She focused on the revelation and what it might mean. “Who would have something like that?”
“A dentist.” Wade stroked his jaw, considering. “Or an otolaryngologist.” At Nina’s raised brow, he elaborated. “Ear, nose, and throat doctor.”
“Obviously, a medical examiner or coroner uses them.” Her mind raced. “We’re talking about someone in a medical profession, but that could include a nurse or a veterinarian too.”
Wade pulled his buzzing cell phone from his pocket. “It’s Buxton.” Glancing over his shoulder to be sure they were alone, he tapped the screen to put it on speaker.
Buxton sounded harried. “It’s a five-alarm fire over here. What’s your status, Agent Wade?”
“I’m at the autopsy with Agent Guerrera and Detective Colton with SFPD Homicide.” He summarized Dr. Fong’s findings and explained what Nina had recalled along with its implications. “What’s going on at Quantico?”
Buxton grunted. “A photo of the clue left by the unsub is spreading through the internet like a computer virus.”
“Who posted it?” Wade asked.
“According to our San Francisco field office, the woman who found the envelope taped to the dumpster failed to mention that she’d uploaded a video of the whole thing, including a still shot of the message, to YouTube.” He heaved a sigh. “And the SFPD beat cop she spoke to didn’t think to ask her either. He took down her info, bagged the envelope, and brought it straight to his sergeant.”
Nina didn’t blame the officer. This case would change standard procedure in policework going forward. That included how much of a perimeter they would set up around a crime scene. The dumpster was on the wharf, well away from where the body had been recovered.
Wade seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “At the DC scene, the unsub wanted to be sure we found his messages,” he said. “This time, he lets someone in the public stumble across it, and it’s also likely several cameras caught him taping it to the dumpster.”
“We’re collecting all relevant video.” Buxton’s voice carried through the empty corridor over the tiny phone speaker. “We’ve already got data search parameters set up, and our team is going through the feeds as the detectives bring them to us. We’ll keep reviewing as new material comes in.”
“It’s performance art,” Wade said. “He’s feeding his growing audience.”
“If that’s his plan, he succeeded,” Buxton said. “Julian Zarran has just inserted himself into the middle of this mess.”
Nina had seen several of Zarran’s movies. The action hero was one of the hottest box office draws in Hollywood.
Buxton continued in a frustrated rush, “People commented and shared the woman’s video until it hit critical mass when Zarran retweeted it to his twenty million followers with an offer of half a million dollars to the first person or group who cracked the code.”
Wade swore under his breath. “Zarran grew up in San Francisco. I’m sure he thought he was helping.”
“Whatever his intentions were, he sparked a frenzy,” Buxton said. “As if we didn’t have enough to do, every armchair sleuth with a calculator has submitted potential solutions to the code, each one more improbable than the last. There are so many suggested answers that we can’t vet them all. The right one could be somewhere in the mix, but it’s lost in all the static.”
“What about our analysts?” Nina said. “Is Crypto on it?”
“Of course.” Buxton sounded irritated. “They’ll let me know when they’re reasonably certain they have the right answer. They’ve come up with several possibilities at this point, each leading to different conclusions. We can’t afford to take a wrong turn by leaping on the first possible solution that comes up.”
“This guy is either highly strategic or damned lucky,” Wade said. “The amount of chaos this is causing hampers everything we’re doing.”
“In the past forty minutes since Zarran’s announcement, more teams have formed to claim the prize,” Buxton said. “Those students from MIT who figured out his last clue are on all the unsub’s social media sites. They’re calling themselves the Brew Crew now. I can guess what they’ll spend the prize money on if they win.”
“What are they saying to the Cipher in their posts?” she asked.
“That they’ll break his kindergarten code before breakfast.”
Wade grimaced. “Dammit, they’re challenging his intelligence. His need for dominance will drive him to retaliate. He might move up the deadline.”
That was the opening Nina had been waiting for. She pretended as if an idea had just occurred to her. “There might be a way to buy some time.”
Wade gave her a wary look, but Buxton sounded curious. “What do you have in mind, Agent Guerrera?”
“Let’s respond to him directly.” She spoke quickly, wanting to outline her plan before Wade could interrupt. “On his Facebook page or his Twitter feed, or wherever. If he’s talking to us, we might be able to convince him to delay his plans. At the very least, we could get him to say something revealing or give Cyber Crime a better shot at following any virtual bread crumbs back to him.”
Wade wasted no time objecting. “Engaging him on social media directly will elevate his narcissism.” He looked at Nina as he spoke to their boss. “Furthermore, we don’t know enough about him yet. Any inadvertent comment from us could provoke him further if we say the wrong thing.”
“Speaking of which,” Buxton cut in, “Agent Breck is on standby to shut down all of his social media accounts. We would have done it already, but Cyber Crime is developing a new component to an existing program to trace his location. Unfortunately, the Cipher is living up to his name. He’s led us down a lot of rabbit holes so far.”
“Then this is the perfect time to keep him active online,” Nina said. “Ignoring him hasn’t worked. Shutting him down won’t either. He’ll set up new profiles as fast as we can take them offline. Another girl is dead. If this clue is like the last one, it’ll lead us to another body in forty-eight”—she glanced at her watch—“make that forty-six hours. We have plenty to gain and nothing to lose by trying a different approach.”
Wade glared at her. She took it as a positive. Her position made sense, and they both knew it.
Buxton’s response crackled in the air between them. “I agree with Agent Guerrera. We need to try something different. I’ll have someone from the team here at Quantico send him a direct message rather than posting something on his page. We’ll send it from our official account, so he knows it’s really us.”
Nina had wedged her foot in the door. Time to kick it open. “Sir, I need to be the one who communicates with him.”
“Explain.” Buxton bit out the word after a brief pause.
“If he’s fixated on me, he won’t be able to resist. He’ll—”
“He’ll get inside your head,” Wade said, interrupting her. “He’ll use the opportunity to torment you, and we need you focused on the case.”