Echoes of a Violin

Chapter 3: Trip Advisory

"Neal, let's assume you're right," Tricia said. "Azathoth knows that Klaus teased you about the miniature. Why does he want to remind you?"

She'd come up to their floor in the afternoon for an informal meeting in Peter's office. It had originally been scheduled to review their current profile of the cybercriminal. Now they had an additional data point to include.

"To flaunt the miniature in my face?" Neal suggested reluctantly. "Demonstrate he's in the driver's seat? We believe Azathoth targeted Peter and me because of our roles in the op that resulted in Klaus's death. He could be flaunting his ability as a thief in an attempt to make me envious."

"And are you?" Peter asked.

"Envious, no. Frustrated, yes. Last month we prevented an attack at the Met, so he turns around and targets the V&A. I'd say the challenge is not aimed just at me but at all of us. He undoubtedly knows about the task force. To steal something on the eve of our first conference would be exactly the sort of grandstand move Azathoth would pull."

"We've speculated that Azathoth may be tightly connected with Ydrus," Peter said. "He could be the driving force behind the organization."

"Has there been any progress made in uncovering the suspected FBI mole?" Tricia asked.

"No, unfortunately," Peter said. "Hughes has stiffened access restrictions, but we can't isolate our data fully from the Bureau's."

"Nor can you conceal your movements," she pointed out. "Ydrus quite possibly has other task force members under surveillance as well. From the little we know of their operations, they have many similarities to a spy ring. Have you been able to keep Aidan's anti-malware off-grid?"

"So far, but Hughes is getting flak about the tactics." Peter paused. "Neal and I intend to bring up Jacek and Marta Kolar as the lead candidates to be Azathoth. As Klaus's last protégés, they would most likely be the ones to seek revenge, and they know about Neal's association with Klaus."

"If you bring up the Kolars, it won't be easy to keep Neal's name out of the discussion," she warned. "Do you plan to mention the personal nature of the threats?"

"Not the significance of insider knowledge. We're not sure how meaningful those are."

"Your kidnapping and the stalking aren't that different from what happened to the Czech detective who was murdered," Tricia said. "The taunts Azathoth has made are acts of bravado. It's harder for me to believe there's a connection to the Hilliard. The hypothetical possibilities are so numerous, why muddy the waters by discussing them?"

"We need to restrict ourselves to what's known," Peter said, nodding in agreement. "That's plenty. Fact: Marta and Jacek Kolar worked for Klaus Mansfeld, a master art thief, and they used the malware at the Met. Fact: Jacek has the technical expertise to write the malware. Fact: the glowing branch malware employed by Azathoth has only targeted museums. The link between Mansfeld and the Kolars we can and should discuss. We can also repeat the warnings to be alert to bizarre signals. The Czech detective received a playing card similar to the one I received. We may have received more threats simply because we've been better at thwarting heists, but that shouldn't imply others won't also be targeted." Peter turned to look at Neal pointedly. "You shouldn't fixate on this being a personal vendetta. Others are possibly being targeted. That's something we should discuss at the conference."

"Has there been any progress in tracking the Kolars?" Tricia asked.

"Not yet," Peter admitted. "In the museums and airports where Win-Win's facial recognition software is being used, their photos have been added to the database of targets, but of course, that's only a tiny sampling."