Never Tell (Detective D.D. Warren #10)(72)

“What’s deep web?” D.D. interrupted.

“Any site you need to log into—banks, e-mail, e-commerce. Social networks, too, such as Facebook or Twitter. But there are members-only forums for just about anything and everything these days.

“Most people start on the deep web—visiting sites where they feel they’re safe—then move onto the dark web. But either way, Jacob would have to have a username and password for some of these online accounts, which would be stored in his hard drive’s SAM—Security Account Manager. Unless, of course, he remembered to remove that data. The Tor browser, for example, includes a screen asking the user if he really wants to save the information, as a way of prompting him not to store the info. Not all accounts are as helpful, however, and it’s not uncommon for even the savviest IT guru to miss a stored password here or there..” Keith stared at Quincy.

“I already said,” the FBI agent bit out tightly, “our computer techs are the best in the business. As a matter of protocol, we ran the password cracker against the computer’s SAM file and yes, we discovered stored credentials for a single Gmail account, JNess. Except none of the recovered e-mails revealed anything of a criminal nature. Certainly nothing related to the dark web.”

“What about a domain name? Most bad guys love to register vanity domains, BadAssDude.com, whatever.”

“No.”

“Then he had another e-mail account,” Keith stated. “He left the first as a reward for prying eyes, better hid the second. There are plenty of ways.”

“Not that someone with Jacob’s background should know about.” Quincy clearly wasn’t convinced. “You’re giving him too much credit.”

“But again, once on the dark web, the experts he could’ve met, the lessons he could’ve learned. Flora said he was clever and driven when it came to hiding his habits. And we’re not talking about complicated programming. Get one tech nerd in a chat room, and the rest becomes paint-by-numbers security steps. Jacob would just need to do what he was told.”

Keith spoke matter-of-factly. Flora looked interested, while Kimberly appeared even more pissed. At least D.D. was now having some fun.

“What would you suggest trying next?” D.D. asked Keith. The man did seem to know his stuff, and as long as the “best in the business” FBI techs were coming up empty …

“Work on figuring out a second username. Just because there’s no record of one on his laptop doesn’t mean we can’t use old-fashioned deductive reasoning to come up with some possibilities. We could then plug and play those options on known websites till we get a hit.”

“You mean given Jacob’s own background and history.” Dr. Keynes spoke up. “We determine what online identity would appeal to him?”

“We did every version of Jacob Ness possible,” Quincy argued. “JNess Jacnes. NJacob, et cetera. Hell, one of our techs wrote an algorithm just to run all possible name combos.”

“He’d never use his own name to access the dark web,” Flora stated immediately.” Too obvious.”

“We tried Everett, too,” Quincy reported. “Fake Everett. Any detail we could glean from your interview with Dr. Keynes. Including your name, your father’s name, even your brother’s name. Jacob had a sly and cruel sense of humor. We all can agree on that.”

“Hang on.” D.D. raised a hand. “Forget username for a minute. Given this Tor browser, we can be sure Jacob was accessing the dark web?”

Quincy and Keith nodded.

“Meaning if Conrad was connecting with the likes of Jacob Ness or other predators—either as a fellow abuser or a na?ve avenger—he’d have to be part of the dark web as well.”

More nodding.

D.D. smiled. First real break all day. “Meaning, Conrad’s wife may have destroyed his computer, but there should still be traces of his activities on the dark web, right? You said every timer a user logged in and out, there’s a moment when their data is unencrypted. Meaning, we figure out Conrad’s username, log on through Tor, and …”

“We should be able to identity frequently visited sites, maybe even some chat rooms,” Keith supplied. “Basically, identify this Conrad guy’s username, or Ness’s evildoer username, and the amount of data we could suddenly recover … Contacts, activities, identities of other predators.”

D.D. started nodding. “I like it. Two subjects, two usernames, two bites at the same dark web apple.”

Quincy had stopped frowning. “But do we have ideas for Conrad’s username?” she asked.

“His wife might.”

“Is she cooperating?”

“Not yet, but I have some ideas on that subject.” D.D. eyed Flora.

“Monster,” Flora stated.

“What?” D.D. didn’t follow the transition.

“Jacob always referred to himself as a monster. No one wants to be a monster.”

D.D. was stilled confused, but Keith was suddenly nodding. “Loch Ness Monster,” he murmured.

Quincy immediately sat up, expression intent. “Could it be that simple? His username is some play on Loch Ness? Jacob Ness the monster, Nessie the monster?”

“I don’t think he’d use Ness.” Flora again. “Too direct a tie. But that kind of sly inference he’d like.”