“You didn’t just set off an alarm, you stepped on a landmine. Jesus.”
“Maybe they didn’t see the message,” said Nichol slowly, watching the screen.
They waited, and waited, staring at the static screen. Despite himself, Gamache realized he was looking for some being to actually appear. A shadow, a form.
“We have to go back into the Aqueduct file,” he said.
“You’re insane,” said Jér?me. “That’s where the alarm was tripped. It’s the one place we need to avoid.”
Gamache pulled a chair over and sat close to the elderly doctor. He looked him in the eyes.
“I know. That’s why we need to go back. Whatever they’re trying to hide is in that file.”
Jér?me opened his mouth, then closed it again. Trying to marshal a rational argument against the inconceivable. To knowingly walk back into a trap.
“I’m sorry, Jér?me, but it’s what we’ve been looking for. Their vulnerability. And we found it in Aqueduct. It’s in there somewhere.”
“But it’s a thirty-year-old document,” said Thérèse. “A company that doesn’t even exist anymore. What could possibly be in there?”
All four of them stared at the screen. The cursor pulsed there, like a heartbeat. Like something alive. And waiting.
Then Jér?me Brunel leaned forward and started typing.
*
“Aqueduct?” said Francoeur, stepping back as though slapped. “Erase the files.”
Chief Inspector Lambert looked at him, but one glance at the Chief Superintendent’s face was enough. She started erasing.
“Who is it?” Francoeur asked. “Do you know?”
“Look, I can either erase the files or chase the intruder, but I can’t do both,” said Lambert, her fingers flying over the keys.
“I’ll take the intruder,” said Charpentier, from across the office.
“Do it,” said Francoeur. “We need to know.”
“It’s Gamache,” said Tessier. “Has to be.”
“Chief Inspector Gamache can’t do this,” said Lambert as she worked. “Like all senior officers, he knows computers, but he’s not an expert. This isn’t him.”
“Besides,” said Tessier, watching the activity. “He’s in some village in the Townships. No Internet.”
“Whoever this is has high-speed and huge bandwidth.”
“Christ.” Francoeur turned to Tessier. “Gamache was a decoy.”
“So who is it?” asked Tessier.
*
“Shit,” said Nichol. “The files are being erased.”
She looked at Jér?me, who looked at Thérèse, who looked at Gamache.
“We need those files,” said Gamache. “Get them.”
“He’ll find us,” said Jér?me.
“He’s found us already,” said Gamache. “Get them.”
“She,” said Nichol, also reacting swiftly. “I know who that is. It’s Chief Inspector Lambert. Has to be.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Thérèse.
“Because she’s the best. She trained me.”
“The whole entry’s disappearing, Armand,” said Jér?me. “You lead them away.”
“Right,” said Nichol. “The encryption’s holding. I can see she’s confused. No, wait. Something’s changed. This isn’t Lambert anymore. It’s someone else. They’ve split up.”
Gamache moved to Jér?me.
“Can you save some files?”
“Maybe, but I don’t know which ones are important.”
Gamache thought for a moment, his hand clutching the back of Jér?me’s wooden chair.
“Forget the files. It all started with Aqueduct thirty years ago or more. Somehow Arnot was involved. The company went under, but maybe it didn’t disappear. Maybe it just changed its name.”
Jér?me looked up at him. “If I leave, there’s no saving Aqueduct. They’ll dismantle it all until there’s no trace.”
“Go. Get out. Find out what became of Aqueduct.”
*
“They’re trying to save the files,” said Lambert. “They know what we’re doing.”
“This isn’t some outside hacker,” said Francoeur.
“I don’t know who it is,” said Lambert. “Charpentier?”
There was a pause before Charpentier spoke. “I can’t tell. It’s not registering properly. It’s like a ghost.”
“Stop saying that,” said Francoeur. “It’s not a ghost, it’s a person at a terminal somewhere.”
The Chief Superintendent took Tessier aside.
“I want you to find out who’s doing this.” He’d dropped his voice, but the words and ferocity were clear. “Find out where they are. If not Gamache, then who? Find them, stop them, and erase the evidence.”
Tessier left, in no doubt about what Francoeur had just ordered him to do.
*
“You OK?” Gamache asked Nichol.
Her face was strained, but she gave him a curt nod. For twenty minutes she’d led the hunter astray, dropping one false trail after another.
Gamache watched her for a moment, then returned to the other desk.