The system at the Italian border, Jeff discovered, was for the security officer to scan the passport of each incoming person. This produced an image of the page containing the photograph, which was stored along with the information that of the database search produced. To move people as rapidly as reasonable the system was limited to wants and alerts.
As the physical passport was scanned when the officer pressed it to a screen the quality of the photographs varied but was generally poorer than Jeff had anticipated. He had thought that the system would enable Italy, an EU country, to immediately access the passport database of each involved nation, especially if it also was part of the EU. That would have produced a clearer image but that was not the case.
The difficulty it presented him with was that because of the indifferent quality one dark-haired man in his thirties of a certain weight tended to look pretty much like another. He also could not discount the possibility of the use of glasses or presence of facial hair in photographs intended to make a visual search such as this more difficult if not impossible.
After several minutes, Jeff organized a system in order to speed the process. He passed through the 187 photographs with relative speed, noting those that roughly fit his recollection. He immediately discarded the obese or excessively thin, those with blond hair, and all women. He copied each of the other photographs and placed them in a separate file within his computer. This process consumed nearly two hours.
He then slowly went through the likely fifty-six photos in his computer, taking his time, trusting his instincts. It took half an hour to view them again and not one jumped out at him. The problem he realized was that he was searching for three men or any one of them. His mind could not conjure a single face and attempt to match it to what was on the screen. He had to recall three images.
He stood up and paced the room, trying to devise a means to make this happen. He could think of no additional screening device so sat back down and worked his way through the photographs, discarding once again those he was certain were not who he was looking for. When he finished he was down to a tentative nineteen.
Now he went through them very slowly, reminding himself that these men were professionals and would have made an effort in their photograph to present as bland an impression as possible. He thought of glasses again and paid special attention to the eleven wearing them.
And there he was. Jeff stared at the photograph, looked away, then stared again. He took a long drink of coffee. That was him. He was wearing glasses and sported a bushy mustache but that was the leader. His pulse quickened. One step closer to saving Daryl.
He examined the others again. Nothing. He went to his discards and then, almost at once, found another. He was much thinner and very young-looking in the photograph. This was the bigger man, the one who had stood guard over them. He looked diminished in the picture, as if it was the photograph of someone related to him.
Jeff segregated these two files into another folder. Now he went carefully back through the others until he was satisfied his third man wasn’t there. What did that mean? Was he assuming too much? Were these two leaving Switzerland innocently, leaving Daryl behind guarded by their confederate? Or was the third man smuggling her out of the country some other way, perhaps across a thinly guarded part of the border in some rural region?
He stopped and reminded himself that there was no way he could know what was taking place. He could only make his most educated guess and act accordingly. He was certain that time was against him. He had to take chances.
Neither of the two passports had raised an alert with the border security officer. The names and addresses were certainly aliases and false leads. What he did note was that both passports were from the Czech Republic, though their names were Middle Eastern. He performed a quick Internet search. Both addresses were for modest hotels in Prague. He ran the names. There were no matches.
Now what? The car. The two passports were matched to a VW Jetta. When he checked he found that the ACCESS system had automatically produced the registration and found the car clean. All it showed Jeff was that the country of original was the Czech Republic.
And that was it, nothing else.
Jeff rose and rubbed his forehead. What to do? What could he do? For all he knew, Daryl was right here in Geneva. That certainly made a lot of sense. The leader and one of the men had left the country, leaving her guarded by the third man. That was the simplest explanation.
Would they have risked smuggling her out in that car? Could she have simply been bound up and in the trunk? Would they have been so reckless?
He went back to the computer. There was no indication the vehicle had been searched but he didn’t know if such a record was kept.
What to do?
He glanced at the security officer’s code, which was the same for the two men and the car. He entered the number and located the sequence of the officer’s scans for his shift. He moved to the time slot for the scans. The officer had spent thirty-four seconds on the two men and car. There’d been no search.
Jeff rose again, feeling restless. In his work, all the action was on the screen. He was accustomed to focusing his attention there. Now, an instinctive desire for physical movement all but overwhelmed him. He wanted to do something, anything, rather than wait in this room. He sensed that in such a compulsion lay danger, the very real risk of making the wrong decision.
He couldn’t bear the thought of abandoning Daryl if she was nearby, but what if she was in Prague, waiting for him to come for her? What should he do? The tension and uncertainty was nearly more than he could stand.
There was a knock at the door, which startled him. He crossed the room and opened it to reveal a woman in police uniform. “Mr. Aiken. I’ve been asked to have you come with me.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Please come. I am told it is urgent.”
As the officer slowed the car to a stop, Jeff spotted Henri Wille standing within a circle gathered in the narrow adjacent street. The area had been cordoned off. In the fading light of the dying day, enormous work lights set ablaze the scene where the police stood; farther away down the narrow street, bright camera lights shone on reporters speaking into microphones.
“This way,” the woman officer said as she opened his door.
There were bystanders but for the most part those present struck Jeff as officials of some sort or media. Henri spotted him.
“Mr. Aiken. Thank you for coming. I am sorry to say I must ask you to identify someone for me. He is dead. You understand?”
“A man?” Jeff’s voice shook with emotion.
“I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. A man, of course. We have no new information at all about Miss Hagen. When you are ready?” He gestured toward a covered body.
Jeff nodded and walked over. A uniformed officer reached down and revealed the face, set in a grimace, the eyes mercifully closed.
“Yes. That is one of them.” Jeff experienced a sharp satisfaction followed at once by a sense of loss. He’d never learn anything from him now. “What happened?”
“He was shot by a police officer. This way,” Henri said, leading down the narrow street. “This man was waiting here and shot Mr. Herlicher to death as he was coming home.”
“Herlicher is dead?”
Henri nodded. “Frankly, it had not occurred to us that Herr Herlicher might be in danger. Do you have any idea as to why one of your abductors would do this?”
“Daryl and I were working on a virus found on Herlicher’s computer, so you have that as a connection. The virus was a potential security risk and unique. When they questioned us, that’s what they wanted to know about.”
One conclusion was self-evident to Henri. Someone of Middle Eastern origin was very worried about this computer virus. And they didn’t want it interfered with in any way. Kidnapping computer experts and killing a UN official struck him as extreme but that only served to impress on him how serious this was to someone.
“Did either of you mention Herr Herlicher’s name?” Henri asked. “It would be understandable if you had, under the circumstances.”
Jeff thought. “No. His name never came up.”
“You’re certain?” Henri asked.
“Absolutely. Had they more time and asked it would have come out. We aren’t heroes but we never reached that point.” Then a thought occurred to him. “Perhaps Daryl mentioned him after I left.”
“Yes,” Henri said. “That’s likely it, then.”
“Are the local police making any progress searching for Daryl?” Jeff asked.
“I regret that they are not,” Henri said. “Though she may still be in Switzerland, the local police think it most likely she was taken out of the country last night before they had time to raid the location you gave them. The officer in charge has requested the passport and vehicle records from the Italian and French entry points and hopes to have that information soon. It may prove valuable. He will need you to examine the photos at that time.”
For an instant, Jeff thought about telling him that he’d already done that. He hated to see the police waste their time but Bridget put herself at risk to give him access. “Is there anything else you need from me?”
“No. Thank you for coming. I will confirm your identification for the local officers. Just stay in your room.”
“I’ll wait for your call.”
The same female officer drove him back to his hotel. Once in his room Jeff returned to his computer. He sent the information he’d developed to Frank, surmising the Company would have the most ready access to the data he was after. He also brought him up to date.
Jeff quickly packed. He’d left cash, a credit card, and their passports in the room safe as he always did. He paused with Daryl’s passport in his hand, then placed it with his. She’d need it. He had to believe she would need it again.
Jeff now knew why the third man had not left Switzerland. He also knew with absolute confidence that the other two had taken Daryl out of the country. They would not have assassinated a United Nations official in Geneva and risked the heightened manhunt to follow unless they had already spirited her out of the country. And while he could not know with equal certainty where they’d gone – they would surely have access to safe locations throughout Europe – he believed they were in Prague.
But what if the vehicle proved a dead end? Jeff had thought of little else since sending his message to Frank. He logged onto his laptop and pulled up the scan of the passports again. What on them could he trust? He’d forwarded the names and addresses but was certain Frank would turn up nothing of use. The photos – those were real. And with facial recognition programs, a computer could generate a small selection of likely matches. But the process was time consuming and he had no time. The trick then was to narrow the search field.
He had no idea how long it would take to scan every Czech passport or identity card but knew it would be too long. No, he needed to reduce the field significantly. But how?
He looked at the passport of the leader again searching for something, anything that would help. Occupation. In Czech, the man had listed studentka, repeated in French as simply student.
Jeff examined the man again. He didn’t look like any student he’d ever seen. But it might just be the cover he was using. It was surely a common one for agents. This time he sent the file to Bridget, asking her to conduct the facial scan of every college and university ID in Prague. When that was done she was to extend it to all of the Czech Republic. He hoped the NSA would have access to that data or know who would.
He didn’t wait for a reply. He had no time. She was bright and she knew what he needed.
Jeff quickly checked flights from Geneva to Prague and found none that were direct, most having a stop in Frankfurt. He booked a flight he could just make.
Now, how to get out of the hotel without the police stopping him…
In his office at the Mairie Commune de Meyrin Police, Ulrich Spyri’s assistant gestured to attract his attention. He waited until Henri finished briefing him on the shooting and death of the murderer, then disconnected. He looked up.
“Italy has given us access to the border scans you requested. I’ve e-mailed you the link. I’ve checked the names.”
“Any luck?”
“Nothing. There were no alerts last night during the time period you requested.”
“All right. Let’s get the American over here to look at the photos. Any names used by the kidnappers are likely aliases anyway.”
Spyri poured himself a cup of coffee but when he lifted it to his lips he realized it was rank. He dumped it out as well as the last bit in the pot, then waited as a new batch brewed. He poured the coffee, added white powder since there was no milk in the refrigerator, then raised the cup again. Before he could drink his assistant rushed over to him.
“The man is gone!”