Stoll was right about one thing, though. “NOLO contondere,” as it was referred to in the stock pages, was an ineffectual disaster. It made money because it was a monolith, nothing more. If he started thinking about that, Paul Hood would get pissed as well.

The phone beeped. It was Lowell Coffey.

“Paul, there has been a strange twist since our last conversation,” he said. Coffey proceeded to tell him about the discussion with FNO Loh. “She spoke to the military intelligence people in Singapore who liaise with the prime minister’s Office of Strategic Information,” Coffey went on. “They confirm business ties between Darling and Mahathir bin Dahman. He’s invested in the Malaysian’s building projects, commercial aircraft plants, and water-processing facilities.”

“Do you know what the paper trail looks like?” Hood asked.

“If you’re asking whether this is public knowledge or not, it is,” Coffey replied. “Darling puts money in Malaysian banks, and bin Dahman draws on that as needed.”

“Is there a public record of Darling’s holdings?” Hood asked.

“No,” Coffey said. “The government has learned that Darling gets private stock for his money. Nothing actionable, though.”

“It’s a lot of stock, I’m sure,” Hood said. “An improportionate amount compared to what other investors get. I’ll bet that bin Dahman takes a big hit every time Darling invests.”

“He does,” Coffey said.

“This could suggest that bin Dahman is using real estate and privately held businesses to pay Darling for services rendered,” Hood said. “Such as providing him with nuclear materials.”

“It makes sense,” Coffey said. “What’s your view on Darling himself? He’s got a helluva reputation down here. He’s got a mega-fortune. Why would he risk all that to do something like this?”

“I’ve been wondering about that,” Hood said. “Maybe it’s tied into something you said a minute ago. He got away with murder and liked how it felt.”

“You mean Leopold and Loeb, the sequel?” Coffey asked. “Bored rich man gets his kicks planning the death of millions of people?”

“You answered your own question.”

“Yeah,” Coffey replied. “Jelbart and I were talking about this as a power grab, but you may have something there. You don’t even have to run that one past Liz Gordon. It’s simple but neat.”

“It’s a starting point, anyway,” Hood replied. “Meanwhile, what’s your next step?”

“We’re sailing back to Darwin to wait for Bob, then I guess it’s on to Cairns,” Coffey said. “We’re obviously going to have to take this investigation directly to Darling.”

“I agree,” Hood said. “And when you do grab him, I want you to do me a favor.”

“Sure,” Coffey said.

“Tell him he runs a lousy on-line service,” Hood said. “Tell him for Matt Stoll.”

Coffey was confused, but Hood told him not to worry about it.