“And you will, right before the vultures come for a visit, if you don’t get on with your story.”

“So I unlocked it for them and got them access to the ballistics data. But they had another requirement: they wanted it hardwired for fast access to the Dark Web.”

“For boys and girls who don’t read Computer Monthly, explain ‘Dark Web,’” said Neill.

“What you see when you click on, that’s about two percent of the web. There’s a whole other region. Its access is guarded, and it is superprotected by three Russians and a Chinaman who are even smarter than me. Only four of ’em, I guarantee you. Getting on it is part of the trick. Navigating it is the other trick. Using it is the final trick. All twisty, complex, under multiple two-factor codes and sliding algorithms. Grad students and psychos only. But it’s where you can find a hit man, snuff porn, actual explosive manufacturing supplies and RPG missiles in bulk at a good rate, that sort of thing. It’s the superego of the ’Net. As I say, hard to get on.”

“And you made it easy to get on?”

“I set up a site for them, but the key ingredient was that it had to be findable, traceable. I had to build factors into it so someone like Agent Neill or one of the Israeli wonderkids could deconstruct it and trace it back to its origin, which would be the i 8 that I had in my hand, presumably linkable to someone else. It sounded like a key to an elaborate plot.”

“You did all this?”

“I did all that.”

“What was the website called?”

“I don’t know. I showed them how to set it up, but they didn’t want me to see what it was. So I just know it’s there, and all that will be revealed when the time comes.”

“Can we find it, Neill?” asked Nick.

“Without a name or a web address, not likely. There’s more—they probably haven’t posted it yet. It’s all set up to go, but they don’t want anyone discovering it prematurely. So it’s ready, and they dump when it’s appropriate to their plans—that is, when they want us to find it.”

“Not helpful,” said Nick.