crime to do so? And how had the culprit planted the fingerprints? Finding that out could lead to a break in the case.
As soon as he reached work, he checked if Bob was in his office.
“Come in, rookie.”
Jake stepped in and took a seat. Bob had come to him with the fingerprint news and Jake wanted him to follow through investigating it.
Jake explained the whole sequence of events that had led Stacy not to identify Simon Wu in the line-up. “If we assume that what she said is true, Wu simply was not at the scene of the crime. I believe that either the perpetrator planted the evidence or someone in the DOJ tampered with it.”
“And you want me to follow through on the chain of custody, etc. and find out where the breach occurred?” Bob said.
“That’s right. Today I’m going to the Agency and don’t have time to talk with the lab about the prints.”
“Okay. Go see the boys at Langley,” Bob said. “I’ll look into where the fingerprints came from.”
“Thanks, boss.”
Jake returned to his desk and pondered a question that had arisen from Epstein’s phone call early that morning. Stacy knew Han Chu , yet she hadn’t identified him on the bike path.
It seemed somewhat improbable, but it leant credence to the idea that Chu was looking for her, not the other way around. If Jake could only interview Stacy about problems with Quantum, Inc., it might shed some light on what Chu had in mind to tell her.
But Epstein was against another interview. Stacy was Epstein’s subject at the moment, and Jake didn’t want to interfere with the Criminal Division director’s probe.
Epstein was right about Jake’s real duties. He still had to find that one missing piece of the puzzle: motive.
Supposing the Chinese were behind this, what would they be up to? Tampering with the A root server was more than stealing trade secrets. It meant messing up the world economy. Why would China want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg?
He reached for his phone and called Todd Williams’ contact at the CIA.
Shortly after noon, Jake was on the George Washington Memorial Parkway driving toward Langley. Usually spooks came to FBI headquarters to give briefings, but today he was making the trek to the CIA.
His FBI badge got him onto the parking lot, but not into the building.
His contact, Bill Brewster, was waiting just inside the lobby. Bill was a large guy who was all belly and no shoulders. He adjusted his thick glasses, signed Jake in and smoothed his scruffy beard. “Welcome to the Agency.”
Together they passed the CIA motto engraved in stone, taken from John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
At the New Headquarters Building, they walked past a sculpture of horses breaking free of the Berlin Wall and an eagle with its wings spread open in attack mode.
People passed through the building in some unusual garb. Most wore business suits, but one man wore a pith helmet and safari suit, and a group wore desert camouflage. If any agency could nail international hackers, it was the CIA.
Bill took him into a brightly lit conference room and closed the door.
He showed Jake a seat, then sank into a chair opposite him. “You’re asking about cyber security?” Bill said.
Jake nodded. “What does the CIA offer in that department?” He was hoping that he had stumbled on an organization with something akin to Fort Meade’s Cyber Command, but this time with the ability to investigate and retaliate.
Bill closed his eyes and began. “We’re in the middle of a five-year strategic plan to prevent and fight cyber threats. This is part of a government-wide program to ramp up across all agencies responsible for the critical information infrastructure.”
Jake had heard all that before, but let the man finish.
“We’ve made every attempt to keep up with cyber threats and dangerous technology.”
“Okay,” Jake cut him off. “But what if there is a cyber attack
As soon as he reached work, he checked if Bob was in his office.
“Come in, rookie.”
Jake stepped in and took a seat. Bob had come to him with the fingerprint news and Jake wanted him to follow through investigating it.
Jake explained the whole sequence of events that had led Stacy not to identify Simon Wu in the line-up. “If we assume that what she said is true, Wu simply was not at the scene of the crime. I believe that either the perpetrator planted the evidence or someone in the DOJ tampered with it.”
“And you want me to follow through on the chain of custody, etc. and find out where the breach occurred?” Bob said.
“That’s right. Today I’m going to the Agency and don’t have time to talk with the lab about the prints.”
“Okay. Go see the boys at Langley,” Bob said. “I’ll look into where the fingerprints came from.”
“Thanks, boss.”
Jake returned to his desk and pondered a question that had arisen from Epstein’s phone call early that morning. Stacy knew Han Chu , yet she hadn’t identified him on the bike path.
It seemed somewhat improbable, but it leant credence to the idea that Chu was looking for her, not the other way around. If Jake could only interview Stacy about problems with Quantum, Inc., it might shed some light on what Chu had in mind to tell her.
But Epstein was against another interview. Stacy was Epstein’s subject at the moment, and Jake didn’t want to interfere with the Criminal Division director’s probe.
Epstein was right about Jake’s real duties. He still had to find that one missing piece of the puzzle: motive.
Supposing the Chinese were behind this, what would they be up to? Tampering with the A root server was more than stealing trade secrets. It meant messing up the world economy. Why would China want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg?
He reached for his phone and called Todd Williams’ contact at the CIA.
Shortly after noon, Jake was on the George Washington Memorial Parkway driving toward Langley. Usually spooks came to FBI headquarters to give briefings, but today he was making the trek to the CIA.
His FBI badge got him onto the parking lot, but not into the building.
His contact, Bill Brewster, was waiting just inside the lobby. Bill was a large guy who was all belly and no shoulders. He adjusted his thick glasses, signed Jake in and smoothed his scruffy beard. “Welcome to the Agency.”
Together they passed the CIA motto engraved in stone, taken from John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
At the New Headquarters Building, they walked past a sculpture of horses breaking free of the Berlin Wall and an eagle with its wings spread open in attack mode.
People passed through the building in some unusual garb. Most wore business suits, but one man wore a pith helmet and safari suit, and a group wore desert camouflage. If any agency could nail international hackers, it was the CIA.
Bill took him into a brightly lit conference room and closed the door.
He showed Jake a seat, then sank into a chair opposite him. “You’re asking about cyber security?” Bill said.
Jake nodded. “What does the CIA offer in that department?” He was hoping that he had stumbled on an organization with something akin to Fort Meade’s Cyber Command, but this time with the ability to investigate and retaliate.
Bill closed his eyes and began. “We’re in the middle of a five-year strategic plan to prevent and fight cyber threats. This is part of a government-wide program to ramp up across all agencies responsible for the critical information infrastructure.”
Jake had heard all that before, but let the man finish.
“We’ve made every attempt to keep up with cyber threats and dangerous technology.”
“Okay,” Jake cut him off. “But what if there is a cyber attack
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