In that case seven people were wounded, three died, one of them a CIA operative who oversaw the capture of key terror suspects around the world. But that fact was never released; the operative was identified in the press as a low-level analyst in the agency.

Behind the scenes, the CIA and FBI suspected the D.C. homicides were a cover for the CIA agent’s assassination; and that the Seattle heist was a fundraising operation for global terrorist groups with ties within the U.S.

No arrests had been made and it looked like the Seattle and D.C. incidents were on their way to becoming cold cases.

But in the Seattle homicides, a critical thread of evidence had emerged from an eye-witness who’d glimpsed a unique spider tattoo, peeking from the gloved hand of one of the principal shooters. Investigators in Seattle had obtained a detailed sketch and working with the FBI, checked it with tattoo artists and tattoo databases that could be mined from those collected in jails and prisons across the U.S.

But all their efforts had dead-ended along with several leads in other areas. As time passed, the tattoo aspect was also pursued by police in Canada and Europe.

Last month, it yielded a match in Saskatchewan.

The witness’ sketch detailing a spider in flames on a web of lightning was identical to the spider Fortin now saw writhing on the back of Yacine’s right hand, as he turned the pages of his book.

Fortin went back to the file.

Upon discovering Yacine in a Canadian prison, the investigation secretly kicked into overdrive as a concern arose. The prison holding Yacine was at risk of prison gang violence, potential riots and deaths to inmates. Under the ruse of a flu outbreak, Yacine was isolated from the rest of the prison population to keep him alive, while in the U.S., federal and state attorneys prepared charges in the Seattle case.

Of paramount importance, they needed the witness to physically and positively identify Yacine as the owner of the unique tattoo, to put him in the bank pulling the trigger.

It was the foundation of their case.

It took weeks of secret, high-level legal wrangling between justice officials in Canada and the U.S. before an agreement was reached for both countries to share intelligence files and extradite Yacine to Seattle where the witness could identify him, charges would be filed, and he would face prosecution, once he’d finished serving his time in Canada.

They were on the cusp of ensuring Yacine would never be free again.

But there was a problem.

The witness in Seattle might not survive long enough to ID Yacine. His health was deteriorating. The latest status report had indicated he was facing increasing risk of death.

Without the witness, the case would collapse.