Chapter 4
Sunday AM
Adam stomped around the briefing room, scowling as he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Ok." He said "We've got a new set of players coming to the table. They're a small but dedicated group of terrorists that have only just started to blip on the radar and at the moment we're pretty clueless on the who and why".
He looked at Ros who continued after Adam nodded slightly. "Intelligence passed onto us by a source in the US indicates that the group is organised by a German, Siegfried Herman. He comes from an academic background – writes articles leaning towards historical extremism, but nothing on the wrong side of the law so far. Words not actions but he has been published across a range of journals. The mainstream newspapers won't touch him though, not in today's sensitive German political climate. Once bitten, twice shy and no-one in the media wants to be labelled as extremist. He's gone quiet recently but our source has been hearing rumours of something in the pipeline planned on British soil. These rumours happen to coincide with the arrival of Angela Merkel and the German delegation next week to informally discuss the upcoming EU summit with the Prime Minister. We have their scheduled tour and events diary but no real indication of where an attack might take place or what form."
Harry stood up and thumped his palms on the table. His shirt was crumpled and it had been a long day. The frustration showed in his eyes. "So WHAT do we have" he said loudly and impatiently. "We need to find out who Herman is working with and where they are most likely to get access to Merkel. If Merkel is indeed the target?"
Adam glanced round the room and then looked Harry in the eye. "We are working on tracing the information so far to find out where they are operating from. We have some email addresses and a couple of recorded telephone conversations. Indications are that they are in Bavaria, Southern Germany but Jo is working on gathering a background file on Herman and his brother-in-law Bernt Richter. Zaf is walking through the delegation's schedule to see where they might be vulnerable and Malcolm is attempting to trace the IP addresses on the electronic communications. "
"Fine" snapped Harry as he checked his watch and turned towards the door. "Just make sure Six don't get wind of it. And steer clear of the German authorities. This might lead across their borders but we're not involving them unless we have to".
The team visible breathed out as Harry left the room. "He doesn't get any better tempered" Zaf remarked and Adam half smiled wryly. "It comes with the job" he said "See where you are in 15 years time with the weight of the world on your shoulders". "No chance." Zaf replied, getting up to make his way back to his desk "I'd have gone with her".
"Er. Adam. I need to have a quick word" said Malcolm quietly."I think I've managed to trace the area that the emails are sent from". They waited until the room was empty and sat back down, heads close together.
"The account is a free anonymous web service. No surprise there but the IP address used originates in a large internet cafe in a district of Munich. This in itself was hard to track as it was masked by an Asian mail forwarding account. The emails were sent over a three day period and then stopped. Presumably they moved on to a different means of communication or had nothing else to say. "
"So where can this lead us?" asked Adam. "Well" said Malcolm softly. "Whoever used the connection paid in cash – I checked the records of the internet cafe. The interesting thing is though that when I checked traffic either side of the emails, directly after, another email account was used. It could be completely unrelated but it would have to be coincidence that the same person came onto the same terminal over the three days."
"The other email account relates to a small business in Schwabing, a district of Munich known for its booksellers due to the large university nearby. Here's the address – Koenig Bücher is the name and the emails were signed by a Bernt."
Adam drummed his fingers on the table and looked Malcolm with pale blue eyes. "And why the secrecy?" he asked "What is there that couldn't be said in front of the others?"
"Ruth" said Malcolm bluntly. "She's working for an antiquarian book outfit in the same road. Quite a remarkable stroke of luck. It appears we have a sleeper already in place".
Adam was speechless. He shook his head as if he didn't believe what he was hearing. "You knew where she was? All this time?" he whispered. "Does Harry?"
"Oh God no." Said Malcolm. "I haven't told anybody. I just..." he paused "I felt...I ought to keep an eye on her. Just in case."
He swallowed nervously. "I thought it was for the best. To protect Ruth. She's not involved in this in any way. I just thought I'd better warn you so there weren't any surprises."
Adam thought for a moment. "I have to go out there." He said."And we need to think of a way we can use Ruth without compromising her cover or making her bolt".