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Two men sat in a cramped office in the hectic police station. Sardar Mehsud, the inspector general of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police—in Western terms, chief of police—was sitting quietly at his desk listening to a report from one of his trusted informants.
Sunny Jamali had been hired to take care of a property on the outskirts of Peshawar. He acted not only as a caretaker, but also as a security officer for the property. Part of his job was to immediately report to Inspector Mehsud any person in, on, or around the property.
The inspector had already been advised why Jamali was visiting, so he asked the man directly, “Who is at the property?”
“It was a white woman. She spoke in English but had a Russian accent.”
“Did she tell you her name?” the inspector asked.
“No,” responded Jamali.
“Did she tell you why she was there?”
The caretaker said, “She told me the owner allowed her to stay there while her father was in the hospital.”
“Did you ask her what hospital her father was at?”
Jamali looked somewhat ashamed and replied with a simple, “No.”
The inspector rolled his eyes and huffed. “Is there anything else you can tell me?” he asked the little man.
“No, I am just reporting to you as instructed.”
The inspector opened a drawer, took out some money and slid it across the desk. “You did a good job. Thank you.”
Jamali smiled, took the money, stood, and left the office.
Less than a minute later, Nasrullah Alvi sat in the chair across from the inspector. His story was a little different but only because he had collected more information. He added elements that had been omitted by Jamali. The woman said her name was Tonya Merkalov. She was very beautiful, and she readily gave the name of the hospital where her father was convalescing.
After Nasrullah Alvi had been paid and left his office, the inspector picked up his cell phone and dialed a number he had committed to memory. The man he was calling was rich and paid him very well to protect his interests. He hoped there might be a little bonus in store for him when he disclosed this new information.