“That’s what I’m hoping, that I can get it for you and you can hack around this need for a key or a token or whatever.”

He shook his head. “No, ma’am. I can’t hack it. That’s what I was saying before he called. Anything over sixty-bit encryption is pretty unhackable, at least by me, unless you can give me, like, six or seven Crays to do it with.”

“How many bits is this one?”

“It’s probably 128- or 192-bit key strength. There’s no way.”

“All right, hacking’s out, and he won’t meet with me unless I can peel those files off. I think there’s only one thing to do.”

“Find the key?”

“Yep, and I’m not sure I’m going to like where I have to look for it.”

There was construction in Kenmore Square where they were tearing down the bus shack. I had to detour around it to get to Harvey’s. As I sat with all the rest of the detouring traffic, I got another call. The ID showed a private caller. I flipped open the phone.

“Alex Shanahan.”

“This is Cyrus Thorne.”

Just what I needed, Drazen and Cyrus within the span of two hours. “What can I do for you?”

“I haven’t heard from you.”

I had to shift my brain over to the Cyrus track to get straight what he knew and what he thought I knew. “I had to talk things over with my partner to get him onboard. He’s not too keen on turning a man over to be executed.”

“Did you convince him?”

“He thinks we’re in over our heads, but he’s in. Turns out he’s more in love with Rachel than committed to his principles.”

“Good. Have you made contact with Kraft?”

“Not yet, but I have figured out a way to get him to meet with me.”

“How will you do it?”

“By promising that the two of us together can make bad things happen to you.”

That produced a satisfied chuckle. I tried to say things to Cyrus that were true. He gave me the feeling that even over the phone, he could tell when I was lying.

“What about Hoffmeyer?” I asked. Maybe I could keep him on the defensive if I could make him have to lie to me. “Have you had any luck finding him?”

“We won’t find him. He’s been trained by the best. The only way we’ll get to him is through Kraft. Then we’ll have a shot at the big dog.”

“Look, what if I can’t get Kraft to come to Boston? Would your plane be available if I had to go to him?”

“Without hesitation. In fact, that might be preferable. When you’re close to locking in your final plans, call me with the details, and I’ll set the wheels in motion.”

“Okay, good. Look, it’s going to be a few days at least. Do you want me to call you, or do you want to check back with me? It’s probably better if I call you.” I waited. He said nothing, and I didn’t know how to interpret the silence. “Do you still have my client’s video?”

“It’s in a safe place. How many days will you need?”

“How about if I call you the day after tomorrow?”

HARVEY WAS BY HIMSELF IN HIS OFFICE WHEN I GOT TO HIS house. He had on another new shirt, this one short-sleeved. I could not get used to seeing him in casual clothes, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him wear something that bared his arms. I was surprised that his ex-wife wasn’t fused to one of them.

“Where’s Rachel?”

“I’m here.” She came in from the kitchen with a big bowl of microwave popcorn. I hadn’t noticed before, but the house was filled with the smell. With Rachel around, Harvey’s house was always filled with something new.

“We need to talk.” My preference would have been to talk things over with Harvey, but since the day’s events affected Rachel rather substantially, it wouldn’t have been fair to leave her out. The three of us sat down for a discussion. This time, I staked out the wingback. Rachel pushed Harvey up next to the couch.

“I just met with Drazen. The good news is, he wants the money, and if we can find it for him, we’ll all be free and clear.”

“Including me?” Rachel was barely able to contain her glee.

“Especially you. You’re not even on his radar screen.”

“Oh, thank God.” She set the popcorn on the coffee table and collapsed onto the couch. “I have been living with this death sentence hanging over my head for I don’t know how long.”

“Four years,” I said.

She looked at me. “What?”

“It’s been four years since you killed Vladi and the money disappeared.”

She sniffed. “It was-”

“Self-defense. You don’t have to keep reminding me. Also good news, I think I know where the money is. I think Kraft has it. I know he has Vladi’s computer. He’s willing to trade it for this.” I dug the heavy envelope from my backpack and dropped it onto the coffee table. The thud bounced the popcorn bowl. Rachel grabbed it and pulled it into her lap. “It’s Lyle’s story,” I said.

“Who’s Lyle?” She scooped out a handful of popcorn and passed the bowl to Harvey.

“Lyle Burquart. He was a local journalist who was trying to do what Kraft is doing. He wrote an article, an exposé on Blackthorne, four years ago. This must have been before the hijacking.” I hadn’t paid much attention to the dates. “Anyway, no one ever read it, because Thorne killed his son to keep him quiet.”

“My God.” Harvey reached for Rachel’s hand. He looked pale.

“I went back to talk to Lyle, and he’s gone. Packed up his family, left his job. But he left me all his notes.” I took the microcassettes and player from my backpack and threw them out there as exhibit two. “These are interview tapes. The interviewee was Tony Blackmon, Cyrus Thorne’s partner. I haven’t listened to everything, but from what I heard, he disagreed with the direction Thorne was taking and was ready to speak out about it.” A thought occurred to me as I was talking. “I wonder if Thorne killed Blackmon.”

“Why would he?” Harvey asked. “Is there an indication on the tapes that he was threatened?”

“The feeling comes more from Thorne. He told me Blackmon died on a mission. He had this incredible crystal eagle commissioned in his memory. It’s like protesting too much, you know? And it sounds as if Thorne is capable of anything. But listen to the tapes. See what you think.”

“Why do we have to listen to anything?” Rachel had her feet on the table, her knees up, and the popcorn bowl in her lap. “Let’s just get this deal done and get on with it.”

“I’m trying to, Rachel. There’s just one problem. No one can access the files without the key. Kraft won’t show up until we have the key.”

“What key?”

“The key to accessing the money files. It’s also called a decryption token, and it looks like this.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the copy of the KryptoDisk page Felix had printed for me. “It’s the size of a credit card, only thicker. Here…” I unfolded the page and handed it to her. “It slides into a PMC slot on the side of the machine.”

Harvey leaned over from his chair to see the picture. Rachel handed it to him with barely a glance. “I didn’t know anything about a key or a token. How was I supposed to?”

“You stole the computer for the files. I have to think you knew what was needed to access them.”

She sat up straight and put her feet on the floor. “How many times do I have to say this? I didn’t steal the computer for the files. I didn’t even know about the files. I took it because Roger had said it was worth something.”

“When Roger came to take it from you, did he try to boot it up?”

“He tried, but-” Her eyes widened. “He couldn’t get it to work.” She reached over to snatch the page back from Harvey. “Let me see that.”

“Roger took it even though he knew he couldn’t get in?”

“Sure he did. He was on the run, especially after that fed got killed. He said he would find a hacker to crack it.”

“Felix told me there was no way to hack it. Roger probably had some hacker tell him he needed the key. You can’t access the files without the key or the password.”