LYON (FRANCE)
Alessio
Bastian, we found a new one.
I’ve been in charge of the Zodia case for three months now. After the fifth case had been declared unsolved by local authorities – an Italian mafioso, killed in Naples. A journalist had come to cross-check facts with similar cases in Mexico, Barranquilla, Kiev and Lomé. Always a mention of the Z pin. The Italian police had come to us for intel but Interpol had nothing at that time. Three other kills since then. And not a single clue yet, apart from rumours spreading online.
Me
A kill?
Alessio
Yes.
Me
Same signature?
Alessio
Pinned on a tree in a wood beside the victim’s house in Argentina. The man was shot from about four hundred meters with a military sniper rifle.
Me
The victim, do we have intel on him?
Alessio
We’re still gathering things but he seemed to be a sort of mobster, with a cover from legit media companies.
Me
Did they find any evidence?
Alessio
It doesn’t seem so. The assassin was on foot. He vanished completely in a matter of seconds. The guy had a dozen guards with him and none found anything right after the shot.
Me
Do we have a contact in the local police?
Alessio
I will arrange a call with the inspector from the Federal Investigations in charge of the file. I thought you might want to go there yourself.
Me
Do you believe I’ll find something?
Alessio
I doubt it.
Me
Do you want to go?
Alessio
Well, I’ve never been to Argentina. I hear it’s quite nice at this time of year.
A waste of time. Nothing to be found there. I’ve wasted my time in Thailand and Togo over the past few months. If this is really the same organisation there will be nothing to be found. And I have more interesting tasks to perform. Not that I love my office here, but you get the best food in the world in Lyon.
Me
Take a three-day trip. Talk to the police, to the guards, the family. Try to gather everything you can about the victim. I’m sure we won’t find anything about the sniper, but there must be a pattern between victims.
Alessio
It seems they’re all bad guys.
Me
Yeah, and the killers must be good Samaritans. Don’t fool yourself. If there is an organisation that starts killing anyone they don’t like worldwide, we need to know everything about them.
Alessio
There’s already been nine cases.
Me
Yes. And you’re only counting the ones that we have found out about.
Alessio
You don’t think it could be some kind of government agency?
It’s not. I already know that for a fact since almost everybody has been chasing me for information in the last few weeks. Nobody knows. I can’t tell Alessio that though. I don’t have proof of course. Just experience. If it was a cover operation from any secret service, most of them wouldn’t be in the blind and craving to see me. I hate working with agencies. They always give you a fraction of what they know, and expect to get the whole picture from you. Whether they’re Americans, Russians, Chinese or whatever, they always try to rip you off. As if cooperation was pointless.
Me
I’m meeting most of the government services in the next few days to ask them. So far, our contacts there all told me they don’t know anything except that everybody’s starting to wonder about it.
Alessio
The armoury seems military.
Me
Anybody with cash can buy a gun.
Talk about stating the bleeding obvious. These guys are well-funded and they don’t joke around. But it’s a thin clue to catch the bad guys. I don’t believe they are military. How could it be without agencies knowing about it? Even the North Korean army can’t move a toe without half of Europe being informed.
Alessio
Still, I’ve asked to get the bullet for analysis. It’s the best clue we have yet. Maybe we can find something there. Those weapons aren’t exactly easy to find.
Me
Anything worth noticing about this case for the moment?
Alessio
He didn’t die immediately.
Me
How so?
Alessio
The bullet pierced his right lung. It was not a lethal wound. He died during the night in the hospital.
Me
Because the medics made a mistake?
Alessio
No, no. I’m not even sure they could have saved him. I mean the lung was burst. When I say non-lethal, it’s just it could have not killed him, but it was still a nasty hit.
Now THAT’s a first. Not sure it gives us any clues either, but for sure it hasn’t happened before.
In a world where half the spooky operations go south for some reason and end up embarrassing ministers or creating diplomatic incidents, I have to say these Zodia guys have steered a faultless course up till now.
Yet it’s not really surprising. I get well enough what Alessio is trying to do, finding clues in any insignificant information to fill the void of our case. He’s a nice guy. And hard-working as hell. But I’m not doing him a favour sending him there. He’s gonna get sucked into this affair like a kid facing a Rubik’s Cube and he’s gonna get mad over it. I’ll have to be prepared to pull him back to reality.
Alessio
I don’t know if the mistake was made on purpose. If it means something somehow…
Me
Well, maybe they just got sloppy. It’s reassuring somehow. At least they’re human.
