The Lost Testament

41

Abdul had expected that Jalal Khusad would be pleased to learn that he’d eliminated Ali Mohammed when he rang his number late that evening, but the man seemed to be more interested in the relic itself.

‘I have the man’s laptop, and the photographs he took of the object,’ Abdul said.

‘Congratulations. So now you have a free computer. Shred the photographs or, better still, burn them. They’re of no interest to me.’

That wasn’t the response Abdul had been expecting.

‘But there might be useful information on the laptop. Maybe the target sent copies of the pictures to other people as well.’

‘I hope for your sake that he didn’t. You told me he’d only been in contact with this woman in London.’

‘That was what he said,’ Abdul agreed, ‘but he could have been lying. Surely it’s worth checking his emails, just to make sure.’

‘Yes, I suppose so. You’re right. Check the hard drive yourself — I assume you’re capable of that — and let me know if you find anything. When you’re certain you’ve checked everything and identified everybody the man had been in contact with over this matter, destroy the computer. I don’t want any other images of the relic to survive.’

Then another thought struck Khusad.

‘What about the camera the man used to take the pictures?’ he demanded. ‘Did you get that as well? Or take the data-card out of it?’

‘I covered that,’ Abdul replied. ‘There were three cameras in the man’s office and I took the data-cards out of all of them.’

‘So at least you got that bit right. I suppose that’s something. But we must find this relic as quickly as possible, and the other man, the man in the middle of all this, still needs to be taken care of. And this time can you try to do it a bit more discreetly. I understand that the Cairo Museum is now swarming with police. That’s the second time you’ve drawn attention to yourself.’

‘There wasn’t any alternative. I couldn’t afford to wait until he left work. And I can promise you that nobody would recognize me again. As for the relic and the man, find one and you find the other. The problem is that I have no idea where he might be. I think there’s a good chance that he’s probably left Cairo by now. He’ll have taken a train or bus or a plane somewhere, and I don’t have the resources to track him if he’s done that.’

‘Then it’s lucky that I have,’ Khusad replied. ‘And I have also obtained a photograph of the man, which I’ll send to you.’

‘OK. There’s also the matter of my fee.’

There was a short silence before Khusad replied.

‘Very well. I’ll authorize another transfer to your offshore account for the work you’ve done so far, but I have been instructed to make no further payments to you until this matter is resolved. Keep your mobile switched on, and start looking for your target here in Cairo. As soon as we receive any indication of his whereabouts through his credit card usage or tracking him through his passport if he decides to travel, I’ll contact you. In the meantime, assume he’s still in the city somewhere.’

Abdul pondered the situation. The resources and global reach that Khusad’s organization could command were impressive. He knew that for a police force or anti-terrorist group or any other law enforcement operation, monitoring the use of either a credit card or a passport was comparatively straightforward, and a very basic procedure when trying to track a suspect. But he also knew that it was almost impossible for any private individual to achieve the same level of access. Who were these people?