wêreld dié. Hy wonder wat Nyathi se rol in Umkhonto was. En wat Emma Graber se pos by die konsulaat is. Hy vermoed haar belangstelling is nie krimineel van aard nie, maar polities. Hy wonder wie David Patrick Adair is, en waarom Graber so versigtig – maar gretig – is. En wat sy nou gaan doen het. Koukus met die konsul-generaal? Of met iemand anders wat dalk in ’n aangrensende kantoor geluister het na die gesprek? Of sit sy nou ook en luister, in die hoop dat hy en Nyathi aan die praat sal raak?
Asof dié saak verdere komplikasies nodig het.
Dit duur sewe minute voor sy terugkom. “I do apologise,” sê sy, en gaan sit. “Now, gentlemen, if you Google the name ‘David Patrick Adair’ you will eventually establish that a man by that name is a King’s Fellow in Computer Sciences at Cambridge University, and Professor at DAMTP, the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, at the same institution. The DAMTP website will furthermore show a photograph of Adair which is almost identical to the one in the counterfeit passport.”
Daar is ’n subtiele verandering in haar houding, ’n saaklikheid, groter dringendheid.
“Last week Tuesday, professor Adair failed to deliver his usual lecture at the Department. Because of his varied commitments and hectic schedule, this in itself isn’t unusual. But he has never failed to let his personal assistant know about such an absence before. She reported this to one of his senior colleagues. Upon investigation by this colleague, it was finally established that there had been a burglary at Adair’s house in Glisson Road in central Cambridge. A back door was forced and the interior left in complete disarray. Adair was nowhere to be found. Given the sensitive nature of his work, this colleague had the good sense to notify the right authorities, thereby keeping the matter contained …”
“So it was never logged in Merlin,” sê Nyathi.
“That is correct,” antwoord sy sonder ’n sweem van berou.
“What is the nature of his work?” vra Nyathi.
“Therein, colonel, lies the rub.”
13
“For starters, you should know that Adair has been divorced for nine years. He is completely estranged from his ex-wife. The marriage was childless. His next-of-kin is his younger sister, Sarah, a lecturer at the School of Mathematics at the University of Birmingham. By all accounts she is an extremely competent academic, but alas, not quite the genius her brother is. We have made highly discreet inquiries as to her knowledge of her brother’s whereabouts, and it is clear that she has not heard from him since his disappearance. In other words, there is no need for you to contact her.”
“Ah,” sê Nyathi. “I’m assuming that you have also been … monitoring her communication channels since last Tuesday?”
“We are positive that no attempt has been made to communicate with her about her brother since that time.”
“May I ask to which ‘we’ you are referring?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You said ‘we are sure’ …” sê Nyathi geduldig.
“The British authorities,” sê sy, nou self met ’n ironiese glimlag.
“And the nature of professor Adair’s work?”
Sy knik. “Now please bear with me, because this gets a little complicated. But I want to get it right, not least so that you will also understand the great need for circumspection in this matter.”
“Please,” sê Nyathi.
Griessel sê niks, maar luister net.
“An internet search of his name will eventually lead you to the good professor’s responsibility for the so-called Adair Algorithm. To save time, and to enunciate the necessity for discretion, I would like to explain what that is. Have you heard of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT?”
“Vaguely.”
“Very well. Please allow me to elaborate: SWIFT is based in Belgium. It is a network which enables financial institutions across the globe to send and receive information about monetary transactions. Your bank, for instance, would have a SWIFT code which is part of this system. Should you receive money from abroad, this code is used, and the information about the transaction is registered on SWIFT’s computers. Simple stuff, is it not?”
Hulle knik in gelid.
“Now, shortly after 9/11 the CIA and the US State Department set up the top secret and pretty controversial Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme, also known as TFTP. In a nutshell, this programme provides US authorities with access to the SWIFT database, in order to trace financial transactions that might identify potential terrorist activities. You might have heard of it …”
“Yes,” sê Nyathi.
“In June of 2006 The New York Times ran the first media exposé on TFTP, but the project survived, due to the public sentiment at the time, perhaps, but also because TFTP proved extremely useful right off the bat. However, being a US only initiative, it lacked in reach and scope. To be truly effective, it needed to go global. So, the USA invited the European Union to come on board. Of course, Europe was equally concerned about the terrorist threat, and keen to cooperate. But initially the European Parliament rejected an interim EU-US TFTP agreement, because they felt it did not offer EU citizens enough privacy protection. Are we still on the same page?”
“Yes,” sê Nyathi.
“Good. This is where David Adair enters our story. He was invited to be a member of the EU evaluation team of the TFTP agreement, because of his expertise in database search algorithms. Adair took a long, hard look at the US system, and came to the conclusion that it could be vastly improved – not only in terms of privacy safeguards, but also in effectiveness. He then proceeded, as geniuses do, to write a vastly superior algorithm on a whim, and offer it to the authorities. Of course, they gratefully accepted, and in 2010 the EU announced their resumption of the TFTP. The so-called Adair Algorithm then became the standard methodology to sniff out terrorists in the international banking system. It has been responsible for the identification and subsequent termination of at least seven terrorist cells, and an impressively large number of senior Al-Qaeda leaders and operatives.”
Emma Graber leun terug in haar stoel, maak haar hande oop asof sy niks meer het om weg te steek nie.
“Gentlemen, the Adair Algorithm is one of the best-kept and most vital international security secrets in history. If it falls into the wrong hands …”
Sy laat die gedagte daar hang, dan sê sy: “Now please tell me about the nature of the kidnapping.”
* * *
Griessel hoor hoe Nyathi sekere besonderhede van die ondersoek verswyg.
Met woorde wat hy noukeurig kies, en in perfekte Engels, vertel Die Giraffe vir Emma Graber van Adair se aanvanklike kontak met Body Armour, sy aankoms en verblyf op La Petite Margaux, die dood van die plaaswerker en twee lyfwagte, en die tekens van struweling in die hoofslaapkamer. Hy verduidelik van die sekuriteitsmaatreëls, en hoe hulle dink die misdaad gebeur het.
Graber vra Nyathi of sy die e-posadres kan kry vir die Paul Anthony Morris-skuilnaam.
Hy
