The Einstein Pursuit

43

Toulon had spent the day researching his latest lead: the taped conversation of Hendrik Cole, who was heard muttering the words Stockholm and Zidane on a South African surveillance tape.

While Zidane was not a common surname, Toulon knew it wasn’t unique. In fact, the mere mention of it called to mind his favorite French footballer, Zinedine Zidane. At the end of his stellar career, the aggressive midfielder had left a lasting impression in his final World Cup match. Unfortunately, the impression was that of his forehead on the chest of one of his opponents. Despite this boneheaded play and his well-deserved ejection, Zidane was considered one of the finest competitors the sport had ever known.

However, Toulon doubted that Cole was connected to that Zidane in any way. Instead, he logically concluded that Cole was referencing Harrison Zidane, the well-known entrepreneur, who had made billions in pharmaceutical speculation. Unsure if Zidane was a target or a suspect — or possibly neither — Toulon used his sources to track him to the Italian city of Como, where he had recently made a public appearance to commemorate the ground-breaking of a new hospital facility.

Toulon contacted the police in Como and asked them to arrange a conversation with Zidane. By phone, if necessary. By Skype, if possible. The latter would allow Toulon to watch Zidane while he answered his questions, giving him a better opportunity to gauge Zidane’s reactions.

While waiting for the Italian police to track down Zidane, Toulon called his boss to fill him in on the latest developments.

‘Nick,’ he said, ‘are you enjoying your vacation?’

‘Screw you,’ Dial said. ‘How are things back at headquarters?’

‘Running more smoothly now that I’m in charge.’

‘Great. Then you won’t mind covering the holiday shifts this year. They’re always a nightmare, but I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to deal with them much better than I ever did.’

‘There’s no need for threats, Nick.’

The last thing Toulon wanted to do was handle the holiday chaos. While almost everyone in the world chose to celebrate the spirit of the season, there were always a few unfortunate souls who had finally had enough by year’s end. And when they snapped, they did so in grand style. Many of the most horrific crimes that Dial and Toulon had dealt with had occurred on the days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

‘You started it,’ Dial stressed. ‘But I’m hoping you have more to offer than petty insults.’

‘I do,’ Toulon said. ‘I’ve been digging into the Stockholm case a bit more. Would you prefer that I begin with the good news or the bad news?’

‘The good. I could use the pick-me-up.’

Toulon cut to the chase. ‘I know who bombed the laboratory.’

‘Quit messing around, Henri. This isn’t a joking matter.’

‘But I’m not joking. I know who bombed the lab.’

‘Wait. Are you serious?’

‘Oui,’ he stressed. ‘I pulled all the footage I could get of the warehouse and the surrounding area. Thanks to the light from the blast, I was able to spot a man on a boat in the harbor.’

‘Doing what?’

‘Watching.’

‘Watching?’ Dial growled. ‘What kind of good news is that? If I was in a boat in the harbor and a building blew up on shore, take a wild guess what I’d be doing.’

‘Peeing your pants?’

‘Maybe. But I’d also be watching.’

‘Does that mean you don’t want to know his name?’

‘Whose name?’

‘The man on the boat.’

‘Wait. You have his name?’

‘Oui. I do.’

‘Go on. Spit it out.’

‘The man on the boat was Hendrik Cole.’

Dial groaned. ‘You’re sure?’

‘I’m positive. I ran his image through our facial recognition software. It’s a perfect match. I wish it were someone else, but it’s not. It’s the Butcher of Benin.’

Dial was familiar with Cole and the nickname he had earned as a result of the massacre in Africa. Of all the known killers in the world, Cole was near the top of everyone’s most-wanted list. He was brutal. He was ruthless. He was unpredictable. They were qualities that served him well in his chosen field, but they made him a nightmare for others. Those who had investigated him in the past talked about him as if he were some sort of mystical snake: they never knew when, where or how he might strike next.

Dial groaned some more. ‘I thought you said this was good news.’

‘Maybe that was a poor choice of words. To be honest, I’m not sure any of this is good news. But that’s the most definitive piece of information I can offer.’

‘I haven’t heard his name in a while. Where’s that bastard been hiding?’

‘The South African Directorate of Special Operations placed him in Cape Town a month ago, but between then and his appearance in Stockholm, there’s no trace of him.’

‘What about a list of associates? Anyone we can rattle for information?’

‘You saw what he did to the last couple of guys he worked with. They’re in no condition to offer any assistance.’ Toulon was referring to the two bullet-ridden men who had been left to burn with the others inside the lab. ‘He doesn’t leave loose ends. If someone knows something about him, there’s a pretty good chance he’ll find them before we do.’

Dial nodded in agreement. ‘Cole’s already a wanted man. Every border guard in the world has him in their system, so it won’t do us any good to send out an alert. All that would do is tip him off to our renewed interest. So where does that leave us?’

‘Well, there’s the, um, I guess let’s call it the other news,’ Toulon offered.

‘Which is?’

‘The South Africans lucked out and got Cole on a surveillance tape in Cape Town. In it, he’s speaking Afrikaans to an unknown subject. I had one of the translators here listen to it, and Cole is talking about a job in Stockholm that has to do with someone named Zidane. Unfortunately, that’s all we got. The rest of the conversation is drowned out by background noise.’

‘Who’s Zidane?’

‘I don’t know for sure, but my gut says it’s Harrison Zidane. He’s a billionaire venture capitalist from Algeria. He made most of his money in the pharmacy game, backing small startups with promising research and selling their products to the top companies in the world.’

Dial voiced his uncertainty. ‘But Berglund wasn’t a low-level startup. Neither was anyone else involved. They were established entities in the field. Berglund could have turned to any of the major players, any of the big pharmaceutical companies, and they’d throw money at him. So what was Zidane’s interest?’

‘I can’t say there was any,’ Toulon admitted. ‘Their only connection is Cole, who tried to bomb one and talked about the other. As for whatever else they might have had in common, we’ll just have to ask Zidane.’

‘You found him?’

‘He has a mansion in Como, Italy, and I have the local police trying to make contact. They cautioned it might take a while, though. Apparently many of the residents spend much of their time on the water, especially those with substantial wealth. If he’s on the lake, they won’t be able to reach him until he comes ashore.’

‘Hopefully he can give us something to work with,’ Dial said, unsure if Zidane would be cooperative. ‘Let me know when you’ve managed to arrange a call.’

‘Actually, I’m pushing for a video chat. Do you want in?’

‘Absolutely,’ Dial answered.