Page 50 of Mastermind

“I don’t know for sure, but I saw the name of the ship. The MV Arcturus. I wanted to make sure it didn’t have a Chinese name. Then I’d know he was screwing me over.”

Theo’s typing the name of the ship into the burner phone I gave him. He shows me a web page with shipping tables. He taps the row showing the arrival of the Arcturus in Long Beach.

It already arrived.

I type a text message to Gerald, telling him they need to search the port, although I doubt the chimps are still there. Whoever shipped them probably arranged to have them smuggled out of customs as well.

Damn. If we’d come here a day sooner, maybe we could have intercepted the ship before they unloaded the chimps. There’s still hope, but I’m not counting on it.

“What can you tell us about the man that bought them?” asks Theo.

“Thirties. Average-looking American. What can I say?”

“Do you have a photo of him?”

“What? No. All I knew was his name was Dave and he had a Hong Kong number I could reach him at. It’s dead now.”

“Could I have that number?” asks Theo.

Jack shrugs. “I know it by heart. He wouldn’t let me put it in my phone.” He recites the number for Theo.

Theo types something in his phone notes and shows it to me: Is this the number that flagged your friend’s phone search for the Warlock?

I open a calculator app on my phone and enter a code that opens a secret file. When I search for the number, nothing comes up. I show Theo.

He nods, then accesses a website that looks like a private server. He types in what looks like some kind of programming language, and numbers scroll across the screen. He sets his phone down and looks up at Jack. “What about the men with David? Thai? American?”

“Filipino, I think. Maybe crew from the ship.”

“Harder to trace,” I note.

“Did they seem comfortable around the chimpanzees?” asks Theo.

I wish I’d thought of that question. Your average deckhand would be rightfully terrified of chimps.

“The Filipinos, yes, but two didn’t: an older Chinese guy and his helper. They knew how to tranquilize the chimps and move them.”

“You didn’t mention the Chinese before,” I point out.

“What? It doesn’t mean they were Chinese nationals. I’m a quarter Chinese. Welcome to Thailand.”

Theo picks up his phone and squints at something. He writes another note and shows it to me: Telephone calling card databases are very insecure, FYI. That Hong Kong number made three prepaid calls to another number, which called a public number belonging to this company: Pacific Data Storage Systems.

I look up at Theo. “Another server farm?” It occurs to me that we should check it against the numbers connected to Heywood’s law firm.

“Yep.” Theo pulls up a web page for the company. There’s an image of row after row of servers, like in the Seoul data center. The address has it just outside Bangkok. “Want to get there before IDR finds out?”

“What’s IDR?” asks Jack.

“None of your business,” I reply. “If you think of anything else, let us know.”

Theo and I get up and leave Jack to the Thai police. Having literally missed the boat on the chimps, we don’t want to let the chance to catch a data heist slip through our grasp.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

SYSTEM MALFUNCTION

“For a high-tech facility, this sure is in the middle of nowhere,” I say as I drive us down a desolate, jungle-lined road outside Bangkok.