In the concealed chamber were two four-year-old boys, a basic latrine, cameras and lighting equipment… plus a computer with editing software and thousands of hours of video footage. The room also contained a set of workmen’s tools.
The twin boys required immediate medical attention. The video footage was too distressing for the local police team to review. However, by interviewing Stamms over a thirty-six-hour period, they elicited a confession to the existence of a video-sharing venue on the Dark Web called ‘Night Market’.
I found myself nodding admiringly as I read the report. The Liège team had covered an impressive amount of ground before handing over the case to the Belgian Federal Police, who in turn discovered that Stamms had tried to resolve a payment problem with a receiving bank account in Amsterdam. The Federal Police speculated that the payment to him was in exchange for his supply of video footage. A growing belief that the network was centred in Holland caused overall control of the case to pass to Driebergen.
The door opened and the assistant asked, ‘Do you want a drink, by the way?’
I blinked in consternation. ‘No. How much longer do I have?’
‘A few minutes.’
‘Who is my handler, anyway?’
‘His name’s Rynsburger. You’ll meet him soon enough.’
The name didn’t mean anything to me. I waited in silence for the assistant to leave again, returning immediately to the file. There was a lengthy section on the build-up to the arrest teams going into the various different locations to apprehend the mid-level suspects already mentioned by van der Steen…
I wanted to take in all the details. But more than that, I needed to get to the section on SVU X-19 itself. Van der Steen had suspected that the leak (resulting in the failure of the arrests) had come from SVU X-19 – only why?
If you decide to proceed, you’ll see the file…
I flicked forward, thinking that there must be an elaborate Joint Investigation Team, with investigators from the various countries involved. Any one of them or their immediate colleagues could have had access to information about Operation Guardian Angel, and leaked it…
Aware that Rynsburger might walk in at any moment, I skipped to the final section. Dumbstruck, I took in each of the SVU X-19 team members’ short bios and photos in turn.
Manfred Boomkamp was a twenty-year KLPD veteran.
Jacques Rahm was from Luxembourg’s Police Grand-Ducale.
Tommy Franks, formerly with the London Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad, was on secondment from the UK’s national Child Exploitation and Online Protection agency.
Ivo Vermeulen represented the Belgian Federal Police.
And there was a fifth nationality involved: Gunther Engelhart was from Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt.
SVU X-19 was the Joint Investigation Team. They’d built a mini states-of-Europe in Driebergen.
I sat back, and exhaled hard. Was it some kind of experiment? Did they believe that it would be more efficient to centralise the joint investigative work? Had the rationale been to avoid precisely the kind of intelligence failure that had then occurred?
And what of my ability to take on these men?
I leaned forward again, reaching into my inside pocket for my phone, when there came a rap at the door. It swung open to reveal a tall, white-haired man in a tailored navy suit. He was rheumy-eyed.
‘Henk van der Pol?’
I didn’t deny it.
‘My name’s Vim Rynsburger, I believe the minister has mentioned me. We’ll be joined by a psychologist shortly. Please, come this way.’
Copyright
First published in 2016
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© Daniel Pembrey 2016
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