I dont have to, Swann said. Royal Heritage is owned by a CIA asset named Grigor Svetlana. Hes a Ukrainian who used to be in the Red Army. He got himself in deep with the Russians twenty years ago, after some old Soviet weaponry disappeared and then turned up on the black markets in West Africa. Im not talking about guns. Im talking about anti-aircraft, anti-tank, plus some low-altitude cruise missiles. The Russians were ready to hang him upside down. With nowhere to turn, he turned to us. I have a friend at Langley, and the accounts at Royal Heritage Bank, far from being anonymous, are in fact an open book to the American intelligence community. Of course, this isnt something most Royal Heritage customers are aware of.

So you know who owned the account making the transfers.

I do.

Okay, Swann, Luke said. I understand. Youre very clever. Now get to the point.

Swann gestured at the computer screens. Bryant himself owned the account that was making the transfers. Thats the account on my left monitor there. You can see it has about $209,000 in it right now. He was transferring a little bit here and there from the numbered account to his local checking account, probably for his own personal use. And if we scroll back a few months, you can see that Bryants offshore account was created on March 3rd by a $250,000 transfer from another Royal Heritage account, the one on the right monitor here.

Luke looked at the account on the right. There was more than forty-four million dollars in it.

Someone got a bargain hiring Bryant, he said.

Exactly, Swann said.

Who is it?

Its this man. On the screen, a photo identification card appeared. It showed a middle-aged man with dark hair fading to white. This is Ali Nassar. Fifty-seven years old. Iranian national. Born in Tehran to an influential and wealthy family. Studied at the London School of Economics, then Harvard Law School. Went home and got another law degree, this one from the University of Tehran. As a result, he can practice law in both the United States and Iran. Hes been involved in international trade negotiations for much of his career. He lives here in New York and is currently an Iranian diplomat to the United Nations. He has full diplomatic immunity.

Luke stroked his chin. He could feel the short stubble growing there. He was starting to get tired. Let me get this straight. Nassar paid Ken Bryant, presumably for access to the hospital, as well as information about security measures and how to circumvent them.

Presumably, yes.

So hes likely running a terrorist cell here in New York, hes an accessory to the theft of hazardous materials and at least four murders, and he cant be prosecuted under American law?

It certainly appears that way.

Okay. Youre in the account already, right? Lets see where else hes been sending money.

Itll take me a little while.