“Definitely,” Rachel replied.
He turned back to Gloria. “Gloria, I’m not saying you are wrong, but could it be other health problems or maybe no problems at all?”
“You could be right, but let’s just try this route,” she answered. “I interviewed the right people to gain accurate information for myself and for listeners, and my senses rarely fail me as well. It is better to try something to get a result rather than trying nothing and receiving no results.”
“Rachel?” Gloria then said.
“Yes.”
“Did this person check his or her glucose meter before or after eating?”
“I’m not sure,” Rachel said.
“In case the person checked it before eating, this may leave a period of time to check the blood sugar level again,” Benjamin added.
Rachel came with the check back a short while later. “Do you need any more help?”
“That is all. Thank you for your time and assistance,” Gloria said.
Benjamin left the money on the table, then accompanied Gloria towards the entrance door. “I have a quick question. I understand and respect your decision if you do not answer it.”
“What would you like to know?” Gloria asked.
“Aren’t you ever in the state of fear since the day the dead body appeared outside your sister’s front door? I have never seen you frightened.”
“My sister told me just recently that I am too calm. Honestly, it is the opposite. I am hysterical inside. I just do not show it for two reasons. One, I do not want to contribute to my sister becoming even more afraid of getting murdered by some demented person. Two, not seeing from birth has taught me that there is really nothing to fear. I learned early on not to be too naïve. I cannot see, which means that anything can happen at any moment, even though I’ve been trained by the best to use my cane properly and live a sort of normal life,” Gloria explained.
After they had walked out of the store, Benjamin still wanted to question the owner of the truck, and they went toward the trailer.
“One of the hackers in uniform is diabetic. How would we find the person?” Benjamin asked with a sense that they were beginning to build up clues.
“We have to find a hacker in uniform who periodically takes out their glucose meter. I cannot remember what the interviewee said about how many times people with diabetes check, but I think it is two to four times per day.”
“That is a good amount, I am guessing. You eat three meals a day,” Benjamin said.
“And we need to also find a hacker who fiddles with her pants. I overheard her complain to someone about her pants being bigger than her actual size.”
“Yes, I remember: the pants,” Benjamin said.
“Anna?” Gloria said while moving her head left to right to locate the voice.
“Yes, I’m right here,” Anna said.
“This is where I need you and Benjamin to help me out,” Gloria explained. “We have to head to the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The hackers we found out about may be there.”
CHAPTER 22—UNSIGHTED
Benjamin brought the car to 7th Avenue at Broadway. As they walked, they planned how they’d try to find the suspect.
“I have to use the restroom,” Anna said.
“Let’s find the nearest food outlet, then,” Gloria said.
They entered into a Dunkin Donuts nearby. Anna and Gloria went inside the ladies room. When Anna came out minutes later, she joined Benjamin while waiting for her sister.
“Let’s see, I’m thinking,” Benjamin said.
Anna became visibly frustrated. “This looks impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible, like your sister always says,” Benjamin replied.
“I am getting stupider every day,” Anna said.
“Patience, Anna.”
They both looked toward the ladies room when the door was opened, but Gloria did not come out. He quickly turned to Anna. “I have a quick question.”
“Yes.”
“Is your sister seeing anyone?”
Anna was startled by his question. “No. Are you expressing an interest?”
“I was just speaking out loud, that is all,” Benjamin said quickly with embarrassment on his face.
Gloria emerged from the restroom and came over to the others.
“What news did I miss?” she asked as she put her cane back into her purse.
Benjamin spoke again. “Gloria, let’s backtrack. We went to 45th Street around the Broadway Theater District, and... and...” He couldn’t add another word.
Anna instantly noticed his loss of concentration. “Something there leads a clue back here and in Penn Station,” she said with a perplexed look on her face. But the unraveling puzzle again started to take precedence over Benjamin’s personal interest in Gloria. Anna opened the door, and they all went outside and headed to 34th Street. “There are millions of people here, I don’t know how many officers are on duty. Benjamin, how can we find the hackers in the midst of all these people?”
The noise became louder once they were in the middle of the crowded area on 34th Street at Harold Square. The area was packed with people and police officers trying to keep the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade orderly. A Bugs Bunny floated near them. Benjamin glanced around the crowd, and so did Anna, but both were a bit clueless about where and how to start their search. Neither of them said anything. The crowds cheered when a giant Energizer Bunny balloon floated down the street in apparent pursuit of the Bugs Bunny balloon. Benjamin finally found a moment to answer Anna’s question.
“You would think they would work on their computers solely at their desk, but they’re unpredictable people. If we catch them, we will soon find out why they are here. But if I put myself in a hacker’s shoes, I’d stay in close proximity to my peers during this event. Since the hackers mentioned Penn Station earlier, there’s a very good chance that they will be on 34th Street at Harold Square.”
“Then that’s a chance we must take,” Anna replied.
Benjamin clenched his hand in his coat jacket as a precaution against the dropping temperatures. The second and third giant balloon proceeded in the street, and the crowd cheered again.
“Remember, we have to find four hackers here because the other four are at Penn Station, according to the hacker at the cyber tables earlier at Starbucks. We need to look forward. We cannot see the side clearly while doing so. It’s blurry on each side. She calls it the blind eye. For her, every area is. You can try it, it’s easy,” Anna explained.
“I haven’t realized this until now, but my career is similar to the blind eye tactic,” Benjamin said. “You cannot see the person who is stealing identities, at first.”
The three moved a little when a family tried to take pictures of the Sponge Bob giant balloon.
“You can’t see the hackers, but tracing their activities is like using your blind area,” Benjamin added.
“Let’s walk further near the street,” Anna said.
The cheers from the crowd became louder as the next attraction came by. As they walked, Benjamin and Anna both kept quiet and in deep concentration, looking straight ahead while keeping their ears open. The crowd cheered every time a new giant balloon character proceeded down 34th Street on Broadway, which made it a little more difficult for them to concentrate. As the three passed tourists and reached the end of a block on 34th Street, Anna heard a conversation that kept her ears listening for more. “We're doing a promotion, please take a sample and enjoy the parade.”
“That smell of dough. I suddenly recognize the smell underneath his cologne,” Anna said.
“From where?” Benjamin questioned.
“The Empire State Building, and it matches his tone of voice I heard there before he passed me. It was more of a gruff tone,” Anna replied. “I am thinking right now. Where would a hacker use an RFID scanner if they are not pretending to promote?”
“If the sidewalk is packed, then the in-between streets would be less crowde
d,” Benjamin said.
The crowd roared again, and Anna waited for the noise to subside before she spoke again. “Are you sure all four hackers are on 34th Street and not spread out from where the parade starts?”
“I cannot give a definitive answer, but I think they are close. Trust me on this,” Benjamin said and turned his head. “They are very close.”
“Yet, if they have cell phones, they can be as far away as they need to be and still complete their job of killing me,” Anna said.
Benjamin shook his head. “This is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, one of the biggest parades in the country. They don’t want anything to go wrong,” Benjamin responded.
“Yes, you are right,” Anna said. “I am just eager to find out which of the eight suspects is the killer. Stay very close, many accidentally push and shove when another balloon comes their way.”
“We are looking for a diabetic male and a female who is distracted by wearing the wrong size of clothes,” Gloria said.
Benjamin glanced around and found no one that aroused his curiosity. Ten minutes passed; and once they reached the end of the block, they turned and walked in the opposite direction. The next balloon, a giant big bird, floated towards them, and the crowd roared loudly again.
“Anything?” Gloria asked.
“No,” Benjamin replied.
“Patience is key,” Anna said.
“Hey, let me take a minute to check my glucose meter. I won’t be long. Please take over the shift, thanks,” Anna heard someone say.
The man in promotional clothing stood in the corner of Macy’s and lifted his finger to put a blood glucose meter on his index finger. He then took a small bottle from his pants pocket.
Anna went up to another promotional person.
“Would you like to try this new energy drink?”
“The person who was checking his glucose meter, what’s his name?”
“It takes me a while to learn names even if it is temp work. His tag says Robert.”
“Thank you.” Anna quickly left after the person asked why, leaving him to continue his promotional duties.
All three went up to an officer nearby. “There is a hacker in disguise as a promotional worker selling an energy brand drink. He has a device used to steal people’s identities, and his name is Robert,” Anna said.
“Where is he?” the officer asked while gazing around.
“He is using a glucose meter right now to check his blood sugar levels.”
“Is he holding the hacking device?”
“It should be in his backpack or messenger bag. It is my profession to secure networks from potential hacking activities. I know that a hacker will not show their device in public, but use it while pressing in their bags or find a more secluded place,” Benjamin explained.
The officer continued to look around the crowd. “Please wait here, I found someone who just finished checking his meter and is opening his messenger bag.” The officer walked past the three, and another officer followed her to the man Anna and Benjamin had described. The officers and the man stood there with Anna and Benjamin looking on. After a few minutes of informal interrogation, the officer looked to see what was inside the messenger bag, then took out a device. The other officer placed the man’s hands behind his back and arrested him.
“He has been arrested, Gloria!”
“Good, and great job to you both!” she told them.
Benjamin and Anna continued walking at a normal pace without uttering a word to each other, concentrating instead. Fifteen minutes later, Benjamin became more alert after hearing a familiar voice nearby.
“Can you take my post for a quick second? I have to enter the Top Hot Dogs fast food restaurant and go to the restroom,” a stranger in uniform said.
“No problem,” another uniformed person replied.
“That voice,” Benjamin continued. “It sounds like one of those back at Starbucks. I swear it was the same person who pushed me out of the closing train back at Times Square. His voice, it has an accent as if he was from some state further down south; but not only that, he was a little higher and monotone. I haven’t heard that voice since my college days when my roommate would put me to sleep with that particular tone.”
“Oh? You believe it’s him?” Anna asked, sounding surprised.
“Before I fell on the ground, the hacker said ‘Get off of me, get off!’ Just those two words match,” Benjamin said.
“That’s insufficient proof,” Anna said.
“There was something else. A watch. I tugged onto a thick sporty watch when he pushed me,” Benjamin said.
“You start and we will follow,” Gloria said. “Just find a cop nearby so you don’t get into trouble.”
They went up to a nearby cop, who was on foot patrol looking for any suspiciousness among the crowd watching the parade.
“Excuse me, but I have a request,” Benjamin said. “There’s a hacker inside the store in front of us, and he has a RFID scanner. I overheard him talking about stealing people’s personal information.”
“You can check him out to see if our suspicions are valid,” Gloria added.
“Point me to where he is, and I will take it from there,” the officer said. All four went inside the store. “Excuse me, where is the restroom?” the officer asked a clerk.
“Go straight down and make a left, you will see the sign.”
“Thank you.” Benjamin went to the door of the restroom, and the officer opened it.
He turned toward the three of them. “What does he look like? Point to him.”
Benjamin didn’t know what to say. “I think it is best to check if someone has a backpack in there.”
The officer was perplexed and growing suspicious.
“Please go before another person steps out,” Gloria said.
The officer went inside and looked at each open bathroom stall, while also taking a look at each man near the sink and stalls. There was no one with a backpack in sight. The officer then waited for two stalls to be open. A few seconds later, a man with a backpack came out and was surprised to see the officer.
“Open your backpack, please.”
The hacker slowly began to open his bag, then shoved the officer and headed for the exit. He ran past Benjamin, who quickly followed and threw himself at the hacker before the man could reach the door. Benjamin continued to hold him down by forcing his arms together, and suddenly felt a piece of very cold metal touch his wrist. He looked at the metal watch and thought for a second. Then he turned his head to the side and touched every inch of the watch, enough to ascertain that it was the same watch he had grabbed on to save himself from falling on the train platform earlier. Two other officers quickly came in and grabbed both Benjamin and the hacker.
“You can let this guy go,” said the officer who had been pushed. “He’s a civilian alerting us to suspicious behavior.”
Benjamin was then released. The officer who had been pushed took the backpack away from the hacker, who was still being held by another officer, and opened it. He pulled out a bulky device. “I don’t know too much about these things, but we are definitely taking you in for questioning and for assaulting a police officer,” he said.
“You can’t catch all the mice,” the hacker told him with a smirk on his face while being dragged away.
“You are free to go,” the investigating officer said to Benjamin, who quickly went away accompanied by the two sisters.
“That was scary,” Anna said.
“I heard the commotion,” Gloria added.
“The hacker has been caught. There’s another reason these eight hackers are here,” Benjamin said. “They are not all here to kill you, Anna.”
“I am also thinking the same thing. One or a few of them are, I still believe, but all eight would seem unreal even though I don’t know the motive,” Anna replied.
“Gloria, I’m going to take your hand.” Benjamin took her hand, and they continued to walk in the midst of the crowds vi
ewing the procession.
“We have one more to go. Remember, this one should be much easier. Look for a female trying to keep the wrong size of clothes to her body,” Gloria said.
They took fifteen minutes using their senses as best they could and contemplating their next move.
“A wardrobe malfunction,” a promotional staff member said to a co-worker.
“Ah, no,” the woman said.
“Are you sure? You don’t look comfortable.”
“I’m fine. Really.”
“Well, just don’t fiddle with your clothes too much, you don’t want to lose a sale and make the boss fire you.”
“Thanks for the tip. Listen, I have to step away for a moment because of what you just said.”
“I didn’t mean to be harsh. I apologize…” The promotional staff member looked at the woman’s tag for a second. “Dana.”
“No need.”
Gloria turned to Anna and Benjamin. “I think the hacker is going by the name Dana. Where is there an officer?”
Anna guided Gloria, and Benjamin followed. They went to a duty officer, who was holding out his hand to make sightseers step back a little when the next procession came.
“Officer,” Gloria said.
“What can I help you with?”
“There is a hacker with an RFID scanner; my friend Benjamin knows more about this. The woman is going by the name Dana, and she is wearing oversized promotional clothes pertaining to some type of soft drink. I overheard her say that she and seven other people were going to steal people’s identities using some device. Just check her backpack so that you know my statement is valid,” Gloria said.
The officer went around the sidewalk, and found a woman wearing an oversized promotional shirt holding her pants with one hand as she started fumbling with her small backpack. Benjamin and Anna watched the officer ask her some questions. The woman started to become stubborn and shook her head several times. Finally, the hacker gave the officer her bag. He pulled out the device, and then took the hacker’s arm and dragged her away.
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