50 |
50 |Operations Center 3, CIA Headquarters Langley, Virginia
“So, I think I’ve figured out what’s going on.”
The room, including Leroux, turned toward Child. “Explain.”
“I found this.” Child tapped at his keyboard, then motioned toward the large set of screens curving across the front of the operations center. A photo of an opened crate with an unfortunately unattractive face blocking half of it, was displayed as part of a Facebook page.
“What is that? Polish?”
“Yup. This guy is bragging that he discovered the Amber Room yesterday.”
Leroux’s eyes narrowed as he rose, stepping closer to the screen, trying to pick out details in the background. “Who is he?”
“A nobody, as far as I can tell. I ran him through the standard searches, and beyond a few petty arrests in Poland, mostly disturbing the peace and public drunkenness, he’s never really been on the radar. I found a license for him, though. He’s apparently a heavy equipment operator living in Kwidzyn, a town just north of the kidnapping site.”
Leroux grunted. “Which would have required heavy equipment to excavate.”
“Which would need licensed operators.” Child spun in his chair, staring at the ceiling. “I’m guessing he was hired to do some work, took a photo he wasn’t supposed to, then posted it on Facebook like a Millennial tool.”
Leroux glanced at him. “Aren’t you a Millennial?”
Child grinned. “I may be a Millennial, but I ain’t no tool!”
Sonya Tong snorted, muttering something that Leroux suspected was a contradiction to the statement. Child laughed in her direction, apparently having heard her.
“You might be right!” He turned back to Leroux. “Anyway, as most tools, he has his privacy settings wide open so that the world can see all his posts, probably because he hopes to attract more followers and satiate his desperate need for validation through strangers ‘liking’ his posts. I’m guessing this is how word got out about the Amber Room’s discovery.”
Leroux’s head bobbed slowly as he returned to his station. “Makes sense, and fits the facts. Now we need to figure out who found out.”
Tong cleared her throat. “I’ve been combing the Dark Web. There are a few known hangouts for collectors of stolen art, relics, whatnot, and there was one reference to the Amber Room on a forum yesterday. All it had was a message that said, ‘Amber room found? Probably BS. PM me if interested.’”
Leroux stared at the posting Tong had put up on the display. “Anybody respond?”
“Nobody publicly, though they might have personally messaged him like he requested. I’m trying to pull any information I can on the poster. If we can find him, then maybe we can grab him and interrogate him.”
Leroux frowned. “I doubt we’ll be able to do that, but somebody might. Let’s find him first, then worry about who gets to have all the fun.”