The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25)(93)

‘But if Klostermann is a Russian, why was Fisher’s team not pulled out when he got the server?’

‘Here’s the favourable explanation. They didn’t believe me when I said it was the original. They were waiting to see if any other copies came to light. So they could mop them all up.’

‘That makes sense. And what’s the unfavourable version?’

‘Long story short, I wound up at the Russians’ motel after I was at the diner. They had a computer expert there, ready to go. She homed in on this file right away. Even though the FBI guys haven’t found it in what? Almost forty-eight hours.’

‘She knew what she was looking for. The FBI guys didn’t.’

‘Maybe. But this expert, she practically signalled to Fisher that she found it. Then she left the room, making it mighty easy to get a copy. And as for my escape, I just strolled out of there. So here’s what I’m worried about. They left her team in the field specifically so that Fisher would see the document.’

‘They planted it? Why?’

‘To misdirect the FBI. To protect their agent by setting up a second, disposable asset to take the fall.’

‘You know what that means. They know Fisher’s a mole. They’re playing her. Reacher, the Bureau has to pull her out.’

‘If I’m right, yes. But we need to be sure. Can we see if the document Fisher found is on our server? If it isn’t, we know it’s a fake. And if it is, we can compare the two.’

‘Theoretically. But there are thousands of documents. It could take weeks to find it. We need something to narrow it down.’

‘Like what?’

‘A filename would be great.’

‘Where would we get that?’

‘It would be in a bar at the top of the image, probably. Like a title. Here – give me the phone.’ Sands looked at the screen then shook her head. ‘The image is too small. And the phone’s too basic to have email. I’ll text the image to my phone, then send it to the computer.’

Sands hit some keys on Fisher’s phone, then some more keys on her own phone, then led the way through the connecting door to room nineteen. They found Rutherford standing next to his bed. He looked pale. His hair was a disaster. But he was upright, and that had to count as progress.

‘What’s happening?’ he said.

Reacher brought Rutherford up to speed while Sands woke the laptop and retrieved the email she’d sent herself. The screen filled with the image of a form displayed on another computer screen. The picture was a little fuzzy but it looked like the paper had originally been a very pale green. With some kind of large watermark at the centre. A Greek key border in black around the edge. The official headings and boxes and instructions were also printed in black. So was a stamp saying DRAFT. Then back in 1949 someone had completed the necessary sections by hand, in flowing cursive, with royal blue ink. They had stated the address, which was familiar. And the names of the three owners. Artur Klich and Kamil Klich, the spy brothers. And Krystian Klich, who must have been the third brother. Whose identity had been kept secret. Who Fisher thought was the link to the spy at Oak Ridge.

‘There, look,’ Sands said. She pointed to a strip of white text at the centre of a blue band at the top of the image. Scan00001968.jpg. ‘That’s what we need.’ She typed on the keypad and clicked on the trackpad and entered the filename into a box that appeared. She hit the enter key, and a second later the screen filled with a clearer version of the same form.

‘Wait,’ Sands said. She pointed at the section of the form that listed the property owners. It looked like the same handwriting. It was the same colour ink. It also gave three names. Artur Klich. Kamil Klich. And Natalia Matusak. ‘It isn’t the same. And who’s Natalia Matusak?’

‘Natalia Matusak is Henry Klostermann’s mother,’ Reacher said. ‘Heinrich Klostermann was her second husband. A dime gets a dollar her original name was Klich. The third agent wasn’t another brother. It was her. Artur and Kamil’s sister.’

‘This document was a draft,’ Sands said. ‘They destroyed it to keep Natalia’s existence a secret. Or thought they had. But this is the original version. The one Fisher saw had been altered.’

‘How could they do that?’ Rutherford said. ‘The server was never out of your sight. Except when it was in the trunk.’

‘They must have gotten a copy of the document from the server we sold Klostermann. That would give them plenty of time to doctor it. Their expert loaded it while Fisher was tying me up. Then she made sure Fisher saw it, knowing she would pass it to the FBI. Who would miss the connection to Klostermann. And jump to the wrong conclusion about the identity of the spy at Oak Ridge.’

‘How would that help them? If the third brother is made up, there can’t be a trail leading to anyone.’

‘There absolutely can. The Russians will have planned for this. There’ll be a perfect trail. Complex enough to seem real. Not so convoluted that the average agent couldn’t follow it. It’ll lead to a patsy. Someone sitting in Knoxville right now. Probably with a copy of The Sentinel hidden in their shoe. Waiting to run. And to get caught. And to confess.’

‘Why would anyone do that?’

‘They could think they’re making a noble sacrifice for a worthwhile cause. Or to get a big payday for their family back home. Or to stay out of the gulag. Who knows?’