The Thought Cathedral

by Nathan Williams

  “Yes, sir. Graduated in 2009.”

  “Tell me a little more about yourself, Mr. Phong.”

  “There’s not too much to tell, sir. As you said, I graduated from Johns Hopkins. Worked for a year and a half in the Shanghai offices of MicroTrend before joining on with the Bureau.”

  “What’s MicroTrend?”

  “MicroTrend develops accounting, inventory, and logistics software for small- to mid-sized businesses. They’re a small company, but they were targeting Chinese businesses so all of their software was done in Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese.”

  Rose flipped another page. “You have a family?”

  “That’s correct, sir. Wife and kid.” Phong studied Rose’s office. No photos anywhere, which made Phong assume Rose wasn’t married.

  “Were you in Shanghai for the entire year and a half?”

  “Yes. Well, most of it. I went through two weeks of introductory training before I left.”

  “What sort of training was it?”

  “I trained to be a translator and manager in MicroTrend’s call center. It’s a really small company, though, so I ended up doing all kinds of different things.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as translating orders from customers, assisting the engineers with the Chinese language incorporated into the design of the software, taking orders and resolving order and payment disputes, and even delivering hard copies of software out to customers.”

  Rose scratched his chin with his index finger. “Did you like it there?”

  “Yes, I did. It was challenging at times, but I learned a lot.”

  “Why did you decide to join the Bureau?”

  Phong shrugged. “I thought it’d be interesting work.”

  “Has it been?”

  “Yes, absolutely. Long hours at times, but I was working long hours with MicroTrend, too.”

  Rose stayed silent for a few moments, studying Phong’s file. Phong sensed that Rose was at the point where he was going to tell him the real reason for him being summoned.

  Finally, Rose continued. “My understanding is that you’ve been briefed to an extent on the Brooklyn Capital case?”

  “Agent Reardon has told me a little bit about it.”

  “What do you know?”

  “I know that there have been abductions of company personnel and that we suspect the Chinese government of involvement. I know that the FBI has an asset here in New York with some sort of insider access to the Chinese. I know that the asset was able to surreptitiously place a microphone in the apartment of one of our suspects. I know also that a video and audio feed was placed within a vessel owned by the Chinese in the harbor here. My job has been to monitor, translate, and analyze those feeds. That is, it was my job until yesterday afternoon.”

  Rose fell silent for a moment. His eyes drifted away from Phong, and he scratched at the whiskers on his chin. He flipped through some papers in a folder in front of him.

  “You grew up in New Jersey? In Newark?”

  Phong nodded affirmatively “That’s correct.”

  Rose glanced down at the papers again. “Do you know any dialects apart from Mandarin?”

  “A little bit of Cantonese. However, I’m far from fluent.”

  “What do you make of this “diety” individual you’ve stumbled upon?”

  The question struck him as odd. Rose had leaned forward in his seat and placed his hands in front of his head. They were placed together with the fingertips touching each other and pointed toward the ceiling, like a steeple. Phong was uncertain how to answer and, it seemed, this may have been the intended effect.

  “I’m not sure exactly what you mean. Whoever this man is, he is probably very wealthy. If he’s involved in C.C.P. activity, he would have to be very well connected with the Chinese government.”

  “Yes, but what do you think he’d be like? As a person.”

  “I don’t especially like making judgements about people before I’ve met them,” Phong said.

  “Fair enough,” Rose said. “Upon receiving your information regarding this individual, Agent Reardon ran a query in the Bureau database. Turns out that there’s an individual under the same “deity” moniker who’s been facilitating a migrant trafficking ring from Shanghai to the U.S.”

  “Facilitating in what way?”

  “We’re not a hundred percent sure, but from what we know now, we’re reasonably certain the “deity” is not acting as one of the actual movers. It’s possible he could be a high level manager. Most likely he’s not involved in the actual operation.”

  “So, he does…what? You’re saying he’s an investor?”

  “That’s correct. We believe he provides for all, or a portion of, the up-front costs of transporting these people to the U.S. If the system works as they do in other parts of the world, these people begin repayment after they get to the U.S. The repayment typically consists of cash amounts upwards of many thousands of dollars. The less fortunate ones end up being forced into more unseemly methods of payment such as prostitution or slave labor. But, for our purposes here today, I suppose this is irrelevant.”

  Phong was tempted to ask the obvious follow-up question, but he thought better of it. Rose answered the rhetorical voluntarily, anyway.

  “What is relevant for us is that our people who’ve been working the trafficking case in Los Angeles, as well as our analysts, agree that this self-described “deity” is not directly involved in the actual operation itself. There’s a tremendous amount of activity involved with these operations, at least there is with the major ones. They have people who arrange false passports, travel bookings, temporary living accommodations, and the like. The “deity” is not a manager or anyone else who is physically with the migrants during their trip or otherwise providing direct assistance. His only presence seems to be financial. In other words, he’s interested solely in the return on his investment.”

  “I understand,” Phong said.

  “So you’re correct in that we know very little about this person, if indeed it even is the same person as the man using the “deity” moniker in your web searches. But, if we make that assumption, then another inference we might make about this individual is that he likely is very much pro-C.C.P. He wouldn’t be able to work as closely as he is with the C.C.P. and not have connections. And he couldn’t have those kinds of connections without having been vetted. That being said, we may also infer that this person is very nationalistic toward China. That’s not an absolute positive, but seems likely.” Rose paused for a moment. “Now, what does this mean? How does this help us?”

  Rose had posed the question as an open-ended one. However, Phong remained silent, so Rose continued. “Well, we want to try and find this man. Given what we know, or think we know, our goal is to come up with a plan to catch him. The question is: How might we go about doing this?”

  Phong said, “Draw him out, somehow. Bait him.”

  Rose nodded in the affirmative. “And how might we go about that?”

  Phong remained silent, so Rose continued. “What if we were to find a way to propose an investment to him?”

  “You’d have to find him first.”

  “Yes.”

  Phong said, “Aside from trying to hack the websites he uses, I’d say that you’d need to start in China. You’d need to start at the beginning of the trafficking journey—try to find a contact person. Then work your way up the chain.”

  “Yes.”

  “But you’d need a hook. Something that’d be of interest to him.”

  “Absolutely. What kind of a hook would you propose?”

  “Don’t know. If he’s loyal to the C.C.P., it would help if this ‘hook’ was sympathetic to the C.C.P. or its cause.”

  Rose said, “What if we sent a young tech entrepreneur, someone who has an interest in the C.C.P.? Suppose he has an idea for a tech start-up. He already has a plan in place—he’s recruited competent people to work for him, the whole works. But maybe he needs see
d funds to start up. Maybe he’s already tried seeking investors in Shanghai, or London, or New York with no success. Maybe he has family back in Shanghai who’ve sought passage to the U.S. or to Europe, and they’ve heard of this man called the “deity.” They hear his name bandied about in the streets of Shanghai. They know he’s a financial enabler. What if this entrepreneur travels to Shanghai seeking him out—seeking him in order to make a business proposal?”

  Phong thought for a few moments. “It’s possible it could work. It’s a long shot, though. I think the entrepreneur would need to come at it from the idea that the business would start up somewhere in China. There’s more opportunity there, anyway. There’s the obvious question of the nature of this start-up. What technology would be involved? What is the business plan? Also, how would this person go about finding this “deity” guy once he gets to Shanghai? It would be a long shot to ever actually find this person. A real long shot.”

  “I acknowledge that the odds are very small. I wouldn’t deny that,” Rose said. “But it’s a chance we have to take. We have lives on the line. The clock is ticking.”

  “Yes, sir. The clock is ticking.”

  Rose smiled thinly. “Excellent. Pack your bags. You’ll be on a flight to Shanghai at 2300 hours.”

  Twenty minutes after Phong had left, Rose entered a small conference room a couple doors down from his office within the command center for Operation Crimson Shield and made his way to a seat at the head of the table. He said a few words to a female agent seated next to him, who advised him on the status of an ancillary case, before opening the meeting. “Okay, everyone.” The number of agents attached to the operation had recently increased, and he needed to wait a few moments for the room to quiet. “For those of you who’ve just arrived and not yet heard, two days ago we were made aware of the possibility of another safe house obtained from one of the computers left behind by the inhabitants of the apartment on Pell and Grant in Chinatown. More specifically, it was archived data pulled from some internet chat software. We executed a raid at this address this morning at oh five thirty at a location up in the Bronx. Unfortunately, the result looks to be the same as what occurred at Pell and Grant. Our rescue team found the place vacant. It appears that, once again, the tenants had been tipped off. They had more time to clean up than last time, however, as they’ve left behind very little. No computers, no personal items. Some food, though.” Rose’s voice took a tone of sarcasm. “I hear they had some chicken enchiladas that were particularly tasty, right, Benny?”

  Rose grinned and looked to his left, where Benny Cardenas was seated. Cardenas smirked, spouted off a quick string of Spanish language, and began patting his belly. The only word Rose recognized was “exquisito.”

  Rose could feel the mood lighten considerably as the room erupted into nervous laughter. Rose said, “The tech crews have it locked down and we’ll get the results to you as soon as possible.”

  “On a more positive note, we’re cautiously optimistic on the Jonas Craig case.” Rose pulled a small stack of papers from his briefcase and began passing them around. “Milt and Jillian have been sorting through all the matches from the license plate they lifted from the surveillance footage. They’ve narrowed it down to a handful of suspects, but we’re particularly interested in one Ai Xinyuan. Ai is a Chinese national working as a software developer for Pan Asia MicroTechnologies, a Chinese software firm with offices in Manhattan. He’s in the U.S. legally under a permanent employer-sponsored visa. He purchased the 2009 Ford Explorer at a dealership in New Jersey with cash only. To purchase the vehicle, he was able to successfully provide a New York driver’s license and proof of insurance. He resides in Brooklyn. We obtained a search warrant this afternoon, and Jillian and Milt are executing the warrant as we speak.”

  A male agent said, “Do we know where the vehicle is?”

  “Ai keeps the Explorer parked in a lot owned by the apartment complex where he’s living. We’ll certainly be seizing it and have forensics examine it.” Rose paused for a moment for questions, but the room remained silent so he continued. “The other bit of news is that we’ve obtained an address we believe could be another safe house. This address came from the audio feed from inside the Imperial Empress. It’s worth noting because there is a reference within this transmission to the abductees from Brooklyn Capital. There are no names listed, but the reference is clear and Lorren and the brass are debating whether to raid this location as well. We hope to have a decision on this sooner rather than later.”

  Rose was interrupted by Pernetta Walker. “Where’s the location?”

  “It’s an abandoned firehouse in Brooklyn, Pernetta,” Rose said. “We’ve had limited surveillance on the building for about twenty-four hours now, and there’s been no activity there so far.”

  Walker said, “Do we know who’s renting it or who owns it?”

  “We do. It was purchased eighteen months ago by a managing partner in a Chinese equity firm called Shanghai Equity Ltd. His name is Hanghui Chen. We spoke to the realtor who sold it to him. They told us Mr. Hanghui told them that the purchase was made for business purposes, that they’re expanding and need more office space.”

  Cardenas said, “Has Mr. Hangui or his firm purchased any other properties elsewhere in the city recently?”

  “We’re looking into this,” Rose said. “I’ve got one of our young agents raiding the Offices of the City Registrar and some other sources of property records in New York. Fortunately, they’ve been recording these records in digital format at the Registrar Offices for a few years now, so I’m hoping we can find any other properties owned by Mr. Hanghui and his firm sooner rather than later.”

  After another pause, Rose said, “Any other news on the three remaining abductees: Patrice Clemente, Sam Than, and Paul Lanthier?” Nobody answered immediately so Rose looked toward Cardenas again. “Anything new on Clemente, Benny?”

  “Nada. Milt and I took another trip upstate. To the best of our knowledge, she never stayed overnight. She drove up there, parked her Hyundai in the same lot, went and did her hike when she disappeared. We revisited her friend Cynthia Reyes. She’s distraught, hasn’t been able to sleep. Clemente sent her an email the night before she left, which was Friday, January 25th. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Reyes did not hear from her at all between receipt of the email on Friday night and when Clemente went missing. We’ve been through Clemente’s home. She lives in the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn, just a few blocks away from Reyes. The evidence response guys have been through her computer. Nothing unusual at all there. I think we’ll need someone who was out on the trail that day and saw something to come forward before we make any headway on this case.”

  “Anything new on Dr. Than?”

  “Nothing much new on Than, either,” Cardenas said. “We’ve been working with campus police at Bronx Community College to comb through footage from the surveillance cameras of any possible abduction. We’ve found nothing thus far. If he parked in his usual spot southwest of campus along West 180th Street, then I’m afraid we’re probably out of luck. The area is too isolated and lined with trees and the cameras don’t pick up that area very well. We’ve also spoken with Than’s family, including his wife and his two kids. They didn’t detect anything unusual at all with Dr. Than prior to the alleged abduction.”

  Rose said, “I’ll briefly review the Lanthier investigation since Milt’s not here. It’s interesting to note that Lanthier was present at the company gala that was held on the night of the abduction. In fact, he played in the band that evening. The Lanthier case does share some characteristics of the other cases. The Lanthier residence is relatively isolated, allowing for reduced chances of observation from outside parties. We know that not all of the abductions occurred in isolated areas. Halberstom’s apartment, as we know, was in Manhattan and Craig’s in Brooklyn. However, the extent of planning involved by the abductors is evident and they’ve been able to use timing and environmental factors in their favo
r.

  “Also, as with the other abductions, any family at the site of the residence was also taken. In this case, when I say family, I’m referring to Lanthier’s wife, Amelie, who has gone missing as well. Another common trait among all of the abductions has been the lack of evidence left behind at the scene. We’ve gone through the Lanthiers’ house with a fine-tooth comb and haven’t found a shred of evidence. We’ve inquired with their neighbors, but the home is hidden away from view and nobody saw or heard anything out of the ordinary that night. As of now, we have no leads in the case.”

  Rose paused again and said, “Pernetta, can you give everyone a rundown on the Honeycutt case? Some of our agents here haven’t been brought up to date yet.”

  “Absolutely. Honeycutt’s body was discovered in Bronx Park. The coroner says the body had been there for as long as twenty-four hours before it was discovered by a couple hiking in the evening hours this past Saturday. Honeycutt was found in much the same way Craig was. She’d been bound and strangled to an extent where some of the vertebrae in her neck were exposed. She put up a heck of a struggle. I want to highlight the fact that the coroner believes she was strangled with a thin rope. The coroner believes the rope that was used was actually quite thin, as in the size of a shoe string. In each case, the killer seems to have used multiple ropes, twisting them around each other. Either that, or he used one rope that was long enough to fold in on itself and twist the folds together. Coroner thinks this was probably done in order to get the necessary rope strength and surface area to do the job. This is the exact type of instrument used to strangle every one of the victims in this case.”

  Frank said, “Does the coroner have any opinion as to the type of rope? Is it more likely to be a commercial rope, used for something like sailing, for example?”

  “Well, he told me that the rope is leather. There’s no synthetic material in there at all like there would be for, say, a commercial fishing rope. He’s really not sure what it could be at this point.” Walker paused for a moment and said, “Has our examiner indicated that it’s been leather for all our victims?”