‘Yes, it was.’
‘Under the guise of playing some stupid “know your family” game, you took away all their wallets, arranged them in a separate room, and asked the wives identify their husbands’ wallets from a pile of wallets. While arranging the wallets in a different room, you managed to skim the data off five cards, and gave them to the mules in New York for execution. This morning, when we searched your apartment, we recovered the card skimming device from your closet. So confident were you of not getting caught, that the card skimmer still has the data containing those five cards on it. It clearly puts you at the centre of the ATM heist.’ He held up the card skimmer for all to see. It was small and black, and looked like a battery charger.
‘I have never seen this thing before,’ Tanya protested.
‘Your fingerprints are all over it,’ said Kabir. ‘The entire proceedings were videotaped just to avoid any complications. And here,’ he handed her a piece of paper, ‘is the list that details the items recovered from your home, today and on that night your house was raided. Both were done in the presence of panchas, and they have certified the findings.’
‘It’s a set-up!’ Tanya was still protesting.
‘Well, God only knows how many people you set up, Tanya,’ Kabir said.
‘No, it is a set-up,’ Tanya insisted. ‘I have never seen this in my house.’
‘Who could have set you up, Nightingale?’ Adrian asked her, sweetly.
‘I don’t know. I really don’t know. You have to believe me!’ Tanya spoke through tears.
‘Who else has access to your house?’
‘The maids. Who also come and go when I’m there, and . . .’ She thought for a few seconds, trying to fight back the tears. ‘. . . and Varun. No one else!’
‘Ah, Varun.’
‘When did this party take place?’ Varun asked Tanya.
‘Four months ago.’
‘I was in jail then, in Goa. Remember?’ There was no way he was going to let Tanya turn the tables and make him the villain of the piece.
‘That resolves it, Nightingale. You are the only one who has full access to your residence. Unless, of course, your mother was responsible for all this.’
Tanya had no answer.
‘And now, coming to the last accusation against you,’ said Adrian, taking over. ‘A massive malware attack occurred in over a million computers across the world. This attack had its seeds in the Townsville game. Anyone who downloaded the game also downloaded a malware, which did two things . . .’ He went on to elaborate.
‘You guys have seriously lost it. If it is to do with Indiscape, you need to ask these three gentlemen.’ She pointed towards Aditya, Sundeep and Varun. ‘I don’t have any contact with Indiscape. How can I influence anything?’
‘Again a lie!’
‘No, I’m telling the truth.’
‘Who is Laksh Mathur?’
‘Laksh who?’
‘Laksh Mathur.’
‘I’ve heard that name before,’ said Tanya.
‘Perhaps this will help you remember?’ Adrian showed her and Varun a photograph. When she saw it, Tanya’s head started to spin. ‘What has he done?’
‘Well, you got him a job in Indiscape, didn’t you?’
‘No, I didn’t!’ Tanya protested violently. ‘I just forwarded his CV to Indiscape. He wanted a job.’
‘Is that all?’ Kabir asked. He had a dangerous look on his face. ‘How did you meet him?’
‘I met him at a party at the Otters Club in Bandra. He came up to me and started chatting. He dropped me home that night.’
Varun had a look of contempt on his face. ‘Is that all, or was there more?’
‘Varun, believe me, there is nothing more to it. While we were driving back, he told me that he had been laid off and wanted a job. He asked me if I had any contacts. I told him that I’d send his CV to you. I even mentioned that to you!’
‘I’d have believed you had I not seen this guy walking into the apartment below yours. When I saw him that day, I couldn’t connect the dots. But a few days ago, I saw him again on Sundeep uncle’s floor, and I realized he was the same guy I had seen in your building. What am I to make of it, Tanya? You send me a CV saying he is a stranger when he actually lives in your apartment building. And then he fucks up my world-class product and soils our reputation. How do I believe you?’
‘What, what did this guy do?’ Tanya was visibly upset. ‘I haven’t done anything. I really haven’t done anything.’ She was crying now.
Varun had a distressed yet unrelenting look on his face. ‘This man, Laksh Mathur, was the one who uploaded the game to the server. And while uploading, we believe he inserted a programming code, which was nothing but a virus. One that downloaded itself on all devices that played Townsville, scanned them for digital bitcoin Wallets and eventually transferred the bitcoins found to his personal bitcoin collection. It also made the computers and cellphones join a network of distributed bitcoin miners. The mining caused multiple computers across the world to collapse and overheat. Not to speak of injuries to the owners of these devices.’
Adrian added, ‘I hope we arrest him soon. Until yesterday, 51894 bitcoins had allegedly been transferred into that wallet. That’s a lot of money to swindle.’
Tanya turned towards Varun. Her eyes were fiery red. She looked angry. Insulted. Cheated. ‘How the hell do you know that Laksh Mathur was the one who did all this, Varun? If you knew, why didn’t you tell me earlier? Are you also one of them?’ she pointed towards Kabir Khan and Adrian Scott as she yelled at Varun. ‘All of you are playing games with me. I trusted you Varun. I . . .’ She was getting hysterical now.
‘Enough!’ Adrian Scott raised his voice. It was sufficient to momentarily silence Tanya’s outburst. ‘Enough of this drama, Nightingale.’
Tanya glared at him.
‘The only offence for which we do not have any material evidence against you—though we have more than enough circumstantial evidence—is Gillian’s killing. However, we have enough to take you into custody for Malvika Sehgal’s murder, for running Cotton Trail, for perpetrating the ATM heist, and for infecting millions of computers around the world. We have enough evidence to make sure you stay in jail for the rest of your life, Tanya.’ Adrian was ruthless. He had been sent on a wild goose chase for two-and–a-half months and he had hated every minute of it.
‘I need to see my lawyer immediately. You people are talking a load of crap! I’m being falsely implicated in stuff I had no role in!’
Then Adrian dropped a bombshell. ‘You are an American fugitive, hiding in India.’
He turned to Kabir and said, ‘She holds an American passport.’ Then, he took Kabir aside and whispered, ‘Mr Khan, can we now produce her in court and seek permission to deport her back to the US to be tried for one of the worst and biggest cyber crimes in history? We will need permission from the President to make public anything concerning Gillian Tan’s involvement. There is a diktat from his office. I can’t disregard that.’
‘The CBI is happy to support it. We can take it to court when it opens on Monday. But it may not be the best thing for me to do.’
‘What do you mean, Mr Khan?’ Adrian was surprised.
‘Tanya is involved in Malvika Sehgal’s murder. A crime for which most of the people of this country hold the finance minister responsible.’
‘I know that.’
‘We need to settle that issue first. We have to give the finance minister a clean chit. And we can only do that if we book Tanya for her mother’s murder. Since the crime was committed in India, irrespective of the nationality of the criminal, we will have to book her here.’
‘Ah . . . understood. Is there a way out?’
97
Epilogue
The case against Tanya Sehgal was soon the talk of the town.
The FBI and the CBI carefully avoided any reference to bitcoins and her intimacy with Gillian Tan. The US government was worried that it might unnece
ssarily drag the President of the US into an unsavoury complication because of his close friendship with Gillian Tan. The only charge filed against her was for the murder of Malvika Sehgal, with the intent to steal her bitcoins.
The Indian finance minister was abdicated of any involvement in the murder of Malvika Sehgal. The connect between the minister and the laundering of 500 crore rupees didn’t come out in the open. In any case, no one could link the finance minister with the laundering of the ill-gotten 500 crore rupees.
*
Nikki Tan’s condition improved. When she regained consciousness, she gave a statement to the cops saying that Gillian was planning to confess to the President about being the brain behind bitcoins—that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He was shaken up by the murders of two members of his secret team. Worried that he might be next in line. He wanted to make sure that the bitcoin project was in safe hands and was administered in line with the scale of the idea, and the infinite opportunities it presented. When confronted with the CCTV footage placing her at the site where the ATM heist plan was hatched, she had an explanation ready. She admitted to going there to meet an old friend and said that that’s when Umar Farouk walked up to her to offer his condolences. Knowing Nikki’s and Gloria’s background, the FBI didn’t pursue their interrogation.
The ring that Josh Connelly had tried to steal from Nikki was actually Gillian Tan’s. Wary of losing his wealth, Gillian had had the private key engraved on the ring. He left out some elements of the key because he knew that without knowing how many and which characters were missing, neither Nikki nor anyone else would be able to steal his bitcoins. Josh, the third member of Gillian’s secret team, had hoped to return the missing million dollars to the perpetrators of the ATM heist and also make a quick buck for himself by stealing Gillian’s private key. Being one of the creators of bitcoins, he knew that even if the ring had missing characters, he would be able to recreate the key using code logic, which only he had access to.
*
Once the FBI identified Stan, Josh’s roommate who was supposed to deliver the million dollars to the perpetrators in the Dominican Republic, as the American with the fake passport who molested the French woman in Pondicherry, they arrested him with help from the CBI and the local police. From the data on Stan’s cell phone, the FBI was able to locate and round up the other people involved in the ATM heist. They also found the address in Santo Domingo where the cash and goods were supposed to have been delivered. It was not the same address they had obtained from Josh’s laptop. Possibly the drop-point had been changed at the last minute as a precautionary measure. A SWAT team of joint operatives from the FBI and local law enforcement agencies raided the location and managed to take into custody a few of the perpetrators, who were nothing but pawns in the entire game. They were operators who did what they did for a cut. It was never meant to be their money in the first place.
Townsville, was withdrawn by Indiscape. This dramatically affected Indiscape’s standing in the world of gaming. Worried about the company’s credibility and security systems, clients stopped playing their games. Revenues dried up and MAUs plummeted, taking the company’s fortunes along. The company shut down within a few months.
eTIOS survived the hacking controversy. The joint audit committee formed by the regulators and a group of customers cleared them of any wrongdoing. Aditya’s and Sundeep’s personal relationships with their clients helped them regain confidence. The company has now consolidated its position as one of the best BPOs in India.
Aditya expressed his desire to hang up his boots. He handed over the reigns of his company to Sundeep, his confidant. Swami’s wife, Kalpana, joined him. Together, they are taking the company ahead.
*
A few days after Tanya was arrested, Varun walked up to Aditya and said, ‘Dad, we need to chat.’
‘Yes, Varun?’ Aditya sensed that something was bothering his son.
‘I want to go back, Dad. When I came here, things were so good, it was fun. I met you, got a family—something I had sorely missed for many years. Now that I look back at it, Dad, I just feel that I was better off in the US. At least people don’t pretend to be who they are not.’
‘Who are you talking about, Varun?’
Varun struggled to look at Aditya. He was struggling to hold back his tears. ‘Tanya, Dad. Why did she do this to me? I loved her. Why did she have to pretend? Why did she play with my emotions?’ Varun was on the verge of breaking down. Aditya knew that more than Tanya’s misdeeds, her cheating on him with Laksh had traumatized Varun. And he wanted to run away from these agonizing memories.
Varun promised Aditya that he would come back and settle down in India once he got over the trauma. He planned to use the intervening time to pursue further studies in the US, which Aditya offered to fund. Varun declined any financial assistance. Aditya didn’t have the heart to stop him. The only thing that has now changed for him is that he is closer to his son than ever before.
*
Dan Malloy retired and recommended Adrian as his replacement. The suggestion was accepted and Adrian succeeded Dan as head of the CRRU.
*
Mike Hendricks is slated to be the Republican candidate for the next US presidential elections. Possibly a reward for managing the public relations exercise surrounding the Gillian Tan episode and ensuring that the President’s reputation was not tarnished by his close friendship with Satoshi Nakamoto. While Mike and Nikki continue to live apart, Gillian’s death has made Gloria look up to Mike more than ever before.
*
One day, the mutilated body of a woman was found floating in the Hudson. It had been tied to a rock and dumped into the river. It had stayed there, at the bottom of the Hudson, for over a week, before the rope gave way and the body floated to the top. The Sun carried the story on the front page. The confessing hooker was gone for ever.
*
Swami’s death is still being investigated by the crime cell of Mumbai Police. As with every sensational event, the incident was a media story for a few weeks, after which interest in it died down. He was relegated to the sixth page in the mainline dailies. With no evidence against the finance minister or anyone else, and given the fact that the person driving the dumper confessed to his crime, there was little that anyone could do. The driver of the dumper is free—out on bail. Given the slow legal process in India, he is expected to stay out of jail for a long time to come.
98
A few months later
Dan was relaxing on a beach in Hawaii, enjoying his retirement, when his phone rang.
A call from Adrian.
‘Hey, Adrian!’ he exclaimed the moment he swiped the connect button. ‘Why don’t you get your ass down here and do what I am doing? Pina colada on the beach!’
‘There’s been an incident, Dan.’
‘Go on. Am listening.’
‘There’s been a login. Under the name “Icebreakers”.’
‘Icebreakers?’
‘A mint again, Dan. The mint Icebreakers.’
‘Of course, of course. The one that comes in a round plastic box. Coloured base, white top?’
‘That’s not the point, Dan!’
‘Then what is?’
‘Someone logged in using this name and put up a post. It simply says: “I came across this website called Cotton Trail Ver 2.0. It’s a TOR hidden service that claims to allow you to buy and sell anything online anonymously. I’m thinking of buying off it, but wanted to see if anyone here had heard of it and could recommend it. I found it through Cottontrail420.wordpress.com, which, if you have a TOR browser, directs you to the real site at blah blah blah. Let me know what you think . . .’
‘You’re kidding me!’
‘Does it look like I am?’
‘Does that mean that we were chasing a red herring all those months? That the real brain behind all this is free?’
‘Maybe . . .’
‘What’s the choice?’ Dan asked.
‘Nothing. I don�
��t intend to open it up again. We will look like idiots.’
‘I agree. Let the world believe we got it right.’
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99
USA/India
Varun’s cab stopped outside his townhouse in Seattle. He gave a fifty-dollar bill to the cabbie. It was twenty dollars over but he didn’t bother. He was happy that day. He opened the door and walked in. The house was clean. What else did he expect? No one had lived there for over six months. There was a musty smell though.
Leaving the bag in the foyer, he walked up to the mezzanine. From there, he could step out into the garden at the back. It was a small but warm and comfortable house. He looked out through the window. Something caught his eye, alerting him to the presence of an intruder. Someone was on the swing, looking into the woods, away from the house. He pushed open the door leading to the backyard. Quietly, without making any noise, he tiptoed into the garden. Midway, he removed his shoes, lest he step on a pebble and make a sound.
As he neared the swing, he spread his hands, ready to pounce. The last few steps were difficult. He crouched, took one step at a time, carefully controlling his breathing so as not to be heard. And finally when he was within pouncing distance, he made the lunge. He jumped from behind, pushing the person off the swing, on to the grass. The two of them rolled down the lawn and went sliding for a few feet before friction brought them to a halt.
Varun looked at the person beneath him. His hands came up to her face, to move the few strands of hair away. He smiled. She beamed. They hugged.
‘What took you so long?’ she asked.
‘I had to complete the job that I’d gone for, baby.’
God is a Gamer Page 25