“That’s right. Karim was methodical. He worked with spreadsheets and began to analyze the data. He built up a data set and ran simple algorithms over it, matching data and sorting it. So at some point he was able to put it together. The girls were disappearing at the same place, more or less. From our point of view it was like a black hole was opening up somewhere in Northern France.” Nazari and I looked at each other. Leila said, “Our girls were falling into that black hole. You can imagine how we felt about it.”

I said, “And Qadduri came out here to find them.”

“Eventually. First, Karim activated his network here in Baghdad, ex-security people who were now in the private sector or worse.”

“What do you mean by worse?”

Leila chuckled. “You’ve heard of a group called ISIS, or DAESH? That’s what I mean by worse. Many of the leaders are ex-Baath party military people.”

“Okay.”

“But what I’m getting at, is that he didn’t just go out there on his own, he was invited.”

Nazari flashed me a look and said, “Invited by whom?”

“As far as I know, Karim made contact with the local security forces.”

Nazari said, “You mean the police?”

“That’s right. The local police.”

Nazari and I looked at each other again. I said, “So, he came with his Iraqi passport, all out in the open and above board?”

Leila paused a beat and I heard the sharp inhalation of a smoker. She said, “No. He was not a stupid man, Keeler. He would never walk straight in like that. I’m sure you had to do some investigating to uncover his real identity.”

Nazari said, “Deep investigation, yes.”

Leila laughed, and coughed. “Yes, indeed. He was a character, I’ll tell you that. I loved the man. Not romantically mind you. Loved him for his courage. But he wasn’t stupid. Karim hedged his bets. He made a double approach. One approach through the official channels, the police, and another approach through the unofficial channels.”

“Such as?”

“Such as the criminal networks. The migrant traffickers.”

“So I guess his approach was compromised.”

“It looks that way. Compromised, most likely from the beginning. Most likely both ways.”

I said, “So is that it? We’ve got the list of names, those are the girls in question?”

“From our side, yes. Those are the ones that we have identified, who fit the pattern. I’m guessing that there are more.”

“Anything recent from them?”

“Nothing, they’ve just disappeared.”

I said, “The black hole. Do you have a precise location?”

“We have an area of interest. A set of coordinate triangulations. The girl’s phones went dark in different locations, but there is a pattern. Like an epicenter. I can send that through after we talk.”

“Ok. So what’s next?”