CODE TO MURDER, page 16
“Their CEO is pointing towards overseas criminal gangs. Is that likely?” asked Julie.
“Possibly, Julie,” said Tom. “The key is whether the gangs are doing it off their own bat or whether they have been hired. I won’t kid you, it can be notoriously difficult to track who is carrying out these attacks and to bring prosecutions. A good proportion of our time can be spent educating companies about the ways to prevent these attacks. Would it help if I gave a quick birds-eye view of the landscape we are dealing with in regard to cybercrime?” asked Tom.
Ben agreed and Tom proceeded to take the team through the various cyber threats they typically dealt with, ransomware attacks being the most common, impacting business operations and stealing customer data to extract funds from targets and even attacking national infrastructure. He also covered other forms of hacking, including phishing and DDOS attacks.
“Wow,” said Kevin, “and we thought some of our cases were complicated. I don’t envy you.”
“Right, I think I have a flavour of what is needed,” said Tom.
“Can someone go over to Trade-IT with me and do the introductions? I’ll put together a structure of what I want to look at once I hear what they have found themselves internally. I’ll ask them for a remote login so I won’t need to be onsite all the time, and I’ll come back to you in a couple of days with an update about what I have done and what we are still planning to do. I will warn you though, the complexity of these investigations means it can take a fair bit of time before we get any concrete results, and sometimes it involves liaising with police authorities in other countries.”
“Okay, Tom, we understand. Kevin will take you over and we can speak again in a couple of days.”
After Kevin and Tom left, Ben sat with Emma.
“Any progress in finding out what happened to Colin Smith?” he asked.
“I’ve gone through the case files, sir. In essence, what seems to have happened is that eight years ago Colin Smith, Richard Pettigrew and James Anderson were on a hiking trip up at Glencoe.”
“All three of them were there?” asked Ben.
“Yes, sir, they were,” answered Emma. “They were camping out and, at some point during the early evening, Colin Smith appears to have slipped and fallen down a ravine to his death. The body had to be recovered by mountain rescue. The verdict was accidental death and no suspicious circumstances were reported.”
“Okay. Have you managed to speak to any of the investigating officers yet?”
“I’ve left messages and I’m waiting on calls back.”
“Keep chasing, Emma, we need to know for sure. It might be nothing, but it seems one heck of a coincidence that two out of the three original owners of Trade-IT have wound up dead . . .”
CHAPTER 42
It was one p.m. and Ben’s phone rang. He saw it was Diane Anderson’s number and assumed she was either phoning to see what progress he was making or had thought of something that may be relevant to the case.
“Hello, Mrs Anderson, how are you?” he said.
Diane Anderson was screaming hysterically.
“I can’t hear what you’re saying, Mrs Anderson. Please try and slow down and tell me exactly what’s happened,” said Ben.
All Ben could hear was shouting. “They’ve got Kayleigh, they’ve got Kayleigh! They’ve said no police, but I don’t know what else to do. Help me! Help me! Please help me!” she screamed.
The fear in Diane Anderson’s voice was palpable. A feeling of dread washed over Ben. He was listening intently, but couldn’t make out everything she was saying.
“Mrs Anderson, please try and stay calm, we will be with you shortly.”
Ben and Julie headed straight over, blue lights and siren on until they entered Dollar. Ben didn’t know what had happened, but was cognisant of the “no police” comment and parked away from the house and went round the back in case anyone was watching. Diane Anderson let them in and was sobbing heavily, struggling to catch her breath.
“Sit down, Mrs Anderson, and tell us what has happened – from the start.”
“I got a call and the voice said, ‘You know what I want and I know you have it. You know what happened to your husband and I have your daughter. She will be next if you don’t leave it where I tell you’.”
She started sobbing again, “And he put Kayleigh on the phone . . . he put her on the phone and she said, ‘Mummy, you need to give him what he wants or he will hurt me. Please, Mummy, please do what he wants so I can come home. I’m scared, Mummy,’ and then he took the phone back off her.”
“Okay, Mrs Anderson, what else did he say?”
“He said I was to leave James’s laptop by the sign map, just before you go up Dollar Glen to Castle Campbell, by three p.m., and he would tell me where to find Kayleigh. He told me if I involved the police I wouldn’t see Kayleigh again! But I haven’t got the laptop or anything else, so what can I do? He’s got Kayleigh – you need to help me, please!” she pleaded.
“Did you recognise the voice?” asked Ben.
“No, it was one of those distorted voices, as if it was going through some sort of machine.”
“And it was definitely Kayleigh?” asked Ben.
“Of course it was, I know my own daughter’s voice.”
“Right, Julie, see if the phone company can trace the call and get on to the station and see if we can find who it is registered to.” Then he turned back to Mrs Anderson, “Is Kayleigh supposed to be in school today?”
“Yes, she is. He must have taken her from there. I don’t understand how this could have happened. Nobody else is allowed to pick her up from school except James or me. The school know that. I tried phoning them after I phoned you, but it is constantly engaged.”
“Julie, go to the school and find out when Kayleigh left and who with. Get Emma on the case for any CCTV images we can find, and see if we can spot Kayleigh or any car heading away from the school or through Dollar at that time. We are on a tight deadline here. I’ll stay with Mrs Anderson in case she gets another call. Once you’ve been to the school, get as many local officers as you can into the area, all in plain clothes, and around the drop-off point. Whoever it is must still be around now. I’ll phone Kevin and get as many additional officers over here as we can.”
“On it, sir,” said Julie, and she headed straight out.
Ben phoned Kevin and then said to Mrs Anderson, “I don’t think he’ll harm Kayleigh, Mrs Anderson. I think it’s just a threat to get you to give what he thinks you have – or to find out if you have it. Once he understands you don’t have the laptop, I think he’ll let Kayleigh go,” said Ben, trying to be reassuring, but extremely worried himself.
“We will find her, but for the moment it’s going to be a waiting game.”
Ben was watching the clock. Time was moving quickly. He knew there wasn’t a lot of time to get resources mobilised. They just needed to hope they got lucky. Whoever it was still had to be around here somewhere.
They waited.
Suddenly, Diane Anderson’s phone rang again, startling her – and Ben.
She looked over at Ben, who said, “Answer the phone, but speak slowly and calmly. I will listen to it as best I can and try and guide you.”
Diane answered the phone, “Hello?”
“Hello, Mrs Anderson, this is Jay from Green Energy, we are offering grants to everyone in your area towards better home insulation—”
Diane ended the call, threw the phone on the sofa and let out a scream in exasperation. Ben put his head in his hands. The tension was unbearable.
Ten minutes later, the front door opened and in walked Julie. Together with Kayleigh, who was holding her hand.
Diane Anderson jumped up, ran over to Kayleigh and put her arms around her and held her tightly. “Are you alright, darling? Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“Of course I’m alright, Mummy. What’s wrong? Why did I have to come home from school early?”
“She’s been in school all day,” said Julie.
Diane hugged Kayleigh even tighter.
“I tried phoning you, sir, several times,” said Julie.
“Sorry, Julie, I switched my phone on to silent when a cold call came in. I must have forgotten to switch it back,” said Ben. “It must all have been a ruse to try and get the laptop. Keep the resources deployed – there is someone out there watching the drop-off point.”
Diane took Kayleigh through to the kitchen to get a drink and something to eat.
“It’s strange how Mrs Anderson says she heard Kayleigh on the phone,” said Julie.
“Isn’t it just,” said Ben. “Technology and artificial intelligence here again, Julie. I can only assume it’s what I’ve heard called ‘deepfake’. Using AI, so called ‘deepfakes’ can mimic a person’s voice. AI technology uses an audio recording of someone’s voice and makes it say things the person might never have said. The big question is where did they get the audio clip?”
Diane Anderson’s sister arrived and went upstairs with Kayleigh, which gave Ben and Julie a chance to talk to Diane on her own. She was a bit calmer now, but still very shaken up by the situation.
Ben explained what he believed must have happened and asked Mrs Anderson, “We are wondering how someone would have been able to get a recording of Kayleigh’s voice. Any idea where it might have come from?”
“Nobody outside the family. Kayleigh likes to sing and I would sometimes record her on my phone.”
“There are no postings online, on social media or anything of Kayleigh speaking or singing?” asked Ben.
“No, we never put anything up,” replied Diane, then she sighed. “How could anyone do this to us? As if we haven’t been through enough. What is it they want so badly, and why do they think I’ve got it?”
“A good question, Mrs Anderson. If we can work that out, it will go a long way to determining who killed James. It sounds very much like they think whatever they are looking for might be on James’s second laptop, so at least we know they don’t have it. It begs the question though: where is it? You are sure it is not in the house, Mrs Anderson?” asked Ben.
“It is not here,” she confirmed.
“Maybe today has simply been about them trying to figure out whether you had the laptop or not. Hopefully they will have realised you don’t,” said Ben.
By now it was 3.15 p.m., fifteen minutes past the deadline Diane had been given to drop off the laptop.
Julie’s mobile rang. It was Kevin.
“I’m phoning to let you know, Sarge, that nobody has shown up here yet. We’ve been discreet, but have a good view of the location – nothing happening so far. That said, there are lots of viewpoints from above where someone could be watching, and they will have seen that Mrs Anderson hasn’t left a laptop.”
“Okay, Kevin, thanks for the update. Stay in position until we give the order to stand down, and let us know if anyone appears,” said Julie.
Fifteen minutes later, a police officer in plain clothes sitting on a bench in the park area leading up to Dollar Glen messaged the team, “Stand by, cyclist on a mountain bike with a full helmet on, making his way towards drop-off point.”
The cyclist stopped at the sign showing the different routes up the glen. He got off his bike and reached behind the sign and looked to pick up something.
“Go! Go! Go!” shouted Kevin on his radio to the team.
The biker suddenly saw someone running from behind towards him, and someone else from the side of the wooden bridge crossing the Burn of Sorrows. He jumped back on his bike and headed the only way he could – up the hill – picking up speed as he went.
The police officers ran after him, but were not even close as the biker negotiated various paths, wooden bridges and rocky areas, jumping off his bike and back on again when a path was too steep or narrow.
“Stay covering all routes out, and move up from the bottom,” Kevin ordered.
Without warning, the biker turned around and started hurtling down the hill at incredible speed. Two officers, who were coming up the hill in pursuit, moved to block his way, but the biker, coming from a high path, lifted off and flew over the top of them and landed, barely managing to keep his balance, and raced off further down the glen. As the biker reached the bottom of the glen, he could see more officers blocking his way, and they were also making their way down from behind him. He knew there was nowhere for him to go and skidded to a sudden halt. By this time, Kevin had also come down from his vantage point.
“Right, get his helmet off. Let’s see who is behind this, once and for all!” shouted Kevin.
CHAPTER 43
Two officers grabbed the biker’s arms and removed his helmet. It was a young lad, no more than sixteen years old.
“What’s your name, son?” asked Kevin.
“Pete Thomson,” said the boy, looking frightened.
“Why did you run away when we asked you to stop?” asked Kevin.
“I didn’t know you were police! I saw some guys running towards me, shouting, so I shot off up the hill,” said the boy.
“And what were you looking for behind the sign there?” asked Kevin.
“My sweatshirt,” he said, holding it up. “I forgot it earlier in the day when I was cycling up here.”
“Did anyone tell you to come here and pick something else up from behind the sign?” asked Kevin.
“No,” answered the boy, looking a bit bemused by the whole thing.
“Okay, son, we need you to come to the station. We’ll phone your parents and get them to verify everything.”
Kevin was disappointed. He sensed the boy was telling the truth, but couldn’t be sure.
Maybe he was paid by someone else to pick up the laptop?
He phoned Julie and, getting the nod from Ben, she confirmed to stand everyone down.
Ben updated Mrs Anderson and told her he would leave police officers outside her house for the next few days to give her a bit of reassurance.
Back at the station, Emma and Kevin interviewed the lad with his father present, and were sure he had nothing to do with the call to Mrs Anderson, or even the potential pick-up. It was a case of wrong place wrong time. It turned out the lad competed in mountain bike racing, which was why he was so fast.
It was clear to Ben that someone knew about the second laptop, and he began to wonder if the reason for wanting it so badly had something to do with the AI software, which, by the sound of it, had value to someone.
It must be linked to the cyberattack, he thought, but where could the laptop be?
The most likely places would be somewhere secure at Trade-IT, or in the Anderson house. Julie suggested the possibility that Anderson could have had somewhere secure at home where he kept it, which Mrs Anderson doesn’t know about. Not to hide it from her necessarily, just somewhere he kept confidential stuff.
Ben then thought about who could have made the call to Mrs Anderson. They’d discovered the call had been made from a cash-purchased pay-as-you-go phone, so they couldn’t trace it. Phil Martin was in the station at the time of the call and he didn’t think Manson would have any interest in finding the laptop – he wouldn’t know what to do with the software on there. Albeit, given Molly Martin worked at Trade-IT as a cleaner, she could have come across something, but that too seemed unlikely. They also hadn’t been able to get anything else out of Phil Martin that they didn’t get from Manson, so Ben asked Julie to charge Martin with the same offences as Manson, theft and receiving and handling stolen goods, and to bail him.
“I think whoever made the call must be someone who knows the locale round about Dollar to be able to give those instructions to Mrs Anderson,” said Julie.
“I agree,” said Ben, “and that sure doesn’t imply a Russian cybercrime gang!”
CHAPTER 44
On arriving at Trade-IT the next morning, Ben and Julie went first to see Alan Millar, the CFO.
“Good morning, Mr Millar. Can you help us with a couple of things?” asked Ben.
“Sure, if I can,” said Millar.
“Were you aware of an offer to buy the company about a year ago?”
“Yes, from SCL.”
“Were you involved in the discussions with them?”
“I was, yes. Why do you ask?”
“Richard mentioned them to us. What was your take on them?”
“They were a consolidator, and while I could see what they were trying to do, buying up lots of high-tech businesses, I did feel some of the guys were not too savvy when it came to software. They talked the talk and gave a reasonable offer, but we can do much better if we hold on for a few years. Their approach was more suited to doing property deals, not buying software companies. When we knocked them back they got a bit ratty. They seemed like a professional bunch throughout the discussions, but when we said no it all became a bit acrimonious. We had never said we would sell, only that everyone has a price. Their price was simply not good enough. I got the feeling they were not used to people saying no to them. They sat opposite us and Eddie Hogarth, their CEO, told us in no uncertain terms that ‘we’d be sorry!’” said Millar, who then laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” asked Ben.
“Well, we never heard from them again, and on one level they probably meant we would regret not accepting their offer, however, from the way the guy spoke, it was like something out of a gangster movie – a threat.”
“Do you know much about SCL?” asked Ben.
“I did some research at the time, but if their offer had looked interesting I would have done a lot more. They were effectively a holding company, which was owned by another company, which was owned by yet another company. As far as I could see, they made money in property and hotels and pubs, but were looking to get into the tech sector.”
“Okay, Mr Millar, that’s useful. The other thing is we are still trying to locate James Anderson’s second laptop. Now, I know it wasn’t in his office when we looked in there, so is there anywhere else in the offices he would have left it? Possibly a secure area he might use?” asked Ben.
