The Broken Window

You couldn’t be in the forensics game nowadays without being computer literate but both Rhyme and Cooper recognized their limitations. When it was clear that there were digital implications of the 522 case, Sellitto had requested some help from the NYPD Computer Crimes Unit, an elite group of thirty-two detectives and support staff.

Rodney Szarnek strode into the room, glanced at the nearest monitor and said, “Hey,” as if he were speaking to the hardware. Similarly when he glanced toward Rhyme he expressed no interest in his physical condition whatsoever, only in the wireless environmental control unit attached to the armrest. He seemed impressed.

“Your day off?” Sellitto asked, glancing at the slim young man’s outfit, his voice making it clear he didn’t approve. Rhyme knew the detective was old school; police officers should dress appropriately.

“Day off?” Szarnek replied, missing the dig. “No. Why would I have a day off?”

“Just wondering.”

“Heh. So, now, what’s the story?”

“We need a trap.”

Lincoln Rhyme’s theory about strolling into SSD and just plain asking about a killer wasn’t as naive as it seemed. When he’d seen on the company Web site that SSD’s PublicSure division supported police departments, his hunch was that NYPD was a customer. If that was the case, then the killer might have access to the department files. A fast call revealed that, yes, the department was a client. PublicSure software and SSD consultants provided data management services for the city, including consolidation of case information, reports and records. If a patrolman on the street needed a warrant check, or a detective new to a homicide needed the case’s history, PublicSure helped get the information to his desk or squad-car computer or even his PDA or cell phone, in minutes.

By sending Sachs and Pulaski to the company and asking who might have accessed the data files about the victims and fall guys, 522 could learn they were on to him and try to get into the NYPD system through PublicSure to look at the reports. If he did, they might be able to trace who had accessed the files.

Rhyme explained the situation to Szarnek, who nodded knowingly-as if he set up traps like this every day. He was taken aback, though, when he learned what company the killer might have a connection to. “SSD? The biggest data miner in the world. They got the scoop on all of God’s children.”

“Is that a problem?”

His carefree geek image faltered and he answered softly, “I hope not.”

And he set to work with their trap, explaining what he was doing. He stripped from the files any details about the case they didn’t want 522 to know and manually transferred those sensitive files to a computer that had no Internet access. He then put an alarmed visual traceroute program in front of the “Myra Weinburg Sexual Assault/Homicide” file on the NYPD server. And added subfiles to tempt the killer, like “Suspects’ whereabouts,” “Forensic analysis” and “Witnesses,” all of which contained only general notes about crime-scene procedures. If anyone accessed it, either hacking in or through authorized channels, a notice of the person’s ISP and physical location would be instantly sent to Szarnek. They could tell immediately if the one checking out the file was a cop with a legitimate inquiry or was somebody on the outside. If so, Szarnek would notify Rhyme or Sellitto, who’d have the ESU team head to the location immediately. Szarnek also included a large amount of material and background, such as public information on SSD, all of it encrypted, to make sure that the killer spent plenty of time in the system deciphering the data and giving them a better chance to find him.

“How long will it take?”

“Fifteen, twenty minutes.”

“Good. And when you’ve got that finished, I also want to see if somebody could have hacked in from the outside.”

“Cracked SSD?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Heh. They’ll have firewalls on their firewalls on their firewalls.”

“Still, we need to know.”

“But if one of their people is the killer, I assume you don’t want me to call the company up and coordinate with them?”

“Right.”

Szarnek’s face clouded. “I’ll just try to break in, I guess.”

“You can do that legally?”

“Yes and no. I’ll only test the ’walls. It’s not a crime if I don’t actually get into their system and bring it crashing down in a really embarrassing media event that lands us all in jail.” He added ominously, “Or worse.”

“Okay, but I want the trap first. ASAP.” Rhyme glanced at the clock. Sachs and Pulaski were already spreading the word about the case down at the Gray Rock.

Szarnek pulled a heavy portable computer out of his satchel and set it on a table nearby. “Any chance I could get a…Oh, thanks.”

Thom was bringing around a coffeepot and cups.