Since then, he and Ilona had studied the documents sent by Patrice, via Jenny and Coetzee. The sale and purchase agreement told them nothing more than they already knew, the myriad of offshore, onshore and proxy companies behind the acquisition. The bank statements showed the names of six companies, each transferring $400 million on 20 October 2012 to the BIP in Hong Kong for Mme Lee-Win. Middleton remembered Jenny Bishop’s comment about the price having been reduced. They probably forced her to take a bargain offer, he reflected. The statements gave no details of the names or account numbers of the transferring banks.
‘Typical,’ Ilona said. ‘The less money you’ve got, the more details you have to provide, even for small bank payments. Obviously, that’s not the case if you’re a billionaire making huge transfers. Mind you, in 2012 there wasn’t so much information provided on bank statements as nowadays.’ She immediately sent copies to her friend, Ilya Pavlychko, in Kiev, who promised to pass on any information he could glean from his sources.
Now, Middleton was faced with a new problem: he couldn’t let Marius Coetzee hear his voice. He replied, ‘Since you have now effectively taken over the investigation, with the assistance of your Ukranian ex-colleague, I think it would be better for you to handle the conversation. I’ll listen on the speaker and intervene if necessary.’
She took the call. ‘Good afternoon, gentlemen. Dr Middleton is busy, but he’s listening in his office.’
‘Hi, guys. First off, listen up, Leo. We did a limited download of the Lee-Win ACRE software, and I just got confirmation from our IT folk that it was one hundred per cent OK. You guys at XPC wrote some pretty awesome technology, our people love it.’
‘It also confirms our theory about the second upload, Billy.’
‘I know. I’ve had to tell my folks about that, ‘cos we’ve got thousands of machines with those processors, so we’d be a massive target. That’s why we downloaded only to non-essential networks until we see what’s going to happen. We still have no real proof of anything, but I’ve got people looking at different scenarios to find a solution.’
‘Thanks General, that’s good to hear. Between us we’ve got a lot of smart brains focused on the problem.’
‘I just hope they work something out. Anyway, do you have any news for me, Ilona?’
After explaining that Ilya was looking into the bank accounts, she added, ‘I suppose you noticed that the six payments came from companies who are not listed anywhere as shareholders or proxies?’
‘You bet we noticed. That just might mean we have a better chance of tracking them down if we can find the banks that made the payments. It’s easy to set up anonymous hundred-dollar proxy outfits, but hiding huge payments is more difficult.’
‘That’s why I asked Ilya to look at them. They have a team of forensic banking experts. And all the companies have English names, so he’s filtering his search parameters.’
Leo interrupted, ‘There’s some things you don’t know, Ilona.’ He brought her up-to-date on the Tsunami file and the hub coordinates found by Ed. ‘And there’s some emails to a guy called Hoi Wei, in China, mentioning Sunday twelve p.m. We’re assuming he’s Shen’s accomplice in Shanghai. But the text file on the stick is called Shutdown Code, in Russian, not Chinese. There’s also emails and software coding, called Hub Manager, sent to an address in Russia. And it looks like Lee-Win’s people are in the clear and Shen may have done a runner to Moscow. There’s definitely some kind of Russian link here, but we can’t work out what.’
Ilona thought quickly. That name, ‘Tsunami’, has cropped up in both Chillicott’s and Leo’s investigations. There has to be a connection. Dr Middleton wasn’t in the room to countermand her, and for some reason he didn’t want to speak to Coetzee or Leo. She decided to tell them everything they suspected about Tsunami, GRU, the death of Shen’s Chinese family and him possibly inheriting two fortunes.
There was a long silence on the line, then Coetzee said, ‘So, Dr Middleton’s theory is that Shen killed his Chinese family to increase his inheritance from his Russian father, then used his fortune to acquire Lee-Win. The purchase was related to GRU, through this Tsunami person, and they’re now planning a global cyber-attack. This is linked to the Russian military moves around the Soviet satellite countries, and the beneficiary of this whole complicated conspiracy is going to be Mother Russia, getting her children back?’
‘It’s starting to make sense, Marius, listen up. We’ve got Russian connections on all sides of the equation now. Tsunami and Shen arranged Chongkun’s death to acquire Lee-Win. He set up XPC as a camouflage in Dubai to develop malicious software, and he’s been sending files to Russia to create a cyber-threat via that software. The Lee-Win people have been hoodwinked, just like XPC was. It looks like the whole Shanghai thing is a red herring to frame China, and the strings are being pulled in Moscow, by some very high-up people.’
‘I get the logic, Billy. But why the hell would Shen go to these lengths, investing probably hundreds of millions of dollars into Lee-Win and spending five years of his life preparing a cyber-attack that could start a third world war? If Dr Middleton’s right, he’s already got more money than he knows what to do with. What’s in it for him? Why would he help Russia take back its territories, and set up this whole imbroglio just to frame China for the attack?’
Lord Arthur Dudley, alias Dr Hugh Middleton, could no longer restrain himself. He pressed the speaker button and said, ‘Because he was the second son.’
Moscow, Russian Federation
It was seven p.m. local time when the young woman walked out of the arrivals hall at Moscow Domodedovo International Airport. She waved to a man wearing a cashmere overcoat and fedora waiting near the exit door, and he walked across to meet her. ‘My darling Tsunami. It’s been months since I held you.’ He took her in his arms and kissed her passionately.
‘Piotr, mon chéri. I’ve missed you so much, I promise I won’t leave you again.’
She took his arm and they walked across the hall. ‘Is everything in place?’
‘Everything is arranged. By Monday, it will all be over.’
‘And that idiot Shen doesn’t have a clue what’s happening. I almost feel sorry for him, he’s going to be so disappointed.’
‘Don’t think about him, think about us. Come, the car is waiting.’ General Piotr Gavrikov escorted Elodie Delacroix out of the building to a Mercedes-Benz S 600 bulletproof limousine flying a red, white and blue pennant, the flag of the Russian Federation. He helped her into the spacious interior, and the car pulled away towards the expressway and the city of Moscow.
London, England
‘I’ve received a reply from Ilya Pavlychko. Do you want to see it?’ Ilona asked Dr Middleton.
‘That was impressively fast.’
‘I know, Ilya’s people seem to know everything about Russian banks. I suspect they’ve got a team of informers working in them.’
‘You suspect, or you know?’ She didn’t reply, and he asked, ‘Is it conclusive, or does it require what you call my lateral thinking?’
‘Here.’ She plopped two sheets of A4 paper on his desk.
‘Hmm, this is most informative. Behind the companies mentioned on the bank statements are six charitable trusts, based in the Cayman Islands, named “Golden Path”, I to VI.’
‘That’s the name on the folder that Shen gave to Sharif.’
‘It had not escaped my notice, my dear. What is fascinating is that each of the six payments to Mme Lee-Win’s Hong Kong account transited through the Moscow Trade & Kreditbank. As Ilya points out, that is one of the Kremlin’s banks of choice for, let us say, confidential transactions.’
‘You mean, government business?’
‘Exactly. I’m reliably informed that the oligarchs do a lot of “government business” through MTK. I wonder if that’s the link we’re looking for?’
‘The oligarchs?’
‘Time will tell. Have you considered one other aspect of this affair, Ilon
a?’
‘Probably not, I’ve been too busy. What is it?’
‘Simply this. The acquisition of Lee-Win was actually a commercially brilliant strategy, as can be seen by the success of the new software. There is a veritable flood of news items, tweets and messages about it online and in the evening paper. I have no doubt that the value of the company has greatly improved as a result of this development. And you will remember that Mme Lee-Win reduced the sales price due to the threatening circumstances at the time. The purchasers have hedged their bets very well.’
‘A good point, but it doesn’t help us to uncover their identity.’
‘You are, as usual, correct, and I am digressing. Can you forward your note to Billy and get him on the telephone as quickly as possible? And please send a suitable note of gratitude to Pan Ilya, he is a veritable treasure trove of knowledge.’
Marbella, Spain
Jenny went to bed at seven. She’d made a light supper, but had no appetite when she sat down alone at the table. After one glass of Ribuero del Duero, she could hardly keep her eyes open and went upstairs. She tossed and turned for a long while, her mind going back over the recent events; Leo, Emma, Coetzee, the XPC problem and Patrice in Shanghai. When she finally fell asleep, she didn’t have one of her strange dreams, but her sleep wasn’t as restful as usual.
US Homeland Security Headquarters, Washington DC
‘Looks like we’re getting somewhere, Hugh. Well done to you guys.’
‘Not guilty, Billy. All due to Ilona and her friend Ilya, who discovered the six trusts. They are uncovering the truth layer by layer. It seems there is no limit to Shen Fu Liáng’s duplicity.’
‘The guy sure turns out to be a bigger can of worms than we expected. This is one of the smartest fit-ups I’ve ever seen.’
‘Nevertheless, our friends in South Africa believe they can thwart the attack with some help from you.’
‘I know. Marius Coetzee thinks it might be possible to rejig the trigger code. He suggested that if they can’t work out how to hack into the hub, maybe we could talk Lee-Win into letting us access it, but you and I know there’s no way I can get that to fly.’
‘Diplomatically unlikely, I agree. Meanwhile, the Soviets continue to move their pieces around the chess board with impunity. I’m surprised you’re not attending the NATO meeting?’
‘Truth is, Hugh, if the shit hits the fan, I’m more useful here in Washington than with those politicians in Brussels. I hate to say it, but NATO is not what it was when I was young and ambitious. I don’t expect much from that conference except newspaper headlines.’
‘On this point, Ilona and I agree, NATO is in a state of disarray, vulnerable to a strong and decisive move to destabilise its member states. And all of our recent information suggests that the cyber-attack discovered by Leo will come from Russia, who will use it to blackmail their territories back to recreate the USSR. This attack is now a clear and present danger.’
‘I think you’ve hit it on the button. Everything points to a Russian power play that’s taken five years to gestate, starting with the takeover of Lee-Win by these six trusts. But we still don’t know who owns them.’
‘Our belief is that behind them you will find five oligarchs, plus Shen Fu Liáng.’
‘I can see why you’d say that, Hugh, if the plan is to grab big chunks of the repossessed territories. But you’re still pissing in the dark. Sorry, Ilona.’
‘We shall ignore that mental image. In any event, we shall remain so, unless you consider you now have enough proof to look at your files and see who are behind those trusts?’
The American’s guffaw roared from the loudspeaker. ‘What makes you think we’ve got stuff in Washington on innocent-looking Cayman Island trusts?’
Ilona and Middleton stayed silent, and Chillicott finally said, ‘OK, I think the case is strong enough to take it to the top. I’ll get back to you tomorrow. I’m not promising anything, but I’ll see what I can find.’
‘Thank you, Billy, you’re a credit to UK–US collaboration. Long may it continue.’
London, England
At six-thirty p.m., UK time, Ilona Tymoshenko was still in her office, sorting out her emails and thinking about the day’s events. She’d called Marius Coetzee and updated him on their conversation with General Chillicott, although she still wasn’t confident it would produce anything concrete they could act on. Now, she was reflecting on Hugh Middleton’s lack of reaction to one event that morning. As an ex-official at the Security Service of Ukraine, Ilona was suspicious both by nature and formation. She had been copied on Chillicott’s email and knew that Hugh had received the photo of Elodie Delacroix, who might possibly be the mystery person, Tsunami, but he hadn’t mentioned it. That wasn’t normal. Hugh never missed a chance to show off his superior intellect with a sarcastic or witty remark. Another secret, she wondered, possibly connected to Leo Stewart?
Ilona went to her file of contacts in the western security agencies. If the woman was some kind of Chinese or Russian agent, as they believed, there must be a dossier on her somewhere. She’s supposed to be Belgian, she remembered, and found the name of Chief Inspector Lucas Meyer, head of the Antwerp SICAD, the Communication and Information Service of the district of Antwerp.
Meyer had been her Belgian contact in 2008, when she had investigated a diamond smuggling operation on behalf of the Security Service of Ukraine. Three high-ranking justice officials had been arrested on corruption charges involving government contracts, and had apparently been paid off with millions of dollars in uncut diamonds. Information from the whistle-blower pointed to Antwerp as the marketplace for the stones. For once, international police coordination had been successful, and the stones were impounded, the officials convicted and everyone involved was congratulated.
CI Meyer didn’t answer her call and Ilona left a voice message, hoping he would remember her. Fifteen minutes later, he rang back. He was still in charge of the SICAD and remembered exactly where and when they’d worked together. After exchanging the usual platitudes, she told him a fictitious story about checking out a prospective business partner, and he agreed to put Elodie’s photograph through their facial recognition system. If her image was in any European database, they had a good chance of identifying her. She thanked him and sent the photo across, wondering if her action constituted deceitfulness toward her senior partner. Once again she decided, There’s no room for secrets between partners.
FIFTY-TWO
Delmas, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Saturday, 17 July 2017
‘Good morning, Abby. You’re up with the larks.’
At six a.m., Leo was trying to fit in an hour’s training. It was several days since he’d exercised his body and he was feeling stale and lethargic. He’d fastened an old, hard mattress against a wooden door in the courtyard and was punching and kicking his way to a healthy state of mind.
‘You’re not the only one who needs a workout. I’ve been locked indoors for weeks. It might be good for our brains, but not our bodies.’ Laying a blanket on the grass, she started stretching, prior to some Pilates exercises and a few minutes of yoga. Abby was wearing shorts and a bikini top, she looked a picture of health, slim and supple, a glowing sheen on her brown skin.
They worked out in silence for fifteen minutes, then Leo threw his soaked cotton T-shirt aside and continued his assault on the mattress.
Abby positioned herself so she could sneak glances at his muscular frame pivoting gracefully back and forwards. ‘I didn’t know you were an adept. When did you take it up?’
‘About five years ago. After I came down here on holiday.’
‘Seems like a lifetime ago. Then you went to the States and made your name.’
‘Some name. I was lucky enough to be offered a great job. Anyway, how about you? I never thought you’d get involved in IT. Didn’t seem like your thing.’
‘She did it to help my business and my life, Leo.’ Coetzee had come out of the house w
ith a mug of coffee. ‘Now, it looks like it’s time to help the world. Come on kids, breakfast time, then we’ve got stuff to do.’
Moscow, Russian Federation
Shen stayed under the shower for five minutes. The water was hot and crystal clear, unlike the sometimes lukewarm, cloudy liquid from the taps in the Emirates apartment. He’d slept like a baby for eight hours and felt on top of the world. There was a pot of breakfast tea in his room when he came out of the bathroom and he poured himself a cup. Looking out the window at the woods surrounding his house in Rublyovka, the most expensive suburb of Moscow, Shen felt as if he’d finally come off a treadmill that he’d been on for the last five years. He felt at one with himself and with the world.
His mother Olga and sister Annika were in the breakfast room when he went down, and they fussed over him as if he was still a teenager. Annika was unmarried, and she and her mother adored their adopted brother and son. They enjoyed a leisurely breakfast filled with stories of government corruption, local scandals and struggling billionaires, then Shen stood up from the table. ‘I’ve got a few things to do. I’ll be on the phone in my office and come down later for coffee.’
‘Grigori, darling, I thought you’d retired from Lee-Win and come home to run the family businesses?’
‘Don’t worry, Annika. By Monday, I won’t have anything to do. You and mother make a list for me and I promise to get started.’
Moscow, Russian Federation
Elodie’s phone woke her at nine a.m. After the most passionate night she’d enjoyed for a long time, she had slept like a baby and felt wonderful.
She heard Shen’s voice. ‘Good morning, darling, did I wake you?’
Clearing her fogged brain, she said, ‘Of course not, it’s ten in the morning here. I was just making another cup of coffee, but you’re not here to have it with me. I’m missing you.’
The African Diamond Trilogy Box Set Page 145