The Broken Window (49 page)

“So you faked your death and stole an identity. Got yourself a new name and Social Security number, somebody who’d died.”

The emotion was gone now. “A child, yeah. Jonathan Rollins, three, from Colorado Springs. It’s easy to get a new identity. Survivalists do it every day. You can buy books on the subject…” A faint smile. “Just remember to pay cash for them.”

“And you got a job as a security guard. But wouldn’t somebody from SSD recognize you?”

“I never met anybody at the company in person. That’s the wonder of the data-mining business. You can collect data and never leave the privacy of your own Closet.”

Then his voice faded. He seemed uneasy, considering what she’d told him. Were they in fact getting close to matching Rollins with Peter Gordon? Would someone else come to the town house to check things out further? He apparently decided he couldn’t take the chance. Gordon snatched up the key to Pam’s car. He’d want to hide it. The killer examined the fob. “Cheap. No RFIDs. But
everybody
’s scanning the license plates now. Where’d you park?”

“You think I’d tell you?”

He shrugged and left.

Her strategy had worked, grabbing a bit of knowledge and using it as a weapon. Not much, of course, but at least she’d bought a little time.

Was it, however, enough to do what she planned: get to the handcuff key stuffed deep in her slacks pocket?

Page 277

Listen to me. My partner’s missing. And I need to look at some files.”

Rhyme was speaking to Andrew Sterling via a high-definition video link.

The head of SSD was back in his austere office in the Gray Rock. He sat completely upright in what seemed to be a plain wooden chair, ironically mimicking Rhyme’s stiff posture in his TDX. Sterling said in a soft voice, “Sam Brockton talked to you. Inspector Glenn too.” Not a splinter of uneasiness in the voice. No emotion at all, in fact, though a pleasant smile rested on his face.

“I want to see my partner’s dossier. The officer you met, Amelia Sachs. Her
whole
dossier.”

“What do you mean, ‘whole,’ Captain Rhyme?”

The criminalist noted that Sterling had used his title, which wasn’t common knowledge. “You know exactly what I mean.”

“No, I don’t.”

“I want to see her 3E Compliance dossier.”

Another hesitation. “Why? It’s nothing. Some technical government filing information. Privacy Act disclosures.”

But the man was lying. CBI agent Kathryn Dance had given him some insights into kinesics—body language—and the analysis of how people communicate. A hesitation before answering is often a sign of coming deception, since the subject is trying to formulate a credible, but false, answer. One speaks quickly when telling the truth; there’s nothing to fabricate.

“Why don’t you want me to see it, then?”

“There’s just no reason to… It wouldn’t help you at all.”

Lie.

Sterling’s green eyes remained calm, though once they flicked sideways, and Rhyme realized he’d glanced at where Ron Pulaski would appear on his screen; the young officer was back in the lab, standing behind Rhyme.

“Then answer me a question.”

“Yes?”

“I was just talking to an NYPD computer man. I had him estimate how big my cousin’s SSD dossier was.”

“Yes?”

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“He said a thirty-page dossier of text would be about twenty-five K in size.”

“I’m as concerned as you are about your partner’s well-being but—”

“I doubt that very much. Now listen to me.” A slightly raised eyebrow was Sterling’s only response. “A typical dossier is twenty-five kilobytes of data. But your brochure says you have over five hundred
petabytes
of information. That’s so much data most people can’t even comprehend it.”

Sterling wasn’t responding.

“If a dossier averages twenty-five K, then the database for every human being on
Earth
would take up maybe a hundred and fifty
billion
K, to be generous. But innerCircle has more than five hundred
trillion
K. What’s in the rest of innerCircle’s hard drive space, Sterling?”

Another hesitation. “Well, lots of things… Graphics and photographs, they take up a huge amount of space. Administrative data, for instance.”

Lie.

“And tell me why would somebody have a Compliance file in the first place? Who has to comply with what?”

“We make sure that everyone’s file
complies
with the requirements of the law.”

“Sterling, if that file isn’t on its way to my computer in five minutes I’m going straight to the
Times
with the story that you aided and abetted a criminal who used your information to rape and murder. The Compliance Division folks in Washington aren’t going to save you from those headlines. And the story’ll run above the fold. I guarantee that.”

Now Sterling simply laughed, his face exuding confidence. “I don’t think that will happen. Now, Captain, I’m going to say good-bye.”

“Sterling—”

The screen went black.

Rhyme closed his eyes in frustration. The criminalist maneuvered his chair to the whiteboards containing the evidence charts and the list of suspects. He stared at Thom’s and Sachs’s lettering, some scrawled fast, some penned methodically.

But no answers presented themselves.

Where are you, Sachs?

He knew she lived on the edge, that he would never suggest she avoid the high-risk situations she seemed drawn to. But he was furious that she’d followed up on her damn lead without backup.

“Lincoln?” Ron Pulaski asked softly. Rhyme glanced up to see the young officer’s eyes unusually cold as he stared at the crime-scene pictures of Myra Weinburg’s body.

“What?”

Page 279

He turned to the criminalist. “I have an idea.”

The face, with the bandaged nose, was now filling the high-def screen.

“You
do
have access to innerCircle, don’t you?” Ron Pulaski asked Mark Whitcomb in a cool voice.

“You said you weren’t cleared but you are.”

The Compliance assistant sighed. But finally he said, “That’s right.” Holding eye contact with the webcam briefly, then looking away.

“Mark, we have a problem. We need you to help us.”

Pulaski explained about Sachs’s disappearance and Rhyme’s suspicion that the Compliance file might help them figure out where she’d gone. “What’s in the dossier?”

“A Compliance dossier?” Mark Whitcomb whispered. “It’s absolutely forbidden to access one. If they find out, I could go to jail. And what Sterling’s reaction will be… it’ll be worse than jail.”

Pulaski snapped, “You weren’t honest with us and people died.” Then he added more softly, “We’re the good guys, Mark. Help us out. Don’t let anybody else get hurt. Please.”

He said nothing more, letting the silence roll up.

Good job, rookie, thought Rhyme, who was content to take the copilot’s seat on this one.

Whitcomb grimaced. He looked around and up at the ceiling. Was he afraid of listening devices or surveillance cameras? Rhyme wondered. It seemed so, because both resignation and urgency filled his voice as he said, “Write this down. We won’t have much time.”

“Mel! Get over here. We’re going into SSD’s system, innerCircle.”

“We are? Uh-oh, this doesn’t sound good. First, Lon hijacks my shield, now this.” The tech hurried to a station next to Rhyme. Whitcomb recited a Web site address, which Cooper typed in. On the screen appeared some messages indicating that they’d made contact with SSD’s secure server. Whitcomb gave Cooper a temporary user name and, after a moment of hesitation, three long random-character passcodes.

“Download the decryption file in the box in the center of the screen and hit EXECUTE.”

Cooper did and a moment later another screen appeared.

Welcome, NGHF235, please enter (1) the Subject’s 16-digit SSD code; or (2) country and number
of Subject’s passport, or (3) Subject’s name, current residence, Social Security number and one
telephone number.

“Type in the information for the person you’re interested in.”

Rhyme dictated the details about Sachs. On the screen appeared:
Confirm access to 3E Compliance
Dossier? Yes No.

Page 280

Cooper clicked on the former and a box appeared, asking for yet another passcode.

With another glance at the ceiling, Whitcomb asked, “You ready?”

As if something significant was about to happen. “Ready.”

Whitcomb gave them another sixteen-digit passcode, which Cooper typed in. He hit ENTER.

As the text began filling the computer screen, the criminalist whispered an astonished, “Oh, my God.”

And it took a lot to astonish Lincoln Rhyme.

RESTRICTED

POSSESSION OF THIS DOSSIER BY ANY PERSON NOT HOLDING AN A-18

CLEARANCE OR HIGHER IS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW

Dossier 3E—Compliance

SSD Subject Number: 7303 — 4490 — 7831 — 3478

Name: Amelia H. Sachs

Pages: 478

TABLE OF CONTENTS

· Click on topic to view

· Note: Archived material may take up to five minutes to access

PROFILE

· Name/Aliases/Nics/Nyms/A.K.A.s

· Social Security Number

· Present address

· Satellite view of present address

· Prior addresses

· Citizenship

· Race

· Ancestral history

· National origin

· Physical description/distinguishing characteristics

· Biometric details

·
Photographs

·
Video

·
Fingerprints

Page 281

·
Footprints

·
Retinal scan

·
Iris scan

·
Gait profile

·
Facial scan

·
Voice pattern

· Tissue samples

· Medical history

· Political party affiliations

· Professional organizations

· Fraternal organizations

· Religious affiliations

· Military

·
Service/discharge

·
DOD evaluation

·
National Guard evaluation

·
Weapons systems training

· Donations

·
Political

·
Religious

·
Medical

·
Philanthropic

·
Public Broadcasting System/National Public Radio

·
Other

· Psychological/psychiatric history

· Myers-Briggs personality profile

· Sexual preference profile

· Hobbies/interests

· Clubs/fraternal organizations

INDIVIDUALS TETHERED TO SUBJECT

· Spouses

· Intimate relationships

· Offspring

· Parents

· Siblings

· Grandparents (paternal)

· Grandparents (maternal)

· Other blood relatives, living

· Other blood relatives, deceased

· Relatives related by marriage or tethering

· Neighbors

·
Present

·
Past five years (archived, may be delay in accessing)

· Co-workers, clients, etc.

·
Present

·
Past five years (archived, may be delay in accessing)

· Acquaintances

·
In person

Page 282

·
Online

· Persons of Interest (PEOI)

FINANCIAL

· Employment—present

·
Category

·
Salary history

·
Days absent/reasons for absence

·
Discharge/unemployment claims

·
Citations/reprimands

·
Title 7 discrimination incidents

·
OSHA incidents

·
Other actions

· Employment—past (archived, may be delay in accessing)

·
Category

·
Salary history

·
Days absent/reasons for absence

·
Discharge/unemployment claims

·
Citations/reprimands

·
Title 7 discrimination incidents

·
OSHA incidents

·
Other actions

· Income—present

·
IRS reported

·
Nonreported

·
Foreign

· Income—past

·
IRS reported

·
Nonreported

·
Foreign

· Assets currently held

·
Real property

·
Vehicles and boats

·
Bank accounts/securities

·
Insurance policies

·
Other

· Assets, past twelve months, unusual disposition or acquisition of

·
Real property

·
Vehicles and boats

·
Bank accounts/securities

·
Insurance policies

·
Other

· Assets, past five years, unusual disposition or acquisition of (archived, may be delay in accessing)

·
Real property

·
Vehicles and boats

·
Bank accounts/securities

·
Insurance policies

·
Other

· Credit report/rating

Page 283

· Financial transactions, U.S.-based institutions

·
Today

·
Past seven days

·
Past thirty days

·
Past year

·
Past five years (archived, may be delay in accessing)

· Financial transactions, foreign-based institutions

·
Today

·
Past seven days

·
Past thirty days

·
Past year

·
Past five years (archived, may be delay in accessing)

· Financial transactions, Hawala and other cash transactions, U.S. and foreign

·
Today

·
Past seven days