“Well, Tanweer was making changes to the formula and those changes were being tracked by his computer; you know, insertions and deletions. The changes probably were related to the amount of energy required to successfully blow up the target after discussions and comments about choosing a target, probably on VoIP, with Bhiren.”
“So Tanweer screwed up, right?”
“Yeah, sort of. He should have just pasted the final instructions on an encrypted email and destroyed the document, but in his haste to get it out he attached it as a separate document.”
“So what did he tell us?”
“He started out with a rather relatively speaking low-energy explosive charge. But as time went by he increased the dosage, if you will, by about ten fold. This bomb isn’t just designed to kill people; it is designed to take out the constituent elements of a structure or a hard target, maybe a small bridge, a building, a tower who knows? But it isn’t just to kill a bunch of people in a train station, that’s for shit sure.”
“Johnny, do your analysts think the likely target is in this city?”
“Based on history and percentages, New York is the most likely target, but we have to be thoughtful. Perhaps a nuclear power plant outside the city, for example—it is a large structure that could be breached in such a way that there could be a catastrophic result. He could not blow up the whole plant but he could take out a wall. Just remember this guy wants this to be big. Grand Terminus Plaza was small potatoes by comparison.”
Nick subtly disagreed, “This guy is fixated on killing kids—he is wired that way. The force multiplier resulting from killing children is enormous. He tried the rail station with those babies and he finally blew up the school bus. Maybe he is going after an elementary school or the pediatrics ward in some hospital, but take it to the friggin’ bank this madman is looking for kids to kill.”
Planner went silent and thought for a moment and changed the subject. “Nick, the cryptanalysts are still working on ‘+0305361891.’ It could be a lot of different things.”
“I guess it would be simplistic to just assume numerology again, right?”
“Yeah, it just doesn’t convert neatly. For example, it might read CECFAHIA and depending on the 0 it could be read differently. Maybe it is related to Arabic. If 0305 is a date, that is March fifth. If it is numerical, the 36 is CF and 18 is R or AH, and finally 9 and 1 are I and A. According to my guys, none of it seems to make sense in a relatively certain way.”
“John, our killers weren’t very exotic when it comes to this stuff. What do you think it is?”
“They were exotic enough to use a simple encryption for the bomb instructions. Tanweer easily could have used a computer to run off random numbers and random letters. He didn’t have time to create a special code to encrypt the formula. It’s probably a one-time pad, a random string of numbers that coincide with letters to spell out a message and there are only two keys in the whole world. Tanweer had one and Bhiren has the other.”
“Johnny, nothing we have found yet indicates that Tanweer or even Mahesh did anything like that, there was nothing on their computers or even on Khan’s computer.”
“Maybe it was on the burned-up Dell in Finsbury.”
“Perhaps.”
****
That night Nick sat down with Joann after dinner and he sought to pick her brain without divulging any secrets in the process.
“Jodie, you know a lot about it in a historical sense. How deep does this numerology thing go?”
“Well, I know it is the relationship between a number and perceived event or sometimes a person. It has a lot of beliefs, systems, and traditions. For example, Christ is expressed as 77, the total value of the letters added together. So Jesus Christ would be represented by 151 in the English Alphabet. I have an old set of notes, let me get them. Why are you suddenly so interested in this arcane subject again?”
“Work, is all I can say. What about the number thirty-six? What does it mean, Jo?”
“Okay, let me see. Thirty-six is square and triangular, that is 6 x 6 and 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 both equal thirty-six. The Christian Trinity is sometimes represented by the triangle. Most of this stuff is just superstition. Thirty-six also is said to represent Satan and the personification of evil. So a believer may choose the number 36 as an evil location, person or event. The sum of the numbers of 1 through 36 = 666, the symbol of Satan, called the Beast in the Revelation. But to Islam, 666 is a holy number; also in the Koran, 36 Surah YaSin is among the most popular readings.”
“How about the number eighteen?”
“It is of course the numerical value of the letter ‘R,’ and 18 +18 = 36. In Judaism, it represents life—good fortune. A shape looking like 18 in Arabic is formed by the lines on the palm of the right hand, the favored hand in Islam.”
“Does the number ninety-one have any special meaning?”
‘Well, yes. Let’ see, it is the sum of the numbers of one through thirteen and again is somehow related to Christ, but I’m not sure there is anything else to it in terms of symbolism. You and I believe as Catholics that Christ is part of the Trinity within one God, but to some religions the theological notion of the Trinity is offensive; misunderstood in some respects it is thought to represent three gods.”
“Jodie, are you at all familiar with Koran verse 4.171? I call it the 4.171 lecture.”
Joann was startled by the question and responded with a furrowed brow after hesitating for a moment, “Yes, it is a kind of well-known writing in certain circles. It is an example of what I am talking about; it dispels the idea of the Trinity, particularly the Son, Jesus, and reinforces the existence of only one God. Hey, you haven’t been thinking of converting to Islam, have you? We have enough trouble getting our kids to go to Mass on Sunday; I’d never get them into a mosque!”
“No. First off, I drink alcohol, and besides I use my left hand too much,” he said as he reached over with his left palm and gently patted Jodie’s soft cheek.
The discussion went on for some time, with Nick taking notes as he listened carefully to his wife. Not only good looking but smart too. Hell, we should just swear her in and get her an office at 290 Broadway, he thought.
“Thanks, Joann, that was very helpful,” Nick said when Joann had finished.
“Nicky, are you sure I don’t need a security clearance to have a conversation with you?” Joann said with a slight smile.
“Only if I go too far during pillow talk.”
****
While Brennan was no closer to figuring out what the message meant, in a strange way he felt more confident in uncovering its meaning. He knew that the message in 4.171 was essentially attacking a fundamental precept in Christianity, something that seemed central to all the contacts between and among the many correspondents in South Asia. Nick also knew that the series of numbers were not random expressions from a one-time pad but they had special meaning. Jodie’s analysis persuaded Nick that probably Catholic kids were the target, and 36 was important, very important.
****
At the office in the morning the results started to come in on the plate readers at all the toll plazas into the city. New York is a big town, and as such it has an enormous number of improperly registered and out-of-state cars passing through the cash payment lanes. In an effort to reduce the overload, the MTA and Port Authority computer programs limited the search to outgoing vehicles one day prior to the Jay Peak shooting and incoming two days after it. Of course, the automobiles entering after the shooting would take precedence, but in an effort to avoid any assumptions outgoing traffic had to be analyzed as well.
The printouts were delivered by an armed FBI courier at about ten in the morning. The volume of data was several hundred pages listing almost ten thousand vehicles. Jack Mason made a call to the ASAC and fifteen additional intelligence analysts were assigned to assist.
Together with Team 1 each analyst was given approximately five hundred motor vehicle toll payment records. If an improperly re
gistered vehicle was an Acura, it was culled out for further study. The plate reader recorded the actual tag on the car while a sensor above read the bar code on the registration sticker on the driver’s side of the windshield. It was likely the bar code would more accurately describe the year, make and model of the auto, but if the driver were stopped by police and the plates didn’t match the registration certificate, a violation had occurred. Logically, the analysts understood that Bhiren had to be aware of that possibility and therefore avoid any contact with the authorities. Cars registered from states without windshield identifiers were analyzed based on the plates alone.
The process was labor intensive and slow. The program didn’t allow the analysts to simply segregate Acuras or even conduct a VIN check; each record had to be examined individually and the plate compared to the bar code reading or state registration information. By four in the afternoon the specialists were going cross-eyed. By 8:20 they were completely exhausted but near the completion of the task.
At about eight forty-five Jack Mason came into the SCIF. “How close are we to the end?”
“We just finished, Jack. We have 70 possible hits,” Bob Phillips announced.
“Okay, let’s split those up among Team 1 and see what we can find. Everyone else, thank you, and go home!”
As the operations specialists and Jack Mason divided up the pile, each took about twelve records to scrub. Within a half hour the examination was completed and there were three vehicles that fit the profile. Each was an inbound 1992 Acura; one was listed in DMV records as light blue, another dark blue and one was black. Conscious of the possibility of a VIN plate change or forgery, the VIN check was delayed for a few minutes while the group reviewed each possibility.
The focus was immediately placed upon the light blue car. It had entered from Northern New Jersey through the Lincoln tunnel and after a quick check showed no travel on the New Jersey Turnpike or other area toll roads. If the vehicle was headed to a location in Manhattan or perhaps Brooklyn, the payment of any additional bridge or tunnel crossings were unnecessary, since some of the East River crossings were toll free.
Similarly, the dark blue Acura had come from New Jersey, except records showed travel Northbound on the New Jersey Turnpike near the time of the shooting.
Finally, the black Acura had crossed the Whitestone Bridge from the Bronx about nine hours after the shooting and showed no prior or later activity on any area toll roads.
At ten forty-five Mason directed a VIN check on each of the three vehicles and finally luck was kind to them once more. “Boys and girls, we have a hit! Al Mohammed is driving a black 1992 Acura, New York registration AHL 721, somewhere in this big city! He had the damn thing painted black.” The room exploded in applause and high fives. Team 1 had come to work with the hope of a big break and they got it; now they knew they had much more to do.
At eleven Jack Mason finally called it a night “Okay everybody, after all tomorrow is another day. Let’s close up business for tonight and reconvene at ten in the morning. I am staying here tonight and I will advise the guys upstairs of our success and get an alarm out for the car.” Exhausted yet somehow exhilarated, all of the members of Team 1 left the FBI building that night knowing they were getting close.
Through the night the NYPD scoured the city looking for the car with New York plate AHL 721. The plate was an old registration plate that had not been reported stolen but rather surrendered to the DMV in Albany, New York. The cops quickly figured out the methods al Mohammed used: stealing an old trick common among car thieves, Bhiren had probably gone into the dumpster or garbage containers behind DMV buildings and retrieved the set of discarded tags. Now cops also knew it was likely al Mohammed had other sets of registration plates and would probably change them regularly. The reality was that in a city with 1.4 million registered cars and eight million people, the cops and the FBI were looking for a Middle Eastern Brit male driving an old black Acura with a discarded set of plates.
****
Border Agent Roger Lambert, who did not remember being shot, was recovering slowly in North Country Hospital. Still unable to speak, he did recall the events leading up to the traffic stop and was able to write down a description of the car he had pulled over. He described the auto as “an older dark-colored foreign make and model.” When asked if it could be an Acura, he wrote that it was “possible.”
The Vermont State police continued their investigation but found no local suspects or fugitives who might be the shooter. The chief investigator, a member of the local FBI counterterrorism task force, told Kristin Roberts, “Circumstantially, our best guess is that al Mohammed is responsible. But put to our proof, we would be hard pressed to successfully prosecute him. Nobody puts him here, and for that matter nobody puts him in Stanstead or Mansonville, Quebec, either. Lambert can’t identify him or the car used. We are out of leads except for the rounds and shell casings recovered at the scene, and we have no comparison weapon or shells.”
“Anything else?” Kristin asked.
“Yes, one thing: the Canadian Intelligence Service, in return for a big favor owed, confidentially reported to us that two years ago a female subject with the name Abdel Feil entered Canada through Montreal on a flight from Glasgow. There is no record of her leaving, and as a Brit she didn’t need a visa. Maybe that was Aaffia Khan, maybe not.”
“Thanks. I think it was Aaffia. That confirms in my mind how she eventually got here: she walked across the border. Later she bought the Acura in New York with phony papers that she probably destroyed or hid.”
Kristin and Larry Ford brought the latest news to Jack Mason sitting at his desk with dark, almost black circles and bags beneath his watery eyes. Pursuing a little levity in the middle of all the stress, Kristin smiled and said to Jack, “Another bad hangover? Ever think about rehab, Boss?” Mason just laughed.
In another room, Kevin Cleary was with Nick and Bob Phillips once again going over the possibilities and probabilities. The Team 1 meeting began promptly at 10 o’clock.
“Okay, we have made great progress,” Jack began, “we know Bhiren is or was in the city, we think he shot the border patrolman, I think we can place him in Albany getting the plates, we know he was driving an old black Acura, we know he is armed and we know he has the instructions to make a big, I mean big, bomb that is relatively small in size.” Looking down at a report in his hand, he pursued the subject, “FBI, NSA and DIA analysts believe he is looking to do structural damage of significant proportions. Finally, we know how Aaffia got here, and we suspect Bhiren is following in her footsteps. Bhiren probably flew out of Scotland. Who would have thought?”
Nick spoke up slowly and thoughtfully, looking at his own notes, “Jack, I think al Mohammed is going after kids again. I think there is a religious and a numerological element to this mission. All of Bhiren’s cohorts overseas use a citation from the Koran in their emails: verse 4.171. It deals with the offense they take with the Christian concept of the Trinity. I think the target is Christian, specifically Catholic children within some large structure; an iconic building, a church or cathedral, a school, perhaps a basketball game in a big gymnasium or arena, maybe a hospital wing.” Nick stopped for a moment and decided to extend himself a bit, “I think the number 36 is at the center of the impending act.”
“What led you to this, Nick?”
“Jack, my wife, Joann has a PhD. She is a history professor at the state university and she is broadly informed in many subjects and does outstanding research in many others. Earlier this week I discussed with her in general terms this whole numerology thing—you know evil and numbers and symbolism, the Koran, anyway it fits. There is some connection to the number thirty-six, possibly an evil location in the minds of our terrorists. This shit is like voodoo. You keep working around 18, 36 and 666. Anyway, I think some of us should pursue that angle.”
“Your wife sounds like an interesting character.”
“She certainly is, and she can cook too!”
“Work on it, Nicky, and let me know.”
****
The next morning, Nick Brennan was on the secure phone with Tom Carrillo. “Tom, I am confused about these recitations of the Koran—you know, the 4.171 lecture we talked about.”
“Nick, as you know, many Muslims are decent religious people, but there is this theory involving the cultural studies of the Islamic extremist. The idea is that there is a school of Islamic thinking, the Wahhabi—fundamentalist Sunnis—predominant in Saudi Arabia who believe the Koran and Hadith are central to the whole Islamic movement. They tend to be very conservative and uncompromising, and critical of those outside their views. Anyway, many of our analysts believe that ‘Koranic speech,’ that is, speaking through the Koran, is their messages of war talk.”
“In what way, Tom?”
“Well, just like American native tribes wore war paint before battle, these warriors quote the Koran to each other in support of the prosecution of war, sort of cheerleading.”
“Would you say a Koranic message might foretell a coming attack?”
“Maybe, but more likely it is just an expression of camaraderie in a continuing war effort. Make no mistake; it encourages battle, but not necessarily a particular act of terror. The DIA with the help of the NSA analysts has been tracking the messages sent by these guys, and while they are all nefarious in tone, none seems operational.”
“Tom, I think that helps.”
****
That night as he left the office, he went down the elevator completely consumed by the spoken message from Bhiren to Hasan Tanweer. It was probably some form of confirmation, or maybe a message sent in response to the question Are you comfortable with the instructions? I think so +0305361891. The answer offered by al Mohammed was certainly responsive to the question, but in what way? As Nick got off the elevator, he walked slowly to his right towards the gray metal door of his gun locker. As was his custom, he looked back at the security point and turned the tumblers on the combination lock. Still daydreaming, the sight of the tag on the locker caught his attention. 0305, just like the initial digits in the oral message, he realized. Suddenly he saw those numbers separate from the rest. While it was clearly just a coincidence, it served to segregate in his mind those four numbers from the rest of the message.
Once a Noble Endeavor Page 25