“More importantly, as committee chair with the power of subpoena, you can confirm it,” said Heat. “But I can tell you that I have a contact in the Syrian government I spoke to this afternoon who has verified this for me personally.” She let the old man absorb this with closed eyes and a wagging of his head. “And sir, since criminal behavior is generally not confined to one incident or area, I’d like to make you aware of one other critical breach. For that I have brought Detective Raley. Sean?”
Raley stood. “Short and sweet,” he began. “The captain heard a report that this cyber attack we’re going through was so hard to stop because the NYPD’s MISD—that’s the Management Information Systems Division, or our IT—relied on so many different applications from third-party developers. On the surface, it seemed like a bunch of programs that randomly wouldn’t behave. One handled database communication, another controlled the intranet, you get the idea. With all these programs, fixing the damage caused by the cyber attack was like herding cats.” He flashed a smile at Heat. “I’m sort of a techno geek, so Captain Heat sent me to MISD to investigate a hunch she had. Informally, of course. I learned that the applications causing all the trouble were written by about twenty different companies. They all seemed unconnected until I did some provenance tracking with some detectives in the Information Technology Bureau. It was all pretty well firewalled, but we finally broke through today and discovered that all the code for all the programs causing the blackout was written by secret subsidiaries or subcontractors funded by one company.”
“Let me guess,” said the congressman, staring balefully at Tangier Swift.
“That’s correct. In short, this dude shut us down. Sir.” Raley sat.
“That’s bogus,” said Swift. “Why would I want to hack New York City’s IT? Makes no sense.”
Heat wasn’t so sure of that. “Really? It would make perfect sense if you were trying to curry favor with the Syrians. Like showing the cyber-jacking capabilities of your software by using it for their cause? Or to show Kim Jong Un what you could do? Or Putin? Or those Chinese gentlemen we ran into that you tried to pass off as industrialists looking to buy this yacht? And, if not that, then your cyber attack was targeted directly at NYPD. What better means to slow down my investigation, stalling my progress until all the whistle-blowers coming after you were dead?” She turned from Swift to the congressman. “Or it could be both. Kind of synergistic. But the thing is, now that we know it was him, the reasons are academic.”
“More academic than you know,” said Duer. “My buddies at the Department of State are brokering a deal on this Mehmoud character as we speak. That kid’s going to be on a plane back to the desert by the weekend.” The congressman then rotated his hooded gaze to Tangier Swift, who continued to play the role of the victim.
“You’re smart enough to know, Kent, this is a total railroad job. Nothing here can be proved.”
“You’d better hope not. Because I’m going to dig until all the dirt is out of the hole. Starting tomorrow when I call closed-door hearings with the Pentagon and Intelligence Services.” Kent Duer got to his feet. The hero who had earned a Purple Heart leaned on his cane. “I’m all for profit. I’m more about giving this nation the best defense in the world. I think you can forget about the DOD program.”
“I’m innocent. I have a contract.”
The congressman nodded as he made a quiet decision. “I think I just canceled it.”
When Duer left, Heat got out her cuffs and rounded the table toward Swift. Two of his bodyguards took a step as if to block her. Raley pulled back his coat to show tin and his .357. They stopped.
“Tangier Swift, I am placing you under arrest for fraud, conspiracy, sabotage, and terror activity. Plus I am sure there will be numerous federal charges coming that will help your lawyers afford a boat like this of their own.” She cuffed him and added, “Meanwhile, you can have a nice ride on mine.”