‘But neither you nor the Germans thought it would be a good idea to pass this on to us or other European security services?’
Eden sounded shocked.
‘Since the whole thing appeared to be directed at American interests, we saw no reason to alert you at that point. Besides which, the hijacking wasn’t supposed to happen until later – November, according to the informer. And the message came via email.’
‘Via email?’
‘Exactly, and it was anonymous. So as you can understand, it wasn’t given a particularly high priority, either by us or the Germans.’
‘Didn’t they try to trace the email?’
‘Of course, but it was impossible. They couldn’t identify the IP number of the computer that had been used to send the message.’
These damned, indispensable computers. Eden couldn’t imagine a world without them, but at the same time she couldn’t help wishing it wasn’t so easy for criminals to use them for their own ends.
The American sighed wearily.
‘To be honest, if Tennyson Cottage hadn’t been mentioned, we wouldn’t have taken any notice of this at all. We can’t focus on every threat that circulates in the miasma of intelligence.’
Eden nodded in agreement.
‘But what about Karim Sassi? You said the email mentioned him too.’
‘He wasn’t named, it just said that the pilot would be a part of the plot. When we spoke to the Germans this morning, they said they’d had no further messages from whoever sent the first one.’
Fredrika assumed that the person who had sent the message must have had considerable insight into the planned hijacking; otherwise, he or she wouldn’t have had such detailed knowledge. However, she and Alex were outside the ongoing discussion, so she didn’t say anything.
The CIA agent went on:
‘There was one more thing.’
‘Which is?’
‘Apparently, the pilot has been given an order which was not included in the note found on the plane. He must not change course, but must carry on heading for American air space. If or when he is informed that the two governments refuse to meet the demands of the hijackers, he will crash the plane into the Capitol building in Washington, DC.’
Anything but that, Fredrika thought.
It was over.
That was the only conclusion she could reach. There was no way the Americans would allow such a thing to happen if they could prevent it. But how would they do it?
It was Eden who put the question into words.
‘And what plans do you have to avoid that particular scenario?’
‘We’ll come back to that at a later stage, if you don’t mind.’
Later. As if they had all the time in the world.
Eden tried another question.
‘What’s your assessment of the reliability of this information?’
‘It’s hard to say, but given the accuracy of so much of the rest of the message, it’s reasonable to assume that this is also on the nail. In any case it would be extremely difficult to refrain from acting on it.’
Another nod from Eden, but no more questions.
She made a few rapid notes, then turned to Alex and Fredrika.
‘Thank you, I think that concludes the part of the meeting that involves you.’
She spoke in English to ensure that their American guests understood. Alex and Fredrika immediately got to their feet, like schoolchildren, thanked everyone for allowing them to attend, and left the room.
‘What a strange world they operate in,’ Alex said when they were back in the corridor leading to Police HQ.
Fredrika couldn’t help but agree. People in dark suits travelling all over the globe to exchange fragmented information that would then be put together to form a whole, and would eventually make the world a safer place. If everything worked as it should. Which it rarely seemed to do.
‘I don’t think they put all their cards on the table,’ she said.
‘Me neither. I suppose that’s part of the strategy, keeping a spare card up your sleeve in case you end up having to negotiate.’
‘But what’s the point in this case?’ Fredrika wondered. ‘I can’t see that they have anything whatsoever to gain by behaving like that, when we’re facing a situation that for obvious reasons has to be resolved within the next few hours.’
She glanced at Alex and saw that his face had lost its colour.
‘It will all work out,’ she said, placing a hand on his back.
Although there are no guarantees – there never are.
He stopped at the door leading to the National Bureau of Investigation’s offices.
‘I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose Erik as well. First Lena and now Erik – I just couldn’t bear it.’
She stood behind him, frozen in mid-movement. There was nothing she could say, but she tried anyway.
‘We’ll bring the plane down safely, Alex.’
‘But how? We have to contact Erik, get him to take over. My God, if Karim is even considering crashing straight into the Capitol, he’s even crazier than any of us thought.’
‘Don’t think like that. You have to believe this will all work out. We’ll do what you said and contact Erik. But not right now. Not in the middle of the investigation.’
Alex turned around.
‘Fredrika, it’s a matter of hours. What are we supposed to investigate that could buy us more time?’
‘I’m not sure, but we keep on finding out new things that move us forward. Go and talk to Karim’s mother. Ask her about the book you found and Karim’s relationship with Khelifi. Then maybe we can get in touch with Erik.’
But how are we going to do that? she asked herself. Erik was sitting less than three feet away from Karim; how could they speak to him without Karim knowing? And how could Erik take command of the plane? Was he supposed to kill Karim with his bare hands?
Alex didn’t say anything; he simply yanked open the door and trudged along to his office.
‘Are you coming with me to see Karim’s mother?’ he asked Fredrika.
‘I don’t know; I really ought to stay here so that the government office can get hold of me if necessary.’
‘What the hell for? They can reach you on your mobile just as easily.’
‘I thought someone from Säpo was supposed to be going with you?’
‘I couldn’t give a shit,’ Alex said. ‘I’ll call them before we go and tell them we’re on our way. If they want to come they can use their own car.’
Fredrika went into her temporary office and picked up her jacket. It was becoming increasingly difficult to dispute the view that Karim Sassi was part of the terrorist plot behind the bomb threat to Flight 573. What Fredrika couldn’t work out was why.
Why would a man like Karim Sassi get behind the controls of a plane full of passengers and head straight for disaster? And what did he have to do with Zakaria Khelifi and a place called Tennyson Cottage?
There had to be a connection somewhere that they hadn’t yet found.
And there had to be someone who could tell them where they should look.
32 16:15
Eden Lundell was more worried than she was prepared to admit. How could they have ended up in a situation like this? Everything would have been so much easier if only they had had an opponent to negotiate with, to reason with. And Zakaria Khelifi appeared to be oblivious to everything that had happened.
GD had told her that the groundwork had already been done when she took over an operation connected with several other cases of preparing to commit an act of terrorism all over Europe. They had broken up a terrorist cell in Stockholm, thus preventing a major attack that would have claimed many lives. The evidence was secured and the suspects were arrested. The prosecutor had no doubt that convictions would follow, and he was quite right.