The Rembrandt Affair

to the revelation of the CIA’s secret black site prisons for suspected al-Qaeda terrorists. Despite the circumstances, Ulrich Müller couldn’t help but marvel at the irony of the situation. Onyx had been conceived and built in order to steal the secrets of Switzerland’s adversaries. Now it appeared the system had inadvertently stumbled upon the secrets of the country’s most prominent businessman.
    “How did Onyx find it?” Müller asked.
    “The computers found it. The computers find everything.”
    “When?”
    “Shortly after Martin’s hard drive went up on the satellites, the Onyx filtering system hit on several keywords. The material was automatically flagged and delivered to an analyst at Zimmerwald for further investigation. After a few hours of poking around, the analyst discovered that Martin’s phone was hot as well. My office was just notified, but Onyx has been monitoring the feed for several days. And the material is being shipped to the DAP for further investigation.”
    Müller closed his eyes. It was a disaster in the making.
    “How long has the phone been compromised?”
    “Hard to say.” Huber shrugged. “At least a week. Maybe longer.”
    “And the computer?”
    “The staff at Onyx thinks they were hit at the same time.”
    “What were the keywords that triggered the auto flagging?”
    “Keywords having to do with certain goods being shipped to a certain country on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf. Keywords having to do with a certain Chinese company based in Shenzhen called XTE Hardware and Equipment.” Huber paused, then asked, “Ever heard of it?”
    “No,” Müller said.
    “Does Landesmann have any connection to it?”
    Müller raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize this was an official visit, Karl.”
    “It isn’t.”
    Müller cleared his throat. “As far as I know, Mr. Landesmann has no interest whatsoever in XTE Hardware and Equipment of Shenzhen, China.”
    “That’s good to hear. But I’m afraid the DAP suspects otherwise.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Let’s just say there’s pressure on the chief to order a full investigation.”
    “Can you stop it?”
    “I’m trying.”
    “Try harder, Karl. This firm pays you exceedingly well to make sure things like this don’t happen to our clients, let alone the boss.”
    Huber frowned. “Why don’t you say that a little louder? I’m not sure the Onyx ground station in the Valais was able to hear you.”
    Müller made no reply.
    “You do have one thing working in your favor,” Huber said. “The DAP and the Federal Police are going to be extremely reluctant to open a potentially embarrassing probe at a time like this, especially one involving a man as beloved as your owner. Martin is the patron saint of Switzerland. And you can be sure that his friends in the government will think twice about doing anything that tarnishes his reputation. Martin is good for the country.”
    “But?”
    “There’s always the potential it will leak to the press the way the Egyptian fax did. If that happens…” Huber paused. “As you know, these things have a way of taking on a life of their own.”
    “Zentrum will be most grateful if you can keep this matter out of the press, Karl.”
    “How grateful?”
    “The money will be transferred first thing Monday morning.”
    Huber closed the laptop. “There’s one other thing to keep in mind. Whoever did this is extremely good. And they had help.”
    “What kind of help?”
    “Someone on the inside. Someone with access to Martin’s phone and computer. If I were you, I’d start putting together a list of possible suspects. And then I’d handcuff each one to a radiator and find out who’s responsible.”
    “Thank you for the advice, Karl, but we prefer subtler methods.”
    Huber gave a sardonic smile. “Try telling that to Rafael Bloch.”

    U LRICH M ÜLLER headed back to the center of Zurich at considerable speed, turning over the implications of what he had just been told. Someone on the inside…Someone with access to Martin’s phone and computer …While it was possible Martin had been betrayed by an employee, Müller considered it highly unlikely since all GVI staff were subjected to rigorous background checks and regular security reviews. Müller suspected the traitor was someone much closer to Martin. Someone who was sharing Martin’s bed on a regular basis.
    He parked in the Kasernenstrasse and headed upstairs. A Kellergruppe operative