He had been so altruistic when he had started hacking, almost feeling that it was a calling. He wondered if that was how a priest or a nun felt when they were called to do God’s work. Probably not, he admitted to himself. A hacker was not the same as a priest. He laughed at his own arrogance. He knew what he had been doing was illegal but he also knew he had helped a lot of people. Was what he did wrong? He did not believe he had hurt a soul.
Now he was confessing his crimes to the RCMP so that they could protect him and his mother from the Mafia. He was just a tool to the mob and he was just a snitch to the RCMP. And he could no longer help anyone as White Cell because he was no longer anonymous. He was nothing. How would he get out of this mess?
As he had all of these thoughts he continued to gather information about the people on the list. He picked another person at random. This one was the CIO of the Toronto Dominion Bank. He knew what Verde was going to do with this guy. It was obvious. But there was something about the CIO of a bank that had him worried. Something was gnawing at him. As he continued to go through the bank records of the CIO, Jim’s telephone rang.
“Mr. Kincaid?” The heavy accent was immediately recognizable over the phone.
“Yes.”
“This is Inspector Roger Desjardins.”
“Yes Inspector?” asked Jim, wondering why Desjardins was calling him so soon after their meeting.
“Mr. Kincaid, I have been speaking with my partner, Inspector Gordon, and we both feel we should come talk to you. Can we come by your apartment?”
“Does this mean you will help me?”
“I would rather not discuss this over the phone, Mr. Kincaid. I suggest we come by your apartment. We can be there in an hour.”
As Jim contemplated the request, he thought about why they would want to see him. At the coffee shop Desjardins had implied the RCMP was too busy to deal with his problem because of the kidnapping. Desjardins had even said that the arrival of the MI-5 team made helping Jim all but impossible. So why did they want to come talk to him now? Did the reason matter?
“Okay,” said Jim. “I’ll be here.”
“Good,” said Desjardins. “We’ll see you in about an hour.” Click.
This could only be good news, thought Jim. While he waited for the two inspectors he locked up his server room, making sure that it was well hidden behind the planetary poster. When he was satisfied that no one, no policeman, would casually find the room he went to the living room to watch some television. As he started flipping through the television channels he began thinking about the inspectors and he had a thought. He picked up the telephone.
“Hello?”
“Ben? It’s Jim. That RCMP guy is coming over now with his partner.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” said Jim, sounding truly perplexed. “Feel like coming over for moral support?”
“Sure. Give me ten minutes.”
“No rush. They said they would be here in an hour.”
Jim continued to flip through the television channels when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Jim? It’s Penny.”
Jim had forgotten he had told Penny he would call. But, with the RCMP and Ben coming over, he did not think talking to Penny right now would be the best idea, especially if she wanted to come over.
“Hi Penny,” he said.
“You were supposed to call me,” said Penny.
“I know, I know. Sorry. I’ve been real busy today.”
“On Sunday? Doing what?”
“Stuff.”
“Jim,” said Penny. “What’s going on? You sound funny. I get the feeling something’s happened between last night and now. Is this related to your hacking?”
“Shhhh,” said Jim. Then, in a whisper, he said, “You never know who’s listening.”
Penny giggled. “That’s a little cloak and dagger isn’t it?”
“Unfortunately not,” said Jim. “Look,” he said anxiously. “Can I give you a call tomorrow after work?”
“You may not,” said Penny, her indignation coming through over the phone line. “What’s going on? I feel like there is something going on around me and I just don’t know what it is. It’s like everyone knows a secret except me and everyone is whispering about it but I can’t know.”
Penny was right, thought Jim. He had to tell her. He had told her so much already, more than he had even volunteered to Ben. What was another little detail like the fact two RCMP inspectors were coming over, possibly to arrest him? So he told her.
“You’re kidding?” she asked.
“Nope,” said Jim.
“I’m coming over too.”
“No way!”
“Why not? Ben’s coming over!”
Jim gave up. Maybe it was better having two people for moral support. This way it would be three against two. “Okay,” he relented. “They’ll be here in an hour.”
Ben showed up soon after Penny’s call and Penny showed up another twenty minutes later. Penny and Ben had already met several times with Cindy so no introductions were required. For the next half hour the three of them sat in the living room trying to guess what the inspectors wanted. If the RCMP was so busy just this morning, what was bringing them over to Jim’s apartment?
Just less than an hour after Desjardins had called Jim, the inspectors rang the bell from the lobby. Jim was surprised that he was not at all nervous even as they appeared at his door. He had two friends on his side for moral support and besides, he thought, at this point he had to resign himself to whatever fate awaited him. As he led the inspectors into the living room, Ben and Penny stood up and Jim introduced them.
“I think it might be better if we speak with you alone,” said Gordon, his slow, deep voice resonating through the room, all of his words running together.
“No way!” said Penny. “We’re here for moral support.”
“That’s right,” said Ben. “I’m not leaving.” He smiled at Jim.
“Look,” said Desjardin, his Quebeçois English contrasting with everyone else’s speech. “There is no reason for moral support. Mr. Kincaid is not under arrest or even under suspicion. We just would like to talk to him privately.”
“No,” said Ben. “No way.”
“We can always take him back to headquarters,” said Gordon, looking at Desjardins.
Ben looked at Jim and could see he was now starting to get worried again. This was clearly not what he had expected.
Desjardins shook his head. “Let’s just do it here,” he said he said to Gordon, giving into the circumstances. Then, to Jim, Penny and Ben, he said, “Shall we sit down?”
In Jim’s living room there was only seating for four people. Jim sat on the sofa, in between Ben and Penny. Gordon sat in an overstuffed chair to the left of Penny and Desjardins pulled a chair from the kitchen table, sitting to the right of Ben. The television, now turned off, was directly across from Jim. Gordon looked in turn at Penny, Jim and Ben.
“What we are going to propose,” began Gordon. “Is very unconventional. It is so unconventional that we are going to insist you do not discuss it with anyone else.” He looked again at the three seated on the couch. They were all looking at him but their expressions were blank. “Are we agreed?” asked Gordon. Three heads nodded.
“You have a problem, Mr. Kincaid,” said Gordon, looking now at Jim and speaking slowly and seriously. “A very serious problem. The thing is, we, the RCMP that is, we also have a problem.” Gordon cleared his throat and stopped. He seemed not to know how to continue.
“After I spoke with you today,” continued Desjardins. “I met with Inspector Gordon and told him about your problem and what you have done. He suggested that we talk to our superiors.”
“Our direct superior, the Chief Inspector, has his own problem,” said Gordon. “He is accountable for the investigation into the kidnapping and he is very embarrassed that the Commissioner is bringing in MI-5 tomorrow.”
“There are
two things that are interesting about what you have told us, Mr. Kincaid,” continued Desjardins. “The first is that you are now involved with Organized Crime. This is interesting because, in the RCMP, Organized Crime and Terrorism are one and the same. We call them both “Strategic Priority A”. So, coincidentally, your problem falls under the same designation as the kidnapping at the airport.”
“The second interesting thing,” interrupted Gordon. “Is that you apparently have some real espionage capabilities. And it sounds like your abilities are exactly what we need right now.”
“Are you saying that you want Jim to spy for the RCMP?” asked Penny.
“I think ‘spy’ is not the appropriate word,” said Gordon. “But help us? Yes.”
“I think I’m digging myself in deeper,” said Jim. “Now I have gone from a white hat hacker to a Mafia spy to a Mafia spy turned RCMP informant.”
“I don’t know,” said Ben, turning to him. “What alternative do you have? You can’t keep working for the Mafia.”
“Besides,” said Gordon. “If you work with us we will try to protect you.”
“Try?” asked Penny.
“We will do our best,” said Desjardins.
“I don’t know,” said Jim.
“You don’t really have a choice,” said Ben.
“What happens to Jim when this is all over?” asked Penny.
“Nothing,” said Desjardins.
“None of this happened,” said Gordon.
“And if he doesn’t help you?” asked Penny.
Gordon sunk back into the overstuffed chair. “Who can say?” he asked, throwing up his hands.
They all sat there quietly, waiting for someone to break the silence. Finally, Jim spoke up. “I’ll do it,” he said firmly, and with his acceptance the inspectors stood up. Penny, Jim and Ben took their cue and stood up as well.
“We’ll be in touch tomorrow,” said Desjardin, holding out his hand and smiling. Jim took it, his hand lost in the big man’s paw. Desjardins slapped him on the shoulder. “You are doing the right thing, Jim,” said Desjardin, and Jim found it interesting how they were now on a first name basis.
“There’ll be a briefing tomorrow,” said Gordon, holding out his hand and shaking Jim’s. “You’re on the right track now,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
After Jim closed his front door he returned to the living room to find Penny and Ben looking at him, presumably for his reaction to the meeting. When Jim said nothing, Ben nodded his head toward the front door. “Well?” he asked.
“I just don’t know,” said Jim.
After Penny and Ben left, Jim retreated again to his server room and began furiously looking for something to help him when he met tomorrow with the RCMP. He had to know what the RCMP was going to need from him and, ideally, he also needed a head start on that work. Jim was not going to leave the outcome of the meeting to chance.
His first task was to break into the RCMP computer. It was unfortunate, and he thought surprising, that he had never had to do that before. In Canada he had broken into a myriad of municipal police computers, both Ontario and Québec provincial police computers, and the CSIS computer but he had never gotten around to the RCMP. With his vast repertoire of hacking tools he knew it would not be difficult.
He brought up the White Cell main screen and then pressed four keyboard keys simultaneously: Control, Tab, Backspace and Shift. The screen changed to his hidden quick hack list with four options, the animated White Cell logo continuing to appear at the top of the page. The options were: Authentication Hack, Vulnerability Hack, Back Door Hack and Attack Hack. Jim pressed on Back Door Hack. A long list of web sites appeared, scrolling off the bottom of the screen. Jim scrolled through the list until he came to the City of Ottawa Police entry. He then clicked on the entry.
At the top of the screen the animated White Cell logo remained beside which was a button labelled “Do It”. Below the logo and the button was the City of Ottawa Police intranet page. Jim clicked on the police site then selected one of his custom menu options called “Auto Login”. This logged him into the police system as the Administrator. Then, once he was in, he pressed the “Do It” button at the top of the screen.
The screen went blank for a moment and then, a window appeared with a single text entry labelled “keyword”. Jim entered “RCMP” and then, without any further intervention by Jim, the RCMP internal web site came up. Jim smiled. The screen indicated that Jim was logged in as the Administrator. Through the City of Ottawa Police computer Jim had snuck into the RCMP computer as an authenticated user. Jim smiled. His programs had rarely disappointed him.
Working on the RCMP computer, with which he was unfamiliar, it took a while for Jim to eventually find the main e-mail server. As an Administrator on the system Jim had permission to read everything. Searching by date and various key words he eventually found the e-mail correspondence from the terrorists. Jim copied the e-mails back to his home server and disconnected from the RCMP computer. It was never a good idea to stay logged in too long even though his hacking program would automatically purge the logs of anything he had done while logged in. And that included deleting the logs of the login itself.
He began looking through the e-mail headers, the special information at the top of an e-mail. The headers gave more information than a casual user would be interested in, including the route by which the e-mail arrived at its destination. Jim ran the headers through a special header analysis program he had written a while back. The program turned up nothing of interest because the headers were consistent. Jim had hoped that the terrorists had attempted to forge the e-mail headers, a ploy known as spoofing. If they had done that, and had spoofed the origins of the e-mail, his header analysis program may have been able to find the originating Internet Protocol address or IP address. This address, often represented as four numbers separated by dots would lead him to the address of the server on the internet that sent the e-mail. But even this approach would have depended on the terrorists making a mistake.
Having determined that the e-mail address was not spoofed, Jim decided to trace the originating e-mail server. This turned out to be a special type of server known as an anonymous relay. Often located in third world countries, anonymous relays were e-mail servers that allowed the identity of e-mail senders to remain anonymous. With an account on one of these servers, anyone could send an e-mail through one of these servers. The server would strip off the headers of the original e-mail, replacing them with its own. Because the original information had been completely removed, the e-mail was traceable only to the anonymous server. And, because of their location in jurisdictions without strong judicial processes, the identity of the user was as safe as a bank deposit in the Cayman Islands.
Jim scratched his head. There was only one thing left to do. He would have to hack through the transaction records of the anonymous e-mail server. The one he started with was located somewhere in China but, in the Internet world, physical location was meaningless. Although the anonymous e-mail servers were infamous for protecting their users, they did not have anything approaching the security of a bank or a national security service. Jim did not take more than ten minutes to hack into the transaction logs of the server.
When Jim found the origin of the first e-mail, his jaw dropped. He could not believe where it had come from. The originating domain of the e-mail, routed through the anonymous e-mail server was mtq.gouv.qc.ca. This was the domain of Transports Québec, the Québec Ministry of Transport.
Jim was stunned but he did not know what it meant. Was a Québec government agency involved? Was it just someone working in that agency? Or was someone trying to make it look like it was the agency? He did not know yet. Jim continued working, looking through the Transports Québec records. After working for a half hour he had not found anything significant and he began to lose the excitement he had had at the beginning. He continued to work but his eyes started get heavy. Eventually, after another hour of looking, his eye lids c
losed and he fell asleep at the console.
Chapter 22 - The RCMP
Mon May 17th
Jim arrived at CCRA the next morning feeling somewhat better than Sunday. He was now going to help the RCMP with their latest problem and, in turn, the RCMP was going to help him with his Mafia entanglement. With a White Cell indictment now unlikely, he would soon be able to put Giuseppe Verde and all he represented behind him.
To keep Alistair MacEwan happy, Jim had intended to do some solid work today on his CCRA project but he found he had little enthusiasm for work, his mind continually wandering back to Desjardins and Gordon. He simply could not help but think about the upcoming meeting with the RCMP and spent much of his time looking at the telephone, trying to make it ring by the force of his will. When he was not looking at the phone he was pacing back and forth in his cubicle.
By break time Jim had not received a single call and was just about out of patience. When Ben came by his desk, a newspaper under his arm, Jim curtly declined to go downstairs to the coffee shop, fearful that he might miss the crucial call. He simply sat at his desk staring at the monitor.
“I’m waiting for ‘the call’,” he explained to Ben.
“Ok,” said Ben. “But have you seen this?” he asked, throwing his copy of the Ottawa Citizen on Jim’s desk. The banner headline, “MI-5 Arrives”, landed square in front of Jim’s face.
Jim pushed the paper aside. “No, I haven’t seen it,” he said curtly. “And I don’t care either,” he added with a snap. He simply could not concentrate on anything that was not directly related to the phone call he was expecting. He needed Desjardins to call. And he certainly did not even want to think about what Verde would do to him if he found out about the meeting with the RCMP.
“Okay, okay,” said Ben, trying to appease Jim and quickly picking up the paper. “I’ll see you later.” Ben left and had just walked around a corner when Jim’s telephone finally rang.
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