“What do you want me to say, Taylor? A CID counterterrorism investigator is clipped in the middle of an Arab neighborhood while trying to locate an Iraqi ex-Ba’athist with knowledge of the most terrible weaponsknown to man, and now a bomb blows up in that same neighborhood and apparently has something to do with Harry’s murder. That paints a kind of picture. A scary picture, actually. But also a coherent one. As for Anna… I think she’s stuck in the past. You and I can only begin to imagine what she’s gone through. Growing up in a place like that. Those bastards taking her father from her at such a young age. But the world moves on, and the problem is that the pain doesn’t move on with it.”
Taylor thought about that. “She’s traumatized.”
He nodded. “And with the murder of Harry, twice over.”
“We at least owe it to her to take her claims seriously. To see what’s there.”
“We always see what’s there.”
“We do. But we don’t always understand what we see.”
“I do.”
“Then tell me what that thing is that you took from Harry’s jacket.”
“His passport.”
“Theotherthing, Scott.”
“I have no frickin’ idea.”
CHAPTER 25
The far-right protestors who had clogged Pariser Platz that morning appeared to have gone home for the day, or to another location. A few cyclists and pedestrians weaved between the columns of the Brandenburg Gate.
Brodie and Taylor navigated the embassy security check, then took the elevator to the second floor and walked to the conference room.
Sharon Whitmore and Jason Butler sat together at the far end of the conference table. No one else was there.
Brodie asked, “Are we early?”
“It’s just us,” said Whitmore. She gestured to the chairs across from them. “Please sit.”
They took the two seats that were set up with water bottles and blank pads. Brodie noticed that the plate of strudel was still there. Must have been a plastic replica sourced from an IKEA showroom. Probably bugged.
Taylor asked, “Where is everyone?”
“The Germans have got their hands full,” said Whitmore. “Chief Inspector Schröder called me about an hour ago to brief me about the bomb blast. I briefed Agent Kim immediately thereafter. As for the others”—she gestured to the empty chairs—“this has become a need-to-know matter.”
Interesting. It made sense to exclude the State Department reps, but Brodie thought General Kiernan had a need to know.
Whitmore continued, “The blast that you both witnessed this morning was caused by an improvised explosive device consisting of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. Three bodies were recovered from the apartment.” She consulted some handwritten notes in front of her. “Two of the bodies have been identified as Abdul Aziz and Yosef Rahman, Syrian refugees who hadimmigrated to Germany approximately six months ago. They were both renters of the apartment. The third body was sitting closest to the detonation and will take longer to identify, but is possibly Zahid Bishara, their third roommate, who emigrated from Syria at the same time. Based on an initial analysis of the remnants of the device, which included a receiver and a detonator, the German authorities believe that the explosion was accidental, and that the victims were in the final stages of building a bomb that would be placed elsewhere and remotely detonated.”
Well, that gave some credence to David Kim’s theory. Bomb-making didn’t leave a lot of room for error.
Whitmore continued, “Two cell phones were recovered at the scene, and technicians are currently at work gaining access to them. A laptop computer was sitting on a desk near the explosion, and any data on it is likely unsalvageable. However, the authorities located a USB thumb drive in one of the desk drawers which contained several images. The first few were of a dark-green Mercedes sedan parked in an underground lot. Different angles, including the underside of the car. These were time-stamped around sevenA.M.yesterday morning, and geo-tagged to the Radisson Hotel in Alexanderplatz.”
Brodie and Taylor exchanged glances, knowing what Whitmore was going to say next.
She looked at them. “The BKA has confirmed that the vehicle in the photos belongs to Mark Jenkins, Mr. Vance’s former partner. The remainder of the photos on the flash drive are surveillance photos of Mr. Jenkins in Alexanderplatz. This is consistent with Mr. Jenkins’ own account of being followed and surveilled by several individuals. The authorities believe that the bomb was intended for Mr. Jenkins’ car.”
Brodie asked, “Is Jenkins still in town?”
“He was preparing to depart this afternoon, but after I called him and briefed him on this, he has chosen to remain in Berlin until Mr. Vance’s memorial service in Kaiserslautern this weekend.”
Brodie wasn’t surprised that Jenkins was sticking around. The guy didn’t want to give the appearance of turning tail. As with any proud and occasionally stupid military man, cheating death was just an invitation to play the odds again.
More interestingly, Ms. Whitmore had just revealed that after receiving this information from the chief inspector, she had decided to conduct three separate briefings. Mark Jenkins, David Kim, and now Brodie and Taylor, with Jason Butler present. Why?
