott stepped in. “Here’s what we believe. Harry Vance was likely not killed by Islamic terrorists, and you two, in the process of investigating his murder and then continuing his search for Odin, have come to the attention of NordFaust and gotten on their hit list. Why?”
Brodie looked at him. “You’re the spook. You tell me.”
Chilcott stared back. “You know more than you’re saying, Mr. Brodie.”
“You too.”
Chilcott couldn’t hide his annoyance. Brodie pegged him as the kind of guy who projected the debonair affect pretty well, but had never gotten control of his inner demons enough to completely pull it off. Trent Chilcott practiced his smile in the mirror without looking too long into his own eyes.
Fensterman said, “We are privy to certain forensic evidence from the site of the explosion in Neukölln that casts serious doubt on the official narrative.”
Taylor asked, “Such as?”
Fensterman and Chilcott shared a look; then Fensterman continued, “The IED that detonated in the apartment was radio-controlled. The radio receiver that was connected to the electrical firing circuit survived the blast, as did the UHF radio transmitter that was intended to be used as a remote trigger. The problem is that the transmitter is not compatible with the receiver that was connected to the firing circuit. In other words, this bomb that was supposedly destined for Mr. Jenkins’ vehicle could never have been detonated with the equipment found at the blast site. The German authorities can of course explain this as another example of incompetence on the part of our supposed Islamic terrorists. However, we believe that the real triggering device was outside of the apartment and operated by an unidentified individual. This was a setup, and those who placed the bomb in the apartment never expected the radio receiver to survive the blast, and perhaps made an oversight in planting the wrong type of transmitter in the apartment.”
Also, thought Brodie, whoever set up the three Syrians didn’t know that one of them was a Christian, and therefore not likely to be an Islamic terrorist. But Brodie didn’t bother to share that and neither did Taylor.
As for improvised explosive devices, Brodie had seen his share of IEDs in Iraq—both intact bombs and detonated remnants. The receiver and firing circuit were attached directly to the explosives, and it was reasonable to assume the receiver would be obliterated in a blast. Except this time, it wasn’t. And what was left behind was actual physical evidence of what Brodie had suspected: that this was an elaborate and violent misdirection. The three Syrian men were likely already dead—or drugged—when the bomb went off. And the cell phone that David Kim had described to them as containing the draft e-mail about the Tripoli operation had been purposely left somewhere in the apartment where it would survive the explosion and offer a reasonable motive for the assassination of Harry Vance and the planned assassination of Mark Jenkins.
What would it take to pull that off? How many people, how many resources, and what expertise? And what sort of person or persons would have had access to the information that Jenkins and Vance were the agents involved in the Tripoli operation in order to craft a coherent motive for them to be targets of Islamic terrorism?
Taylor must have been wondering the same thing; she asked, “Do you believe NordFaust was responsible for this explosion?”
Chilcott and Fensterman exchanged another look. Then Chilcott said, “We don’t know. But we do believe they would have the capability.”
Taylor added, “So if NordFaust is responsible for the blast, they are also responsible for killing Harry Vance.”
Chilcott said, “They undoubtedly have skilled sharpshooters among their ranks.”
“Then why,” asked Brodie, “does this neo-Nazi group care about a former double agent for the Stasi, and Vance’s attempt to find him?”
Fensterman replied, “That is what we are trying to understand. Is there a connection? Or was Mr. Vance targeted by NordFaust for an unrelated reason?”
Brodie said, “We believe Vance was in contact with Colonel Tariq Qasim—whom he knew as Abbas al-Hamdani—a former member of the Iraqi military who potentially could have identified Odin.”
Fensterman nodded. “I was made aware of that finding by the legat’s office.”
Brodie continued, “We also believe Colonel Qasim is dead, and his killers used his phone to lure Vance to Körnerpark under false pretenses. So, the killer or killers were familiar with the details of Vance’s investigation.”
“That’s a theory,” said Chilcott.
“We’re dancing around the obvious,” said Taylor. “Odin is alive and working with NordFaust.”
Chilcott looked at her. “That possibility had of course occurred to us, but we believe it highly unlikely.”
“Why?” asked Brodie.
“I assure you,” said Fensterman, “that if an American military or former military officer was a member of NordFaust, or any extremist group in Germany, we would know about it.”
