Gold: chapter 5
Armed with what she had found, Simone approached Henshaw. She knew what he would say, could sense it in his general demeanor. He was already logging off the computer. Simone knew that he was going to clock out, hop in his Hyundai Sonata, drive to the nearest watering hole, and make two whiskey sours last as many hours.
“Sir, I’m requesting to open a new case and to be the case agent on it,” she said. “I’m going after the Count.”
“On what predicate?”
“It’s a clear violation of Title 18 U.S. Code 1030.” That was the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
“No. I need you on the New York case.”
“I thought you might say that, but I found an unusual cryptographic hash from the New York case file that matches a previous hash from the general data files.”
Simone then presented print-out copies of the code she found on the reconstructed web pages. She pointed out the cryptographic hash, which was basically a mathematical fingerprint hackers used to sign their code. This guy, in his arrogance, signed with the same hash. And the kicker? The quote shoved into the code: “All human wisdom is contained in these two words—‘Wait and hope.”
“We find this guy, we find who’s behind the SWIFT attack.”
Henshaw gave her a long and steady look, which Simone returned. She wanted to find the person no one else could, wanted to rise to the top. She didn’t care about awards or recognition or climbing the ladder. She wanted to be the best so she knew that she was the best.
Henshaw slipped on his blazer and walked toward the door. He loosened his tie, then took off his ID badge. “You know what? It’s Friday. And you’re still new.”
Simone breathed through her excitement. As a younger agent, she used to hold her breath, but she learned how to control her emotions—even the good ones. Still, she craved to hear the words, “It’s yours.”
“It’s not going to go anywhere, but you’re excited about it, and you do everything I ask you to, and haven’t missed a day of work in three years.” He sighed. “And it meets minimum standards. I’ll open the case to you.”
Simone did something she rarely did—she smiled at Henshaw.
“Thank you, sir.”