“Just to summarize. Lahouari Khaled was not cooperative. He gave excuses regarding the mosque issue. But he did give us the name of an individual he indicated was involved in credit card fraud and—this is the important part—identity fraud. That individual is Kamal Gamal. Kamal Gamal is an Algerian national who came legally to this country in 1994 as an asylum seeker. He was granted asylum in 1996. His application and the INS finding in the case are in your packet. I won’t go into too much detail now, but we believe Gamal is not Algerian. We believe he obtained an Algerian passport through fraudulent means during the Gulf War. He may be an Iraqi, he may be a Saudi. The chaos in Kuwait during and after the war was such that identities changed hands like quarters in a Coke machine.

“Last year, Kamal Gamal was picked up in a botched Treasury operation. Secret Service, as we all now know, had a problem with an agent in their fraud division they’ve since reassigned to a desk job in Sacramento.”

Nods around the table. “Hank Bridges.”

“Amazing situation.”

“How media didn’t get wind of it, I’ll never know.”

“All charges against Kamal Gamal had to be dropped,” he continued. “Kamal Gamal, naturally, disappeared. We had been unable to locate him, despite a lot of help from Boston PD, until now.”

“This means an expansion of surveillance,” April said. “And that means developing evidence to send headquarters so we can get the kind of FISA warrant that includes everything we need. Right now we have pen register and trap-and-trace orders in place. But we need roving wiretaps, confidential searches, mail covers, and access to airport, hotel, storage facility, and car rental records.”

“After the millennium bombing plot,” said the associate U.S. attorney, “which was foiled at the Canadian border thanks to Customs—and which was an Algerian operation that the Seattle task force and Washington handled—Justice and the FISA court have been more willing to provide assistance to field offices. This is not an invitation for sloppiness. I say this only because I know this field office in particular has experienced some frustrations and disappointments in this regard in the past. I’ve been liaising with the FISA people at main Justice, and I think there’s been real progress.”

The Boston cop was lost. April could see it in his face. A smart detective. His specialty had been the mob. And racketeering and terrorist conspiracy were not all that different in principle.

She stopped the cop on the way out. His name was Tom Baker. “Detective,” she said, holding out her hand. “Don’t let these blowhards fool you.”

“I appreciate that,” he said. “Give me RICO, I’ll give you chapter and verse. But FISA. Jesus.”