Chapter 4: Decrypted

Amsterdam. Saturday, September 15, 2007.

Neal looked up when he heard a familiar voice say, "They're expecting me. Go ahead and check with Interpol if you wish. Now, step aside. I have vital work to perform."

Sara smiled as she stood up. "We're in here, Mozzie."

Neal had called him the previous day from the hospital. His excited friend immediately headed for the airport, and they would be glad for his assistance. No one was better at finding hidden cubbyholes than Mozzie.

After catching a few hours of sleep, Neal and Sara had returned to Rolf's bolt-hole. Klaus was continuing to improve. Later today, he'd return to Paris with Chantal and Marcel.

Mozzie didn't waste time in greetings. "What treasures have you found so far?"

"Two stashes of paintings," Neal reported. "In addition to the Gardner works, we've identified paintings from the Louvre and the Tate."

"All snared by an octopus . . ." Mozzie smiled. "I must visit the shop Diana discovered. I should acquire something with tentacles for my collection. Any tidbits to report from the diamond thieves?"

"A few," Sara said. "The youngest thief, a Thai woman named Chalita, is cooperating in exchange for a reduced sentence. Her information allowed the police to recover Marta's electronics. Chalita also confirmed that Marta wrote the malware enabling them to disable security systems."

"With Rolf's help?"

"More than likely," Sara agreed. "Diana has linked the gang to cases going back to 2002. We know Rolf was working with Ydrus at that time. He undoubtedly also shared in the profit of the jewel thieves."

"What did he do with the proceeds?" Mozzie mused. "Store it in a cave like Smaug?"

"It's still a mystery," Neal said. "Chalita confirmed that Marta helped Rolf escape but doesn't know the details of how she managed it."

Mozzie stood in the center of the room, studying the bookcases. "How did Marta and Rolf communicate with each other? The secret may be here."

"Eventually the room will be disassembled, but until Rolf is found and charged, it will need to remain intact," Neal cautioned.

"Have the books been touched?" Mozzie demanded.

"I've been cataloging them," Sara said, "but I haven't changed their location."

"Excellent, carry on."

They set to work. Neal and Sara planned to fly home on Sunday. Mozzie would go with them to the airport, but he would fly to the space facility in southern Spain. Prestini had given him permission to observe the final preparations for the launch. Mozzie planned to use realistic details in a series of novels to be published as companions to the video game.

Diana joined them later in the day after finishing up with the Dutch police. In exchange for immunity, Chalita revealed the location of the diamond haul from the Antwerp Diamond Heist. Neal suspected the rapport Diana had built up with her was the primary cause of Chalita's cooperation.

"The leader of the ring is from India," Diana said. "She's an interesting case. Her father is a gems dealer in Mumbai. He trained his daughter Nisha in the art of cutting gemstones. She attended the University of London, earning a master's in political science."

"How old is she?" Sara asked.

"Thirty-eight. Chalita told us that she began her life as a thief in 2002, and I see that look, Caffrey," Diana added. "That's the same time you were part of Klaus's crew."

Neal nodded. "Was she working alongside Marta for Rolf?"

"It's tempting to think so," Sara said. "Rolf can be a mesmerizing presence. We know Marta is in love with him. He could have been a controlling influence on Nisha as well."

Diana frowned. "Perhaps that's why she's being as uncooperative as Marta."

"Do you know what motivated her to be a thief?" Mozzie asked.

She nodded. "Chalita told me. Nisha considered her thefts to be a way of evening the score after European colonialism. Since no one was injured, she calls them victimless crimes. She used that argument to persuade others to join her crew."

Sara winced. "No one has any sympathy for the insurers or stops to think about how the thefts result in higher rates."

"Not to mention the loss of historical artifacts," Neal agreed. "The McNally Solitaire is a prime example."

"Everything we're learning substantiates our belief that Rolf is Phoenix," Mozzie said. "The pinprick forgeries and jewel heists are simply two arms of his many-tentacled operation."

"But where's the hard evidence?" Diana exhaled noisily. "All this is supposition."

Neal waved a USB enclosure at her. "It may be in here. Mozzie found what we hope is a backup device."

Mozzie smiled deprecatingly. "A modest contribution when compared with your success."

"Where was it?" Diana asked eagerly.

Mozzie went to one of the bookcases and gently pried off the carved molding from a vertical support. Inside was a narrow cavity. "Several enclosures were inside." He rubbed his hands together. "Backups? Secret lists of clients? An inventory of stolen goods? Now is the time to dream big."

"I'm taking them back with us to hand deliver to Travis," Neal said. "We secured permission from the Dutch. They could be booby-trapped and Travis has the best chance of transferring the data securely."

"I'm working on the inventory of books," Sara said. "It's an eclectic collection. In addition to the expected works on art and the Cthulhu Mythos, Rolf has an extensive science-fiction section. I wasn't surprised to see Jules Verne, but he also has many contemporary authors, including the Nebula Award winners for the past several years. There are works on astrophysics and cosmology as well."

#

"Astronomy is yet something else we have in common," Peter agreed. "Lovecraft was also fascinated by astronomy." This was his first week to work full-time after paternity leave, but he'd kept up with the events in Amsterdam.

Neal had spent the morning at Columbia. Their first chance to talk was in the afternoon. He'd come to Peter's office to update him on Rolf's safe house.

"Your joint interest helps to explain why Rolf was so receptive to you being recruited," Neal said.

"And I'm not the only one with a connection." Peter hesitated, debating once more how much of an issue to make of it.

"What do you mean?" Neal asked.

"The Red Sands project," Peter admitted. "How your group became involved with it has some eerie parallels to how Rolf manipulated us when he was disguised as Alistair Chapman. He approached you at the 2005 Tac-Con convention and arranged to have you visit Scima in England."

Neal frowned skeptically. "Are you suggesting that Prestini is actually Rolf? That's a little hard to swallow."

"I know it is, but bear with me." He pointed to Neal's painting of the green lollipop. "You dubbed this our puzzle painting. Blame it on my tendency to view everything associated with Rolf as a jigsaw puzzle. Red Sands could be one of the pieces."

Neal took a slow breath, clearly not liking the direction Peter was taking, but to his credit, he didn't dismiss it out of hand. "With Rolf, we've learned to never let our guard down. This puts Sara's discovery in a different light."

"What did she learn?" Peter asked.

"She found several sci-fi novels about Mars in Rolf's bolt-hole, including works by Arthur Clark and Philip Dick. As I mentioned on the phone, Rolf had many books on astronomy, both non-fiction and fiction." Neal smiled. "But I don't think they qualify as a smoking gun."

He was being kind. Peter knew the connection to Red Sands was a wild swing. It just went to prove how much Rolf was still affecting them three years after their first encounter.

He looked up to see Jones approach his doorway. "Thought Neal might be here. I heard from Travis. He and Aidan have finished decrypting Rolf's files."

"That was quick!" Neal exclaimed.

"Travis said that Rolf used the same esoteric programming language he'd used on some earlier files. Since they were already familiar with it, the process went much smoother. The key finding for me was that Rolf kept the equivalent of a journal of his activities—an extensive database that has details of his accounts. If we can just capture him—and keep him imprisoned—he'll be in prison for the rest of his life."

"Henry needs to hear this," Neal said. "Hold that thought while I contact him." Henry arrived a few minutes after Neal sent the text.

"Do we have confirmation he's Phoenix?" Henry asked eagerly.

"Yep, and that Marta was assisting him," Jones said. "Members of the Russian mafia helped break him out of prison. We also have confirmation that Rolf assisted the jewel gang."

"Who wrote the programs?" Peter asked.

"Rolf in conjunction with Marta."

"What about Klaus?" Neal asked.

"What we've uncovered so far confirms that Rolf kept Klaus out of the loop. Back in 2002, he made notes about how you would replace Leonardo to prepare pinprick forgeries. He also describes how he siphoned funds from his clients in the investment club. The surprise was what he did with the proceeds."

"Don't keep us in suspense!" Peter demanded.

"He created two dummy shell corporations headquartered in Singapore to process the money. The first one was called Bowen Enterprises. In 2005, he added a second—Tuttle Holdings. They both invested primarily in Space Horizons."

Peter sat back, stunned. Rolf was subsidizing space exploration? They knew the man was interested in astronomy, but still . . . When he'd mentioned a possible link to Prestini, he was half-joking. He was closer than he realized.

"How much money are we talking about?" Henry asked.

"Millions," Jones reported. "Judging from the email correspondence—and it was extensive—Prestini believes Rolf is a legitimate investor."

"What names did Rolf use?" Peter asked.

"E.R. Bowen and Amos Tuttle." Jones smiled. "And before you ask, I already checked. The names belong to characters in Cthulhu Mythos stories. Enoch Bowen was an occultist and archaeologist. Tuttle was a benefactor to the Miskatonic Library. He was also a collector of rare manuscripts."

"Wait till Mozzie hears about this," Neal said. "Tuttle sounds suspiciously like Gideon Talmadge in the stories."

The fact that Rolf invested in Space Horizons didn't implicate them in his criminal activities. But there were uneasy parallels that continued to bother Peter. In Arkham Files, an extraterrestrial named Gideon Talmadge provided the funding for Neal's group. Rolf had formed Tuttle Holdings around the same time Diana described Talmadge. Whatever Rolf's reason was, Peter was sure it wasn't coincidental.

"Marta managed communications for Phoenix while Rolf was in prison," Jones said. "Rolf and Marta knew about Neal's history with Bolotnov. The Rembrandt was a test to see where Klaus's loyalties lay. When he helped Neal confiscate Bolotnov's art stockpile, they decided he couldn't be trusted."

Peter checked on Neal's reaction and wasn't surprised to see his grim expression. They'd suspected the Rembrandt was a trap. This was the confirmation. But the trap had been more for Klaus than Neal.

"I consulted with Doctor Nussbaum about Rolf," Peter disclosed. "None of you will be shocked to hear that he considers Rolf to be more dangerous than ever. His safe house was taken away from him. His brother was liberated. Jacob warned that Rolf will lash out in new and unexpected ways."

"A good reminder for all of us to activate the GPS signals on our watches," Henry said. "Peter, you'll tell Elizabeth?"

"Of course."

"I'll contact Mozzie," Neal offered. "He's already in Spain."

"When are you leaving?" Peter asked.

"Wednesday evening. We'll fly to Seville and make that our home base. The launch site is on the coast near the city. On Friday, we'll have a tour of the facility. The launch is set for Saturday morning."

"You'll be careful, right?" Peter couldn't resist reminding him even though he'd probably just get a glib reply.

Surprisingly, Neal didn't give one. "I haven't forgotten what happened in San Diego. We'll be in a group the entire time. We're staying in a vacation rental house so we can watch out for each other. I'm more concerned about you in New York."

"You needn't be," Peter quickly assured him. "El's sister is arriving today and will spend the week. My gut's telling me Rolf's going to make some grandiose gesture that will trip him up." Confident words. His gut wasn't a crystal ball. Someone would likely get tripped up, but he wouldn't lay odds on who it would be.

#

When Neal returned to his office, he closed the door. How much had Rolf disclosed about the Rembrandt? Had he mentioned that Neal's forgery hung in the Hermitage? The decrypted files would be sent to Interpol's art crimes task force. Soon he might have to go into damage-control mode. Luckily, he had an in with the lead programmer on the case. He reached for his cell phone.

"Jones told us about the breakthroughs on the files," he said when Aidan answered.

"Can you believe it! Rolf was siphoning money from mobsters for space exploration. I'm tempted to say that this is one case where the ends justify the means. I hope he was bleeding them dry."

Neal chuckled. "He figured out a way to tax mobsters, but I'm not willing to give him a pass on stealing the art. Jones said that Singapore's laws are so stringent, it would be impossible to sort out where the money in the shell companies came from."

"So, Space Horizons won't be adversely affected?"

"I don't think so. They may not ever find out."

"That's a relief. They can't cancel Red Sands on us!"

"Not happening," Neal said firmly. "I hear you found information about the Rembrandt case."

"Yeah. Travis told me Phoenix had approached you and Klaus with the request. We unearthed a few emails about it. Rolf was aware that Klaus was promoting you as the successor to Leonardo. He and Marta speculated about whether Klaus was conning you. Rolf directed Marta to launch the Rembrandt project as he called it. He must have designed it before going into prison since she didn't raise any questions."

"Was the project described?"

"No." Aidan fell silent for a moment and Neal could hear the tapping of keys. "I've found only one other possible reference. It was an email sent to Marta after Rolf escaped. He was writing in German and my translator may not convey the precise message, but he told her it was clear who Klaus felt closer to. Marta replied that Penfold would make Klaus his loving brother once more. This confirms they'd set their sights on freeing the doctor. Her arrest was probably the only thing that prevented the plan from being realized."

"It also explains why Klaus was being kept sedated." Penfold was currently being held in a Hungarian prison. Was Rolf currently working to spring him? Penfold was in a maximum security section but that might not be enough. "Was there any discussion of moving Klaus?"

"You suspect another safe house?"

"Yeah, maybe in Geneva."

"We haven't found anything yet, but something may turn up. Now that the files have been decrypted, they'll be sent to Interpol. Is there anything else you'd like me to search for?"

Neal hesitated. Aidan was a fellow musketeer and had his complete trust. In this instance, Neal wasn't the only one in possible jeopardy. If Rolf had used undercover operatives to monitor the museum, Henry's career was also at risk. "Could you run a check on the Hermitage Museum?"

"Sure. Give me a minute."

Neal counted the seconds, bracing himself for the worst. Aidan already knew about his past. Finessing a break-in at the Hermitage, even for the noblest of objectives, would be difficult. Could he pin the blame on Rolf? He was the one ultimately responsible.

"Nope, nothing here."

The cloud lifted. Neal exhaled, realizing he'd been holding his breath.

Aidan chuckled. "I gather that's good news, d'Artagnan."

"It is. Are there any more files to be deciphered?"

"Not unless we find another storage device. Any ghosts out there can safely rest."

Neal saw Henry through the window in his door and beckoned him inside, gesturing for him to close the door. "Good news," he said after ending the call. "That was Aidan. I checked on the Rembrandt project, and it's not described. The Hermitage Museum is also not mentioned in the files."

Henry's exhale was about equal to his. "That's what I'd come to talk to you about."

"I figured." The subject was far too sensitive to mention over the phone or text. "I'm sorry I dragged you into it," Neal added.

"My memory is excellent, and that was all me," Henry retorted. "I forced you to accept my participation and I don't regret it for an instant." He smiled. "What happened in Saint Petersburg will join those other shared secrets in the back of our closets."